Pio 3100

[s2kmike]

I am a newbie so would appreciate any advice.

Previously i had a Philips 890 which had to be returned due to its total failure to read more than a handful of discs

I am now considering a Pio 3100 to go with the follwing system.

Pio 504 HDE+ Pio 501+Pio 668/HDMI+ Mission FS6.1 AV

Any comments or views on the Pio 3100 would be useful ?

 

[Rasczak]

The Pioneer 3100 is a good standalone DVD recorder that has a number of good features: it offers Timeslip on DVD-RW media, records onto highly compatible DVD-RW and DVD-R media, plays MP3s/WMA and has all the editting features you'd expect from a 'minus' machine provided you record in VR mode (which is largely incompatible with existing DVD players). Use it in conjunction with a PC DVD burner though and you can get some excellet results.

The only real limitation of the machine is that it cannot accept an RGB input. As most digiboxes only have option for RGB or Composite these means you would need a RGB-to-S-Video converter or a new digibox to record in the next best thing which is S-Video.

The main competition for the Pioneer 3100 are:
JVC DMR1 (adds DVD-RAM recording)
Toshiba DR1 (adds DVD-RAM but only records to DVD-RW in Video [compatible] mode)
Sony GX3 (no iLink but can accept an RGB input)
Panasonic E50 or E60 (no DVD-RW recording but RGB input and cheap)

Have a look at www.homecinemachoice.com - click on Hardware Reviews and have a look at what they say about these machines.