Recording DVD players 3 questions

I will soon have to move from recording with vcrs to dvds as I use a lot
of tapes and they are now hard to get easily in quantity. Are there any
DVD recorders that are easier than others to program ( set the time for
recording ) or are they all about the same ? I know I will have to get
rewritable blanks , is there any way to get to an unused portion of a
disc to record without fast forwarding thru the already recorded
material ? Are all the blank discs 4 hr. maximum or are there any 6 hr
discs ? thanks SD

S D

On Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:07:04 -0400, (S D) wrote:

>I will soon have to move from recording with vcrs to dvds as I use a lot
>of tapes and they are now hard to get easily in quantity. Are there any
>DVD recorders that are easier than others to program ( set the time for
>recording ) or are they all about the same ?

**I have three recorders. One is a Toshiba D-R410KU and the other two
are Panasonic DMR-EA18Ks. I think the Tosh is easier to work with for
someone who is new, but the Panasonic has a wonderful feature called
Flex Recording (FR). Both recorders have their bad points and good
points so I suggest looking them up on avsforum.

Panasonic EA18K:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1021745

Toshiba D-R410KU:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1014246


>I know I will have to get
>rewritable blanks , is there any way to get to an unused portion of a
>disc to record without fast forwarding thru the already recorded
>material ?

**Why are you going to use rewritables? Are you transferring it to
another media? Rewritables don't have good reps for reliability and
longevity. If you're going to archive programs, then I would use DVD-
or +R.

If you have a DVD that is half empty, when you insert it into the
recorder and then set it to record, it will automatically record to
the empty section. No fast forwarding like VHS

> Are all the blank discs 4 hr. maximum or are there any 6 hr
>discs ? thanks SD

**As others have said, it's not the disc, it's your player. Both the
Tosh and Panny can do up to 8 hours on a single disc. Over two hours
per disc is really pushing it a bit quality-wise. I recorded a Rolex
Sports Car race on the 3-hour FR and I couldn't watch it. A VHS copy
of the race looks better.

I like the Panasonic a bit better because of the ability to flex
record. That means if there is a movie on Turner Classic Movies that
is 1 hour and 35 minutes long, I can tell the Panny to fit the movie
onto a whole, single disc. It ups the quality, while the Tosh can only
do 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours. The Panny will do whatever time you want.
(It also has the 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 hours selection aside from Flex
Record.)

On the flip side, the Tosh is a bit easier to use in the beginning.
The front info panel will also give you more disc information while on
the Panny you have to hit Status button to get info. Visible times
while rewinding or fast forwarding, for instance. You can also fudge
times a bit while recording on the Tosh. By that I mean, you can ask
it to record 1 hour and 1 or 2 minutes on XP quality and it will burn
the disc. This works nicely if you are recording a 1 hour program and
want to "catch" the whole program properly. I haven't tried it on the
Panny because it gives you a little warning exclamation point when you
set the program to run a little long.

Both players can use dual-layer disc which will almost double
recording time on each disc. For instance, a DVD- or + R DL will
record 1 hour and 45 minutes on the best possible quality (XP) or 3
hours and 35 minutes on the second best (SP). (This is according to
the Panny instructions, I haven't used a DL, yet.)

Another tip, the Panny has a sterling reputation for VHS to DVD
transfer quality.

Hope this helps some,

kaboomie

kaboom

thanks for all the good information, I would use rewriteables as some
programs I keep , others I would just watch and record over. I take it
that the recorders can all record several programs at different times as
the vcrs can.....such as 9:59 to 11: 01 AM 1:59 to 3:01 PM and 4:59 to
7:01 PM , all settings made at once, or am I wrong ? Stephen

S D

On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:23:39 -0400, (S D) wrote:

>thanks for all the good information, I would use rewriteables as some
>programs I keep , others I would just watch and record over.

**Oh, I see. For the programs you intend on keeping, I would use DVD-R
or DVD+R. If you are just going to watch and rerecord, then the RWs
are a good idea. Too bad DVD recorders with hard drives went the way
of the dodo. It seems like one of these would be ideal for you. I know
there's a Magnavox available with a 160gig hard drive, but I think
it's kinda glitchy.

>I take it
>that the recorders can all record several programs at different times as
>the vcrs can.....such as 9:59 to 11: 01 AM 1:59 to 3:01 PM and 4:59 to
>7:01 PM , all settings made at once, or am I wrong ? Stephen

**Sure. As with VHS tapes, make sure that you have the disc space
available for all of your programs. For instance, with the Panasonic,
I recorded a short off of TCM, then a bit later, I recorded an hour
long program again off of TCM. Both of these were on the 2-hour
setting. Today, I recorded a making-of Planet of the Apes program off
of Fox Movie Classics and I had the Panny flex record it onto the
remaining space on the disc. Better quality than SP and it finished up
the disc perfectly. I then finalized the disc to make it playable on
all DVD players. <---that's very important, so remember that! I'm
speaking about DVD-R/+R, I don't have any experience with RWs so I'm
not sure how they work.

Oh! I've forgotten something! The Panasonic has something else that's
extremely handy! The two recorders that I've mentioned do NOT have
digital tuners. For the Toshiba, that means that you would hook it up
to your digital box (like your VCR) and the box must be set on the
appropriate channel. The Tosh will not change channels. If someone
comes along and changes the channel after you've set it, be prepared
for 2 hours worth of Fox News instead of Citizen Cane (ask me how I
know).

The Panasonic, on the other hand, has an IR blaster. You hook it up to
the Panasonic and run the blaster out to the front of the digital box.
You then go thru a set-up on the Panny to find the proper code to
control the digital box, then your Panny will change to the correct
channel when it comes time to record. So, you can leave the house with
the recorder set to grab programs off of (for example) channel 27, 64
and 162 and the Panasonic will command the digital box to change the
channels for you.

kaboomie

kaboom

On Oct 31, 1:21*pm, kaboom <kaboomi...@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:23:39 -0400, forn...@webtv.net (S D) wrote:
> >thanks for all the good information, I would use rewriteables as some
> >programs I keep , others I would just watch and record over.
>
> **Oh, I see. For the programs you intend on keeping, I would use DVD-R
> or DVD+R. If you are just going to watch and rerecord, then the RWs
> are a good idea. Too bad DVD recorders with hard drives went the way
> of the dodo. It seems like one of these would be ideal for you. I know
> there's a Magnavox available with a 160gig hard drive, but I think
> it's kinda glitchy.
>
> >I take it
> >that the recorders can all record several programs at different times as
> >the vcrs can.....such as 9:59 to 11: 01 AM *1:59 to 3:01 PM *and 4:59 to
> >7:01 PM , all settings made at once, or am I wrong ? Stephen
>
> **Sure. As with VHS tapes, make sure that you have the disc space
> available for all of your programs. For instance, with the Panasonic,
> I recorded a short off of TCM, then a bit later, I recorded an hour
> long program again off of TCM. Both of these were on the 2-hour
> setting. Today, I recorded a making-of Planet of the Apes program off
> of Fox Movie Classics and I had the Panny flex record it onto the
> remaining space on the disc. Better quality than SP and it finished up
> the disc perfectly. I then finalized the disc to make it playable on
> all DVD players. <---that's very important, so remember that! I'm
> speaking about DVD-R/+R, I don't have any experience with RWs so I'm
> not sure how they work.
>
> Oh! I've forgotten something! The Panasonic has something else that's
> extremely handy! The two recorders that I've mentioned do NOT have
> digital tuners. For the Toshiba, that means that you would hook it up
> to your digital box (like your VCR) and the box must be set on the
> appropriate channel. The Tosh will not change channels. If someone
> comes along and changes the channel after you've set it, be prepared
> for 2 hours worth of Fox News instead of Citizen Cane (ask me how I
> know).
>
> The Panasonic, on the other hand, has an IR blaster. You hook it up to
> the Panasonic and run the blaster out to the front of the digital box.
> You then go thru a set-up on the Panny to find the proper code to
> control the digital box, then your Panny will change to the correct
> channel when it comes time to record. So, you can leave the house with
> the recorder set to grab programs off of (for example) channel 27, 64
> and 162 and the Panasonic will command the digital box to change the
> channels for you.
>
> kaboomie

I've just bought a Panasonic DVD recorder with a 250 gig hard-drive
and dual HD tuners. It can record two programs on two channels
simultaneously, which my old standard def Panasonic was incapable of.
I'm teaming it with a new Panasonic 46-inch plasma for viewing in my
sitting-room in the new home my wife and I move to in three weeks.
That's an Australian Panasonic model, and I hope for your sake that an
equally convenient Panny model with hard-drive and dual HD tuners is
on offer in your country. It does of course spit out DVDs in standard
definition, and the manual does say 6-hour recording is possible --
though I try to keep to under 3 hours. The hard-drive is great for
editing out ads if by chance I've recorded from a commercial channel.
Most of my recording though is done from our national ABC publicly-
owned broadcaster, which is mercifully ad-free!

anthony

On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 15:53:55 -0800 (PST), anthony
<> wrote:


>I've just bought a Panasonic DVD recorder with a 250 gig hard-drive
>and dual HD tuners. It can record two programs on two channels
>simultaneously, which my old standard def Panasonic was incapable of.
>I'm teaming it with a new Panasonic 46-inch plasma for viewing in my
>sitting-room in the new home my wife and I move to in three weeks.
>That's an Australian Panasonic model, and I hope for your sake that an
>equally convenient Panny model with hard-drive and dual HD tuners is
>on offer in your country. It does of course spit out DVDs in standard
>definition, and the manual does say 6-hour recording is possible --
>though I try to keep to under 3 hours. The hard-drive is great for
>editing out ads if by chance I've recorded from a commercial channel.
>Most of my recording though is done from our national ABC publicly-
>owned broadcaster, which is mercifully ad-free!

**In the US, DVD recorders with hard drives are almost no more. We
have a Magnavox model with a hard drive. That's it, at the moment. We
used to have Pioneers, Panasonics, etc. In fact, I have a Panasonic
e85 that needs to be repaired. It has a 120 gig hard drive and it was
used primarily for VHS-to-DVD transfers. I loved it! Lots of
versatility.

Luckily, there is a grey market in the US, so there are some places
that you can buy recorders with hard drives, but the recorders are
usually foreign models.

kaboomie

ps If I were in Australia, I'd be recording Aussie V8 Supercars

kaboom

kaboom <> wrote:
>
> **In the US, DVD recorders with hard drives are almost no more. We
> have a Magnavox model with a hard drive. That's it, at the moment. We
> used to have Pioneers, Panasonics, etc. In fact, I have a Panasonic
> e85 that needs to be repaired. It has a 120 gig hard drive and it was
> used primarily for VHS-to-DVD transfers. I loved it! Lots of
> versatility.

I think Panasonic will repair the E85 for a flat $130 fee. They
did it for a friend. My 85 has died, but without a digital tuner it
doesn't seem worth fixing.

>
> Luckily, there is a grey market in the US, so there are some places
> that you can buy recorders with hard drives, but the recorders are
> usually foreign models.
>

Are the tuners in the foreign models in any way compatible with
US standards?

root

On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 07:18:28 +0000 (UTC), root <>
wrote:

>kaboom <> wrote:
>>
>> **In the US, DVD recorders with hard drives are almost no more. We
>> have a Magnavox model with a hard drive. That's it, at the moment. We
>> used to have Pioneers, Panasonics, etc. In fact, I have a Panasonic
>> e85 that needs to be repaired. It has a 120 gig hard drive and it was
>> used primarily for VHS-to-DVD transfers. I loved it! Lots of
>> versatility.
>
>I think Panasonic will repair the E85 for a flat $130 fee. They
>did it for a friend. My 85 has died, but without a digital tuner it
>doesn't seem worth fixing.

**I've read about the $130 deal in avsforums, but I'm chicken about
sending it off to them I do have a friend who fixes stuff like
this, hopefully, despite our busy schedules, he said he'd give it a
look. The problem is this exactly:

http://vassfamily.net/projects/DMRE85H/dmre85h.html

I'll probably have him poke around to make sure everything else is in
order.

I'd have it fixed if I were you. The secondary market is such that you
might be able to make a bit of a profit, if you sold it. On the flip
side, I'm pretty sure the e85 has an IR blaster, so perhaps it will be
able to change the channels on your digital box.

>> Luckily, there is a grey market in the US, so there are some places
>> that you can buy recorders with hard drives, but the recorders are
>> usually foreign models.
>>
>
>Are the tuners in the foreign models in any way compatible with
>US standards?

**Only one actually says ATSC tuner (the LG, scroll down a bit). No
QAM. Some descriptions say yes and some say no, but I'm thinking that
it pertains to non-digital (and now useless) tuners.

http://www.world-import.com/panasonic-dvd-r.htm

Ignore the panasonic bit in the URL, the page contains a bunch of
different models.

kaboomie

kaboom

How does one finalize a disc, is this done after the entire disc is
full, if the finalization is not done does the thing not play on
machines from oter manufacturers ? SD

S D

On Thu, 5 Nov 2009 08:31:28 -0500, (S D) wrote:

>How does one finalize a disc, is this done after the entire disc is
>full, if the finalization is not done does the thing not play on
>machines from oter manufacturers ? SD

**To make the disc playable on other machines, you must finalize it.
You'll usually find it in, for instance, Disc Management if you have a
Panasonic. It will ask you if you want the disc finalized, then it
will ask again. Upon pressing yes, the recorder will finalize the
disc.

The disc does not have to be filled, but that is when people usually
finalize it. Let's say you only have it half filled, you can finalize
it for play on other players. You can not, however, go back and fill
up the rest. Once it's finalized, that's it. It's closed to further
changes.

kaboomie

kaboom