Posted by Citizen Bob on 10/10/06 11:32

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:24:39 +1300, "J Brockley"
<jbrockley@hotmail.com> wrote:

>> I'm getting rid of a Pioneer 533 (80 GB) and looking for a new
>> machine. Web searches make the Pioneer DVR640HS and Toshiba RD-XS52
>> look pretty promising, but I'm wondering if anybody knows (a) another
>> good unit I'm missing or (b) something horrible with either of those.
>>
>> My criteria:
>>
>> ** Must timer record from RF (basic cable) with its own tuner, or
>> component input (output of cable box). If I can schedule half a dozen
>> programs in advance, that's plenty.
>>
>> ** TV Guide not in the unit, or able to be 100% disabled. TVGOS was a
>> *giant* problem in my Pioneer 533. I have no problem scheduling
>> recordings manually and setting the cable box to turn on to the right
>> channel at the right time.
>>
>> ** No Tivo -- again, I'm fine with scheduling manual recording.
>>
>> ** Must be able to edit on hard drive (e.g. delete commercials)
>> before burning to DVD.
>>
>> ** Must be able to put chapter marks into recording on HDD and have
>> them transfer to DVD when burning.
>>
>> ** Nice to have, if possible: two-level menus on burned DVDs that
>> show chapters within titles. (The Pioneer 533 has only title-level
>> menus.)
>>
>> ** Nice to have, not essential: burn DVD-RW and DVD-R DL. Essential:
>> DVD-R, though I imagine any unit nowadays can do that.
>>
>> I've had really, really bad experiences with Pioneer customer
>> service, so if you could say anything about customer service from the
>> manufacturers that would be nice too. If the Pioneer 640 is reliable
>> and I never have to deal with Pioneer customer service, that would be
>> a plus.

You did not mention DivX/XviD. Many have it now but some still don't.

I am of the firm opinion that the DVDRs on the market now are just
interim solutions and that the industry is not taking longevity
seriously. So I refuse to spend a lot of money on a unit that is going
to crap out in a year, no matter how much I pay. If I am going to have
to replace the unit in a year, I might as well get off as cheaply as I
can.

That's why at this moment I am evaluating the Polaroid DRM-2001G from
WalMart for $220. It's a 80 GB HDD unit with DivX/XviD and a fan for
cooling. It is made in China for Polaroid.

The unit works satisfactorily. It is supposed to be able to edit on
the HDD although I have not done so. The manual is at:

http://www.polaroid.com/media/com/text/products/petters/drm-2001g_fa37.pdf

so you can check out how to do the editing.

This is a new product for Polaroid and it is having the usual grwoing
pains. Tech service is not fully up to speed. There is no firmware
revisions. There are no more production runs planned for this model.

It has Time Shift (1 hour TV only, 3 hour when recording). The remote
is OK as remotes go. The onscreen navigation is OK.

I read several forums on this unit before I bought, and the guys gave
it a decent rating. One guy pulled the WD HDD and put a 250 GB in with
no problems.

My next unit in a year is going to be a PVR that I build. I would have
done it this year but the components are not quite ready for prime
time. I believe they will be next year.

We all know where this industry is heading - streaming downloads.
Optical discs will be a thing of the past in a few more years. It is
cheaper and more reliable to keep AVIs on a removable HDD than on DVDs
or Blu-Ray.


--

Govt is an insult to human dignity. With or without govt,
you would have good people doing good things and evil
people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil
things, that takes govt. Govt is the root of all evil.

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