I'm in the market for a digital DVD recorder. And I feel a thread with everyone stating the DVD recorders they have tried and what the results were, could be very beneficial for everyone in the market for one. Doesn't have to be lengthy. Bullet points covering important aspects could be addressed. I would be very grateful to have this info in one thread, and I'm sure others would too. Thanks for taking any time to contribute.

if by a digital dvd recorder you mean w/ a digital tuner i dont have any of those. i do have 2 toshiba dr2s, a panasonic dmres15, and a presidean (?). the dr2 will do anamorphic w/s dvds (google anamorphic video for more info), the panny will record for a longer time, up to 3-4 hrs with very good quality. theyre both very good machines. the dr2s arent being made anymore, unfortunately, google that also, there are some out there.

I have a Toshiba DR2 and a XS32...soon will add the Philips 3575 ordered site-to-store whenever I can print out my stupid email from Walmart...just ran out of ink. :mad:

As Westgate points out, the Toshs are analog in tuning and recording. The Philips is at least digital/analog in tuning with analog recording.

The DR2 has never given any problems...the XS32 developed a flakey Ram burner about 1 year ago. Just did the switchout to an older LG4167B burner and all is well. The original 80Gb drive has had full capacity for a very long time and still going strong. Will soon pick up an upgrade HDD as per the XS32 HDD thread and double the capacity.

Even with the hardware problems, I feel the Toshiba feature set is awfully hard to beat.

Looking forward to trying the 3575 out and see if HDMI upconversion is decent. If so I will likely remove yet another piece of equipment from the rack and gain some airflow.

Panasonic EZ17K

-Tunes digital OTA channels (Bye cable TV!)
-Records downres'd HD at SD res
-Records full 480i res in LP mode
-FR mode in timer recording (attempts) to fit a recording in remaining time avail. on disc (can be used to further enhance PQ for odd sized shows or use up remaining disc space)
-Can record on reusable DVD-RAM discs
-PQ is excellent

I only use it to timer record downres'd OTA HD channels. I don't really care if it acts flaky, is slow to change channels, the remote layout and/or menu layout awkward, doesn't upscale, etc. It does what I bought it for - It records all of my timer settings in beautiful PQ. I haven't found another recorder with this feature set and I have looked.

What I wouldn't recommend that you get -- an LG DR787T Recorder (or any other LG recorder for that matter). A few weeks ago I wouldn't have said that, but now I do, because mine (which I've had for only a few months, and hasn't even been used all that much) DIED on me last week. We just dropped it off at Best Buy on Sunday and it's getting sent out to be fixed. It's going to take 2-3 weeks. If they can fix it...we'll see. I almost hope they can't -- I won't be getting another one! I'm wishing I'd have gotten the Panasonic DMR-EZ27K or DMR-EZ17K...

This is the second LG recorder that's died on us, BTW. My husband's got one that we've got hooked up to the TV upstairs that is almost identical to mine but it's about 6-7 months older (probably the previous model that was replaced by the one I have now). It, too, had to be fixed when it was only about 6 months old -- they had to replace the motherboard on that one.

It's weird because we have an LG TV that's been fine. I guess when it comes to something with moving parts though, you can't necessarily say that.

Ah well...we learn by experience I suppose! :(

DK

Toshiba D-R550. Got it from Circuit City Online (it is not in their brick and mortar stores at this time).

Pros:

1. ATSC tuner. That's the reason I bought it (to use with old TV sets).
1b. Also has NTSC tuner.
2. ATSC signals have no "ghosting".
3. DVD burner.
4. Lots of connections, versatile.
5. Different recording speeds.

Cons:

1. It will record until the disc is so full it can't be finalized. Sometimes, too-full discs can't even be played, not even by this model! This means you need a computer and DVD authoring software to retrieve the programs.
2. Front connections (for camcorders) have a cover with a door-latch that is the same bad quality as the flip-down USB covers on PC tower cases. Cheap, bad door latch design.
3. No picture-in-picture, can't watch one ATSC while watching another ATSC program.
4. Records with open GOPs (not a problem for me).
5. Short (90-day) warranty.
[EDIT]: 6. No hard drive (at the time, I didn't want one -- I wanted a simpler unit with a lower price).[END of edit]

As we get closer to the cut-off date for analog (NTSC) TVs, more ATSC tuners will come out and prices will fall. Maybe I'll hand this one down to my parents at that time, I don't know.

My US $0.02.


REMEMBER: 1. Preserve Nature. 2. Always wear a helmet.
3. Ride safely. 4. Read owners manual carefully before riding.

Panasonic DMR ES15 and ES25: Great PQ at 4 hour LP speed, can us DVD-RAM, can start with first title. Can't record CD or VCD, no Divx playback, problems with DVD+RW media, no zoom.
Liteon LVW 5005: EZ to make region and MV free, EZ interface. Mono tuner, frequent drive failure, no Divx playback, no DL record, can't use DVD-RAM.
LG RC797T: digital tuner, USB port, EZ dubbing, DL recording, IR blaster. No S-video inputs, no start with first title, sensitive to protection.