might buy this dvd recorder, wondering how good is it

-what is the right price for it
-will it record satillete tv, all i use is sat
-can it record my old vcr tapes to hard drive so i can edit stuff(like if i have a 6 hour tape and only want to it pick 2 hours from it)
-record from hard drive to blank dvd disc without problems

any other problems, how durable is it

The 550 is a 2007 model but pretty much identical to the current 2008 Pioneer 560. Other than being in a silver cabinet instead of black, there's nothing different about the 550 over the 560. For that matter both the 550 and 560 are identical to the 2006 Pioneer 640: Pioneer is in no hurry to tamper with what's proved to be a reliable chassis design. The 640 uses EIDE drives and 10-bit video encoding, the 550/560 have SATA drives and 12-bit encoding, none of which matters in actual use. All of these will operate and perform equally well. The answers you've received to your previous questions, plus any other Pioneer topics you see here on AVS, should cover anything you need to know before purchase.:)

might buy this dvd recorder, wondering how good is it

-what is the right price for it
the cheapest you can find, of course.

-will it record satillete tv, all i use is sat
Yes. You will have to record from a S-Vid, or composite (yellow) video out, and the r/l audio outs on your sat. Receiver. The Pio has a set of line inputs that can be switched to begin recording when they start receiving a signal. You can use these, so that you only have to program your sat. Receiver for timer recordings.

-can it record my old vcr tapes to hard drive so i can edit stuff(like if i have a 6 hour tape and only want to it pick 2 hours from it)
Shouldn't be a problem at all, unless there is copy protection on the tapes. You can start a 6 hour tape transferring, set the "one touch record" for six hours, then go to work, or to bed, and find the transfer done, and ready to edit later.

-record from hard drive to blank dvd disc without problems
Yes, and at highspeed, lossless, unless you have recorded at a very slow bitrate. You can also make bit-for-bit "backup" copies of -R and +R discs.

any other problems, how durable is it
very durable!



:d :d :d

The 550 is a 2007 model but pretty much identical to the current 2008 Pioneer 560. Other than being in a silver cabinet instead of black, there's nothing different about the 550 over the 560. For that matter both the 550 and 560 are identical to the 2006 Pioneer 640: Pioneer is in no hurry to tamper with what's proved to be a reliable chassis design. The 640 uses EIDE drives and 10-bit video encoding, the 550/560 have SATA drives and 12-bit encoding, none of which matters in actual use. All of these will operate and perform equally well. The answers you've received to your previous questions, plus any other Pioneer topics you see here on AVS, should cover anything you need to know before purchase.:)

The 550 / 650 come in black, not silver... and both have a DV in under the front flip-down panel, which I believe the 640 lacked.

The 550 / 650 come in black, not silver... and both have a DV in under the front flip-down panel, which I believe the 640 lacked.

Well, I have two of the model 450, and they're silver, it would be odd if Pioneer made the sister 550/650 in black but I'll take your word for it. There are an insane number of "550" versions sold for so-called worldwide use, all of those are silver as well. Other than the LX series which came out between the 550 and 560 cycles, I'd never seen a black Pio until the 560. You are correct that the 640 only has USB ports, no DV in, I didn't go into detail on that point because the 640 is long gone and the OP was looking at a 550 which does have the DV in.

I have owned or repaired almost every Pioneer model sold in North America except for the Canadian 550 and 560/660. My comments re the similarity of x50 and x60 models are based on personal experience with the Canadian 450 and 460, which are the same machine right down to the screws. The only significant difference is the 450 is silver instead of black and has no USB or DV inputs, the 460 is black and has those inputs. The 550 is a 450 with DV/USB sockets, as is the 560. The 650 is a 550 with larger HDD, the 660 is 650 in black with a useless ethernet jack added (only works with Windows Vista and you need a networking engineer on hand to get it going). There are some very minor differences in the "jukebox" functionality between 550/650 and 460/560/660, no big deal because the feature is not what people expect anyway (if you want to play MP3s, DiVX and JPEGs in your home theater, get an HTPC or you'll be bitterly disappointed).

Before they disappeared off the market entirely, the 460 was the best price-performance value Pioneer ever sold. CostCo demands exclusive model numbers for items it sells, so the 560 was rebadged "460" for them, they're the same aside from the model number. With the steep decline in recorder sales lately, the 560 and 660 have been blown out at Future Shop for $100 less than CostCo was getting for the 460, which pretty much killed the 460. When they were introduced last summer the 460 was the best deal, but now, anything goes: buy whichever model is on sale near you for $299.

Yes my Dad picked up a 660 for $299... virtually the same as my 550 as you described. The only external difference (aside from the Ethernet port) is the smaller orange/blue DVD/HD indicator light and the lack of DTS, DD, etc. logos on the panel... the front has a very spartan look without the logos, but maybe that's a plus for some people.

The 660 remote is terrible however, with small identical buttons and small lettering. The white remote that came with the 550 is far easier to use. The only missing command is the Open/Close tray, which I managed to program into my universal remote using my Dad's old Pio 520 remote.

Ugh! I forgot about the yucky remote introduced with the x60 series: you're right its terrible. Funny thing is, when the white remote came out with the x40 and x50, people hated that because it was totally different from the previous three generations and had no eject button. You know the x60 remote is bad if it makes the x50 remote seem nicer;).

After using all three remote variations, I've settled on the original silver-gray remote from the 2003-2005 models. You sometimes see these sold as spare parts at affordable prices, or several remote dealers sell new ones outright for about $45 if its worth that much to you. The most common of these and the one most suited for the x40, x50 and x60 is remote model VXX2967. This remote was the last of the "original" Pio remotes, it came with the ill-fated TVGOS recorders of 2005. This remote will operate every function of every recent Pioneer including eject, the only thing it lacks are the direct-access JPEG and Jukebox buttons for the x60 recorders (you can still easily access those features using the Home Menu button). The VXX2967 is easily identified by the red "TV Guide" logo next to the Pioneer logo. That button is non-functional on the newer models. The similar earlier VXX2932 remote from 2003/4 will also run the newer Pioneers but is laid out more confusingly with more non-functional buttons like "chapter mark" which were necessary for the x10 and x20 recorders.

The 550/650 came in both a black and a silver case. 550H-K for black, -S for silver. With my 550H-K faltering, I bought a 560H-K. I assume then the 560/660 comes in a silver case, too.

The 550/650 came in both a black and a silver case. 550H-K for black, -S for silver. With my 550H-K faltering, I bought a 560H-K. I assume then the 560/660 comes in a silver case, too.

In Canada the 550 and above came only in black.

Well, I have two of the model 450, and they're silver, it would be odd if Pioneer made the sister 550/650 in black but I'll take your word for it.It's interesting, the only x50 Pioneer models I've ever seen have been black, so I just figured they all were.

For you (and for everyone else too), here's a picture of my DVR-560H (Canadian) model, along with it's remote:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r64/SMN-8711/DVD-Recorders/Pioneer-DVDR.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r64/SMN-8711/DVD-Recorders/Pioneer-Remote.jpg

Thanks, Sean, for saving me the trouble of posting a picture of the x60 remote:)(you just know that will be the next request posted here). My two Pio 460s are indeed black, and look exactly like your 560 image, but my two 450s are both silver like the earlier 640 and 540 were. Maybe because my 450s shipped from Montreal- I hear things are often a bit different there?:D BTW, its comforting to see I'm not the only one losing the battle against dust- the all-black recorders look great out of the box, but man the upkeep is murder!

Yea, looks like a nice layer of dust on the top edge of the disc tray opening, like I found on my Pio 640 one day! :D