I went to Sams Club, owned by Wal-Mart, and spotted the new Magnavox MSR90D6 DVD recorder for only $96.88. It records to four formats (DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW). It is manufactured by Funai (says on the box). It records to stereo. For that price, it seems to be more of a better value than the Cyberhome, ILO, and Lite-On. Anybody saw or tried it? Thanks.

Well in my area I've seen the Samsung 120 for as low as $99 & I'd buy that over the Funai.

I think this upcoming model year you will see a lot of DVD Recorders out there for under $100 so I would wait until they are all released before I jumped on any of them.

Myself a few months back received a "Refurbished" Samsung R4000 (A Panny E50 Clone) as a gift from my daughter & I have burned well over 300 DVDs without any problems with it & she only paid $99.00 for it & the original price on it was $500 so there are a lot of alternatives out there then just jumping on the lowest price recorder around.

If Samsung is the same as Panasonic, I'm not impressed. As their lower end models have very few features, & are clunky to operate. I have a Sylvania (by Funai) DVR90VF combo unit, and a Panasonic ES-20K, and found the menu, features, & operation of the Sylvania more intuitive, logical, detailed, & easier to operate. Along with extra features like zoom, 30-sec commercial skip, sound at 2X search (ledgible too), adjustable chapter time setting, a stereo tuner, and better (more pronounced surround detail), It's not too Shabby! And although the picture quality is a hair clearer on the Panny, the Sylvania has what appears to be a brighter, more natural looking picture. Finally it appears the Sylvania is more stable burning, & playing, I think I could throw anything at it, and it would play decently, not like the sensitive (high strung) Panny.

I actually bought the Sylvania first, (on sale) at Sears, and liked it so much, I couldn't return it, so because it is silver, and doesn't have Flex record, it was relegated to the bedroom, and the black Panny ES-20K sits in my matching entertainment center.

I wouldn't drop this into the same cheapo category as an ILO, or Cyberhome, or any other no name unit. I consider it a decent economy model DVDR

The newer Samsung's are made by Samsung & if I remember right the R4000 was last Samsung model made by Panasonic.

As far as the Funai goes I'll take the Panny over it just for the "FR" Recording Mode & Picture Quality but that's just me :D

Again as I said above, I would'nt be jumping on any low priced models until "ALL" of the new models are out & who knows maybe the new Panny's won't even be as good as a Funai will just have to wait & see to find out.

Found the manual on line. Lots of features if it is reliable.

http://www.funai-corp.com/6pdf/om/MSR90D6.pdf

Another interesting feature I found on my Sylvania as well as this recent Magnavox, is programable auto finalize.

Other than the adjustable chapter time setting, the other features mentioned for the Sylvania seem worthless, as they are playback features. I don't recall EVER having played a DVD in any of the many, many recorders I've owned, other than a brief check of the recording, since none of them are as good for viewing as a quality playback only (non-recording) machine.

I've never touched a manual for a Panny unit either, but have never had to, since the interface is so simple to use. My 7-year old son makes recordings frequently with one of them. FR mode is invaluable. The new Pannys will have upconversion too, FYI.

Well Spyder, Some of us don't have the latest DVD player, so playback in the recorder is required. I have a 4yr old Panny player in my entertainment center, and don't have a player in the bedroom, just the sylvania recorder. Upconversion don't matter much to me, as I have a 5yr old 36"CRT Panasonic TV in my living room, I don't plan on updating for awhile, As it is, the clarity is awesome!

IMO, the Panasonic units are Ok, but there are other options, and if the Sylvania was black, and had 2.5 - 3hr. record, I'd have never bought the Panny, what with it's hiccups!

By the way, Funai is a Japanese company.

I wasn't implying that everyone needs the latest and greatest thing, just that DVD recorders are generally regarded as somewhat inferior playback devices, regardless of brand. The reason Panny units get so much "bad press" is that there are so many owners (probably 1000 to 1 over a Sylvania unit) hence more complaints, but not when viewed as a ratio.

By the way, Funai is a Japanese company.
Correct. Of all the people I know, everybody thinks that Funai is a Chinese company.

Just purchased the Magnavox MSR90D6 today at Sam's Club. I took it home and found out that the response time to press different functions, like opening/closing the tray, is somewhat slow. DVD picture quality looks better than CyberHome that I tried before. Otherwise, this unit seems to work and function pretty well (no skips or pauses at all). It creates very little heat, even if it does not have a cooling fan. Time will tell how long it will last, but I can feel that it will last longer than the CyberHome DVR1600 that I only kept for 16 days.

Correct. Of all the people I know, everybody thinks that Funai is a Chinese company.
========================

Funa is Japanese, but most of the production is in China. For a long time, Funai was the largest VCR manufacturer in the world. Making product for many "name brands". Overall quality is quite good.

Funai, of couse, make various grades of products. Think Cavalier and Corvette, both from GM.

Just wondering did Philips sell the Magnavox brand name to Funai?

Seems funny if they din't that Philips would have the Funai name on anything even if they did make it for them.

I know a Magnavox VCR that I had awhile back was made by Funai for Philips but no where was the Funai name ever mentioned but maybe Philips is only letting them use Funai on Magnavox products & not Philips Products?

Just wondering did Philips sell the Magnavox brand name to Funai?

Seems funny if they din't that Philips would have the Funai name on anything even if they did make it for them.

I know a Magnavox VCR that I had awhile back was made by Funai for Philips but no where was the Funai name ever mentioned but maybe Philips is only letting them use Funai on Magnavox products & not Philips Products?
Philips already sold half of the Magnavox's share value to Funai. The Magnavox brand can be used by two companies: Funai and Philips. Both have control over the Magnavox brand and can use this brand for marketing purposes. Funai does not need to ask Philips for permission. Funai sells and markets products under the Magnavox brand for Wal-Mart/Sam's Club retailers only.

At that price, I thought I would give it a shot. I already have a Pioneer DVD recorder that records to the minus format only. I will compare the two and see how the quality is and it also gives me a chance to try the plus format too and see how the compatability works in my other players. Will post my opinios after I burn and play a few disks in both formats.

golfster, Looking forward to your report & it might make a great low-cost extra DVD Recorder.

Got mine hooked up and have some initial impressions,

The clock is driving me nuts..set it, but can't figure out how to view it without going into the setup clock menu.

Good set of features like zoom, commercial advance, angle, viewing video at a slightly faster or slower rate with sound-can view at 1.3X norml rate in case you don't want to spend a whole 3 hours on a long movie. Most features are menu driven instead of remote driven by input button. Should be OK once you get used to it.

This recorder records to DVD+/-R or RW disks. It formats the - disks to the + format, so everything is treated as a + but there are a few features in editing that are DVD+RW exclusive such as not having to finalize to use in another player-you make compatable instead.

Had a couple initial glitches on recording that may have been my fault. First thing I did was a 30 minute one touch recording on a +RW. I let it record for a minute or so then stopped it. Screen displayed "writing to disk" went to 60% and just stuck there for a long long time. All buttons were locked out. I finally unplugged it. Plugged it back in and it displayed "repairing disk" for a couple minutes. Then the menu displayed and the recording played perfectly. I then erased the disk and set up a timer recording. It did not start on time and when I checked the clock, it was set wrong-probably somehow my fault. Set up another timer recorder after I reset the clock and it started and stopped on time. The recording was viewable right after the recording stopped and the quality was excellent. Features like commercial advance, FF, pause etc all functioned perfectly.

Tried playback of Star Wars III to see how a commercial disk looked. I have this machine set up with component video, but NOT progressive scan. The picture quality looked very close to my Toshiba player that is on Component video WITH progressive scan. Hooked up with progressive scan, it should produce a better picture. All features worked on this disk but response seemed a little slower than the Toshiba or my Pioneer recorder. Not a problem though.

Have not had time to record to the various formats and to see how compatabe the disks are. Will post and findins/problem that I encounter.

All in all, this seems to be a pretty nice recorder. I am going to keep it. I think it seems a little less rugged than my Pioneer, but it cost a whole lot less. Seems to maybe be a best buy for an under 100 dollar recorder. I like the dual format feature instead of + only like many of the low cost recorders have. Wish it had a front panel display-everything is on screen. My biggest complaint remains the clock. If I figure out how to display it on the screen, I will be very happy.

So far it seems like a good basic recorder/player for somone on a budget or wants a good second unit.

golfster, How is the quality of the Built-In Tuner?

If you press the "Display" button maybe that will bring up the time? if not how about when you change channels maybe it automatically comes up with the on-screen CH Number & etc?


Or maybe try the Timer Prog. Button maybe it comes up with that?

There must be some way I would think to display the time without having to go into the menu system.

One thing I have to add & I'm not picking on you :) is that it does not have "Commercial Advance" on it, it has a 30 second "Commercial Skip" button on it.

"Commercial Advance" is a system that automatically marks the beginning & ending of commercials & on playback it automatically skips over the commercials.

So far the only DVD Recorder that has "Commercial Advance" on it is one RCA model. Just wanted to point that out just incase someone was looking for a recorder with the "Commercial Advance" system & thought the Magavox had it.

Looking forward to anything else you learn about the Magnavox & thanks again for your report.

This recorder records to DVD+/-R or RW disks. It formats the - disks to the + format, so everything is treated as a + but there are a few features in editing that are DVD+RW exclusive such as not having to finalize to use in another player-you make compatable instead.

Does it really reformat DVD-R discs to DVD+R? I have never heard of that possibility. Seems it would be easier to just include both + and - formats.

This recorder records to DVD+/-R or RW disks. It formats the - disks to the + format, so everything is treated as a + but there are a few features in editing that are DVD+RW exclusive such as not having to finalize to use in another player-you make compatable instead.


That's got to be just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. :confused:

To answer a couple of the last posts...

So far, on the clock thing, the only way I have seen the time is in setup and when you set up for a timer recording. I have hit every button on the remote and have not seen the time yet. Just a small thing, but irritating.

Have not tried a DVD- in the unit yet, but the manual says it formats them to DVD+VR mode. It also says that you can not record onto a DVD-RW that was formatted in another recorder in the - format. The DVD-RW has to be finalized but DVD+RW does not (has to be made compatable) to work on other players. I have not owed a DVD+ unit or a dual format unit before so I do not know if they do the same thing-seemed odd to me too. My DVD- Pioneer disks have played in everything I have tried them in. I will be trying some of my DVD-RWs in it to see how it records and how the compatability is. I also wonder if I will be able to reformat one of the DVD-RWs in my Pioneer once it is formatted to the + format. Seems the laser shold be able to handle this.

The commercial skip skips forward 30 seconds and you can push it multiple times and it will skip up to 180 seconds. My Pioneer has this and skips ahead in one jump, but this unit does multiple jumps in about 10 second blocks. Not better or worse, just different.

Another neat feature is the recording modes. It has 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 and 6 hour modes plus an auto mode that detects space left on the disk and adjusts the speed so the recording fits. This is like the feature on some Panasonic models.

I hooked this recorder via S-video to a Dish 811 high def receiver and hooked an external antenna to the antenna input. I saw no reduction in signal strength of my OTA high def channels by routing the antenna through the DVD recorder. As far as the tuner, it seems fine, but I am just picking up analog OTA signals on it. It seemed fairly sensitive and auto tuned all the stations in our area plus a few that are too weak to watch. The local ones are clear. Mostly I will record the S-video input from the Dish receiver.

One big disappointment I had with my Pioneer is that you must record in VR mode to be able to edit out commercials or scenes or add chapters. After spending the time to do this and finalizing the disk, I found out that VR mode is not compatable in almost all players and Video mode does not allow editing. I am hoping that when I edit the DVD+RW that I am recording right now it will work on my other players. If so, this format will be a big advantage. The manual reads like it should.

I do not have this connected to my surround sound system, but it only has a digital coax audio output. Would have been nice to have an optical output too, but that would have increased the price. Also not a problem, but make sure you have an available input if you want 5.1 sound. Does not matter to me as you can not record 5.1 sound anyhow and I will use my player to view my movies. No reason that this could not be your only unit if you have the input open.

For me it is a work in progress, but how far wrong can you go with a recorder that seems to be pretty good at the price of a DVD player. I was just looking for a low cost option to record from the Dish 811 and this seems to fit the bill.

BTW, my Pioneer is on another system hooked to a Dish PVR receiver. I use it to tranfer VHS tapes and movies I have saved to the DVR that I want to keep to DVDs. This new unit was bought to add some versatility to the high def receiver.

I also just bought this unit from sams and have burned 3 disks using TDK +r media. I was originally looking at some higher end recorders but was intrigued by the "multi" format capabilty. I will try the -r media and let you guys know if see any major difference in functionality. But here are my inital impressions after 4 days. The unit is very "basic" and nature and pretty much has all the standard functions. I have a phillips/magnavox recorder and a samsung recorder and this unit quite frankly out performs them both. While its not as sexy as some of the higher end units I would bet dollar for dollar it performs as well. For those of you thumbing your nose at this unit comparing it to cyberhome, ilo, trutech, etc I will tell you that you are dead wrong. I did alot of surfing comparing different recorders prior to "impulse" buying this unit. It appears that no matter who you talk to they are going to find something negative to say regardless. But I will tell you for $98 on this unit you cant go wrong. Not exactly disposable but pretty close. I didnt buy this to be a centerpiece in my system rather a bedroom unit to back up my tivo. So if you want a unit for your main system then this may not be for you (but quite frankly I would use it there) but as a backup or 2/3rd system I would recommend it.

OK, I have had a few days to try this unit out more fully.

First thing I noticed is after you put in a RW disk is that it formats automatically and VERY quickly. Formatting probably takes less than a minute. Quicker than my Pioneer.

Using DVD+RW (Verbatum brand), all the edits I did worked perfectly. The menus are pretty intuitive, but have the manual close by on the first try or two. Did some adding titles(dividing as it calls it), adding chapter marks, deleting titles, renaming etc. Editing start/stop marks seemed to be accurate within about a second of what I aimed at. It played as it should on the Magnavox. Went to the disk menu to "make edits compatable" and it was not available. Seems that menu only comes up when it is needed. I popped the disk into my Toshiba player and it was compatable without finalizing or making compatable. All edits were recognized just as they were on the recorder. Really nice not to have to finalize that disk.

Next I put in a DVD-RW disk. To make it a real test, I used a made in Taiwan Office Depot Brand disk. As I said before, it is formattted as a DVD+VR. Did the same as above on editing. It also played back perfectly in the recorder. The only difference is that you have to finalize the DVD- disks for them to play in other players. Finalization seemed quicker than my Pioneer recorder, but finalizatin times vary quite a bit anyhow. Put the disk in my Toshiba and it also was 100% compatable and edits recognized as I did them. Only difference in the + and - is the finalizing step.

Someone said that this formatting both + and - minus to the VR+mode was dumb, but is seems it is dumb like a fox. When I edit VR mode disks on my Pioneer (DVD-RW) they will not play on my Toshiba or Sony players. With this recorder, they play and the thumbnails display. This versatility alone makes this recorder worth a serious look.

I have not owned or used any other dual format recorders and maybe they handle the disks the same way. If anyone knows, please post. If they don't, they should. Usually we see features from high priced units filter down to the lower priced ones. In this case, the opposite might be true. I think they should all work this way. No reason all recorders should not be dual format.

The unit has a few things I do not like. The clock still bothers me, the tray seems a little flimsy, you have to access some features such as zoom and chapter search and others through the display menu. I would prefer a button on the remote. I prefer the muliple thumbnail scenes on the editing screen that my Pioneer uses to set an editing section on one screen rather that the single scene system on this unit where you set a mark and then move on to the next mark, then find that section to delete or rename etc. All in all, still pretty quick and easy to edit.

After reading all the posts about low cost recorders, this looks like the one to try. To me, the ability to edit in VR mode on +/- and to be compatable in other players is the deal maker for me. I give it 8 out of 10.

I took a ride (trip, journey) over to my local Sam's club (about 35miles) in Middletown N.Y. and while there checked out this Magnavox DVDR, it is definitely nice looking (mostly black laquer, & silver), along with being compact, & light. If I had found it first, I would have been DONE looking for a DVDR,,, instead of buying the Sylvania DVR90VF VCR/DVD, or then the Panasonic ES-20K (black). But No, Sam's didn't have it on their website!,,, how dyslectic is that? they are so behind the times! I don't know how long they've stocked this particular unit, but I've checked their website numerous times over the last 4months, and saw Nada, nothing appealing in DVDR's! So, because of their stupidity, they lost my sale.

Anyway, while I was there, Sad over this, I picked up a 100 pack of Verbatim DVD-R blanks for $29.88, and 100 CD/DVD boxes for $12.37 figuring this was a decent (though not the best) sale. When I got home, I took a good look at the Verbatim disc's and to my dismay, they are made in Taiwan,,, don't know wether this is bad, or worse, so whatever.

Anyway, while I was there, Sad over this, I picked up a 100 pack of Verbatim DVD-R blanks for $29.88, and 100 CD/DVD boxes for $12.37 figuring this was a decent (though not the best) sale. When I got home, I took a good look at the Verbatim disc's and to my dismay, they are made in Taiwan,,, don't know wether this is bad, or worse, so whatever.

I have used quite a few Verbatum DVD-RWs and some DVD+RWs and have not had a bad one yet. All Taiwan may not be bad.

Just A Few Questions: :)

1. When using the "Auto Fit" Recording Mode does it work for "Manual" & "Timer" Recording? & if it does work in the "Manual" Recording mode can you "Pause" it to cut commercials out & etc?

2. How is the Picture Quality in the 2 1/2 & 3 Hour recording modes?

3. Does it record in Dolby Digital Audio Format? (If not maybe that's why it changes -R discs from the "Video" Format to the "VR" Format?)

4. What Color is the unit?

So far this looks like a very interesting recorder for the price :)

Thanks :D

Just A Few Questions: :)

1. When using the "Auto Fit" Recording Mode does it work for "Manual" & "Timer" Recording? & if it does work in the "Manual" Recording mode can you "Pause" it to cut commercials out & etc?

2. How is the Picture Quality in the 2 1/2 & 3 Hour recording modes?

3. Does it record in Dolby Digital Audio Format? (If not maybe that's why it changes -R discs from the "Video" Format to the "VR" Format?)

4. What Color is the unit?

So far this looks like a very interesting recorder for the price :)

Thanks :D

1. Auto fit seems to only work for timer recordings. Have not used it yet, but have a recording set up to try it tonight. Manual (one touch) recording has you set the speed before you start to record, so only the preset modes are available. I suppose you could "fool it" by setting up a timer recording starting at the current or earlier time and selecting auto mode. It would start as soon as you turned it off. Do not see the need to pause a recording when the editing is so easy to cut out a section.

2. Have recorded in 2, 2.5, 3 and 4 hour modes. 2 hr is excellent 2.5 and 3 seem nearly as good, but with different redorded media, it is impossible to tell exactly. In the 4 hour mode, the picture was a little softer but saw no pixilation. It was at least as good as the 2 hour mode on a VCR. I would not use the 4 hour for anything but time shifting of a TV show. The 2 to 3 hour modes were good enough for something I wanted to keep.

3. Yes it records Dolby surround, but like all DVD recorders, NOT DD 5.1 The change to the +VR format allows you to do editing that is not available on a DVD -VIDEO formatted disk, and unlike a -VR disk, the edited disk is compatable on DVD players. I am now a big fan of this feature. I quit editing on my Pioneer because the VR formatted disks would not play on other DVD players. I only use Video mode on the Pioneer now. The advantage of the DVD+ disks over DVD- is that they do not need to be finalized to work in DVD players.

4. The unit is black and silver. The unit is silver with a black band all the way across the front. The buttons, front inputs and disk tray are in the black part with a narrow silver band above it and a little wider siler band below it. Actually a pretty nice looking unit.

Since the last post, I have made several recording on both DVD+RW and DVD-RW. I have erased the material for both types and re-used several times and it has worked perfectly. I also like the progress bar that displays the percentage completed when it is formatting, writing to disk and when finalizing in - mode. My Pioneer just leaves you wondering when it will be done. The more I use it, the better I like it.

golfster, Thanks for "ALL" the info :) & it sounds like it will make a Great Bedroom / Spareroom Recorder.

So now I'll have to look around & see if I can find a Sam's Club member & see if they can take me there or pick one up for me because the nearest Sam's Club is about & hour away for me :(

By any chance does Wal-Mart have this model or plan on getting it in & I wonder how much they might be selling it for?

As I said in the last post, set up the auto mode for recording. I set up 4 hours of recording. When I checked the disk, there were 9 minutes left on the disk after it recorded. Looks like it does select the right speed automatically to make your recordings fit the disk. That is nice if you are recording a 2 1/2 hour movie and you do not have to worry if you set it to the right time mode-it does it for you.

Recommened this to a friend. He bought one and hooked it to his HD plasma with progressive scan. The picture on commercial DVD looked very good. Looks like this could serve as a main unit for people who do not want to use a seperate player as I do. He is happy with his too.

After looking for a budget dvd recorder with decent features, I decided to lay-away a Pioneer dvr220s I found at Wal-Mart for $179. These are pretty hard to find anymore it seems. Then I saw the Magnavox at Sams for around half as much. I'm kinda leaning toward that one, as I worry about spending so much on a recorder that'll be obselete in a year, with the new formats and all. Does Sams offer a service plan? I know they're generally a waste of time, but for a $100 piece of electronics, it may be worth it. I looked at the Emerson (also Funai) for $110, it just didn't look that sturdy to me. With all the bad reviews on Ilo, Cyberhome, etc, I knew to stay away. Almost bought the Sylvania dvd/vcr on sale for $149. As you can see, I'm pretty price/budget minded. I'll be doing a good bit of recording, and I want my dvds to be compatable with other players. The specs on the Magnavox seem to have everything I'm looking for. I'm new to dvd recorders (and this forum), so I would appreciate any input as to whether I should keep the Pioneer, or go with the Magnavox.

By the way, this is one of the most informative forums I've seen on this subject. You guys may be too smart for me!

I bought the Sylvania DVR90VF DVD/VCR combo unit at Sears for $149, because I couldn't find just a DVDR without the VCR made by Sylvania, Emerson, or Funai, and I was surprised, & pleased, by the included extra features, user friendliness, and decent Pic, & sound quality. It appears intuitive, and works fine just as you would want. If I had seen the Magnavox made by Funai first, I would have bought that instead because of the extra features, one of which is all format recording, and it's compact black, & silver, stylish looks.

Of course the Pioneer is probably made better, but if I remember correctly, it is "plain vanilla" as far as features are concerned, and twice the price.

Thanks, MikDee. Funai seems to get slammed alot by people who don't own their products. Most of their current dvd recorders are getting very positive feedback from users. I probably wouldn't have looked twice at the Magnavox if it were a Philips/Magnavox.

Sam's does offer extended warranty plans.

Online it looks like $5.26 for one year and $14.88 for 3 years on electronics up to $150.

I spoke with a TV, DVD, VCR repairman, and he claims that for trouble-free, reliable performance, Funai is the best. He was surprised by that.

7 years ago I bought a Funai 4HD VCR from WalMart that was some $80 (IIRC) that used to record 4 hrs/day for over a year without a single problem, and probably still works today.

Sam's does offer extended warranty plans.

Online it looks like $5.26 for one year and $14.88 for 3 years on electronics up to $150.
I don't recommend buying any warranty plans by Sam's Club. At Sam's Club, you can always return products back (except computer) at anytime for a full refund. Sam's Club has a similar return policy from Costco.

I don't recommend buying any warranty plans by Sam's Club. At Sam's Club, you can always return products back (except computer) at anytime for a full refund. Sam's Club has a similar return policy from Costco.

Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I'm gonna have to get one before everyone realizes what a great deal it is!

A little additional info on my ongoing evaluation of this recorder.

I just recorded the 10 Commandments off TV. Recorded onto a DVD-R disk to see how the editing worked on the minus disks and to see how the compatability is after editing. Really long movie so had to record in the 6 hour mode. I was really surprised, the quality was not bad at all, no pixilation and not bad sharpness and color. Definately better than a VCR.

In the +/-R mode, you can not create new titles or split titles like you can in the +/-RW mode. What you can do is create chapter marks at the beginning and end of commercials and then hide that chapter so that it is skipped over on playback. Worked perfectly and on playback on the Magnavox, it skipped right over the commercials as if they were not there. I then finalized the disk to try it in my Toshiba player. The disk was compatable and played just fine except that on that player, the commercials were nor skipped. Guess that it is only recognized that way on the recorder. The thumbnail that I used for the main title displayed correctly on both units. If you want to cut out commercials for use on other players, you need to use +/-RW disks, create the commercial as a title, then delete that title. These disks also play on the Toshiba and the deleted commercials do not display. It plays as if they were never there on any player. If you use a DVD+RW, it does not need to be finalized to be compatable, but a DVD-RW does need to be finalized. Other than that, I have found no difference in the two formats on this recorder.

This recorder gets the nod over my minus format Pioneer for disk compatability in all formats in other players. The way it treats all disks as +VR mode seems to create that compatability whether you use DVD+/-R/RW and edit or not. Have not had a recording failure or an incompatable disk yet on any disk format.

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a budget priced gem.

Interesting, inexpensive recorder.

The disk was compatable and played just fine except that on that player, the commercials were nor skipped. Guess that it is only recognized that way on the recorder.

If you hit the skip or chapter button on your remote will it skip over that commercial to the next chapter point? I do something similar in my home movies that I create. I put a hidden menu loaded with chapter points and sprinkle these chapter points through the movie. Later when viewing the skip button will just skip to any chapter point.


If you use a DVD+RW, it does not need to be finalized to be compatable, but a DVD-RW does need to be finalized. Other than that, I have found no difference in the two formats on this recorder.

Interesting and not what I would expect. Have you checked to see if this recorder sets the BookType to DVD-ROM for +R / +RW discs? That might explain why they playable.

Is it safe to assume that this player alllows you to record material saved on a dvr from premium channels like hbo and showtime? Unbelievable that you pay for these services and some players won't allow you to record what you have paid to watch. Any info would be greatly appreciated, and will be the deal breaker for me.

I just picked one up about an hour ago. Can't wait until I have time to play! Being a newbie with dvd recorders, I'll probably only be able to tell you if it works!

Interesting, inexpensive recorder.


If you hit the skip or chapter button on your remote will it skip over that commercial to the next chapter point? I do something similar in my home movies that I create. I put a hidden menu loaded with chapter points and sprinkle these chapter points through the movie. Later when viewing the skip button will just skip to any chapter point.

Interesting and not what I would expect. Have you checked to see if this recorder sets the BookType to DVD-ROM for +R / +RW discs? That might explain why they playable.

Yes, that will work. With this recorder, you can set chapter at a set interval such as 5, 10 20 minutes etc. In the editing, you can delete any or all of these chapter marks and insert your own whereever you want. on this recorder it will skip over the hidden chapters, on other players, you would just skip to the next chaper exactly as you said

Do not know how they accomplish the +/- formatting to +VR but read an article that some manufactureres including Phillips have burners that automatically change the booktype via firmware built into the recorder. You could be right on that too. I am just happy that my edited disks will work on other players as my -VR disks on my Pioneer will not play on my other players. However they trick the player into thinking either format is a DVD-ROM works.

So far I have not had any copyright problems recording anything through a DishNetwork 811 high def receiver. Best bet would be to try it with your provider and your equipment. From other posts I have read, ceertain brands of recorders seem to think everything is copy protected. You can always take it back to Sams.

I saw one of these last week at a local Sam's and decided to Google it for some research, which led me to this discussion. I picked one up earlier this evening based primarily on the comments here. My first impression is very positive.

I just finished up my first test recording and playback was pretty good on LP mode. I need to read up on the editing, but it seems user friendly, as are the other menu options... translucent screens are nice. I like how it informs you what it's doing, "writing to disc" etc. Running CATV through the unit's tuner is giving me a noticeably sharper picture than straight through my bedroom unit Philips TV. Seems to be a lot of bang for the hundred bucks here.

My only gripe initially is a somewhat weak remote. It's not the worst I've seen, but a few buttons could have been shaped differently and/or placed in different locations.

This unit apparently is being carried at Wal-Mart for about $2 more, so that's good news for people without access to Sam's. I compared them before my purchase and they appeared to be identical except for the model number, but that's a common practice for Sam's and Wal-Mart to differentiate a product.

Thanks to everyone that has posted on this unit, the info was quite helpful. Perhaps I'll be able to add a bit more detail after I've had some time with this, but for now I certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a low-cost DVD recorder.

I too bought the MAG MSR90D6, I tried recording in 4hr mode, finalized disk, and pb in same recorder and all was fine nice video, BUT no audio when playing on my laptop or desktop, video fine but no audio, I used DVD-R Verbatim, also purchased 100 bulk pack 8X for 29.95, I will try to record same 4hr mode and see if I get audio, will let you know when finished


, Ron
:eek:

the last msg I forgot to mention the 100 pack is DVD+R, that is what I will be using next
Ron

ok, I tried the DVD+R Verbatim disk, no audio on laptop and dektop, but audio ok if played back on the MSR90D6?, anyone have any ideas why?
Thanks
Ron

Force, By any chance do you know the model number of the Wal-Mart units? Thanks.

Force, By any chance do you know the model number of the Wal-Mart units? Thanks.

I'm going from memory, but I think it was MWR10D6. S for Sam's and W for Wal-Mart makes sense, but I'm not sure about the 90D6 designation versus 10D6. The units appeared identical. They did come with their own manuals and there was no mention of any other models like some manuals do. Nice manual, too. 80 pages, fairly well laid out. No multiple languages, it's all English except for one page of Spanish instruction on the back page... kinda weird just that one page.

The Wal-Mart I checked had the units on an end cap, almost hidden actually. It's like they just got them in because they didn't even have one amongst all the other recorders and players. The date of manufacture on my MSR90D6 unit is Feb. 2006.

ok, I tried the DVD+R Verbatim disk, no audio on laptop and dektop, but audio ok if played back on the MSR90D6?, anyone have any ideas why?
Thanks
Ron

I'd double-check the cabling first. Beyond that I'd look into the program you're using on the computer for playback and its audio settings. There are also audio output settings in the menu for the MSR90D6.

I hope you figure it out.

I called Mag and they answered and fed me to Funi, they told me it was my problem, I also have Lite-on recorder and it rec and pb fine, and plays back on both the laptop and desktop, I'm testing on 3hr mode now, also the gal that answered the phone said I'm using the wrong disks, but it states in manual that I am using right disks Verbatim DVD+R 8x.
Thanks for all your help, if anyone can figure this out would greatly appreciate
Thanks
Ron

This unit apparently is being carried at Wal-Mart for about $2 more, so that's good news for people without access to Sam's. I compared them before my purchase and they appeared to be identical except for the model number, but that's a common practice for Sam's and Wal-Mart to differentiate a product.
It is possible that the one at Wal-Mart may not have progressive-scan. I have seen Funai Magnavox DVD players being sold at Sam's Club with progressive-scan, but the similar ones at Wal-Mart do not have progressive-scan.

Force, Thanks & I checked my local Wal-Mart today, a very small store, but they din't have any & no one seemed to know what I was talking about & I din't have time to make them go & check their computers.

The next town over has a really Big store & Video Dept. so if I get a chance I'll see if I can get over there. Thanks Again.

I too bought the MAG MSR90D6, I tried recording in 4hr mode, finalized disk, and pb in same recorder and all was fine nice video, BUT no audio when playing on my laptop or desktop, video fine but no audio, I used DVD-R Verbatim, also purchased 100 bulk pack 8X for 29.95, I will try to record same 4hr mode and see if I get audio, will let you know when finished


, Ron
:eek:

After reading your post, I grabbed a DVD-R that I had recorded on the Magnavox. Popped it in my Dell laptop and it played perfectly, sound, chapters, thumbnails and all. I would check the DVD software to see if there is an audio flag of some type that you can change. Also, double click the volume icon in the tray on your computer and make sure nothing is muted or turned completely down. If it has sound on playback on a DVD player, it recorded the sound.

I would suggest with any DVD recorder that you do not record in more than the 2 hour mode. It will record with fewer lines of resolution. You will see a definate difference in quality especially if you have a large screen TV. I find that the 4 hour mode on this unit as well as my Pioneer are fine for time shifting, but I will not use it for something I want to keep unless it just won't fit.

I called Mag and they answered and fed me to Funi, they told me it was my problem, I also have Lite-on recorder and it rec and pb fine, and plays back on both the laptop and desktop, I'm testing on 3hr mode now, also the gal that answered the phone said I'm using the wrong disks, but it states in manual that I am using right disks Verbatim DVD+R 8x.
Thanks for all your help, if anyone can figure this out would greatly appreciate
Thanks
RonWhat kind of discs you use will have no effect on whether the audio works or not, assuming the disc can be used at all with the recorder and player.

You need to determine if it was a recording problem or a playback problem. Try to play back a know-to-be good DVD on the setup you are using that has problems. If that works, but the disc in question doesn't, then it would seem that the audio didn't get recorded. Then you will have to look into your recording setup, how is the audio getting to it, is it through the cable, using the recorder's tuner, or via RCA jacks (red/white). When you make the recording, and are watching the material being recorded, do you hear the audio? When you play back the disc on the same machine that created it, do you hear audio?

This is the type of process of elimination that you should go through to isolate the source of the problem.

It is possible that the one at Wal-Mart may not have progressive-scan. I have seen Funai Magnavox DVD players being sold at Sam's Club with progressive-scan, but the similar ones at Wal-Mart do not have progressive-scan.

I can't say for sure. I think the Wal-Mart model had progressive scan, but I can't absolutely recall that it did. If I happen to go in there again this weekend I'll be sure to check it out.

I can't say for sure. I think the Wal-Mart model had progressive scan, but I can't absolutely recall that it did. If I happen to go in there again this weekend I'll be sure to check it out.
Can I assume that progressive scan only effects playback and if I have no intentions of using the recorder as a player it will not effect a DVD recorded and played back on a player that has progressive scan?

You're right, progressive scan only affects playback.

All consumer DVD recorders accept only 480i (interlaced) NTSC TV signals as inputs for recording. Even these recordings playback fine on a DVD player with progressive scan output (480p).

Very nice thread! I am downloading the user manual as we speak. Since multi-tuner DVD recorders are only science fiction right now, creating a virtual multi-tuner system with multiple recorders is one good way of doing it, and affordable reliable dvd recorders are always a good way to built a system like that!

On the format discussion, I think this is rather consistent. The traditional "-" manufacturers like Pioneer and Panasonic treat +R/+RW discs like -R, and do not offer any special "+" features (even though they use a +format). So it makes sense that a "+" format company like Funai would be treating the -R/-RW like "+", and taking advantages of the "+" features such as chapter hiding to remove commercials. As other speculated, I agree on the speculation that they may be using some trick to convince DVD players to play a -R(+VR) or -RW(+VR).

The chapter creation/customization feature sounds like a very handy/practical feature for those interested in doing that.

Theoretically a number of the new dvd players of the last 2-3 years should be playing unfinalized -RW(VR) and +RW. In some threads, some people have mentioned that finalizing -RW(VR) improved compatibility somewhat, even though it is not mandatory. It would be a nice test to do if someone has a boatload of recent dvd players. I only have one :-)

Other than the adjustable chapter time setting, the other features mentioned for the Sylvania seem worthless, as they are playback features. I don't recall EVER having played a DVD in any of the many, many recorders I've owned, other than a brief check of the recording, since none of them are as good for viewing as a quality playback only (non-recording) machine.

I've never touched a manual for a Panny unit either, but have never had to, since the interface is so simple to use. My 7-year old son makes recordings frequently with one of them. FR mode is invaluable. The new Pannys will have upconversion too, FYI.


Got a newbie question- What is FR mode and why is it invaluable?

thnx

FR mode is only 'invaluable" if you're stuck having to actually record things in real-time. If you're dumping shows off a DVR onto DVDs, you'll probably never use it.

I've made plenty of recordings so far, using Memorex dvd-r and HP dvd+r. Works great. Instruction manual is easy to follow, and recording and editing has been a snap. I'll say what others keep saying-this forum really helped this dvd recorder newbie! Picture and sound quality seem to be almost as good as the source.
I do have a question. Not really a big deal, but I tried to record a documentary dvd that was downloaded by a friend. I'm pretty sure it's a non-copyright protected production, as the makers encourage sharing with friends. Problem is, the Magnavox says it's protected and cannot be reproduced. I tried recording to a Zenith vcr, no problem. Then, this is strange, tried to just burn it from the vcr to the dvr, and it was blocked again! Does this make any sense?
The good news is that the Magnavox doesn't seem overly sensitive, as I copied "It's a Wonderful Life" from studio released vhs to dvd. The same with an old Def Leppard concert video.
Overall, I'd buy it again! Thanks again for all the help.

Theoretically a number of the new dvd players of the last 2-3 years should be playing unfinalized -RW(VR) and +RW. In some threads, some people have mentioned that finalizing -RW(VR) improved compatibility somewhat, even though it is not mandatory. It would be a nice test to do if someone has a boatload of recent dvd players. I only have one :-)

Neither my Sony or cheapie Nexxtech will play unfinalized discs.

Neither my Sony or cheapie Nexxtech will play unfinalized discs.

My Toshiba and Sony players will play unfinalized DVD+RW disks (VR mode)recorded on the Magvavox and they will play Finalized DVD-RW disks (VR mode) made on that recorder. But, neither player will play a DVD-RW (VR mode) recorded on my Pioneer recorder. They will only play DVDs recorded in video mode on that machine. This is consistant with what both instruction manuals say.

Has anyone had success recording DVD-RWs in VR-mode on a single format recorder and playing on any DVD players?

FR mode is only 'invaluable" if you're stuck having to actually record things in real-time. If you're dumping shows off a DVR onto DVDs, you'll probably never use it.

This depends on the recording practices of each user. Some users may never use/need the FR mode, others may use it all the time. There are some variations in how it is implemented (and named) among different models, some offer it for Timer only, others offer it for all recordings.

But the FR mode can also be very handy even if you are dumping shows from a DVR to a DVD, for example if you want to fill up the DVD with one show:

For example, if you have a program that is 2hours and 40 minutes long, using an FR mode you can fill up the DVD without wasting any space. (Some people recommend to leave a small buffer, and not to fill it up 100%).

Without FR mode you have to chose the closest approximation (eg 3-hour or 4-hour depending on what your recorder has, but it won't fill up the DVD).

Got a newbie question- What is FR mode and why is it invaluable?

thnx

The FR (Flexible Recording) mode allows you to fill-up a DVD with one recording. So if you have a movie that it is 1 hour and 22 minutes long, you are telling the DVD recorder to fill up the DVD and use the best possible quality that allows 1 hour and 22 minutes to fill up the disc. (You can also use this method to put multiple recordings per DVD but you have to manual stop each one and calculate the appropriate times each time).

In the majority of situations the duration of the FR recording and the quality are linked, one exception being Pioneer's MN's mode which allows you to specify those two independently.

When using the FR mode some people recommend that you leave a small buffer, and not fill up the DVD 100%.

A quick question?

I'm picking this unit up tonight at Sam's.

I'll be using it to record programming to be watched on a Toshiba SD-P1600 portable DVD player in the car during the summer months on vacation.

The SD-P1600, can only play DVD-R discs. Will it be able to play the DVD-R disks recorded on the Magnavox, considering that the disk is first formatted in +VR, or does it not matter as long as the disk is a DVD-R finalized.

I'm just a little confused :confused:

If the result is a finalized DVD-R, the disc won't be "first formatted in +VR". You don't format DVD-R (or DVD+R). You record to it and finalize it when done recording to it. VR mode is for DVD+/-RW.

I think there may be some support for VR mode on DVD+/-R, but it's pretty pointless since those are write-once media, and editing you do cannot reclaim the space of the deleted material.

Thanks Bob, so what I think you are saying is that it will work in the portable with no problem?

I'm new to DVD recorders, and this last week I have wasted more time on the phone then I want to think about with Samsung.

So far, all I can say is that this particular technoligy is a nightmare!

I wonder if this DVD recorder (or any one) will set the booktype on +R media to "DVD-ROM" on finalization (allows the best compatibility among standalone recorders).

Thanks Bob, so what I think you are saying is that it will work in the portable with no problem?Yep, just record basic DVD-R with no fancy VR modes, finalize and you should be good to go. I do all my "permanent" recording that way and I've yet to make a disc that wouldn't play in every DVD Player I've tried it in (not counting when the recording process itself failed for whatever reason, usually bad media).

People still call Tech Support, with the 'net out there?!

Yep, just record basic DVD-R with no fancy VR modes, finalize and you should be good to go. I do all my "permanent" recording that way and I've yet to make a disc that wouldn't play in every DVD Player I've tried it in (not counting when the recording process itself failed for whatever reason, usually bad media).

Just starting thinking about buying a DVD recorder for the stuff that I record on my SA8300 DVR and don't watch quick enough.

I'm really getting a bit confused with DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-ROM, VR mode, etc.....

Is there a link to a basic discussion of DVD recorder terminology?

(It's too bad something like that isn't stickied to the top of the forum so us newbies don't keep asking the same questions over & over.........)

There might be something like that over at digitalfaq.com. One good way to learn this stuff is to hang around this Forum for a few months. Or perhaps read some of the past Topics here.

EDIT: This might help: http://www.dvddemystified.com/ . Google can be helpful in such quests for information.

The MSR90D6 is apparently the model # for this unit sold at Sam's Club, correct? Is this the Magnavox MRV640 or MRV660 on the Magnavox website? I'm trying to figure out which one it is. Thanks.

Jim;

This model is not on the Magnavox site. The 2 models they show only record +r; +rw, and have a display.

I think this was made by Funai for Sam's, and it's not available on their web site, so if your not near a store, your sol.

I went by Walmart and they are selling the 10D6 unit for $98. On the front of the unit it say "Progressive Scan". They had a manual laying out so I read some of it. It's very detailed. Progressive is 480. It does appear to have sorta kinda "FR" mode, you set the time and it decides what mode. For all you Liteon 5005'ers like me it does not have "DV in" anywhere, no recording Audio CD's, VCD's or SVCD's. Other than that it seems OK, does have "S-Video in" front and back. Looks like Progressive Scan is a go! It is built by Funai. Hope this helps!

Theoretically a number of the new dvd players of the last 2-3 years should be playing unfinalized -RW(VR) and +RW. In some threads, some people have mentioned that finalizing -RW(VR) improved compatibility somewhat, even though it is not mandatory. It would be a nice test to do if someone has a boatload of recent dvd players. I only have one :-)

I picked up the mag at Sams yesterday. After hookup, I recorded a short clip from an HDDirectTivo at 480i via S-video to DVD-RW. I was able to play the disc back on a Samsung 941 and a Sony 530 DVDP without finalizing the disc. The Sony is from 2000 and is very picky about playing back burned media. I have read that it will play RW media, but not R media? go figure. I was pleased that both played back the -RW without finalizing the disc.

I picked up the mag at Sams yesterday. After hookup, I recorded a short clip from an HDDirectTivo at 480i via S-video to DVD-RW. I was able to play the disc back on a Samsung 941 and a Sony 530 DVDP without finalizing the disc. The Sony is from 2000 and is very picky about playing back burned media. I have read that it will play RW media, but not R media? go figure. I was pleased that both played back the -RW without finalizing the disc.

That sounds nice! Not having to finalize is a nice convinience!

I went by Walmart and they are selling the 10D6 unit for $98. On the front of the unit it say "Progressive Scan". They had a manual laying out so I read some of it. It's very detailed. Progressive is 480. It does appear to have sorta kinda "FR" mode, you set the time and it decides what mode. For all you Liteon 5005'ers like me it does not have "DV in" anywhere, no recording Audio CD's, VCD's or SVCD's. Other than that it seems OK, does have "S-Video in" front and back. Looks like Progressive Scan is a go! It is built by Funai. Hope this helps!

Hey, Had1, I've got two 5005's myself and love 'em. May have bought this instead of the second 5005 if I\it had been available then, but maybe not. I love recording CDR/RW' discs on my 5005. Was a feature I never thought I'd use until I had it. Great fro recording Concerts off TV for listening in the car. Other than the botched Tunber (no problem for me since I have a ReplayTV hooked up to it), it's a great m,achicne and still the most flexible I know of. And the VCD/SVCD's are pretty darn good considering their limitations. Anyway, for the price, great machines. But this Funai Magnavox sounds like a great deal as well. But I guess two is enough for now. ;)

Cheers!

Bron

That sounds nice! Not having to finalize is a nice convinience!


I carefully finalized all my -RW's for sometime until I accidentally forgot one time and then discovereed that the DVD-RW (VR)'s from my 5005's played on just about everything fine. And get this, sicne then I've had *less* compatibility problems with unfinalized disks than finalized - weird, eh.

Anyway, most newer players seme to handle them fine as do all my PC DVD drives.

DVD+RW is not as compatible on my units, works on soem, not others. Go figure.

Has anyone found out the difference between the Sam's model & the Wal-Mart model besides just different model numbers?

There was some question wether the Wal-Mart model could do progressive scan or not but a friend of mine just told me that the Wal-Mart model says "Progressive Scan" on the front panel so I guess that's not one of the differences so does anyone know if there are any differences? Thanks

I've quickly compared both owner's manuals, and can find no difference. Both are available on Funai's website.

Thanks bbt, And I'll give that Wal-Mart Manual a look see right now :)

If this recorder pans out to have some durability it looks like it will make a nice Christmas present or gift for family, girlfriends & etc. :)

I just recorded a concert to DVD-R (HQ/1 hr mode) from my DirecTivo. I then went to edit the disc... editied the Title and cleared all chapter marks so I could reindex it at the beginning of each song. It took a while and I was able to get it just right. I tested it out and then finalized the disc. The disc plays fine on the Mag, but when I put it into a Samsung player, it does not have any of the reindexed chapter marks. Did I do something wrong on the Mag, or is this the expected behavior, that chapter marks are only valid on the mag and not other players? If this is the case, that will be the last time I take make the effort to reindex the chapter marks. What a waste.....

I think it should work.

How were able to determine that the chapter marks were not recognized by the Samsung player?

I just recorded a concert to DVD-R (HQ/1 hr mode) from my DirecTivo. I then went to edit the disc... editied the Title and cleared all chapter marks so I could reindex it at the beginning of each song. It took a while and I was able to get it just right. I tested it out and then finalized the disc. The disc plays fine on the Mag, but when I put it into a Samsung player, it does not have any of the reindexed chapter marks. Did I do something wrong on the Mag, or is this the expected behavior, that chapter marks are only valid on the mag and not other players? If this is the case, that will be the last time I take make the effort to reindex the chapter marks. What a waste.....

I found on mine that the editing on DVD-Rs do not show up on my Toshiba player when I hide chapters-it just plays the entire disk as recorded, but the edits I did on DVD+RW and DVD-RWs worked fine on the Toshiba player. On the RWs, you can create titles, put your choice of thumbnail, delete titles if there is a section you do not want and name them whatever you want. This is much nicer than marking chapters. All the edits, thumbnails, titles, names etc showed up on my Toshiba player exactly as it did on the Magnavox when using RWs.

Have not used a DVD+R on this machine, so do not know if those edits will be compatable.

BTW, just picked up some Office Depot DVD+RWs on sale for 12.99/25 and they work just fine in this player as do the DVD-RWs from them. At 50 cents a disk, I can afford to use RWs exclusively and have all the editing compatable on other players.

I just recorded a concert to DVD-R (HQ/1 hr mode) from my DirecTivo. I then went to edit the disc... editied the Title and cleared all chapter marks so I could reindex it at the beginning of each song. It took a while and I was able to get it just right. I tested it out and then finalized the disc. The disc plays fine on the Mag, but when I put it into a Samsung player, it does not have any of the reindexed chapter marks. Did I do something wrong on the Mag, or is this the expected behavior, that chapter marks are only valid on the mag and not other players? If this is the case, that will be the last time I take make the effort to reindex the chapter marks. What a waste.....

Perhaps this is because the -R(+VR) bonus features are not recognized by a dvd player expecting a -R(Video mode) video?

I think it should work.

How were able to determine that the chapter marks were not recognized by the Samsung player?

I played it back in the SS and hit next chapter and it landed in the middle of a song, not at the beginning where I set the chapter mark.

I'll play more with the DVD-RW and +RW. I picked up a 30 stack of each while I was at Sams.

This particular concert that I was recording, is one that I will keep and it has no comercials, so no edits were required, this is why I decied to just use a cheaper -R disc.

I don't have a unit yet but I've downloaded the manual to study. Look @ page, 62 the bottom half "Making Edits Compatible" is for DVD+RW only. That may help clear things up. I have a Liteon 5005 and I use +RW exclusively. I get it like I want it and copy it on my PC to a +/-R. Hope this helps. BTW has anyone tested the 4 hr. & 6 hr. mode to see how good or bad they are??

ok, I tried the DVD+R Verbatim disk, no audio on laptop and dektop, but audio ok if played back on the MSR90D6?, anyone have any ideas why?
Thanks
Ron
Try downloading the free VLC Media Player, I had the same problem with an ILO DVD Recorder it wouldn't play the burnt disc on my desktop computer. Good Luck and I hope it works for you.

Try downloading the free VLC Media Player, I had the same problem with an ILO DVD Recorder it wouldn't play the burnt disc on my desktop computer. Good Luck and I hope it works for you.

Look @ page, 62 the bottom half "Making Edits Compatible" is for DVD+RW only. That may help clear things up.

Yes, but When I edit the Title Name and Index picture on a DVD-R, these show up fine when played back on another player. Only the Chapter Marks are not being done on the DVD-R.

I was at SAMS Club today, and I have to admit, being a Panasonic DVD Recorder Owner, this unit looks very nice. It doesn't look like a $98 unit at all. Does this unit run pretty cool and is it forgivable with VHS dubbing (like having a TBC)? Some DVD Recorders stop recording when the pictures goes "out of whack". Having an open mind, It's nice to see so many satisfied Magnavox owners in this thread. There was a time when Magnavox ruled the earth in the early 90s with their non-destructable VCRs and Televisions. My dad had a Magnavox VCR and it took over a decade for that thing to die after being constantly used.

Well I hooked up the VHS to the Mag today. I am beginning the archive process of my VHS tapes to DVD. I have some live concert footage unavailable on DVD and these need to go digital. Other than the source VHS looks like crap on most of these, the Mag is working just fine to capture these to disc. No signs of shutdown during TBC that I have noticed.

Was thinking of buying one of these to copy some programs from my cable box's SA8300HD-DVR when I run out of room on the harddrive.

I realize it won't be a true digital transfer if I use the 8300's "copy to VCR" function....just want it to look better than my VCR copy.

If my VCR tapes made using this "copy to VCR" have a quality of "5 or 6" on a 1 to 10 scale, any guess what the score for this unit would be?

Anyone see any downside to this unit for that purpose???

thnx

Anyone see any downside to this unit for that purpose?
That's exactly what I use mine for (and for playing DVDs), and it performs admirably.

That's exactly what I use mine for (and for playing DVDs), and it performs admirably.

So if I dumped one to this unit and one to my VCR, the quality difference would be obvious?

Have no idea; remember- the output can only be as good as the input, foremost. Factor in MPEG compression effects (probably negligible if you use XP speed) and I guess it should be a'ight, but the thing to do is just try it and see.

IThere was a time when Magnavox ruled the earth in the early 90s with their non-destructable VCRs and Televisions. My dad had a Magnavox VCR and it took over a decade for that thing to die after being constantly used.
The early 90s Magnavox VCR were made by Panasonic.

Actually, The Matsushita Group, right?

I bought a top of the line Magnavox VCR (made by Panasonic) instead of a Panasonic back then, because it had more bells, & whistles, & looked better then the pannys, and I knew my Panny TV combo remote would work. I loved it, It worked Great, It had the best Pic Quality I ever saw, and it was all lit up with moving stereo light bars, and showed me elapsed time on the tape, so I could pause for popcorn, and know how much was left on the movie, but it didn't last long :( I think the heat got to it by my eventually putting it in a bedroom armoire, with a compact 13" Magnavox TV.

Can anyone tell me how to program a channel above # 69 into this model's tuner?

I have it hooked up to a Dish sat receiver, that has a modulator that uses channel # 73 for best picture quality. I was able to go into the sat receiver and change the modulator output to channel # 69, and it works fine, but just want to know why it won't go above 69.

If someone could go into: setup-channel- manual channel program. See if you can add channel # 73. Or just try to input it with the remote's number buttons.

Thanks

Can anyone tell me how to program a channel above # 69 into this model's tuner?

I have it hooked up to a Dish sat receiver, that has a modulator that uses channel # 73 for best picture quality. I was able to go into the sat receiver and change the modulator output to channel # 69, and it works fine, but just want to know why it won't go above 69.

If someone could go into: setup-channel- manual channel program. See if you can add channel # 73. Or just try to input it with the remote's number buttons.

Thanks

Could this be the difference between seeing it as a OTA tv channel vs a cable tV channel? I am only asking, i do not know the answer....

ncaahoops;


. When I went into the sat receiver to set it for channel # 69, I had to change the setting to OTA from cable.

The recorder only seems to see the OTA setting, and yet the manual specifies either cable, or OTA can be hooked up to the RF input, and it also talks about how to punch in channel #'s over 99, but I can't figure what I'm doing wrong

I've been thru the whole manual, and played with every setting in the setup menu's!

That's why I'm asking if anyone else with the Magnavox recorder has this issue?

I solved the problem!

I went into the manual add/delete channels, and removed all channels in memory, and did an auto scan again, and this time it was able to find # 73, and put in to memory!

Go figure!

RF channel 69 is a different frequency from cable channel 69. RF channels > 13 are in the "UHF" band (formerly 14-83, now 14-69 to accomodate the analog cellular bands), while (from memory, don't quote me) the cable channels > 14 are somewhere either before or after the FM band.

RF channel 69 is a different frequency from cable channel 69. RF channels > 13 are in the "UHF" band (formerly 14-83, now 14-69 to accomodate the analog cellular bands), while (from memory, don't quote me) the cable channels > 14 are somewhere either before or after the FM band.

This may be so, but how do you explain after the initial set up and scan that the recorder tuner didn't see the channel the first time, and stopped at # 69, never seeing the modulator output(# 73) of my vip 622, which my Sony Vega set to cable channels did see all along.

What ever the cause, I'm very happy with this recorder, and well worth the money, and then some!

I carefully finalized all my -RW's for sometime until I accidentally forgot one time and then discovereed that the DVD-RW (VR)'s from my 5005's played on just about everything fine. And get this, sicne then I've had *less* compatibility problems with unfinalized disks than finalized - weird, eh.


I'm curious, does the 5005 have FR mode?

I just installed the Magnavox in my main room, running my digital cable box through to the tv using s-video and basic a/v cables. Last night, while watching CSI on Spike (not recording), the picture just froze. Got streaming audio, just a still frame of the show. Turned the tv off, turned it back on and it reset fine. My question is, could it have anything to do with the dvd recorder? I'm not running s-video from the recorder to the tv, just from the cable box to the recorder, so could that be the problem? It's never happened with my tv before. Any ideas as to what the problem might be? Other than this instant, no problems. The recording quality from Starz is perfect.

I've had this Magnavox MSR90D6 for almost 3 weeks and so far everything is good on it. it's the best DVD recorder I've owned so far. except forget the 6hr recording mode: it's just too poor quality.
I've tried all formats with it; 5 or 6 different brands, and it handled all of them equally well, even the cheapies.
for those of you worried about longevity or buying extended service plans, WHY???? Sams Club guarantees satisfaction on everything they sell, no time limit. Just like Costco. In fact for me one of the major selling points on buying this unit was the fact that I could buy it at Sams Club.
The remote is cheezy, however, and it's my only complaint about this unit.

BTW, this is a great forum ! Never accessed it much, until I found all this info on the Sam's Club Magnavox DVD recorder.

I'll take a chance and ask a potentially-inflamatory question: are there other forums like this one out there, that are ...... just as good as this one? or is this the best of its kind on the net?

(reason I ask is that even though I belong to several different forums each, concerning my other three "passions" or areas of interest (motorcycles, caddys, and satellite tv) there is one main one for each of these areas that I frequent most often, yet I am glad to know about the others because sometimes I find something there that wasn't available on my "favorites").

Thanks.

I think this is the "BEST" Forum :D

Others to check are:

www.hometheaterforum.com
www.videohelp.com
www.audioreview.com

For "Pro" Reviews Try:
www.ecoustics.com
www.cnet.com

For "Pro" Reviews Try:
www.ecoustics.com
www.cnet.com

Actually I am a frequent contributor to the ecoustics.com forum which is a nice place for casual banter though you'll need to be patient enough to filter through all the random digressions, trolls, interpersonal squabbling, etc. to the 20% of useful info...their "professional" reviews however are not "professional" at all in any sense of the word...any registered user can post a review of any product.

CNET is slightly more "professional" but their audio reviews are often spotty, their computer/tech reviews are ok though.

Golfster,

I'm looking to buy VCR/DVD recorder combo from either Magnavox or Sylvania. I've been reading your posts and thanks for all the information you have supplied on this forum. Do you know if it would make a big difference if VCR/DVD recorder has both Component Video input and Component Video output. Right now I have Dish DVR 942 model using HDMI to Sony 60" LCD RP's HDMI. Would it give/record better picture quality if I connect Component out from DVR to Component in to DVD recorder and component out from DVD to component in on TV? Otherwise I would have to use S-Video from DVR to DVD recorder and component from DVD recorder to TV.

I really appreciate your response.

- Vic

My wife had one big question, can you record multiple episodes of a show on to one disk? I just picked one of these units up at Sam's. This is my first DVD Recorder and I'm not familiar with them at all. I've burned many different types of DVD's on my G4 Mac Tower. Also I went to Magnavox website and there is no DVD Recorder that even comes close to either the Sam's or WalMart model #. I think someone said they were fairly certain that the MWR10D6 at WalMart is the the same player. I went there with intentions of downloading the manual, I like .pdf manuals. I'll probably give it a whirl tomorrow.
Thanks

can you record multiple episodes of a show on to one disk?
Sure!

My wife had one big question, can you record multiple episodes of a show on to one disk?
Of course, the quality gets a tad worse the longer the recording mode. 1,2, even 3 hour mode seems fine on this model. I would suspect, as others have stated, the 6 hour mode will not be of the finest recording quality.

Man that sounds great! So I can record one show stop and then add another, that's cool! I looked over everything at WM and Sam's. They had a boatload of these at Sam's and WM's were dated May 2nd, '06 so I guess one could say they just got them. One player said it was DVD-RAM compatible, I thought that was kind of old technology, the first Macs we had did this format so why are recorders still using it? I'm looking forward to using this thing and will be back here I feel sure.
Thanks for the info!

Grateful11, Yep you can keep adding programs on until the disc is filled up or you finalized the disc.

The Magnavox models at Sam's Club & Wal-Mart are both made by Funai not Philips/Magnavox.

Both Owners Manuals can be found here www.funai-corp.com

I've downloaded both of them & I can't find ANY difference between the two manuals except the model numbers.

Sam's Club Model MSR90D6
Wal-Mart's Model MWR10D6

I'M JUST GUESSING BUT I THINK IT'S:
M= Magnavox
S= Sam's Club
W= Wal-Mart
R = Recorder
Number = Model?
D = Discount (For Discount Store? or Digital?)
6 = Model Year (2006)

Heh. Just 'cause DVD-RAM is "old technology" doesn't mean it doesn't have use. For making repeated recordings of stuff that's to be played back in that player, DVD-RAM is FAR more reliable, and offers more features than any of the DVD recordable formats. I keep a Panasonic ES15 around for this very reason.

Chill Dude I didn't say it was useless techology, just wondering why it was still around, you just don't hear much about it anymore. :)

Chill Dude I didn't say it was useless techology, just wondering why it was still around, you just don't hear much about it anymore. :)

The main reason it is still around is Panasonic continuing to support it, but not supporting it enough to become mainstream.

DVD players made by anyone other than Panasonic seem to ignore DVD-RAM playback.

However a number of non-Panasonic DVD recorders support DVD-RAM. Most notably Pioneer added support for DVD-RAM in their 2006 models, but on the other hand JVC did not include it in their two low-end 2006 models.

Golfster,

I'm looking to buy VCR/DVD recorder combo from either Magnavox or Sylvania. I've been reading your posts and thanks for all the information you have supplied on this forum. Do you know if it would make a big difference if VCR/DVD recorder has both Component Video input and Component Video output. Right now I have Dish DVR 942 model using HDMI to Sony 60" LCD RP's HDMI. Would it give/record better picture quality if I connect Component out from DVR to Component in to DVD recorder and component out from DVD to component in on TV? Otherwise I would have to use S-Video from DVR to DVD recorder and component from DVD recorder to TV.

I really appreciate your response.

- Vic

As you probably know, you can not record in high def on these recorders as they are limited to about 500+ lines of resolution. so a component input is not necessary. Most DVD recorders including this Magnavox do not have Component inputs. The S-video input will send as good a signal as you can record. On the other hand, the Component output will allow you to play your DVDs in progressive scan where s-video and composite outputs will not. I use s-video in and component out on both my DVD recorders and the picture quality is excellent in 1 and 2 hour mode. When you record from a high def source and play it back, you get a stretched letterbox display. I stretch it vertically to get a "normal" picture.

I appreciate the positive feedback on the posts. The recorder continues to work perfectly.

With the RAM stuff settled let's get back to the Recorder. What's the best and most beneficial way for me to hook it up? Here's what I got: SA 8300HD Cable Box, Sony 50A10 LCD RP. How can I get the most out of it? Right now I'm thinking mainly recording stuff with the DVR and when it's starting to get full I'll dump some stuff onto DVD's. Sometimes there's just not enough time to look at everything and I just want to be able to look at it on rainy weekends or what have you. Sorry all the lame questions.

edster922,
The 5005 does not have FR mode.

As you probably know, you can not record in high def on these recorders as they are limited to about 500+ lines of resolution. so a component input is not necessary. Most DVD recorders including this Magnavox do not have Component inputs. The S-video input will send as good a signal as you can record. On the other hand, the Component output will allow you to play your DVDs in progressive scan where s-video and composite outputs will not. I use s-video in and component out on both my DVD recorders and the picture quality is excellent in 1 and 2 hour mode. When you record from a high def source and play it back, you get a stretched letterbox display. I stretch it vertically to get a "normal" picture.

I appreciate the positive feedback on the posts. The recorder continues to work perfectly.


Golfster, really appreciate your response again. I'm looking for this particular model which is VCR/DVD recorder combo which has both Component video in and out on the back. Check out the ebay item link, in the picture below shows both the connections on the back of DVD recorder.

http://cgi.*********/MAGNAVOX-MRV700VR-DVD-RECORDER-VCR-COMBO-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ9720702135QQcategoryZ32864QQssPageNameZWDV WQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.*********/MAGNAVOX-MRV700VR-DVD-RECORDER-VCR-COMBO-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ9720702135QQcategoryZ32864QQssPageNameZWDV WQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem, this is the link Golfster

Oops seems like truncating the link. May be this one would work.

http://www.cal-york.com/images/MRV700back.jpg

vicky1377, Is the Mag. Combo a new model or old model?

And if it's made for Magnavox by Philips it probably is a completely different animal than the Magnavox's made by Funai.

vicky1377, Is the Mag. Combo a new model or old model?

And if it's made for Magnavox by Philips it probably is a completely different animal than the Magnavox's made by Funai.

Not sure if it's made by Funai or Philips. Which one is better? Magnavox MRV700VR is the model number from Magnavox. When I google it, it says it has only one Component Video Output and no Component video input. When I check it on ebay from some of the retailers, in the picture it clearly shows that it has one coMPonent video input and one output. How is Sylvania VCR dvd recorder combo? I used it for couple of days to try out. It was pretty good but only records on DVD-R, -RW but plays back all the formats. I only tried DVD-R, can tell you that it was really good. I connected Dish DVR 942 to DVD recorder via composite since dish dvr didn't have S-Video (dvr is connected to TV via hdmi) and even though dish dvr had available Component out but DVD player didn't. So connected DVD recorder to TV via Component video out. Dubbed some tapes too, they looked just great. I was just trying out, didn't know if wanted to keep it.

- Vic

vicky1377

Remember, this thread is only referring to this particular Magnavox model. You can not generalize on other models. Here is some info I found on the mopdel you refer to.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Philips_Magnavox_MRV700VR_DVD_recorder_VCR_combo/4505-9141_7-31404415.html

Does anyone know how to eliminate the "Empty Title" on a finalized DVD+/-R?

vicky1377, Is the Mag. Combo a new model or old model?

And if it's made for Magnavox by Philips it probably is a completely different animal than the Magnavox's made by Funai.
All Magnavox and Philips DVD/VCR combos are made by Funai. The DVD recorder/combo ones come with a Philips DVD recorder drive and the circuitries, VCR chassis, and PCB boards are all made by Funai.

I'm not a fan of extended warranties but did anyone pop for one on this unit since it was only $15
for 3 years? Actually I didn't think about and the guy didn't offer it to me so I didn't even think
about until I got home.

Things like this tend to either die of infant mortality within the 30-day retailer-return period or not at all; I usually never pay for extended warranties, and have come out OK.

I have a question about editing out commercials. I want to record some shows I have recorded on my Directv DVR. The shows a half hour shows which can probably be edited down to 20 minutes by editing out commercial, credits, etc.

From reading posts I see I don't want to go over the 3 hour mark since video quality will suffer which would limit me to 6 shows but if I were able to edit them down to 20 minutes each I could get 9 shows on a disc (not to mention the benefit of no commercials). Is this possible?

Can I record the shows and edit out the commercials or are they always there (taking up disc space) but hidden by deleted chapter marks, etc? How about recording and editing out the commercials by pausing the DVD recorder or fast forwarding through the commercials using the DVR 30 second skip feature?

Is this possible?No problem on any HDD/DVD Recorder that I'm aware of. Record to HDD first, edit that content, burn the result to DVD. I do it all the time on both my Panasonic DMR-E85H and my Pioneer DVR-633H.

I finally got it hooked up today. Came out of the Video and Audio out of my SA8300HD STB and recorded 2 DVD's. The first was a TDK DVD-R 8x which I have no probably burning with my Mac and playing them back anywhere. Well I burned an Hour and half show at 2hr mode, then hit stop and it said "finish writing to disc", well it hung up at 60% and sat there for over a half an hour. I couldn't get to stop, eject or anything so I "yanked it, the cord, like I was startin' a mower". Plugged the unit back in and it successfully repaired the disc and it played fine, I even added another 10 show from DIY , finalized it, it played fine in the Magnavox and my old Apex but would never finish loading in my Pioneer DVD Changer. I burned another disc a Maxell DVD-R 8x an hour and half show. This burned fine, took it about 5 minutes to finish writing, I finalized it, that took a few minutes and it played fine in the Magnavox but no go once again in the Pioneer 5 disc changer. Both discs play fine in either of my Macs so I'm at a loss as what the problem would be other than trying a DVD+R Disc, I think I have 1 Imation branded one. Any suggestions? Keep in mind this is my first DVD Recorder.
Thanks

Video Challenged, If your talking about the Magnavox from what golfster has reported (Look for his report on page 2 or 3 here) you can cut "Delete" the commercials from -RW & +RW discs by making each commercial a "Title" & then you delete the "Title" & that erases the commercial from the disc.

For -R & +R discs you can only "Hide" the commercials on playback & hiding them only works when playing the disc back on the Magnavox recorder.

As far as watching a program & "Pausing" the recording to cut commercials out "ALL" dvd recorders let you do this & it works the same way that a VCR works using the "Pause" Button to cut a commercial out & this is the only way that you are able to cut commercials out of a -R or +R disc unless you have a recorder with a Hard Disk Drive in it where you cut the commercials out on the HDD & then dub it to a -R or +R disc.

And Yes you can use the Commercial Skip Button that's on the remote to fast forward through commercials that you din't "Hide" or "Delete."

How is this Mag. unit playing back commercial DVD's and scratched discs?

Well I burned an Hour and half show at 2hr mode, then hit stop and it said "finish writing to disc", well it hung up at 60% and sat there for over a half an hour. I couldn't get to stop, eject or anything so I "yanked it, the cord, like I was startin' a mower". Plugged the unit back in and it successfully repaired the disc and it played fine, I even added another 10 show from DIY , finalized it, it played fine in the Magnavox and my old Apex but would never finish loading in my Pioneer DVD Changer.

Funny, if you look back at one of my first posts on this recorder, mine did exactly the same thing on the first recording. I figured I stopped the recording too soon and confused it. Mine also stuck at 60%, I unplugged, it repaired itself and the disk played fine. Since then, everything has worked perfectly. Maybe it is an initiation we have to go through. Seems the unplugging resets it.

Have you tried disks from other DVD recorders on the Pioneer? It is possible that that player just does not recognize burned disks.

Funny, if you look back at one of my first posts on this recorder, mine did exactly the same thing on the first recording. I figured I stopped the recording too soon and confused it. Mine also stuck at 60%, I unplugged, it repaired itself and the disk played fine. Since then, everything has worked perfectly. Maybe it is an initiation we have to go through. Seems the unplugging resets it.

Have you tried disks from other DVD recorders on the Pioneer? It is possible that that player just does not recognize burned disks.

The only ones that I have played in it I burned on my Mac G4 Tower and they were either
Maxell or TDK DVD-R's in both cases. I would say I've had a 90% success rate using Roxio
Popcorn or Toast. This is my first stand alone DVD Recorder.

Will this recorder recognize the 16x9 format? Meaning will it letterbox it when I watch it on a non widescreen tv?
I have the liteon 5005 and it doesn't do it with that recorder. I have to rip the DVD and use ifo edit to set it to 16x9 to letterbox.

The only ones that I have played in it I burned on my Mac G4 Tower and they were either
Maxell or TDK DVD-R's in both cases. I would say I've had a 90% success rate using Roxio
Popcorn or Toast. This is my first stand alone DVD Recorder.

Well I burned that DVD+R and still no go in the Pioneer Changer. I took it to my old Kawasaki 5 Disc Changer http://www.fixya.com/technical-support/19600/kawasaki-SVP500-Multi-disc-DVD-Player.aspx and it plays like a top. For some reason the Pioneer just doesn't like the disc from the Magnavox/Funai. That's too bad because the Recorder is actually pretty nice and not very hard to use. Any other suggestions?

I did find this at Videohelp:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDnameid=4509&Search=Search

Maybe I should burn one and not finalize it and see what happens.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516514

http://www.hkflix.com/hardware/xq/asp/pid.67/qx/details.htm

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/3/84929.html

How is this Mag. unit playing back commercial DVD's and scratched discs?
It plays very well and spins at a higher speed.

It plays very well and spins at a higher speed.
What is the effect of spinning at a higher speed?

Well it's me again. I took one the DVD-R's from the Magnavox put it in my Mac G4 did the copy process with Toast 7 and it plays just fine in the Pioneer Changer. That's a little too much trouble for me unless someone comes up with a fix I guess I'll be returning it.

BTW: The remote really blows with the Magnavox. I have 20/20 vision and I still have trouble reading it.

Also: The disc I made was from Discov...HD and it actually looks pretty darn good. I can't get rid of the gray bars on top and bottom but from what I read there's only a couple that do. I can play it in Wide Zoom on my A10 and it's ok.

The DVDs I record on my Pioneer 520H and 210S recorders cannot be opened by MyDVDEdit on my Mac, but Toast 7 handles them just fine. I use Toast to set the Widescreen flag on anamorphic HDTV (down-rez'd to 480i) recordings from my HD TiVo, which does not provide the flag.

After re-burning the results using Toast, the new DVDs open fine with MyDVDEdit. So apparently Toast is cleaning up some mess left by the Pioneer DVD recorders.

The good news is that my 2 DVD players, a 2-year-old Sony and a 6-month-old JVC, both will playback DVD-RWs (unfinalized, in VR mode) recorded on my Pioneer recorders.

I guess I could record to a RW disc and then copy them to the computer. I get a feeling that no Recorders disc are going to play in that Pioneer Changer without doing this. I mean they play in everything else so unless I plan on changing out my Pioneer HTiB system, which I don't foresee happening anyway soon, I may just have to live with burning twice if it's something worth keeping.

So I choose the Widescreen Flag with Toast and when I burn it, it will be normal Widescreen?

Grateful11,

Yes, you choose the widescreen option in the encoding area, and you will get a properly flagged DVD that will direct the DVD players based on their TV aspect ratio settings. 16x9 will play normal widescreen. 4x3 will either letterbox or "pan and scan" depending on the setting chosen in the DVD player. These behave just like "enhanced for widescreen" commercial discs.

I'm looking at purchasing one for transferring some of my VHS tapes made off of Satellite. Quality as good as the original VHS in 2 hr mode?

Thanks

I'm looking at purchasing one for transferring some of my VHS tapes made off of Satellite. Quality as good as the original VHS in 2 hr mode?

Thanks

Absolutely. Resolution on a DVD in 1 and 2 hour mode is just about twice the resolution of VHS. And, if you record your satellite directly to the DVD recorder, it will be even better.

I just got this recorder from Sam's tonight and I burned my first movie using the SP 2 hour mode on a generic DVD. The video looks good but the sound is very low. I have to turn up the volume on my surround sound system 3/4's of the way to hear it okay, versus only having the volume up 1/3 of the way for other playback devices. Right now I'm trying a Verbatim disc using the different input to see if I have the same problem.

There is definately a learning curb to using the menu system on this recorder but it's workable, especially for the price. The only thing I don't like about it so far is the lack of component video inputs like I had on my Phillips DVDR 75. I know others have stated otherwise but I can tell a difference in video quality recording through component video versus s-video input using comparable video qualty sources.

I just got this recorder from Sam's tonight and I burned my first movie using the SP 2 hour mode on a generic DVD. The video looks good but the sound is very low. I have to turn up the volume on my surround sound system 3/4's of the way to hear it okay, versus only having the volume up 1/3 of the way for other playback devices. Right now I'm trying a Verbatim disc using the different input to see if I have the same problem.

There is definately a learning curb to using the menu system on this recorder but it's workable, especially for the price. The only thing I don't like about it so far is the lack of component video inputs like I had on my Phillips DVDR 75. I know others have stated otherwise but I can tell a difference in video quality recording through component video versus s-video input using comparable video qualty sources.

Apparently it was the generic disk that caused the poor audio quality. The Verbatim disk looks and sounds great. Now if there was just a firmware upgrade to disable macrovision....

hi...i just got the 10DS from walmart. it's my first dvd recorder, so after using it awhile i thought i'd check to see if it was good or bad compared to how they should work. and this is the only site that i found with any info on it.

so i guess i like it so far. i bought it mainly because i'm tired of messing with a noisy VCR and tapes to record tv shows. so i figured i could use this to record shows with better quality and easier to find. maybe a dumb reason to spend $100, but i thought i'd at least try it out.

i bought a five pack of imation DVD+RWs because they were the cheapest at $8.

i tested it out with just a one touch record of whatever was on in some of the different recording modes. i was happy to see that it was just like watching it live in the better quality modes.

but to test it out i programmed it to record the 2 hour david blaine thing, then the late show, and then conan. i set it in the SLP mode which is like 6 hours i think. i expected the worst, but i was kind of impressed with how it turned out. the 6 hour mode quality is easily watchable for time shifting, which is why i bought it to begin with.

so overall, i'm content with it. the remote sucks, of course. and the edits may be more trouble than needed when i could just push the cm skip button.

also, i tried out the chapter marking to mark out the commercials (on a DVD+RW disc) and it worked well on the actual recorder, but it went back to the default way of marking when i played it on my computers dvd rom drive. not a big deal i guess, and that might be fixed if i was to finalize the disc...but i can figure that out later.

thanks for the discussion here, it has helped.

After running out and picking this up at the local SAMS....I opened the box and took the manual out and read about it. It didn't have what I thought it would have. No DTS, NO Dolby digital as far as I could tell, you could RECORD in dolby digital but not play back? NO lots of stuff. I suppose it would be good for just a general recorder and not for playback. The idea of multiformat was what drew it to me.

I had to stop by Walmart to get some items and said what the heck.. let me see how much different the walmart one is compared to Sams.. well I didn't have to look hard because I came across the closeout of the Pioneer 531 (80hdd) for a buck seventy five! I decided to take this one home, since I could basically use it for everything. It isn't a multi-format, but it did have a hard drive and for seventy five bucks more it was a no brainer for me. HD wins out over mutliformat for me and it has DTS and everything else one could want in a recorder and player combined.

That's my story and I'm a happy camper.

What do you mean No DTS, NO Dolby digital? Thie first thing I did after hookup was play Diana Krall in DTS via the digital coax. It worked fine for me.

The recorder only records in DD 2.0, just like all other recorders.

Perhaps you have not flipped on bitstream in the audio setting menu.

After running out and picking this up at the local SAMS....I opened the box and took the manual out and read about it. It didn't have what I thought it would have. No DTS, NO Dolby digital as far as I could tell, you could RECORD in dolby digital but not play back? NO lots of stuff. I suppose it would be good for just a general recorder and not for playback. The idea of multiformat was what drew it to me.

I had to stop by Walmart to get some items and said what the heck.. let me see how much different the walmart one is compared to Sams.. well I didn't have to look hard because I came across the closeout of the Pioneer 531 (80hdd) for a buck seventy five! I decided to take this one home, since I could basically use it for everything. It isn't a multi-format, but it did have a hard drive and for seventy five bucks more it was a no brainer for me. HD wins out over mutliformat for me and it has DTS and everything else one could want in a recorder and player combined.

That's my story and I'm a happy camper.

A buck seventy five = $1.75 or was it A Hundred and seventy-five bucks = $175?

Apparently it was the generic disk that caused the poor audio quality.
Uh, there had to be something else going on. If you could play the disc at all, then "generic" discs won't have ANYTHING to do with the quality of either the video or the audio- it's all just bits mixed into the same stream.

Uh, there had to be something else going on. If you could play the disc at all, then "generic" discs won't have ANYTHING to do with the quality of either the video or the audio- it's all just bits mixed into the same stream.

Okay. The troubleshooting in the manual confirmed what I thought as well but I will take your word for it. I'll try another generic disk.

The troubleshooting in the manual confirmed what I thought as well
That's just to cover them from technical support calls because there are literally HUNDREDS of DVD media codes, so to be safe they tell you to use "certain" versions- which is actually no guarantee of success (for instance, "Fuji DVDs" can be excellent media codes like Taiyo Yuden, or crap ones like Ritek), but it keeps the consumer off their back, as the company can always just blame the media. Thing is, these recorders write at 1X and 2X speeds, so media quality actually makes VERY little diffrence at all (unless it's so bad that you get dropouts).

All your bits, be they picture, be they sound, be they thumbnails, be they menu, be they subtitles, are ALL on the same bitstream that gets read off the disc, then the player demultiplexes that (after lots of error correction from the DVD drive) and "sends" it to the right place. There's just no way that you could get a picture that didn't have obvious, bad dropouts, but yet the sound isn't right, and it be a disc problem. That's like saying if someone went and got all your mail and put it in a yellow envelope one day instead of a blue one and sent it to you that for some reason only half the bills that were sent that time arrived.

Those Audio problems, they would be my opinion too, maybe it was just a break- in fluke?

I like the feature of 2.5, or 3hr record on this unit, because I cannot find a way to download, and burn on my computer any movie I copy with Flex Record over 2hrs with my Panny ES-20, apparently the files get shortened, scrambled, & corrupted in the process?

Uh, there had to be something else going on. If you could play the disc at all, then "generic" discs won't have ANYTHING to do with the quality of either the video or the audio- it's all just bits mixed into the same stream.
Agreed. I was going to say something but let it slide. The quality of the disc won't matter assuming all the bits get there. Only if unrecoverable errors start happening will the quality of the disc be a factor in the playback or recording. (As you pointed out in a subsequent post.)

I cannot get this thing to output anything using a coaxial cable. All the inputs on my TV are taken up and I am strictly using this as a recording device and not for playing back any DVD's. I tried looking for the output signal on both channel 3 and channel 4 of my TV and I get nothing but static. It outputs through the s-video connection fine so it must not be in Progressive Scan output mode.

AFAIK, nearly all of the current DVD recorders only offer RF pass through to their RF output jack. In other words, the output of the DVD recorder itself is NOT delivered to the RF out jack. The only signals at the RF output are those received at the RF input. Think of it as a simple splitter that offers the RF input to both the tuner in the recorder and the RF output jack.

I don't understand why they have done this, except perhaps that it is consistent with most DVD players not offering RF output either.

No DTS and No DD as it wasn't stated in the manual. I never hooked it up, only read the manual. There are also NO DTS logo's on the box, which is a must if it uses DTS. And in the DD logo on teh box, it states something like, "only in recording", or something similar to that.

Maybe I just can't read correctly too! ;)

Anyways, it wasn't for me, especially after I found the Pioneer with HDD. Just sharing info here and my story.

How do you get rid of the "Empty Title" box before you finalize the DVD???

-Scott

So does this model output Dolby Digital & DTS? & if it does I wonder why it doesn't have the logos on it?

I asked the same question about "Empty Title", Scott- no answer. I guess it's not possible.

The only option when you click "OK" on "Empty Title" is "overwrite". So I guess it's not possible to get rid of "Empty Title".

Weird.

-Scott

So does this model output Dolby Digital & DTS? & if it does I wonder why it doesn't have the logos on it?


Yes, it plays DD & DTS. No idea about the missing logos.

How to eliminate "Empty Title"???
How do you get rid of the "Empty Title" box before you finalize the DVD???

-Scott
I have some of the prev model Philips DVDRs(DVDR75 and DVDR77). In those, finalize will get rid of the "empty title" boxes ONLY on DVD+R disks not on DVD+RW. In most other brands of DVDRs, you always have "empty" titles are they have fixed format title screen choices. I have a Pioneer 531H (love it) but its title screen choices are not as neat as the Philips DVDR77 where I could select a title screen background in addition to the title thumbnail from the video.

my $.02 worth

P.S. Toshiba is the only brand that currently has decent created DVD title/chapter screen options.

P.S. Toshiba is the only brand that currently has decent created DVD title/chapter screen options.
What entails "decent"? I have a Panasonic ES15, and I can change the disc title, the track titles and thumbnails. In fact, the Magnavox can do all of that, as well.

What's "decent"?

Does this recorder play DivX/Xvid CD's or DVD's? If so, then I'm sold. :p

I just tried a few discs with .AVI and .JPG files (that's played in some of my other players). Each one was rejected w/o even giving me a directory structure.

I just got this recorder from Sam's tonight and I burned my first movie using the SP 2 hour mode on a generic DVD. The video looks good but the sound is very low. I have to turn up the volume on my surround sound system 3/4's of the way to hear it okay, versus only having the volume up 1/3 of the way for other playback devices. Right now I'm trying a Verbatim disc using the different input to see if I have the same problem.

There is definately a learning curb to using the menu system on this recorder but it's workable, especially for the price. The only thing I don't like about it so far is the lack of component video inputs like I had on my Phillips DVDR 75. I know others have stated otherwise but I can tell a difference in video quality recording through component video versus s-video input using comparable video qualty sources.
Just bought it at sams today. Looks nice. Now all I have to do is figure out how to hook it up to my 50XBR1. Already have HD STB DVR, Panasonic 5 disc DVD changer and amplifier hooked to my cable. Using component for the dvd changer and HDMI from STB to TV. If I can figure it out I'll post my results. Leaning a lot from this thread. Thanks

Any word on how to remove the "empty" titles on this recorder? My gateway will remove any empty titles automatically when you finalize, but it seems that this unit leaves them in.... Hmmm....

I finally found the MWR10D6 at Wal-Mart a few days ago. This was my first DVD-Recorder. I spent a couple weeks researching. One of my primary reasons for getting a DVD burner was to allow me to archive movies off my dvr, especially movies for the kids. One of the features I really wanted (not absolutely necessary, but very nice) was the ability to record from the dvr to dvd and then to be able to remove the commercials after the fact. I didn't want to pay for a recorder with a hard drive (I mostly didn't want to pay the extra $$ when I already have a dvr I'm very happy with). I had almost given up on being able to find a recorder that had these features (and still allowed the disc to be compatible with other dvd players). Then I read the reviews and features of this Magnavox, and decided to try it out.

I have been pleased with the device doing what I bought it for. It's a little time consuming to remove the commercials, but not too bad. I've burned a couple different types of DVD's (+RW, -RW, -R) and have been able to play the discs on my Sony player without finalizing, I've recorded some HD content in 1 hour mode, and some SD content in 2 & 3 hour settings and I have been happy with the quality.

The one real disappointment, as has been mentioned, is the "empty titles" that are left behind after removing commercials. For those that don't have the player, to remove commercials you create a new title at the start of the commercial, and then a new one at the end of the commercial. You then have the commercial isolated as its own title, which you can delete. The downside is that on the menu it leaves an empty box labeled "empty title" in its place, so you end up with an empty title at each commercial break.

It's not a huge deal, as my primary concern was to be able to remove the commercials so the movie can be played uninterrupted for the kidlings. But it's annoying (IMHO) to put the disk in the player and see all the empty titles in the menu.

Overall, I'm pleased with the player, especially for the price. For anyone considering this player for its editing features, it works well while maintaining compatibility with other players, but beware there is that one caveat.

Does empty title appear for all media types (-R/+R, -RW/+RW) or just rewriteables?

The "Empty" titles appear on -R and +R too...not just re-writables.

Why would they design this thing so you can't remove empty titles?

The "Empty" titles appear on -R and +R too...not just re-writables.
Why would they design this thing so you can't remove empty titles?

Yes, it's one of the few REALLY annoying things about this piece of equipment. That and the cheezy remote with the tiny buttons that have to be pressed with the end of a pen or pencil to ensure accuracy.
Otherwise I love this recorder: quality of recordings and the flexibility is great.

I use it to dump my "to be saved" programs from my DVR and my VCR to this unit; love the fact that it has two seperate SVHS/audio-video inputs: front and back.

This recorder rocks! I guess I've had it for close to a month, not a bad burn yet. I'm using JVC dvd-r, HP dvd+r, and Memorex dvd-r. All are fine. i just bought some Imation discs, so we'll see how these are. By the way, if you have a Big Lots in your area, you can get a 50 pk of JVC dvd-r for $17.99 everyday. Not too bad, but then again Circuit City usually has a different 25 pk every week for around $6.99. (I'm Mr. Budget, so I care about these things!)

Check to see if your Big Lots has Made-in-Japan Sony media- it's usually Taiyo Yuden if it's the 1X-8X brand.

Has anyone found discrete on/off IR codes for this recorder? I use JP1 remotes and I am currently programming a OFA 8910 URC.

It appears they've raised the price for the Walmart version (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4810683) (the online price anyway). Not sure if the in-store price would be the same.

Check to see if your Big Lots has Made-in-Japan Sony media- it's usually Taiyo Yuden if it's the 1X-8X brand.
Thanks, kcrudup. I'll take a look next time I'm there. Does it make a difference? This stuff is good to know... Also BUDGET DVD ALERT! FYE (usually located in malls) has 25 pks of Fuji dvd-r, +rw 2 for $12.99.

Taiyo Yuden DVD media is widely regarded as the very best. Of course, at the slow speed these home DVD recorders burn at, you could use just about any old junk and still get a usuable recording (*cough*Ritek*cough*). In this case TY media probably gets you better longevity, which is probably a plus if you're archiving old VHS to DVD, or expect to save the shows you burn for a long time.

Vin, That's the first time I've seen it on their website so maybe that's the opening website price?

I know a LOT of stuff on Wal-Mart's website is higher than in their stores & the web also carries a lot of stuff that you can't get in their stores & I've been told that the stores & website really operate as 2 different companies.

The flyer I just got in the mail from Wal-Mart has the Magnavox listed as a "New Item" & the price is $ 98.87 & that's what my local store has them priced at.

It appears they've raised the price for the Walmart version (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4810683) (the online price anyway). Not sure if the in-store price would be the same.

Ditto here. Just picked up one in-store for $98.87. They had at least a dozen of them.

$98.87 @ my local Wallyworld, too. Looks like they've replaced the ILO model with these.

For those that don't have the player, to remove commercials you create a new title at the start of the commercial, and then a new one at the end of the commercial. You then have the commercial isolated as its own title, which you can delete. The downside is that on the menu it leaves an empty box labeled "empty title" in its place, so you end up with an empty title at each commercial break. I've found that it is better to insert Chapter marks at the beginning and end of each commercial break, then "hide" the chapter. Finalizing (or "make compatible" with +RW) will also hide the commercials when played back on other machines. This way you don't end up with all the empty titles.

BTW, I saw the unit at Sam's a few weeks ago, came home and searched online, found very little about it--except on this forum. Thanks to everyone who submitted early reviews and now constant tips on how to use it. It is because of this forum that I decided to purchase the unit, and I haven't been disappointed.

I've found that it is better to insert Chapter marks at the beginning and end of each commercial break, then "hide" the chapter. Finalizing (or "make compatible" with +RW) will also hide the commercials when played back on other machines. This way you don't end up with all the empty titles.

Thanks. I'll try that out. I thought someone else had posted earlier in the thread that hiding chapters didn't work on other players (worked when played back through the Magnavox but not others). Perhaps they didn't finalize/"make compatible". I'm assuming that you don't reclaim any recording time this way?

I'm assuming that you don't reclaim any recording time this way? That is correct. The commercials are still there, they are just skipped over.

One minor issue though is that when it reaches a hidden chapter to skip, there is a short pause as the DVD is searched for the next chapter to pick up and start playing.

Does this DVD recorder had a HD? If not, To use as I would a VCR, is the best way just to record to a DVD RW, and then re-use the DVD when I am done?

Does this model have VCR PLUS ? . I have noticed that some of the more expensive recorders have this feature , and does this feature work well or does doing the manual timer recording work better .
I am not sure exactly how VCR PLUS works , but it seems like it would be easier to just punch in a few numbers then having to manualy set the date , channel , start and end time .
Any thoughts ? .

Thanks

tryed to play my CD-R's that have all my digital photos and screen says NOT compatable. AH! now the the quick install manual shows what's compatable
and CD-R with the compact disk logo is there, but N/G I have a dvd/vhs combo
unit and it plays all my CD's. do i have to copy to DVD disks to play them?

Does this model have VCR PLUS ? . I have noticed that some of the more expensive recorders have this feature , and does this feature work well or does doing the manual timer recording work better .
I am not sure exactly how VCR PLUS works , but it seems like it would be easier to just punch in a few numbers then having to manualy set the date , channel , start and end time .
Any thoughts ? .

Thanks
No, it doesn't have VCR+ Plus.

It appears they've raised the price for the Walmart version (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4810683) (the online price anyway). Not sure if the in-store price would be the same.

I bought it two days ago at a Super Walmart in Raleigh, NC and it was 98 and coins, $105 with tax. They upped the online price, but not the store's.

I bought a Magnavox MSR90D6 today and it won't play any DVD+R disks I recorded on my Panasonic, either finalized or not finalized.

Any ideas about this?

tryed to play my CD-R's that have all my digital photos and screen says NOT compatable. AH! now the the quick install manual shows what's compatable
and CD-R with the compact disk logo is there, but N/G I have a dvd/vhs combo
unit and it plays all my CD's. do i have to copy to DVD disks to play them?

Looks like we both got stuck with a machine that won't play the disks we already have.

This Magnavox claims to play DVD+R but it doesn't. I've got 200 disks of movies recorded on a Panasonic that this Magnavox won't play.

I'm returning it this afternoon and get my money back.

I guess I don't even consider the Mag as playback device, at least one that I care about. As soon as I burn a disc, I just put it into my Samsung 941 DVDP and watch it from there, as it just looks so much better. I even keep the Mag set with Prog scan off, so I can get output from the composite output that I use for a small TV to monitor progress during a burn.

Certainly you must have another DVDp that will playback those DVD+Rs?

I guess I don't even consider the Mag as playback device, at least one that I care about. As soon as I burn a disc, I just put it into my Samsung 941 DVDP and watch it from there, as it just looks so much better. I even keep the Mag set with Prog scan off, so I can get output from the composite output that I use for a small TV to monitor progress during a burn.

Certainly you must have another DVDp that will playback those DVD+Rs?

Ditto here too except I use the Samsung 841 which you can get online for around $50. I've been recording downscaled HD movies with this recorder and they look fabulous up-scaled on the 841.

strike two for me now, recorded a few disks and they played back ok in this unit, tried to
play them in my other dvd player and they won't play. I did finalize them it seems to start
to play then just freezes up. I guess I wasted a hundred bucks on this unit. I am going to
call magnavox tomorrow, see if they can help me

I am using dvd+r disks should i try -r disks and see if they work? I don't know the difference between the two. what does + mean. thanks

http://digitalfaq.com/media/dvdformats.htm

I guess I wasted a hundred bucks on this unit. I am going to call Magnavox tomorrow, see if they can help me
Dude- TAKE IT BACK. Your unit is obviously bad. I've made at least 25 discs with this unit- using everything from Taiyo to Ritek, -R, +R, all play perfectly in my other players.

I just use mine as a recorder. All the discs I've dubbed play fine in my Sony dvd player. I guess I need to see how it plays other discs, but it's not really an issue for me.

I tried TDK -Rs, Maxell -R's, Staples +R's, Staples -R's and Sony Ritek -RW's in mine and none of them
will play in my Pioneer 5 disc changer. They all play in my cheap Apex in the bedroom.
I'm taking it back, just haven't had the chance to get to Sam's. My Pioneer has no
problem playing anything burned from my computer.

try Taiyo Yuden DVD-Rs, these are supposedly the most coaster-proof.

Meritline.com and supermediastore.com often have nice specials on them, I got a 100 pack for around $30 shipped.

Check to see if your Big Lots has Made-in-Japan Sony media- it's usually Taiyo Yuden if it's the 1X-8X brand.

Found it-50 pack DVD+R in cake box for $15.99.
T-Y? Really?

strike two for me now, recorded a few disks and they played back ok in this unit, tried to
play them in my other dvd player and they won't play. I did finalize them it seems to start
to play then just freezes up. I guess I wasted a hundred bucks on this unit. I am going to
call magnavox tomorrow, see if they can help me

I am using dvd+r disks should i try -r disks and see if they work? I don't know the difference between the two. what does + mean. thanks

With this recorder, it does not seem to make much difference which format you use. I can play both the DVD+ and DVD-RW disks in my other players WITHOUT finalizing. When I record on my Pioneer with DVD-RWs, I must finalize them or they will not play. Both types are formatted as a DVD+VR mode with the Magnavox and treated as such.

Thanks for all the advice. I took it back and got a refund. Before I did that I tried a RW disk and it worked and a –R disk from Australia, and it worked too. But it never would play my Panasonic finalized or unfinalized +R disks, but the disks would play on my Sony player and every other player that friends of mine have who I have sent disks too, including the player of the guy in Australia. I called the 800 number that was on the Magnavox box and I asked them for advice, and they said it should play them. Anyway, thanks everyone. This is a great message board.

Found it-50 pack DVD+R in cake box for $15.99.
T-Y? Really?
Yup- if it's got a white or octagon foam spacer, and MIJ, it's TY!

up date on my post of disks not playing back on some other units. I called the
magnavox # and talked to a rep and he told me that I should use only dvd- r
[not + ] or -rw to work in all other players. took a shot and bought some -r disks
and sure enough they played in two other machines after recording in the
magnavox, I will keep the unit now probably. also he said you cannot play jpeg format
in the machine

Yup- if it's got a white or octagon foam spacer, and MIJ, it's TY!

Hooh-ah! I feel like I''ve found buried treasure!

Just re-read that line. I have got to get a life. :confused:

Thanks bobkart for the site, it gave me some knowledge on the different dvd's
out there. babe915

Just a checklist of dvd media my Maggie has been compatable with, and have also worked in my Sony and cheap Nexxtech players.

HP dvd+r
Memorex dvd-r
Imation dvd-r
JVC dvd-r

I just purchased some Fuji dvd -,+r dvds, so I'll let you know how those work. I still have had no problems with a disc burning or playback.

I just bought this thing and I can't get it to work. HELP! I have a sa 8300 box and a Panny hdtv. I followed the instr. and hooked it up to my tv, but somebody here mentioned hooking it up to the cable box? Using -r discs, I got a picture, poor quality, and no sound the first time. The second time, the remote didn't respond to the 'recording mode' button. I hit record anyway, and the machine registered 'record' (the red light lit up on the recorder) but nothing happened when I went to play it back.??

HERB, First give us some info on everything you are trying to hookup to the TV?
DVD Recorder, VCR, Cable Box, Sat Box, Surround Sound Receiver & etc.

Also what kind of OUTPUTS does your Cable Box have & what kind of INPUTS does your TV have?

Here is how my DVD Recorder is hooked up to the TV with a Cable Box & VCR:

Cable TV Line that comes out of the wall is hooked to a "2-Way Splitter"

2-Way Splitter:
1 wire goes to the Cable Box "IN" the other wire goes to DVD Recorder "ANT. IN"

The DVD Recorder "RF OUT" goes to the "VCR ANT. IN"

The DVD Recodrer "S-Video & Red/White Audio OUT" goes to a TV "INPUT"

The VCR "RF OUT" goes to an A/B Switch Box "B"

The Cable Box "RF OUT" goes to the A/B Switch Box "A"

The A/B Switch Box "RF OUT" goes to the TV "ANT. IN"

The Cable Box "S-Video Out" & "Red/White" Audio Out goes to DVD Recorder "IN"

The VCR "Video/Audio Out" Goes to the DVD Recorder FRONT Video/Audio "IN"

TV Receives All Channels from Cable Box when A/B Switch is set to "A"
TV Receives Channels 2-125 from VCR when A/B Switch is set to "B"
TV Receives Picture & Sound from the DVD Recorder when TV is Set to "INPUT"
DVD Recorder Receives Channels 2-125
DVD Recorder Receives ALL Channels from Cable Box when set to INPUT 1
DVD Recorder Receives ALL Channels & Video from VCR when set to INPUT 2

WITH THIS SETUP:
The DVD Recorder can Record any channel from the Cable Box
The DVD Recorder can Record channels 2-125 using it's own tuner
The VCR can record channels 2-125 using it's own tuner

With this setup you can watch a different channel or a Video Tape while the DVD Recorder is recording a different channel.

If you wanted to you could add another Video product like a DVD Player or another VCR by plugging it into one of the VCR's "INPUTS"

FYI - I have created a JP1 device upgrade for the Mag DVDR. You can use this to program your JP1 enabled Universal Remote Control. Here's a direct link
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload.php?action=file&file_id=3236

Add Fuji dvd+r to the list as playable in other media. Okay, I'm starting to annoy myself even! End of list...

I didnt see it mentioned anywhere but will this unit record directly from a minidv camcorder?

This unit does not have any DV jacks.

Thanks for all the advice. I took it back and got a refund. Before I did that I tried a RW disk and it worked and a –R disk from Australia, and it worked too. But it never would play my Panasonic finalized or unfinalized +R disks, but the disks would play on my Sony player and every other player that friends of mine have who I have sent disks too, including the player of the guy in Australia. I called the 800 number that was on the Magnavox box and I asked them for advice, and they said it should play them. Anyway, thanks everyone. This is a great message board.

That sounds just like me and my unit. My Pioneer changer won't play anything from the
Magnavox. I still haven't gotten it back to Sam's. I'm tempted to give it one more try
with the TY discs. I just hate to buy a whole stack just to try it. They play in everything
else around here though.

I'm currently watching a disc made on my Magnavox on my Panasonic ES15. No problems at all.

Grateful11,
I know this is a stupid question, but are they finalized??

Grateful11,
I know this is a stupid question, but are they finalized??

Yep. I actually tried a couple finalized and a couple not. It's strange because they'll play in
an old Apex, my Mac computer and my sons Windows box. The Pioneer will play anything
burned on my computer. It's a mystery to me. I have to burn with the Magnavox and then
dump them into the computer and burn them again to get them to play in the Pioneer Changer.

So what is the synopsis on the magnavox from Sam's. I have no and I mean none, experience with tech. I am lucky to figure out how to post this. Any advice from users woud be welcome. My use would be simple: record tv shows or sporting events up to 6 hours running from standard 81 channel cable input (no digital) and replay on my standard 27" regular tv. Is this a good buy or no for the application? Occasionally I would pass some events to my son to play at home on his player. It just has to be watchable not annoying. I am of necessity very budget concious an would expect at least 3 or 4 years. MY washer is 35years, frig 35 and truck 20 if that tells you something. I can sorely use xome help.

VHS VCR for $50 will fit your needs. 6hr mode on DVD recorder would be poor PQ compared to 6hr mode on VHS.

If you want to dabble into new technology, the can't beat the Magnavox for $100 or less. It will take time to learn though like anything.

Media will be cheaper with DVD recorder as DVD-RW will be cheaper than VHS tape. The jury is still out if it will outlast VHS as the dye on DVD-R or DVD-RW may not be as long lasting as we thought.

Yep. I actually tried a couple finalized and a couple not. It's strange because they'll play in
an old Apex, my Mac computer and my sons Windows box.
My old Apex has played every single DVD+R I tried it in which surprised me since it was having the classic playback issues with commercial DVDs of the time (eg Space Quest with Tim Allen).

Thanks for the input Huey. I am trying to decide just that matter. My choices were this mag 90 or a mag combo 2205 for 58.00 or a phillips combo 3150 for 90.00. Only difference is dvd format replay. The 2205 only plays the - and the 3150 plays - or +. I was just hoping for a little better quality with my own dvd recorder. If I do buy it I would probably only use the rw+ feature in record. Any more thoughts are appreciated. And I want to say that this forum is really enjoyable.

"Another neat feature is the recording modes. It has 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 and 6 hour modes plus an auto mode that detects space left on the disk and adjusts the speed so the recording fits. This is like the feature on some Panasonic models."

Not like Panny FR. The Mag chooses the smallest hour setting that will accomodate your recording. For example, if you program 2:02, the Mag will use the 2.5 hour setting. Program a Panasonic for 2:02 and the unit will custom fit the bitrate so that 2:02 will take up the entire disk at the best possible quality.

Having said that, this is a great "economy" machine. It craps all over comparably priced units. I'm returning mine because I'm spoiled by the PQ on my Panny ES-10. I wish the panny had the Mag's editing abilities (sigh).

I'm now saving my pennies for a ES-55 (if they ever release it!)

Thanks crabboy. After reading the notes on this thread and the one on signal boosters I have at least discovered a potential problem with my recording quality. The cable company put in a splitter to accomodate my internet modem and tv. the db loss is 3.5 on each leg. I have decided to replace the splitter with an rca bidirectional 4-way amplifier that will give me max signal to each of the three outputs- internet, tv, and dvd recorder. I think this will give me the best possible chance at a better quality result in recording. Are there any thoughts on this choice? I have ordered the mag 90 online because none of the local sam's have it in austin, texas.

Oops!! I called my local Sam's in Austin about the mag 90 and the lady said if the internet said online only they wouldn't have it. Got her to check the item # anyway and sure enough - on the shelf. At least I can save shipping cost and get it today.

[QUOTE=jagram]So what is the synopsis on the magnavox from Sam's. I have no and I mean none, experience with tech. QUOTE]
You will love this unit, jagram.
MUCH more flexible than VCR tapes. (have you tried playing a VCR tape on your computer lately?)
This unit is well worth a hundred bucks, and if it ever goes wrong on you, in any way, you can just take it back to Sam's and get another or get your money.
You'll like the way you zap through commercials within a few seconds; you'll love the fact that a hundred DVDs take up about the same space as 3 or 4 VHS tapes; DVDs are easy to mail, easy to handle, easy to store.
You'll love the feature that lets you play what you've recorded at faster speed while still providing normal audio.
The instructions come with a Quick SetUp Guide that is well done and almost idiot-proof.
I could go on and on about the advantages over VCRs for time-shifting purposes, but you'll just have to try it.

Enjoy.

This unit does not have any DV jacks.
That is only reason I didn't pick this unit up.

>you'll love the fact that a hundred DVDs take up about the same space as 3 or 4 VHS tapes

100 DVD's in the space of 3 or 4 VHS tapes, maybe if you stacked them together, without any cases or protection. Easy to handle for some but I guess you haven't checked a DVD out at a Public Library.

Looking at the manual for hooking this up doesn't seem right to me. They suggest running satelite feed into DVD and then to satelite receiver. I think I should just go from outputs on satelite DVR to DVD recorder via the S-video and audio outputs to inputs. What do others think?

Both ways will work, your way is necessary to record anything only the STB can tune, the other way allows recording of analog channels without tying up the STB's tuner. For satellite though, there will be no analog channels I don't think. But setting that aside, say it were just terrestial cable, BOTH connections at the same time are a common hookup, to get both advantages.

CMB,

I think you are right in your thinking.

You cannot run the coax from the satellite dish directly to the DVD recorder (just as you thought). If your satellite DVR has an RF/coax output that could connect to a standard TV, you could use that, but you would not get stereo sound and the video quality would not be the best available.

You are right on with connecting the S-video and audio outputs from the satellite DVR to the corresponding inputs of the DVD recorder. I have mine set up this way (a Pioneer DVD recorder, but that does not matter here) and make DVD recordings regularly.

I usually record what I want on the satellite DVR and if I decide I want a DVD copy, I play back the program on the DVR to record it on the DVD recorder. If I am using my HD TiVo (DirecTV satellite DVR), I make sure I have set its output resolution to 480i to be sure I get video on the S-video output.

Well I finally bought the mag90 yesterday and a 4 way signal booster to replace the splitter. Results were, for me anyway, just outstanding. Since the manual recommends the Sony 4x dvd+rw for rewritable discs, I got those just to know I had done everything I could to get a good recording. The booster pushed the quality of my tv picture by 20% at least. I know it is not capable of better (inexpensive Sylvania 27"). I first recorded 1 hour of the nba game. I couldn't tell the diffference in the original. So good for the optimum setting for length. I set it for overnight 6 hours because I wanted to see the worst it would do. The video was at least as good as my tv before the booster was added. It was pretty easy to set up to record and I will try to learn about editing, but this was worth every penny. Thanks to all that I learned from this forum this was a very good deal. I can only hope that it will last for quite some time. Thanks again for input.

After having this unit for over 2 months now and recording almost every day on it, I still highly recommend it. Have not had a single coaster with any brand or any format disk. All recorded disks have played on every recorder I tried them on. Still have not figured out how to display the clock on screen.

What He Said. (But I have a clock on the DVR :))

Question: Has anyone used the Maggy or similar DVD recorder with an STB that turns it on and starts the recording process? (Using the three digit codes)

Instead of upgrading to a DVR from Dish, I was thinking of using this DVD recorder with a RW disk to record some shows while out of town. Just wondering if I could record lets say "Big Love" on HBO once a week (1 hour show) say for 3 weeks using this maggy product.

Would I need to put it in extended play mode for a 3 hours show?

Picked a CMWR10D6 unit up at the local Walmart last weekend for $119.00 Canadian. I will be recording tv programs off of my digital cable box through the s-video input jack and old VHS tapes from the composite video input jack. No need to use the RF antenna inputs. I bought Sony DVD+RW and Fuji DVD-R media.

So far, everything has worked perfectly. To remove commercials from recorded programs, I have tried both creating and deleting titles and creating and skipping chapters. The chapter method is smoother on playback and less time consuming. When you create and delete titles, it takes a lot longer and you are left with a list of empty titles that you can't remove from the menu.

Although there is no logo on the unit, it plays back DTS, DTS-Matrix 6.1 and DTS-Discrete 6.1 discs.

The only negatives are a pathetic remote with very small buttons and the lack of a display on the front panel.

Other than that, this unit is a winner. :D

Question: Has anyone used the Maggy or similar DVD recorder with an STB that turns it on and starts the recording process? (Using the three digit codes)

Instead of upgrading to a DVR from Dish, I was thinking of using this DVD recorder with a RW disk to record some shows while out of town. Just wondering if I could record lets say "Big Love" on HBO once a week (1 hour show) say for 3 weeks using this maggy product.

Would I need to put it in extended play mode for a 3 hours show?

I do not see any reason why you could not do that. I have done it with a VCR and as long as you have or can find the code for the Magnavox, the Dish receiver should turn the recording on and off. The Dish receiver has a test to see if it works. Give it a try. I have never been comfortable with that method on my Dish receivers. You need a good reflective surface for the IR beam to bounce back to the recorder. Sometimes it just does not work.

I would suggest that you set your Dish receiver to auto tune to the show weekly, or just leave it tuned to HBO and set the Magnavox to record at the same time weekly thru the input used for the Dish receiver. You would have to set the recording time to the 3 hour mode (LP on this unit) to get 3 hours of programming on the disk. The 3 hour quality is very good and the 4 hour is pretty good too, but the 6 hour mode is noticibly poorer, more like VCR quality. There are no DVD recorders that are good in the 6 hour mode. I really like having the 2.5 and 3 hour modes to preserve quality as opposed to my Pioneer that jumps from 2 hour to 4 hour mode.

As far as the DVR from Dish, I have two of them and one is connected to a DVD recorder. This gives great versatility to record shows to the DVR and then transfer them to DVD if you want to keep them and to clear up hard drive space on the DVR. My Magnavox is connected to my Dish 811 high def receiver and I use it much like you are wanting to do. I always use the auto-tune feature in conjunction with the timer recording on the Magnavox thru the rear input from the Dish receiver. This setup makes a pretty good alternative to the DVR, but the DVR is a lot easier and quicker to set up.

Even if you go with the DVR, you will want a DVD recorder hooked to it because you can fill that hard drive up pretty quickly. This is a great low cost DVD recorder.

... I really like having the 2.5 and 3 hour modes to preserve quality as opposed to my Pioneer that jumps from 2 hour to 4 hour mode.
Which Pioneer DVD recorder do you have that limits your recording to 2 hour or 4 hour blocks of time and nothing in between?

My 520H and all newer Pioneer DVD recorders offer 32 manual recording time settings that break things down to allow easy optimization of recording time to the length of the program. The default standard settings are very coarse, but the manual settings are very precise.

Thx golfster, that is exactly what I was looking for. I am going to get it now and try the 3 digit code and just familiarize myself with the timer on the Maggy itself. Sounds like the IR could be a problem from time to time, but I will test it. The dish thingie, I want the newer Mpeg 4 20+ channel setup. (I only have about 5 HD channels now, can't get locals except for a antenna input) so I really want the 211 and 622 upgrades but they want $299 for the 622 so I thought 2 ea 211's and the Maggy might be a good alternative until the 622 comes down in price or I can buy a used one. :)

Great thread and it looks like the best bang for the buck using the Maggy.

PS. When you record a HD show off the 811 is the quality pretty good. Like any difference from the sd channels. I have a PJ and my 811's SD qulaity is pretty decent sinde I have the 811 outputting/upconverting to 1080i. I know it won't record HD, I was just wondering if the recorded HD looked at all better than the SD. (Like HBO on ch 300 and 9456)