Recordable DVD

[Skid Solo]

I am thinking of changing the way the Television is being recorded in my household, and potentially the way it is being supplied, currently we have NTL Digital, distributed around the house, a VCR and DVD player in two rooms.

I was originally thing of purchasing a S-VHS VCR, but realised I would probably end up having to purchase two of these if we wanted compatibility. (I watch a lot of Motorsport and my wife will general watch something else on VCR or DVD in another room)

I am also thinking of switching to SKY+ which of course does change recording ability, but we do like to keep certain programmes and thus would want to transfer to another media other than hard disk. I am therefore thinking of swapping from VCR to recordable DVD (Panasonic DMR-E30) but I am totally confused and have the following questions :

1) Will DVD-R & DVD-RW recording completed on the E30 play on other DVD players, currently Pioneer DV545 and Toshiba SD120E ?
2) Can I transfer recording from Sky+ to the E30 and what will the quality be like ?
3) Will the E30 record in 5.1 ? i.e. I record a movie from one of the Sky 5.1 channels onto the Sky plus hard disk and then transfer to DVD-R with full 5.1 sound ?
4) If 5.1 sound cannot be recorded on the E30 are there any other DVD recorders that can ?
5) I assume DVD-Ram is not compatible with normal DVD players
6) Does the E30 have any form of Satellite control for automatic channel switching ?. I assume it must have a built in tuner for terrestrial TV

Any help that can be provided in response to the above would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[nunew33]

1) Some. Check www.vcdhelp.com for compatability. Also depends on media manufacturer.
2)Yes as good as it can be via Svideo/RGB/Composite
3)No, nodigital in. None will do this for the foreseeable future to prevent DVD copying
4) See above
5) No but as time goes on it may be as it is officially a DVD Multi format which may become a DVD player standard. New media can come out of caddy but this reduces its usability from 100,000 to 1000 (anyone wish to test this). Its all Still up in the air. But DVD RAM considered to be most flexible format despite incompatabilities.
6) All recording devices now depend on a signal being sent via scart (called external link) to wake up recording device. This is annoying seeing as Sky digital doesnt allow programming to come on and off!!!! Most new VCRs use external link rather than STB

 

[philipb]

I have the E20, but I think the replies are still valid

1. DVD-R almost always yes, certainly on all new set tops; -RW almost always no. Can the E30 use -RW?. I thought the re-recordable format was only RAM? The E20 can't take -RW.

2. Yes. at the 1 hour and 2 hour settings quality is indistinguishable from the original. Above 2 hours use FR mode and you can get around 3 hours on a disk with little discernible drop in quality. You will be amazed how much better it is than VHS. I recommend you take the s-video out of the Sky+ to the s-video in on the E30 for maximum quality (assuming the E30 does not have RGB scart in - if it does use that)

3 and 4 - no and no (except very expensive PC based units).

5. Yes, although I think there may a Tosh set top which can handle RAM, but not sure.

6. Don't think so, and yes it does have a tuner.

If you don't go the Sky+ route, think about waiting for the new combined hard disc/DVD recorder unit from Panasonic about to emerge. More expensive, but a great bit of kit.

 

[philipb]

Sorry nunew33, you posted while I was writing mine. I think we agree?

 

[Skid Solo]

Thanks, very helpful

 

[Spanglemaker]

6) All recording devices now depend on a signal being sent via scart (called external link) to wake up recording device. This is annoying seeing as Sky digital doesnt allow programming to come on and off!!!! Most new VCRs use external link rather than STB

Does anyone know if the external link recording on the E30 can be set using the remote?

The reason I'm asking is that i'm using this feature to record from a Grundig FTA box to an (oldish) JVC S-VHS recorder, but I have to get down on hands and knees to press a button on the VCR, which is a bit of a pain.

I'll be going the recordable DVD route soon........... either the E30 or preferably the HS2 HDD/DVD recorder.

 

[yonderblue]

5) The new Panasonic DVDRA82EBS DVD/DVD-Audio Player supports DVD-RAM discs, The new DVDRA82EBS is quite well priced for a DVD player that supports DVD-Audio it priced at £214 at electricaldiscountuk.co.uk.

The DVDRA82EBS all supports :-
DVD-Audio/Video/RAM/R/-RW/+RW, Audio/Video-CDs, CD-R/RWs and MP3-CDs.

6) No Satellite or Cable controls , And as others have said it does have a terrestrial TV Tuner built-in.