DVD/VHS/Hard Drive Recorders ?

[Merton Park]

Any suggestions of the best DVD/VHS/Hard Drive Recorders that will also play NTSC DVD's?

[frame69]

May be somewhat outdated but have a look here....
http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/ho...order-buy.html

Frame.

[johng]

have a look at Amazon. most of the popular recorders have been reviewed by purchasers and you can get some idea from these reviews as to any problems which might exist.

[dvdman]

panasonic machines are very good ive had 3 recorders with hard drives

[Wolfgang]

How good can they be if you have got through three of them?

[MikeB]

The Panasonic EX99 Buy Panasonic DMR-EX99V 250GB VCR/HDD/DVD Recorder/Digital Receiver online at JohnLewis.comis the only one I know, and its does do NTSC playback. Its downside is that its over £400, whereas the EX83, which doesn't have the VCR, is about £270.

If you have a video already, then why do you need another one? You can play your existing tapes on the machine you have (until they or it dies), can even transfer the taped stuff to DVD via something like the EX83 using RCA leads (I used the similar Sony to do the same thing), and save yourself some money as well! The only downside of the EX83 and its like (Sony, Samsung and Toshiba all do similar machines) is that the only have one tuner, and its Freeview, not Freeview HD. Unfortunately the Humax PVRs' can't record to an external source, such as a DVD, and the Panasonic machine which has the hard drive, Freeview HD tuners and a DVD is the Buy Panasonic DMR-BW780 Blu-ray/DVD/HDD 250GB Digital Recorder with Built-in Freeview+ HD online at JohnLewis.com is the BW780 - and thanks to a recordable Blu -ray, is over £500.

There is really no perfect solution at the moment, but if you dont need to write to a DVD, then the Humax will be fine, the EX83 if you dont mind not being able to record in HD and only one channel (this years TV's all have HD tuners, so at least you could watch), or go for the BW series if you want the lot, but it will cost you. Video - dont bother - its a dead technology.

[johng]

panasonic machines are very good ive had 3 recorders with hard drives

You must have been lucky since every Panasonic recorder which I have had has been nothing but trouble.

If you care to look back at older threads you will see that there have been previews comments on DVD recorders and their problems and if my memory serves me right the general consensus of opinion at the time was that Pan..... recorders were c....p and should be avoided at all costs.

Obviously people can only speak based on their own personal experience.

I doubt if there is a completely trouble free DVD recorder or player on the market and sometimes the cheap ones are more reliable than those that are more expensive.

It is very significant that practically every manufacturer prints a warning in their handbook that the recorder/player may not function with every disc depending on how it was recorded. So much for an article being fit for the purpose it was intened!!

[theuofc]

You must have been lucky since every Panasonic recorder which I have had has been nothing but trouble.

If you care to look back at older threads you will see that there have been previews comments on DVD recorders and their problems and if my memory serves me right the general consensus of opinion at the time was that Pan..... recorders were c....p and should be avoided at all costs.

Obviously people can only speak based on their own personal experience....

I read all the past reviews in here on the Panny which of course was after I bought the combo during a holiday sale and because it had the features I wanted. Given the negative comments, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But 7 years later, that Panny is still going strong, having recorded hundreds of programmes onto dvd-r and dvd+ as well as vhs, etc. The image is sharp, the sound clear. The shoe still hasn't dropped, thank goodness. If anything has gone wrong, it's been the discs that were duds off and on.

So, like dvdman, I've been fortunate in my experience with a Panasonic.

Best,

Barbara

[dvdman]

well all the hardrives are full

[dvdman]

mind you Pioneer is good aswell

[dvdman]

How good can they be if you have got through three of them?

well the hard drives are full up of tv stuff wolfgang

[dvdman]

well said barbara a friend once said to me panasonic dvd recorders do not like cheap discs

[johng]

In my experience Panasonic don't like expensive discs either! Wouldn't have another one if I got it for nothing.

Seriously opinions are going to vary and it is probably true to say that the same model and this includes Panasonic will produce different problems in the hands of different people irrespective of what discs you use.

The perfect DVD recorder has yet to be made and i think all models give problems at one stage or another.

[Johnallan]

Just a word about instruction booklets: I bought my first DVD recorder, a Toshiba RD-XS32SB, around 9 years ago. The instructions were excellent, clearly and logically laid out with helpful diagrams where necessary. I quickly learned all the functions, even to creating more complex menus. The recorder has been used almost every day since and only now has it developed a fault (will no longer recognise DVD disc but hard drive still records). So I recently bought a Panasonic DMR-EX83EB to replace it. I can only describe the instruction book as ‘user hostile’ – over complicated, badly set out and a real dog’s dinner of a thing. Fortunately having had the previous experience of recorders I was able to follow it but with some difficulty in parts. If this is typical of Panasonic instruction books then I would never recommend that make to anyone. Also the Toshiba had many useful features that the more expensive Panasonic lacks. So first-time buyers be warned!