Help - DVD Recorder (with HDD) recommendations?

PoochJD

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Hi,

I need some advice. Cousin wants to buy a DVD recorder with a HDD (80-130 gb should be sufficient). She would prefer a Panasonic or Pioneer model, unless something really wonderful is otherwise available. (She's had a good Panny VCR and a great Pioneer DVD that have both given her long reliability!)

She's got Sky Digital, so would be recording from that, and also copying her old videos onto the HDD and then onto DVD-R to keep permanently. As such, she wants to be able to edit out any unwanted material, resequence it if necessary - right down to a single frame, and then transfer her new "edited production" onto blank dvd's.

Her budget is about £750, and model must be multi-regional. No internal Freeview Tuner is needed, nor any camcorder Digital Input connection.

I've done a bit of research, but both the Pioneer and Panny sites seem really confusing, even to me! (Whcih is probably why she asked me to do the research in the first place! :D ) Both appear to list models that might do the trick, but they don't always make it clear what capabilities each machine has/does.

So, what should I recommend to her? Help me please folks. :confused: She'd prefer to buy from a reputable retailer or e-tailer, in West Midlands and/or London, as she travels between the two places frequently.

Thanks, in advance.


Pooch
(Normally found in the DVD and TV sections of this very forum!)
 
Got my Panasonic DMREH50 DVD recorder with 80GB HDD from Richersounds at the weekend. Multiregioned and cost me £279.99
 
PoochJD,

Have a look at the 'Which DVD Recorder?' link in my signature - discusses the major issues associated with buying a DVD recorder in the UK. Out of the two brands you mention Panasonic offer the superior DVD recorders from a performance perspective - but the option of the EPG on the Pioneer might be more useful if you only have Sky Digital and not Sky+.

Based on your post the models you want to be looking at are:
- Panasonic DMR-EH50
- Pioneer DVR530 (or the 630 which is the same bar a larger HDD)
- Toshiba RDXS34 (better than the Pioneer and has set-top box control but no EPG)
All are well within your budget with cash to spare!
 
Hi Folks,

Thanks for the advice. I'll pass it on to my cousin, and let her make the decision - seeing as she's the one with the money! :D


Pooch
 
Hi,

Cousin is going to be making her purchase next week, but even with my assistance (and this very forum), she's struggling to decide which she should go for:

Essentially, out of the following three models, which is going to be best for all of the following functions:

1) Copying VHS to DVD HDD, then edit out all the junk she doesn't need, before transferring 3 hours of stuff per DVD to keep permanently (Needs to be editing from specific frames!)

2) Best for use with Sky Digital (not Sky Plus). EPG isn't necessary, I don't think, as she seems quite capable of setting the Sky box to switch between channels, if she needs too.

At the moment, she's stil torn between the Panny DMR-EH350 (multi-region), because of the reliability of Panny products in general, and/or the Pioneer DVR-530S (also multi-region), which looks to have the best editing stuff!

She hasn't seen the Toshiba model that was recommended, or investigated, mainly because she doesn't think much of Toshiba in general. Anyway, if people would please vote which one she should go for out of the above two models, then it would be really helpful. :lease: (As well as saving me from making endless visits to various Panny and Pioneer websites! :D )


Pooch
 
:hiya:
Hope you dont mind me jumping in.... considering I am adding a question more than an answer.

Firstly, I am in a similar position as you, trying to decide what model to purchase. My primary choice at the moment is also the Pioneer 530 (2nd-Panasonic DMREH50, 3rd-Philips HDRW720).

However, I am slightly at a loss to understand if I should be worried by the fact that the fact that the Panny 530 has an analogue tuner, and not digital. As a Sky subscriber (not freeview), will the analogue tuner make any difference to the quality of my recordings? I assume that a digital tuner would just negate the need for a separate freeview decoder, but that it makes no difference to Sky (which would still need its own decoder and just connect via scart). Can anyone put me straight on this?
 
Correct, the inclusion of a digital tuner would have on effect on recording from Sky.
 
Dquest said:
:hiya:
However, I am slightly at a loss to understand if I should be worried by the fact that the fact that the Panny 530 has an analogue tuner, and not digital. As a Sky subscriber (not freeview), will the analogue tuner make any difference to the quality of my recordings?

No - If you are recording from an external tuner it won't make any difference whether the inbuilt tuner is digi or analogue - or even if it doesn't have one at all
 

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