[cmorris]

But still haven't answered my question .

Its odd that I record the same film on one disc and fails but when I record the same film onto another disc it worked.

(I did restore to Factory and Shipping conditions - but didn't have to do this oftern)

[Orbitalzone]

That's exactly what my ES10 did shortly before it stopped working completely, some discs recorded and some didn't. The laser was going faulty and sometimes worked then after a while it packed up and for the last 5 years it's been sitting in my loft!

When a CD or DVD burner starts to fail it will do this sort of thing, you'll probably experience the same thing with a computer CD/DVD drive.

[cmorris]

I will try a laser clean using a CD and some drops. Try it on yours

[Orbitalzone]

I've tried a lens cleaner disc and I've had the unit apart and cleaned the lens myself but it's faulty unfortunately.

I have read of some ES10's suffering from faulty capacitors in the powersupply but that was not the problem in my machine, I did replace them just to be sure.

There is someone on Ebay selling replacement laser assemblies but they're £45 and just not worth it on a 6 year old machine that cost me about £120

[cmorris]

So I should buy a new one then. Can I sell this in the paper as you don't know if it will record or not. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't - nothing is broken

[Chasing Shadows]

Originally Posted by cmorris

Can I sell this in the paper as you don't know if it will record or not.

That'd certainly be a tempting purchase.

"Second hand DVD recorder. Sometimes records. Sometimes doesn't. When it doesn't work, it still ruins the discs that you put in it. Going cheap...."

Put it on Freecycle - noone's going to give you any money for it.

[iangrad]

Fit a new laser ! you can't get a working recorder for the cost of a new laser . New units now have hard drives as well as freeview ( and FV HD in most modern units ) and if you just want to record from a external source then a ES 10 is still viable .

[cmorris]

Ok erm will look into a new laser or a new machine.

[Orbitalzone]

I've not found the laser chaeper than £45 on ebay and you're supposed to set the laser up after installation for optimum performance. Whether just bunging in a replacement will just work and work reliably I don't know.

If it was £20 I'd chance it but £45 on a 6 year old unit that cost £120 odd doesn't really make much sense to me.... the only trouble is there's little on the market these days to replace with other than the LG at around £120

[cmorris]

I reset the DVD Recorder back to Shipping and Factory Reset settings. Would that have set the laser up.

I think I will get a new one.

[Orbitalzone]

No the laser is set up by an engineer with test equipment, the laser mechanism would usually have some pots to adjust for . I'm not saying you can't just replace the drive and get it working but you have to realise that if you buy a replacement laser there's a chance it may not be correctly set up with the rest of your machine.

There's also the laser and potential eye damage to consider when working on this sort of device.

[cmorris]

Ok I'll leave it

[iangrad]

Er done quite a few of these by just fitting the laser and they all work perfectly good , yes I realize that the service manuals say yo have to do loads of things in fact I recall Pana saying that you had to change the ram drive printed circuit at the same time but unless I have just been luck they are all still 100% working just by changing the laser .

[Orbitalzone]

Originally Posted by iangrad

Er done quite a few of these by just fitting the laser and they all work perfectly good , yes I realize that the service manuals say yo have to do loads of things in fact I recall Pana saying that you had to change the ram drive printed circuit at the same time but unless I have just been luck they are all still 100% working just by changing the laser .

Well that's good to know!

[cmorris]

Can anyone recommend me a DVD Recorder (I do not need a built in HDD - What is the advantage of this)?

Can I record from the Recorders HDD onto DVD without watching or playing the film on the TV as I do now

[Chasing Shadows]

Originally Posted by cmorris

Can anyone recommend me a DVD Recorder (I do not need a built in HDD - What is the advantage of this)?

Multiple advantages. If you want two or more copies then you only need to archive to hard drive once, then fast dub from hard drive to multiple discs. Hard drives also let you edit out commercials and padding at beginning and end before committing to DVD disc, without having to sit with your hand hovering over pause button as you archive from your PVR to your DVDR. Can also archive multiple episodes/programmes to hard drive overnight (12 hours worth of stuff) then split them down into individual programmes once on the hard drive before writing to DVD disc. Hard drive also provides an alternative storage device for stuff that you might not want to put on DVD disc, but just to free up space on your Sky+, Virgin Media, Freesat+ or Freeview+ PVR.

Originally Posted by cmorris

Can I record from the Recorders HDD onto DVD without watching or playing the film on the TV as I do now

Yes, you can fast dub material from hard drive to DVD disc. Takes approx five minutes on mine to copy two hours of material from hard drive to DVD disc.

[cmorris]

So would a new DVD Recorder be worth it as I am just going round and round in circles plus its pot luck if 1 records fine and another records half way and stops

[Chasing Shadows]

Originally Posted by cmorris

So would a new DVD Recorder be worth it

Only you know the answer to that. Do you need to be able to archive to DVD?

[cmorris]

Yes as we can archive the films onto DVD so my mind has been made up I am going to look for a new one as I can't waste any more (I have already wasted 11) , Any recommendations?