Video/DVD Combis Any Good ?

[Amethyst_Isle]

Has anyone got/had one and are they any good ? and are the DVD recorder's come as multi region too ?

[lordtednfs]

name='Amethyst_Isle']Has anyone got/had one and are they any good ? and are the DVD recorder's come as multi region too ?

There maybe some that are multi reg, but guarantee you cannot copy vhs movies to dvd. A waste of time. You need to buy a macrovision remover. Don't buy a dvd and vhs combo, buy seperate and buy a macrovision removal kit from Amazon.



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[Steve Crook]

name='lordtednfs']There maybe some that are multi reg, but guarantee you cannot copy vhs movies to dvd. A waste of time. You need to buy a macrovision remover. Don't buy a dvd and vhs combo, buy seperate and buy a macrovision removal kit from Amazon.

Errm, isn't macrovision only used on commercial DVDs (and things like computer games)?



It wouldn't be on home recorded videos or even on many commercially bought videos. As it's not there, there's no need to remove it



Steve

[Amethyst_Isle]

name='lordtednfs']There maybe some that are multi reg, but guarantee you cannot copy vhs movies to dvd. A waste of time. You need to buy a macrovision remover. Don't buy a dvd and vhs combo, buy seperate and buy a macrovision removal kit from Amazon.



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Thanks.



I just wondered if the quality of the recordings would be better or worse than using seperates,I know of the macro situation (as far as I know they do not allow any input/output sockets at all ) but mine mostly do not have that on them as there off tv recordings.

[Amethyst_Isle]

name='Steve Crook']Errm, isn't macrovision only used on commercial DVDs (and things like computer games)?



It wouldn't be on home recorded videos or even on many commercially bought videos. As it's not there, there's no need to remove it



Steve

Loads of commercial videos do have them Steve and some do not,you only know when you play/record one.........not that I have ever tried that of course...ahem cough.....as it is of course illegal to do so for personal gain.



Another note on Macrovision is that it not actually on the DVDs (although some maybe ) but is in fact built into the DVD recorder itself.

[lordtednfs]

name='Steve Crook']Errm, isn't macrovision only used on commercial DVDs (and things like computer games)?



It wouldn't be on home recorded videos or even on many commercially bought videos. As it's not there, there's no need to remove it



Steve

Ok smarty.



Most people would like to record their collections, that's why I mentioned it. On my collection of Frost from season one and up until season 5, they all have macrovision as do some of my other movies from the late 80's. Buy a combo and try.



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[Steve Crook]

name='Amethyst_Isle']Loads of commercial videos do have them Steve and some do not,you only know when you play/record one.........not that I have ever tried that of course...ahem cough.....as it is of course illegal to do so for personal gain.

That's possibly why I haven't seen it much on commercial videos, I don't have many. Most of my thousands of videos are recorded off-air.



Steve

[lordtednfs]

name='Steve Crook']That's possibly why I haven't seen it much on commercial videos, I don't have many. Most of my thousands of videos are recorded off-air.



Steve

A big smarty.



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[penfold]

name='Amethyst_Isle']Has anyone got/had one and are they any good ? and are the DVD recorder's come as multi region too ?

I bought a Toshiba combo recently, RD-XV47KB.....VHS, DVD(Multi-region) and Hard Disc....you can record in any direction (Though the DVD drive struggles with some Computer-burnt discs) and if copying off-air tapes onto disc, you can use the HDD to buffer and edit before you commit to the disc. About £180 delivered, easy to use, and no cables. Make sure yours has been multi-regioned though...a bit pricey perhaps, but about 30p per tape I want to copy....

[julian_craster]

On the combi model I have (DAEWOO), they have compromised on the quality of the VHS tape recorder, presumably to make the direct to DVD recordings look good !



If you are going to tranfer old VHS tapes, you need excellent quality on both VHS and DVD.



I would not buy this brand again.....

[johng]

Reference to previous comments Macrovision is NOT actually built into a recorder. it is on the DVD/VHS itself, it is just that the recorder circuitry recognises the Macrovision and will not therefore record.



Practically all commercial DVDs from the major distributors incorporates this restriction although material from many smaller distributors does not. The inference being that a licence fee has to be paid to Macrovision which may make it uneconomical for the smaller organisations to incorporate it.



With regard to videos, most of the older ones were free of any restriction, it only became more common in the last 10 years or so.



Johng

[eric7885]

dvd/vcr recorder or player combo? It would be cheaper to purchase the separate units.

[Amethyst_Isle]

name='johng']Reference to previous comments Macrovision is NOT actually built into a recorder. it is on the DVD/VHS itself, it is just that the recorder circuitry recognises the Macrovision and will not therefore record.





Johng

OOPS!! my mistake John,this below is quite interesting as this has happened to me a few times



"Historically, the original Macrovision technology was considered a nuisance to some specialist users because it could interfere with other electronic equipment. For example, if one were to run their video signal through a VCR before the television, some VCRs will output a ruined signal regardless of whether it is recording. This also occurs in some TV-VCR combo sets. Apart from this, many DVD recorders mistake the mechanical instability of worn videotapes for Macrovision signals, and so refuse to make what would be perfectly legal DVD dubs of people's old home movies and the like. This widespread problem provides a legitimate basis for the sale of devices that defeat Macrovision. The signal has also been known to confuse home theater line doublers (devices for improving the quality of video for large projection TVs) and some high-end television comb filters. In addition, Macrovision confuses many upconverters (devices that convert a video signal to a higher resolution), causing them to shut down and refuse to play Macrovision content."

[johng]

You may well be right and it would be nice to think that modern devices which filter out the macrovision signal will not create other problems.



So far I have had no difficulty in filtering out Macrovision either from DVDs or VHS.



There are however always going to be some problems arising since even without macrovision to contend with there are those discs which will not load or play on certain machines and this often seems to happen when for example a DVD is burned on a PC and then one tries to play it on a Player/recorder. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that PC and DVD recorder both copy by a different method although why some players will take everything that is thrown at them whilst others refuse to play I do not know. I have even had a situation where on certain machines the DVD would only play in b/w despite it being in colour!



Many people will tell you that you get more reliable reults from a cheaper player than an expensive branded model.



I recently bought a Matsui (Currys own brand) for about £16 very good spec and it has never failed to play a disc yet when other makes such as Philips and Panasonic would either not load or would produce a message "disc not compatable"



Wish i knew the reason for all this!!

[suzepulcheria]

name='julian_craster']On the combi model I have (DAEWOO), they have compromised on the quality of the VHS tape recorder, presumably to make the direct to DVD recordings look good !



If you are going to tranfer old VHS tapes, you need excellent quality on both VHS and DVD.



I would not buy this brand again.....

My Daewoo combi has done sterling service and I have no complaints about the VHS quality. Mind you, the originals were not always too good! It records, transfers and plays back uncomplainingly, despite the huge turnover I have forced upon it over the last two years! I expect your standards are higher than mine. My previous combi was a Panasonic which was never out of the repair shop. They had to extend the warranty by another year and even then it failed a week after its last repair within the three year period. I put it in a skip where it was lifted within half an hour. I wish the taker/totter the very best of luck with it.

[Amethyst_Isle]

What about the Durabrand brand in Asda for £57.95 this is just for a DVD Recorder only as I can always link it up with another video recorder.



Anyone had experience with this brand of DVD recorder good or bad ?



I tried around on the net and not a lot of help on there.:-(

[eric7885]

here in Canada they are avilable. From what I have been told,trying to copy a vhs tape with a copy guard in it will not work. So if you wan't one of these units,try before you purchase.

[lordtednfs]

name='ron7885']here in Canada they are avilable. From what I have been told,trying to copy a vhs tape with a copy guard in it will not work. So if you wan't one of these units,try before you purchase.

You need to buy a macrovision removal kit. I know there were some for sale on Amazon.co.uk: low prices in Electronics, Books, Music, DVDs & more but other than that........Good luck.



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[TESTCARD CHRIS]

name='Amethyst_Isle']What about the Durabrand brand in Asda for £57.95 this is just for a DVD Recorder only as I can always link it up with another video recorder.



Anyone had experience with this brand of DVD recorder good or bad ?



I tried around on the net and not a lot of help on there.:-(

At the end of the day, you will get what you pay for.



These units are great for what they were designed for (cheap DVD recording)

If you want a good machine £58 will not do it. These days you can get a Sony for under £150....In my opinion well worth the extra.



All the best,



Chris.

[Steve Crook]

I see that Radio Times is offering a Daewoo DRVT43 VCR/DVD player/recorder which can play videos or DVDs, record to either off air or record from one to the other in either direction. All for £219.95 (in. P+P)



They have people who write about technology and things like digital TV so I expect they've given it some sort of testing. Their reader offers are usually pretty good



Steve