I have experienced several problems with DVD recorders and these are: 1. If there are remaining hours on a disc and it is removed from the unit then put back in to record on the unused space, DVD recorder will not recognized the disc and whatever was recorde is completely unrecoverable. 2.If the 6-hour format is used to record 30-minute TV shows, you may record at least 12 episodes, by not removing it from the unit. But if you rename the titled for each of the twelve episodes, then finalize the disc, there will be an error when you try to play the finalized disc, it will say ERROR: DATA DISC. 3. Accidentally pressng on any button while the unit is undergoing a process, like completing the recording after STOP is pressed or hitting return button while the unit is in progress with "housekeeping", will have undeterminate result and recording will be lost or the disc will be an invalid or unknown disc. 4. Turning off the unit with an unfinalized disc in it will also have bad result. When the unit is turned on again, the unfinalized disc in it will not be recogniaed, instead th eunit will give the message INVALID DISC or UNKNOWN DISC. And whatever is recorded in the disc is again lost. All these recording mishaps are usually cannot ber resolved. Customer service will advice to not do whatever leads to a bad disc, like, they will say do not use the 6 hour format because they would say the "compression" process sometimes fail, or you have to use another brand of blank disc, or use the RW discs. These kind of solutions are not unacceptable because the unit is being used as advertised and using the features that are their selling points. However, it is evident that the "built-in program" or what the manufacturer call as "firmware", that manages the DVD recorder have some shortcomings and cannot accomodate or provide for certain customer way of recording. And if your luck runs out, the unit could be completely unusable. If you want to safely preserve memories, make sure you have a VHS tape backup, it is less vulnerable to losing your recordings than a DVD recorder.
While I have had MANY issues with DVD burning myself, I've never run across the things you mention. #1 I have always been able to put a disc back into the unit and still record on it, as long as it is not finalized... #2 I have always been able to "rename" all the episodes and never got an error reading the disc after finalizing #3 I have hit stop after recording and never lost the info #4 I have turned off the unit before, and even the electricity has gone off during a storm, but what I have recorded on the disc is still on the disc... So my question is what DVD recorder do you have, or are you using the right discs? I'm really curious... Danielle
I don't think that you can generalize the problems with DVD recorders this way ... It is true that some recorders do have certain issues, but in some cases a firmware update will solve them ... I also have discovered that the stand alone units are much more finicky about the brand disc that is being used. For example .. the Sony DVD+R discs. My BenQ drives love the Sony/Yuden discs and have excellent success with them while my LiteOn set top recorders have a hard time recognizing them. Now the made in Taiwan Sony discs work extremely well in the LiteOn LVW5005 units but sorely lag behind the made in Japan Sony/Yudens in the computer. I have also found that when creating an episodic disc, it is better to use DVD+RW discs as the recorder seems to start recording faster with them and has an easier time recognizing them on a weekly basis as I add episodes to the disc. Yes, it is sadly true that at the moment DVD recording is behind VHS ... I do remember a time however, that VHS wasn't very advanced and it had problems far beyond the $1000 cost of a VCR ...
One is a GoVideo dual DVD recorder/player and VHS recorder/player, the other one is a LiteOn DVD recorder/player. I just believe that manufacturers rushed to put out a DVD recorder into the market without making the product failsafe. And that manufacturers do not have very good quality control, they let the buyers do the quality control for them. Notice the line of customers returning items at electronic stores. The manufacturers save themselves lot of money that would otherwise be spent on a well staffed quality control department. They would rather replace units than maintain QC dept that would prevent bad units from getting to the store. I guess having the money in the bank is better than wracking their brains with testing their products.
# 1. Try to record on a disc, without finalizing it, remove it from the unit then without closing the drive, place another unfinalized disc. This is when my unit have problem recognizing the 2nd unfinalized disc. #2. I have about 12 30-minute episodes and I practically go the maximum number of characters for each title. #3. In my dual DVD/VHS recorder/player, I hit the number keys to change channels while the DVD recorder is still completing the STOP process. Next, when I try to rename the recorde material, the unit cannot recognize the disc sayin it is an "Unknown Disc. Try again" #4. This is where the LiteOn video download of their firmware doesn't work, either. Turning off the unit while there is an unfinalized disc in it, then turning the unit on, the unit have difficulty reading the unfinalized disc. The unit just prepare the disc for recording as a blank disc, again. And of course, this corrupts the entire disc because what the unit "thought of as a blank disc" is not really a blank disc, thus the disc is corrupted and cannot be read or write on ever.
Maybe the title would be better suited if it was called Weaknesses of cheap and bargain DVD Recorders..... Hey, you get what you pay for. I don't have any of those problems with a decent Panasonic or Pioneer DVD Recorder. I have one of each, and none of those problems show up.
I have twp LiteOn LVW5005 recorders ... one is almost 3 years old and the other is almost 2. The only problems that I've encountered has been with -R discs and with +R Taiyo Yuden. The recorders are using identical firmware and this enables me to record episodes on one then record more episodes on the other ... I can finalize with either one ... No problems reading unfinished discs as long as I use MIT Sony, Ritek, Verbatim or any +RW disc ...
[ Cobrajet ] Quote Maybe the title would be better suited if it was called Weaknesses of cheap and bargain DVD Recorders..... Hey, you get what you pay for. I don't have any of those problems with a decent Panasonic or Pioneer DVD Recorder. I have one of each, and none of those problems show up. --------------------------------------- You don't always get what you pay for in price. Sony is a good example ot this. I'm sure thar the Panasonic and Pioneer are good units I have two ilo RHD04, two R04 Player/recorders 2 years and do not have any problems. A Cyberhome 1200 player/recorder and it will play just about anything I have an Apex 3201 player over 4 years old. Two Cyberhome 300 players 1 and 2 years old no problems Again the Cyberhome units will play most anything including what the ilo, Panasonic or Pioneer will not I really think the biggest problem is a user not understanding a unit and its operation, or expecting it to do somthing it can't PS The ilo 04 is made by LiteOn and can be hacked. Th 05 by Cyberhome, can-not be hacked Ps Again I also have a Go Video VHS/DVD combo unit that I use for dubbing. It workes very well in fact the VHS is as good or better than the two "High End: VHS Panasonics that I have since packed away
This forum has at least 1000 post with people complaining about their Panasonic units ... I was given a LiteOn LVW5005 the other day by a friend who said it wouldn't do anything ... I had been looking for a dead unit to do a drive swap with ... It took me about 45 minutes altogether resulting in a DVD recorder that worked better than my other two (which work great!) I transplanted a SOHW 1693S PC drive into the LVW5005 and, except for the lack of CD and SVCD recording ability (a firmware issue I'm sure) the thing works great and even gets better scans now ... If anyone's interested, I'll post the steps I took to do the swap ...
Great thread, Ok I am really new at DVD Recorders, I just ordered an LVW-5005 based on what I have been reading in this site, this machine does everything I want to do especially VHS tapes to DVD ( my wife has about 300 ) a few questions please: Does the unit have a hard drive, cant see anything in the specs, when transfering from VHS to DVD I am assuming it is real time,as I am reading that it can be edited, Catfreak, I would be interested in a copy of the steps on how to put the SOHW 1693S PC drive into the LVW5005. Thank you in advance....................scotty
No hard drive .. you can edit the VHS tapes, but it's better to transfer the VHS to a DVD+RW disc then transfer the DVD+RW to your PC and use DVD Shrink to edit .. you can then use NeroVisionExpress to create fancy menus and the like ... I'm going to pull one of my drives for cleaning and I'll make a detailed step by step set of instructions to post .. You need to make sure that you get a LVW5005 as opposed to a LVW5005X which is a different animal all together .. Re post when you get your recorder Victor
Thanks for the fast Reply Catfreak, so its a DVD burner you are putting in, sorry I thought it was a hard drive. I would only be transfering VHS direct to DVD ( just wondered about the editing ). sounds like this is the right machine for me. It is the LVW-5005 I am getting.......................scotty
Catfreak, I hope you will still post those instructions, even if scotty47 doesn't need them. I am considering going this route. I'm also curious -- does the burner have to be a SOHW 1693S, or would a newer model work?
I don't see why a newer drive wouldn't work ... after all, they attach to the recorder with a standard 40 pin IDE and a standard power cable just like inside the PC ... I've heard of people even putting different manufacturers of drives in them .. however, the most popular seems to be the SOHW16xx series of drives
