After playing with the Samsung AR650, Philips DVDR3505, and LG DR787R I have come up with the following comments/summary of the current state of ATSC DVD recorders.

LG DR787T
LG Website (http://us.lge.com/products/model/detail/tv%7Caudio%7Cvideo_digital%20video__DR787T.jhtml)

PRO:
Short Channel Delay ~1-2 Sec
Remote Response
4:3 P&S works great
Timeshift
Has a nice on screen display that lists the current show
Plays basically every DVD standard

CON:
A bit expensive (BB Sale ~$195)
No EPG
Letterbox bars are gray (just feels strange)
No S-Video input

Samsung AR650

PRO:
Short Channel Delay ~1-2 Sec
5.1 Audio Output
Remote Response
Possible HD pass over HDMI

CON:
Expensive for what it is (~$219)
EPG only shows data after you visit the channel
4:3 P&S does not work with the digital tuner
DTV requires entering full number (i.e. 40-1) if you just type 40 nothing happens.

Philips DVDR3505
Philips Website (http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/catalog/tree/en/us/consumer/home_entertainment_gr_us_consumer/dvd_home_theater_ca_us_consumer/ce/_productId_DVDR3505_37_US_CONSUMER/DVD_Player_Recorder+DVDR3505_37?proxybuster=RKIBPR0RA3IOJJ0R MRESHQVHKFSEKI5P)

PRO:
Picture just seems sharper to me
4:3 P&S is perfect with the tuner
Can be found cheap (~$125 on ebay)

CON:
Long Channel Delay ~5-7 Sec
No EPG
Very weak analog tuner

Assuming all have equal image quality...

What I really want:
1) Time slip (pause live TV is great)
2) 4:3 P&S with the OTA digital tuner
3) small channel delay (less than 3 seconds)
4) EPG is a plus but not a deal breaker

CON:
4:3 P&S does not work with the digital tuner

Is there a picture posted somewhere of the Samsung Pan&Scan problem?

Is there a picture posted somewhere of the Samsung Pan&Scan problem?

Here is an example of the 4:3 P&S problem with the Samsung AR650 digital OTA tuner. It is connected to my 6 year old Toshiba 21" FST Pure TV via component video (Y Pb Pr). Notice how the image only uses only the center of the screen. This problem does not happen with the Philips DVDR3505.

http://www.siliconlite.com/images/WindoBoxed.jpg

Having tried all three of those, I doubt you'll be happier with the LG. It does have time shift, and it has also PIP which allows you to watch a TV channel in a small window during DVD playback. It also has the most control and information over the digital tuners.

The picture though, was extremely poor. Unless I got a bad unit, it was absolutely the worst picture quality of all three, by much... It also got extremely hot, and I believe that caused it to start malfunctioning about a week after I got it.

Also the price is even higher and there is no program guide. It did, however, record the anamorphic flag and the P&S worked fine, except that it letterboxed widescreen material in a gray box rather than leaving it black.

In my opinion, this far the Philips is the best choice. One, because of it's very reasonable price, and two - the picture is excellent both with DVDs and with the digital tuner. Unless Toshiba comes up with something spectacular, I am think I am going to keep the Philips.

Can these recorders pass thru the full HD signals of 1080i and 720p when channel surfing? I heard that the Philips does something to 16x9 pictures in such a way that anamorphic pictures don't display properly on widescreen TVs. Is this true?

Can these recorders pass thru the full HD signals of 1080i and 720p when channel surfing? I heard that the Philips does something to 16x9 pictures in such a way that anamorphic pictures don't display properly on widescreen TVs. Is this true?

The Philips and LG don't output full HD for sure, the Samsung is debatable, I don't think anyone has said it does for sure, but it has the best chance.

The problem with recording on the Philips is that you have to be careful to select the aspect ratio you'd like to record in the settings menu. This selection normally applies only to playback, but the Philips somehow uses it for recording as well. So if you're recording a 16:9 program, but your recorder is hooked to a 4:3 TV, and you set the recorder's aspect at 4:3 Pan&Scan, then the picture on the screen will be cropped to fill the 4:3 frame, and this cropped picture will be recorded on the disc as well.

I just took back the Samsung and got the LG from BestBuy (since it was on sale for $206). So far I am actually liking it the best of them all.

bobbyslav I think you got a bad unit, so far mine is staying cold and the video quality is every bit as good as the Phillips and the Samsung.

I just took back the Samsung and got the LG from BestBuy (since it was on sale for $206). So far I am actually liking it the best of them all.

bobbyslav I think you got a bad unit, so far mine is staying cold and the video quality is every bit as good as the Phillips and the Samsung.

I am thinking about trying another one, I love a lot about the Philips, but the slow tuning and the fact that the clock doesn't display on the front panel unless the unit is off is driving me nutz.

Having tried all three of those, I doubt you'll be happier with the LG. It does have time shift, and it has also PIP which allows you to watch a TV channel in a small window during DVD playback. It also has the most control and information over the digital tuners.

The picture though, was extremely poor. Unless I got a bad unit, it was absolutely the worst picture quality of all three, by much... It also got extremely hot, and I believe that caused it to start malfunctioning about a week after I got it.

Also the price is even higher and there is no program guide. It did, however, record the anamorphic flag and the P&S worked fine, except that it letterboxed widescreen material in a gray box rather than leaving it black.

In my opinion, this far the Philips is the best choice. One, because of it's very reasonable price, and two - the picture is excellent both with DVDs and with the digital tuner. Unless Toshiba comes up with something spectacular, I am think I am going to keep the Philips.
Hey bobbyslav,
I just wanted to ask if you think that maybe you did just get a bad one ? I have had the LG for almost 4 weeks now and have not had a problem. I think the picture is great. I have a Samsung 32" LCD HD and I am very pleased with the picture quality. ( so far! )
I have also not had any problems with it over heating...but...that may be because of you !
I read your post a couple of weeks a go about it over heating and I bought some of the carpet pads that have glue on the back. They are made to put under the legs of your couch and chairs to keep from scratching the floor. I cut them to fit the rubber pads that are under the recorder and that raised it up about 1/2 inch....it lets a lot more air under the unit and may be whats keeping it from overheating. ( maybe ) Of course...I may be just be lucky and got a good one also...lol.
BigOc90

Hey bobbyslav,
I just wanted to ask if you think that maybe you did just get a bad one ? I have had the LG for almost 4 weeks now and have not had a problem. I think the picture is great. I have a Samsung 32" LCD HD and I am very pleased with the picture quality. ( so far! )
I have also not had any problems with it over heating...but...that may be because of you !
I read your post a couple of weeks a go about it over heating and I bought some of the carpet pads that have glue on the back. They are made to put under the legs of your couch and chairs to keep from scratching the floor. I cut them to fit the rubber pads that are under the recorder and that raised it up about 1/2 inch....it lets a lot more air under the unit and may be whats keeping it from overheating. ( maybe ) Of course...I may be just be lucky and got a good one also...lol.
BigOc90

It's possible that I got a bad one, I don't know. I am thinking about getting another one since they are on sale, and it was pretty nice at first when it was working well.

The reasons I didn't exchange it instead of returning it are several:

First and foremost was the heat - it felt pretty warm on top, but not to the point to be worrisome, but the discs inside were getting really hot, and finally when I unplugged to return it the bottom metal was burning.

I didn't think that the heat problem would be solved by a new unit because the model doesn't have a fan, which most recorders do. I had also seen many Insignia recorders from the older generation, which are made by LG. Those were display models at Best Buy that stay plugged in all the time and work quite a bit. They were always burning hot even though they had a fan on the back. That worried me, because it says there might be another problem with LG's components.

The other important reason to return was the price at the time. Given that at about the same time Philips came out for about $50 less, I couldn't justify spending so much more money for a product I wasn't sure will work.

Another thing I didn't know before I got the Philips was that I could get a few free channels from my filtered cable connection. The LG couldn't tune any channels with it's QAM tuner. It worked fine with cable that was subscribed for, but on my connection at home it would tune a few channels, but the signal would constantly tune in and out at about 5 second intervals. At first I thought this was due to the filtered cable line, but later both Philips and Samsung were able to tune perefectly well the QAM channels.

Again, this is something I can't be sure if it was due to a defective unit, or some sort of design problem.

Last, the picture quality. After calibrating my projector specifically for the LG I did get quite a decent picture, but it was very incosistent between different channels and DVDs, some were much darker than others and I constantly had to fiddle with the brightness and contrast. After about a week or so the LG also started not recognizing many of my commercially produced DVDs.

I don't know, I might go and get a second one, but that will not speak very good of me because it will be only because I think the LG looks way too cool.

I have just run the LG for 4 hours straight, 2 hours as a digital tuner, and 2 hours watching a DVD. I then picked it up and felt the top and bottom; I noticed it is warm but how warm?

Using a non contact laser thermometer to measure the hottest part of the unit I found that the bottom near the air vent was 98F. For comparison a glass table in my room is 75F and the surface of my hand is 91F. It seems that my LG has no temp problems.

I was wondering which of these dvd recorder has the best quality recording longer than the 2 hour mode (say - 3 hour or 4 hour mode). To make sure sammy AR650 doesn't do chase playback right? although it can record in dvd-ram, kinda odd? :confused: thanks in advance.

I really can't speak for the tuner issues. The cable system I am on only has analog channels for now, and without a cable box so the tuner works fine for now. Like I said, so far ( knock on wood ) I have not had a problem one.
But you do have me interested in the Philips now. I am interested to see just how much better the Philips picture would be. If it is that much better, I would be more than glad to take the LG back and try the Philips. The turner is not that big of a deal to me right now. I am more into getting the best picture that I can get from a unit.
The only thing that keeps me from going ahead and trying a Philips is that I like the LG's ability to record with the ram disc. That's almost as good as having a small hard drive, and I really like the price of the Philips. That would put another $50 or so dollars in my wallet, and thats always a good thing...lol
BigOc90

I have just run the LG for 4 hours straight, 2 hours as a digital tuner, and 2 hours watching a DVD. I then picked it up and felt the top and bottom; I noticed it is warm but how warm?

Using a non contact laser thermometer to measure the hottest part of the unit I found that the bottom near the air vent was 98F. For comparison a glass table in my room is 75F and the surface of my hand is 91F. It seems that my LG has no temp problems.

So the there is a vent on bottom? I need to pick it up and look, maybe that's the problem. How is your LG places? I have mine sitting on top of the receiver and maybe that's why it get so hot. The receiver doesn't put out much heat usually, but if the LG vents on the bottom, perhaps combined with the little heat from the receiver it gets to be too much. I don't but the second one I just got yesterday gets just as hot as the first one, at the same time the Philips remains completely cold no matter how long I run it. My concern is that I like to fall asleep watching something on DVD and usually I don't turn off the player until the morning.

As far as picture quality - the LG is certainly not bad, I don't think that this would be a reason to return or exchange it if everything else is fine. And now that LG finally put out official specifications, I am more likely to buy the story that it has a 12 bit DAC, compared to Philips' 10 bit.

With the sale price of 206, the LG only cost me $30 more than the Philips so it's not as big a difference, and it does offer a few advantages so if you guys don't have problems with heat, and are otherwise happy with it I see no reason not to keep it.

So the there is a vent on bottom? I need to pick it up and look, maybe that's the problem. How is your LG places? I have mine sitting on top of the receiver and maybe that's why it get so hot. The receiver doesn't put out much heat usually, but if the LG vents on the bottom, perhaps combined with the little heat from the receiver it gets to be too much.

Yes there is a vent on the bottom of the unit near the center. As for placement I have mine sitting directly on its own glass shelf of my entertainment center (nothing on top or under it). My receiver (a old prologic system) manual states "Do not place CD player on top of this unit; radiated heat may damage CD player software" so I never sit anything on top of it.

So the there is a vent on bottom? I need to pick it up and look, maybe that's the problem. How is your LG places? I have mine sitting on top of the receiver and maybe that's why it get so hot. The receiver doesn't put out much heat usually, but if the LG vents on the bottom, perhaps combined with the little heat from the receiver it gets to be too much. I don't but the second one I just got yesterday gets just as hot as the first one, at the same time the Philips remains completely cold no matter how long I run it. My concern is that I like to fall asleep watching something on DVD and usually I don't turn off the player until the morning.

As far as picture quality - the LG is certainly not bad, I don't think that this would be a reason to return or exchange it if everything else is fine. And now that LG finally put out official specifications, I am more likely to buy the story that it has a 12 bit DAC, compared to Philips' 10 bit.

With the sale price of 206, the LG only cost me $30 more than the Philips so it's not as big a difference, and it does offer a few advantages so if you guys don't have problems with heat, and are otherwise happy with it I see no reason not to keep it.

I did have mine on a shelf in my stereo cabinet behind a glass door, but after I read your post I moved to a shelf under the TV out in the open were I felt it would get a little more air.
It does have air vents on the bottom and it may be something to think about. I left mine on all day yesterday and used it as a tuner and I played a movie last night and it was a little warm but not what I would call hot. I have a panny e55 also, and it has a fan and it gets as warm as the LG does.
Maybe you might want to try moving it to see if that makes a difference. I know theres another guy that has posted on here ( sorry i forgot his name ) that says his LG doesn't get hot also so maybe it is the receiver.... something to try anyway.
I may wait until my 30 days are almost up before i try the Philips to give the LG more time to screw up...lol. The way my luck runs, it will work fine until the 30 days expire and then it will melt to the ground....LMAO.
Keep me up on how your new LG does and I'll let you know if mine starts to give me any problems.
Later

BigOc90

Yes there is a vent on the bottom of the unit near the center. As for placement I have mine sitting directly on its own glass shelf of my entertainment center (nothing on top or under it). My receiver (a old prologic system) manual states "Do not place CD player on top of this unit; radiated heat may damage CD player software" so I never sit anything on top of it.

I have mine on a shelf by itself also and have not had a problem at all. I had mine on all day yesterday without a problem.
It maybe were he does have his sitting on his receiver. But I don't understand why the Philips doesn't give him any problems.
Maybe the Philips has a fan were the LG doesn't, and that makes the LG a little more sensitive to the heat coming off the receiver. I know my Yamaha receiver gives off a lot of heat !
I know that so far...I love my LG...so far !

BigOc90

Well I've had my receiver for almost 6 years now, and have always kept the DVD player directly on it. It produces very, very little heat. Never had any problems with DVD players or recorders over heating, except with the LG and the Samsung 135, which was also a fanless model. The Philips remains compltely cold as if it hasn't even been on. I might try putting the LG on a separate shelve, but my problem is that I don't have other shelves large enough for it to fit on. I thought of putting it under the receiver, but it's a little smaller so the receiver won't fit on top of it.

Other than the heat, I really do like it a lot, and it's probably the most feature rich recorder after the Samsung, but the Samsung's insane P&S problem is too much.

How come that each and every one of these units has some serious problem, and the question becomes what problem is the least disturbing?

Other than the heat, I really do like it a lot, and it's probably the most feature rich recorder after the Samsung, but the Samsung's insane P&S problem is too much.
So for a user like me, running a wide screen TV, where P&S will never be an issue you would take the Samsung over the LG?

So for a user like me, running a wide screen TV, where P&S will never be an issue you would take the Samsung over the LG?

Depends what signal you're feeding into it. The Samsung advantage is its built in program guide, but it only works with over-the-air digital channels, and with the limitation that to get the line-up info you have to tune the channel in first.

If you're not going to use OTA, than this won't help you much, and the LG supports time slip with RAM discs, and has a PIP to watch a TV channel while you're playing a DVD.

The other advanatage Samsung has is true DD5.1 sound output, and someone reported that it might actually output true HD signal over its HDMI.

Another difference between the two is the DAC - 12bit/108Mhz on the LG vs. 10bit/54Mhz on the Samsung - so this is an advantage for LG. How much of a difference it makes depends on your monitor too.

It all comes down to features, and what's more important to you.

Oh! Forgot something very important. The samsung has a serious problem if the channel signal drops out - when the signal comes back on, it will only tune the sound, but the picture will say "scrambled channel or signal too weak", so with timer recordings you might end up with hours of just audio.

It's such a shame, because both these units would've taken very little effort to make them excellent, but they each have something that's terribly wrong with them.

I currently have an Two 2 Tuner HD DVRs from Cox. One in the living room and one in the family room. The one in the living room gets used once every 3 months or so. I am interested in getting a DVDR for:

Having a third digital tuner that has QAM for the times that there are three shows at the same time I would like to watch. This coming Monday with Hero's coming back, 24 and 2½ Men is such a time. My Samsung TV has a ATSC tuner but ino QAM and I am not intersted in an antenna. I could just connect the cable straight to the TV as well but I need my HD! I was really hoping that one of the new DVDRs would output HD.

Some archiving, but I doubt much.

Sending NASCAR races that are on TNT to my dad since he refuses to get a dish.

Replacing the Toshiba DVD player that I have that skips all of the time.

I was wondering which of these dvd recorder has the best quality recording longer than the 2 hour mode (say - 3 hour or 4 hour mode). To make sure sammy AR650 doesn't do chase playback right? although it can record in dvd-ram, kinda odd? :confused: thanks in advance.


That is right the Sammy AR650 can not do chase playback even with DVD-RAM

NOTE: The LG seems to be picky which DVD-RAM brands it will take, they recomend Fujifilm brand, and I know for a fact it will not use Maxell brand. Later I plan to get a Panasonic brand DVD-RAM to test.

So for a user like me, running a wide screen TV, where P&S will never be an issue you would take the Samsung over the LG?

Putting aside the P&S issue, I would take the LG over the Samsung simply because the LG has chase playback with DVD-RAM. The Samsung Program Guide is kind of nice to see what is comming on next, but it only tells you what is on a channel after you tune to it and give it a chance to download the data. Also the LG has a 12-bit/108mhz DAC which should make progressive scan images look better on larger screen sizes (say above 32").

What I really want:
1) Time slip (pause live TV is great)
2) 4:3 P&S with the OTA digital tuner
3) small channel delay (less than 3 seconds)
4) EPG is a plus but not a deal breaker

What I really want:
1) Best possible picture for QAM tuner to my Samsung 46" LCD
2) HDMI
3) Record 16:9 in 16:9

What would be nice:
1) Time slip
2) S-Video input for better (how much better is it really) recording from HD DVR
3) Better yet Component Input but I don't think that will ever happen.

What is of no use to me:
2) 4:3 P&S
4) EPG - Using QAM and they never work with QAM


Any suggestions? Wait for 2008?

What I really want:
1) Best possible picture for QAM tuner to my Samsung 46" LCD
2) HDMI
3) Record 16:9 in 16:9

What would be nice:
1) Time slip
2) S-Video input for better (how much better is it really) recording from HD DVR
3) Better yet Component Input but I don't think that will ever happen.

What is of no use to me:
2) 4:3 P&S
4) EPG - Using QAM and they never work with QAM


Any suggestions? Wait for 2008?

Assuming the Samsung AR650 does not really pass HDTV (no one has really proven yes or no) I would get the LG.

The faster DAC should make a better image on your 46" LCD, includes HDMI up to 1080i, and other people on this forum have reported it does record 16:9 nicely. For your "would be nice" list the LG has Time slip, but no s-video input or component inputs.

P.S.
Some of the older non ATSC DVD recorders such as the Polaroid unit walmart used to sell has component inputs.

That is right the Sammy AR650 can not do chase playback even with DVD-RAM

NOTE: The LG seems to be picky which DVD-RAM brands it will take, they recomend Fujifilm brand, and I know for a fact it will not use Maxell brand. Later I plan to get a Panasonic brand DVD-RAM to test.
In another forum, Panasonic is considered the best DVD-RAM media.

That is right the Sammy AR650 can not do chase playback even with DVD-RAM

NOTE: The LG seems to be picky which DVD-RAM brands it will take, they recomend Fujifilm brand, and I know for a fact it will not use Maxell brand. Later I plan to get a Panasonic brand DVD-RAM to test.

Don't bother with the panny ram disc either. I have already tried. The Maxell and the panny will record but will not let you timer record. When you try, it says there is not enough room on the disc. I called LG's support ( what a joke!! ) :mad: . The guy I talked to was a real smart a$$ and acted like I was wasting his time or something,
anyway....he said that you had to use the disc that they recommend.
I can't find any fuji ram disc around where I live. I will either have to go to the next town ( which were I live is about 45 miles ) or order them off the internet.
The Panny e55 I have in the bedroom will use any Ram disc, and I made the mistake of thinking that the LG would also.

BigOc90

Well I've had my receiver for almost 6 years now, and have always kept the DVD player directly on it. It produces very, very little heat. Never had any problems with DVD players or recorders over heating, except with the LG and the Samsung 135, which was also a fanless model. The Philips remains compltely cold as if it hasn't even been on. I might try putting the LG on a separate shelve, but my problem is that I don't have other shelves large enough for it to fit on. I thought of putting it under the receiver, but it's a little smaller so the receiver won't fit on top of it.

Other than the heat, I really do like it a lot, and it's probably the most feature rich recorder after the Samsung, but the Samsung's insane P&S problem is too much.

How come that each and every one of these units has some serious problem, and the question becomes what problem is the least disturbing?

It may not be your receiver, I may just have gotten lucky. I don't understand why they didn't just add a fan ! It wouldn't have cost them but maybe $3.00 more. I guess that makes to much since.
I am like you Bobby, I can't understand why it's so hard for em to make a unit that will work like it should. I know you can't put everything into 1 unit that will please everyone, but at least you could make it work !

BigOc90

I am like you Bobby, I can't understand why it's so hard for em to make a unit that will work like it should. I know you can't put everything into 1 unit that will please everyone, but at least you could make it work !

BigOc90


I think it's so that we keep buying more and more, hoping for better results, and ultimately keeping a hundred different boxes, each of which is good for one only specific task.

So I tried moving the LG away from the receiver, and sat it on top of the Philips recorder, which I left turned off the whole time. After about two hours of operation the LG got just as hot as it did on top of the receiver.

I think it's so that we keep buying more and more, hoping for better results, and ultimately keeping a hundred different boxes, each of which is good for one only specific task.

So I tried moving the LG away from the receiver, and sat it on top of the Philips recorder, which I left turned off the whole time. After about two hours of operation the LG got just as hot as it did on top of the receiver.


I'd say your right....they know what they're doing. I don't think they're as stupid as we think they are...lol ( all though I wonder sometimes...lol ).
Well....I hate that your still having problems with the heat. It looks like Schwuck and I have been lucky so far.
I have been using mine all night again tonight and played a movie and it's just a little warm....very little.
I think that I will keep it until I get within a couple of days of my time running out and see what happens. If it continues to work as well as it does now I will keep it, but if the heating thing pops up or any other problems happen, I will give the Philips a try.

BigOc90

Well I left my LG on for 6 hours (the last 2 hours it was recording a DVD) and the hottest part is 100F which does feel pretty warm to touch but not in any way dangerous I think.

I can't find any fuji ram disc around where I live. I will either have to go to the next town ( which were I live is about 45 miles ) or order them off the internet.Best Buy used to sell them in their stores. Last time I skimmed over that section, they didn't seem to have any - but that was months ago. Won't hurt to look.

(edit: just looked on their website, and they had the Fuji 2-3X DVD-RAM 5-pack for $7.99 listed - but it said "sold out". Still, it might be worth checking the stores.)

Best Buy used to sell them in their stores. Last time I skimmed over that section, they didn't seem to have any - but that was months ago. Won't hurt to look.

(edit: just looked on their website, and they had the Fuji 2-3X DVD-RAM 5-pack for $7.99 listed - but it said "sold out". Still, it might be worth checking the stores.)

Thanks man...I will go and check it out !
BigOc90

I checked my local best buy and they did not have the Fuji disk... however i did get a Verbatim/Mitsubishi DVD-RAM disk (as LG requires) and it still did not work :confused:

I checked my local best buy and they did not have the Fuji disk... however i did get a Verbatim/Mitsubishi DVD-RAM disk (as LG requires) and it still did not work :confused:

Hey Schwuck,
It looks like you may have a bad unit. I am thinking about returning mine and just keeping the panny E-55. I have had it for 3 years now without a problem 1. I think I will just wait another 6 months to a year and see what comes out.
Aah heck, I just can't make up my mind about this machine. There are so many things that I really like about it.
I have not had any problems with mine as far as heat or anything else, I have even got it to record with the timer now using the Maxell and Panny's ram disc. The thing about it though....is it seems I am the exception. My 30 days are fast running out and I am worried that I will start having problems after that and get stuck with a bad unit.
I guess I am going to have to do some hard thinking about it in the next couple of days.
BigOc90

My 30 days are fast running out and I am worried that I will start having problems after that and get stuck with a bad unit.You could always return it, and then after you've tried some others, you can get it again if you still want it.

"Oh! Forgot something very important. The samsung has a serious problem if the channel signal drops out - when the signal comes back on, it will only tune the sound, but the picture will say "scrambled channel or signal too weak", so with timer recordings you might end up with hours of just audio. "

That is really sad!! I would have hoped that Samsung DVD recorder would perform more like the Samsung STB DTB-H260F which does not display the above kind of behavior at all.

Another feature that the STB has which I hoped would be carred over into the DVD recorder is EPG that allows you to scroll and select a show you want to record.

I use this feature now on the STB connected to my Steam Powered VCR via composite and it works great albiet a mediocre picture.

Just curious if the Samsung DVD has analog and digital tuner? I will go to their site to see. Edit - I just went to their website and did not see any of the digital DVD recorders there.

-DonB2

You could always return it, and then after you've tried some others, you can get it again if you still want it.

I have been thinking about doing just that. When I bought it...I paid $229.95 and now it is on sale for $195 ! So I will be able to save a little money by doing that also. ( if it is still on sale when I decide to get it back...lol )
I think I am going to take it back on Monday and get either the Phillips or Samsung and give them a try and if I like the LG better I can always go back and get it like you said.
Thanks,
Bigoc90

I have been thinking about doing just that. When I bought it...I paid $229.95 and now it is on sale for $195 ! So I will be able to save a little money by doing that also. ( if it is still on sale when I decide to get it back...lol )
I think I am going to take it back on Monday and get either the Phillips or Samsung and give them a try and if I like the LG better I can always go back and get it like you said.
Thanks,
Bigoc90


That's exactly what I did, I've already tried all three, and finally went back to the LG. The first one must have been defective, the second one got fried by a power surge, and now I am really happy with the third one.

I liked the Philips a lot, and it was cheaper too, but changing digital channels was very slow, and it wouldn't remember the channel line ups when switching from cable to antenna, which was a problem for me.

The samsung was ok, but the P&S mode ditn't work, and worse when it loses signal from a digital channel when the signal gets back it will only tune the sound without picture. To get the picture back you have to switch to another channel and then switch back.

I just have one question for all the owners of DVD recorders in this thread.
When you record a movie that is broadcasting in Dolby Digital or DTS, does the soundtrack playback in DD/DTS or just 2 channel stereo.

I am talking about movie you record on the recorder, not store bought DVD movie.

Thanks for any clarification.

When you record a movie that is broadcasting in Dolby Digital or DTS, does the soundtrack playback in DD/DTS or just 2 channel stereo.
I believe that will all of the products that have been released so far, the only one that records the DD (no DTS in ATSC broadcasts) is the new Samsung model.

That's exactly what I did, I've already tried all three, and finally went back to the LG. The first one must have been defective, the second one got fried by a power surge, and now I am really happy with the third one.

I liked the Philips a lot, and it was cheaper too, but changing digital channels was very slow, and it wouldn't remember the channel line ups when switching from cable to antenna, which was a problem for me.

The Samsung was ok, but the P&S mode ditn't work, and worse when it loses signal from a digital channel when the signal gets back it will only tune the sound without picture. To get the picture back you have to switch to another channel and then switch back.

I probably am just wasiting time trying the others !
The more I think about it and the more I read on here, the more I think I should just stay with the LG.
I do think I will take it back on Monday though and get my money back, and then turn around and buy another one right off the shelf so I can get the difference back between what I paid for it and what it sales for now.
By the time I paid tax and everything it was $250.49 before. I can save almost $40 bucks by doing that.
BigOc90

BigOc90 ,

It is possible you could just walk in with it and ask to be reimbursed for the difference and tell them if they won't reimburse you that you will return it and buy a new one. I did this once at Sears.

Pros- You get to keep the one you bought that you know works plus you get money back.

Cons - You get a new one, you get money back and reset the 30 day trial.


-DonB2

I probably am just wasiting time trying the others !
The more I think about it and the more I read on here, the more I think I should just stay with the LG.
I do think I will take it back on Monday though and get my money back, and then turn around and buy another one right off the shelf so I can get the difference back between what I paid for it and what it sales for now.
By the time I paid tax and everything it was $250.49 before. I can save almost $40 bucks by doing that.
BigOc90

If you don't have any problems with the LG, you could just take your receipt there and they'll do the price match, but hurry because it will probably end tomorrow, they usually change prices on Sundays.

I believe that will all of the products that have been released so far, the only one that records the DD (no DTS in ATSC broadcasts) is the new Samsung model.

None of the current DVD recorders records the sound in DD5.1 - they all down-convert it to DD2.0 which is then good for ProLogic processing.

The Samsung does output DD 5.1 during live TV viewing, but still does not record it.

None of the current DVD recorders records the sound in DD5.1 - they all down-convert it to DD2.0 which is then good for ProLogic processing.

The Samsung does output DD 5.1 during live TV viewing, but still does not record it.

Thanks for the clarification.

There is only DVD recorder that I can see the spec with DD/DTS Decoder built-in, the Panasonic DMR-ES25, but I have not been able to verify that it can record DD soundtrack.

That's a disappointment since the enjoyment of movie watching is DD soundtrack, otherwise better PQ does not make the leap of technology worthwhile over SVHS recording. IMHO.

Thanks for the clarification.

There is only DVD recorder that I can see the spec with DD/DTS Decoder built-in, the Panasonic DMR-ES25, but I have not been able to verify that it can record DD soundtrack.

That's a disappointment since the enjoyment of movie watching is DD soundtrack, otherwise better PQ does not make the leap of technology worthwhile over SVHS recording. IMHO.


The DMR-ES25 is a previous generation model with an NTSC tuner only. NTSC broadcasts don't have DD signal to begin with, so it definitely does not record in DD either. I haven't looked at that model in a while, but I think the only thing that DD/DTS refers to on it is its ability to pass both signals to a receiver for processing.

If you're happy with your S-VHS by all means stick with it. I never had one of those so to me the DVD recorder is a giant step ahead of VHS.

BigOc90 ,

It is possible you could just walk in with it and ask to be reimbursed for the difference and tell them if they won't reimburse you that you will return it and buy a new one. I did this once at Sears.

Pros- You get to keep the one you bought that you know works plus you get money back.

Cons - You get a new one, you get money back and reset the 30 day trial.


-DonB2

Good idea ! I guess I should have thought about that. I would like to keep the one that I have since I do know that it is a good one !
Thanks
Bigoc90

If you don't have any problems with the LG, you could just take your receipt there and they'll do the price match, but hurry because it will probably end tomorrow, they usually change prices on Sundays.

Thanks, I didn't know if they would do that or not ( I have never tried ). The only reason that I thought I would take the one I had with me , is because I live about 65 miles away and did not want to take the chance that they wouldn't do the price matching.
My buddies and I are going for a ride tomorrow on our bikes and that would make a good ride ! I'll just take the receipt with me and see if I can get some money back.
Then I'll take the money I get back and go to Hooters and get a cold 1 and some hot wangs....lol !
Thanks for the info !
BigOc90

If you don't have any problems with the LG, you could just take your receipt there and they'll do the price match, but hurry because it will probably end tomorrow, they usually change prices on Sundays.

I took your advice this weekend and took my receipt to best buy and showed it to them and they gave me the difference back. It came to $37.35.
Thanks man, I really appreciate the help.

BigOc90

Anytime!

I've been having some very annoying issues with the Philips 3505. It likes to lose its programming and channel memory. I've posted some of the details in the 3505 thread, but wanted to mention it here, too.

I'm on my second one and it's still happening, even after connecting my 3505 to a (small) UPS as another poster suggested. This morning, before I turned the unit on, I saw the timer icon lighted for the programming I had scheduled, so I know it still had its memory. I turned on the unit on to watch last nights recording and, once it did the disc loading, it popped up with the initial set-up again. Memory gone! So it seemed to glitch during the turn on and/or loading process.

Now, I do have a 50" plasma and VCR plugged into the same surge suppressor/UPS as the 3505 (although the plasma is only on the surge and not the battery since the plasma uses too much juice). And it so happens I was turning on the plasma at the DVDR at about the same time. Any correlation? Before using the UPS, I had memory loss issues even w/o the plasma coming on.

I've called Philips and they offered to send me a new unit, but then I can't use my 90 day return at WM. I'm tempted to order the Pan EZ27 online and give up on the 3505, but I like that the Philips records so that the 16:9 is maintained. As I understand it, the Pan only does that with RAM, which most of my computer drives won't read. The Samsung scares me because of how it loses video after a signal dropout. On the LG, I forget why I am weary. Maybe about how it handles 16:9 recording when connected to a widescreen TV?

On the LG, I forget why I am weary. Maybe about how it handles 16:9 recording when connected to a widescreen TV?


I finally went back to the LG after the Philips and the Samsung. The LG handels 16:9 the exact same way as the Philips. My main problem with it initially was overheating, but after I created its own dedicated shelf so it's not stacked with anything else, the heat situation is better, although not as cool as the Philips was.

I did experience the set up loss with the Philips as well. It only happened to me once, but I didn't keep it for very long so... It looks like a quality issue to me. I just bought a new Insignia SDTV TV, and it has the annoying habbit of forgetting the channel line up as well, needless to say it's going back soon.

I never really considered the Panasonic, mostly because I can't find it locally, and I prefer not to have to send something back by UPS. I was kind of turned off by people's reports of weird geometry problems with it.

I hope my new LG doesn't crash right after it's warrenty, but by far to me it has the best features. It's tuner is super clean, the channel changes very fast, it remembers the line up when you switch antenna or cable so you don't have to rescan every time, and finally the deal was sealed when the region hack someone posted worked.

Thanks, bobbyslav, that's good to know about the 16:9.

I remember my issue with the LG now: I can only get it at BB or CC locally, whereas I'd rather use WM for its more lenient return policy (especially with some new models coming out in the next few weeks & months). Any unit I end up with after the return window expires is going to be it for the long haul since the spouse isn't going to let me upgrade to a new one every year. ;)

I'm going to try turning off the auto clock and DST settings as a poster in the 3505 thread suggested, and see where that gets me. If that still doesn't do it, I may eventually end up going with the LG (and pulling my hair out in the mean time when the Philips doesn't record Lost).

lol That would be a real shame. The auto clock on the Philips was one of my favorite features. That's actually what I miss the most on the LG. Thing is that the Philips couldn't remember the clock setting for longer than 30 seconds, so even the smallest power outage will screw up programming if you don't have the auto clock set. But with it on the clock was very fast in resetting itself, which of course won't be much help if it somehow manages to forget the program list in the mean time.

Some people have already reported seeing the Panasonics at Target. Maybe you should try those and report. It's amazing that there are practically no good, lengthy reviews on those yet. I might even get one just out of curiousity.