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I'm trying to figure something out and I don't know what to do. Assuming price is not an issue and you decided to pick either a Polaroid 2001g unit or a Pioneer 640 unit which one would you choose?
I mean, Polaroid is great because it has:
1) Component input
2) Component pass through
3) Upgradeable hard drive. Great if you want more or if the drive goes bad. Just buy a new one and put it in.
4) LSI chip. Good for bad looking analog video.
5) Great picture quality. Incredible video quality with component in and LSI chip set.
6) Little or no copy protection -- great if cable companies block things, channels, Pay per view, bad analog signal, Tivo encrypted video, etc.
Bad:
1) Poor remote control
2) Non-standard DVD file structure. The 1x, 2x, 3x fast forward/reverse doesn't work. It just jumps from chapter to chapter skipping all video in between unless you go 1x.
3) Cheap feel/construction. Seems like something could go bad at any time.
4) They only replace machines. So, once they run out of machines you can't even get a replacement.
5) That small little noisy fan.
6) Bad DVD player. The FF/REW is slow and clunky.
7) Got the vibe that Polaroid is in for a year or two to make money and get out right away. So, 2-5 years from now they won't have any stock that you could get replaced.
8) You only get a hand full of edit points then the machine either crashes or you can't get the "go to" function to work.
9) Only have .5 second editing. No frame accurate editing.
The Pioneer is good because:
1) Has normal video structure. Standard DVD video structure.
2) More sold machine. Better construction. Like it could last years and years as long as the burner and hard drive holds out.
3) I have another Pioneer that the 640 would replace so I could use the older remote for this one.
4) Also has great picture quality. Better than the Polaroid? Only those with both units know for sure but one would think component input is better than S-Video input.
5) A lot of people here love their 640 and say the PQ is the best. It even gets good reviews from magazines for it's quality.
6) Records to all video formats.
7) They repair machines so you could keep your machine for years.
8) Can do frame accurate editing
Bad:
1) Can't do important things the Polaroid can like record component in, 1080 pass through and upgrade the hard drive. Stuck at 160 gb.
2) Costs a lot to get it looked at and parts repaired if it goes bad. Maybe hundreds of dollars to get it repaired where you could just get a replacement Polaroid super cheap as long as they still make them.
3) Have to have that dumb service remote if you want to even try to change a part. Word is, that the whole machine breaks down if you even just try to change the hard drive because it's all locked down.
4) Has copy protection in it. Could block cable channels someday or not record things it "thinks" is copy protected because it is recording a poor reception channel.
5) Picture quality is only S-Video input. So, the picture quality might not be as good as a LSI Chip/component input of a Polaroid.
In general, I get the vibe that the Polaroid is a great tinkering machine with some stuff that you can't do with other machines like upgrade the hard drive which makes it hard not to stay with; but seems to be cheap made and could break down at any time with an odd video VR structure that "real" DVD players can't understand and does things like not read video header info or skips the video itself only seeing the chapter marks. The Pioneer I get the vibe is a great, strong made machine that could last years longer than the Polaroid if the burner/hard drive holds out but it doesn't do the cool things the Polaroid does like upgrading hard drives to make it record hours beyond the Pioneer at HQ, component in, and maybe even better video quality than the Pioneer.
I only have a couple of days to figure out if I should stay with the Polaroid and deal with all of it's odd things and breaking down or give up on it and it's good stuff and get a Pioneer 640 and know I have a strong, well made machine that doesn't have the odd things happening that I get with the Polaroid.
I've been going though this for days and they both have things that each one doesn't. I can't decide and I'm beating myself up afraid I'm going to make a bad mistake and get the wrong one. Polaroid has the cheap built but cool things I can't get elsewhere and it looks like this is it for them. So no more. Pioneer has the "name brand" and the build quality and "real" DVD video structure that all DVD player know, understand and work with; yet they are not making them any more and this is the end of the road for this machine too.
If it were you guys and you were giving the option to get either one which one would you choose?
I mean, Polaroid is great because it has:
1) Component input
2) Component pass through
3) Upgradeable hard drive. Great if you want more or if the drive goes bad. Just buy a new one and put it in.
4) LSI chip. Good for bad looking analog video.
5) Great picture quality. Incredible video quality with component in and LSI chip set.
6) Little or no copy protection -- great if cable companies block things, channels, Pay per view, bad analog signal, Tivo encrypted video, etc.
Bad:
1) Poor remote control
2) Non-standard DVD file structure. The 1x, 2x, 3x fast forward/reverse doesn't work. It just jumps from chapter to chapter skipping all video in between unless you go 1x.
3) Cheap feel/construction. Seems like something could go bad at any time.
4) They only replace machines. So, once they run out of machines you can't even get a replacement.
5) That small little noisy fan.
6) Bad DVD player. The FF/REW is slow and clunky.
7) Got the vibe that Polaroid is in for a year or two to make money and get out right away. So, 2-5 years from now they won't have any stock that you could get replaced.
8) You only get a hand full of edit points then the machine either crashes or you can't get the "go to" function to work.
9) Only have .5 second editing. No frame accurate editing.
The Pioneer is good because:
1) Has normal video structure. Standard DVD video structure.
2) More sold machine. Better construction. Like it could last years and years as long as the burner and hard drive holds out.
3) I have another Pioneer that the 640 would replace so I could use the older remote for this one.
4) Also has great picture quality. Better than the Polaroid? Only those with both units know for sure but one would think component input is better than S-Video input.
5) A lot of people here love their 640 and say the PQ is the best. It even gets good reviews from magazines for it's quality.
6) Records to all video formats.
7) They repair machines so you could keep your machine for years.
8) Can do frame accurate editing
Bad:
1) Can't do important things the Polaroid can like record component in, 1080 pass through and upgrade the hard drive. Stuck at 160 gb.
2) Costs a lot to get it looked at and parts repaired if it goes bad. Maybe hundreds of dollars to get it repaired where you could just get a replacement Polaroid super cheap as long as they still make them.
3) Have to have that dumb service remote if you want to even try to change a part. Word is, that the whole machine breaks down if you even just try to change the hard drive because it's all locked down.
4) Has copy protection in it. Could block cable channels someday or not record things it "thinks" is copy protected because it is recording a poor reception channel.
5) Picture quality is only S-Video input. So, the picture quality might not be as good as a LSI Chip/component input of a Polaroid.
In general, I get the vibe that the Polaroid is a great tinkering machine with some stuff that you can't do with other machines like upgrade the hard drive which makes it hard not to stay with; but seems to be cheap made and could break down at any time with an odd video VR structure that "real" DVD players can't understand and does things like not read video header info or skips the video itself only seeing the chapter marks. The Pioneer I get the vibe is a great, strong made machine that could last years longer than the Polaroid if the burner/hard drive holds out but it doesn't do the cool things the Polaroid does like upgrading hard drives to make it record hours beyond the Pioneer at HQ, component in, and maybe even better video quality than the Pioneer.
I only have a couple of days to figure out if I should stay with the Polaroid and deal with all of it's odd things and breaking down or give up on it and it's good stuff and get a Pioneer 640 and know I have a strong, well made machine that doesn't have the odd things happening that I get with the Polaroid.
I've been going though this for days and they both have things that each one doesn't. I can't decide and I'm beating myself up afraid I'm going to make a bad mistake and get the wrong one. Polaroid has the cheap built but cool things I can't get elsewhere and it looks like this is it for them. So no more. Pioneer has the "name brand" and the build quality and "real" DVD video structure that all DVD player know, understand and work with; yet they are not making them any more and this is the end of the road for this machine too.
If it were you guys and you were giving the option to get either one which one would you choose?
