Posted by Bob on 11/22/05 19:25

On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 10:44:29 -0800, "drybones" <drybones@nospam.net>
wrote:

>Want a multi-format recorder.
>Want it in less than $300.00 and preferably less than $250.
>Want one that has an easy record setup.
>Would like to purchase from Best Buy or Circuit city.
>
>Am 76 yrs young and am totally out of the cycle where DVD
>recorders are concerned. Went to both am got very confused
>with sales people and disgusted!
>
>Any assist is more than welcome.
>drybones

You can consult the many web forums that will give you more advice
than you could ever ask for. One of the best IMO is CDFreaks. They
have a sub-forum dedicated to this topic.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=89

For my money it is either a Pioneer at the extreme high end or an ILO
at the extreme low end. ILO DVDR05MU (not ZU) is the CyberHome CH 1600
but it is marketed exclusively at WalMart and is $99 compared to the
CH 1600 at Best Buy for $120.

I opted for the ILO because I wanted to wait another year for a hard
drive DVDR. If you want the HD then go with the Pioneer because it is
the top end of DVDRs. The stuff in the middle is not worth the expense
IMO - you just as well get the ILO.

I first got the ZU and was not satisfied so I replaced it with the MU,
I understand that an even newer model, the MU1, is available on WM
shelves. You can identify the model by looking for the serial number
on the bottom corner of the box.

If you get the ILO, get Verbatim DVD +RW discs - Sam's Club has them
for a good price. Despite what anyone tells you, including ILO, do not
get any other kind. ILO development staff only use Verbatim +RW.

Despite claims to the contrary, you cannot use DVD -R/RW discs in the
ILO. It only takes DVD +R/RW. The nomenclature "DVD +R/RW" means both
DVD +R and DVD +RW.

if you get the ILO then upgrade the firmware. Call tech support for
assistance the first time because if you don't know how to do it you
could cause the machine not to work. But wait until a major revision
is available. You can tell major revisions because they have a
different first digit. This 4.13 and 4.89 are minor revisions whereas
5.40 is a major revision. The revision number is next to the serial
number and has the word BIOS.

There are two pieces of f/w, the front end servo f/w which you likely
will not need to upgrade if it is 105N and the backend which controls
the GUI. That is the one you need to get. You will need to burn a CD
in ISO mode or Nero image file mode (.nrg extension). Since ILO
usually supplies f/w upgrades in the .nrg format you will need Nero.
It's free for a limited time on the Nero website.


--

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YOU DO THE SAME - BOYCOTT SONY!

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