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Best VFM HDD DVD recorder. |
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#1 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 17,902
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Best VFM HDD DVD recorder.
I'm looking to replace my 160gb HDD DVD player/recorder. It's an LG model and the only gripe i have with it is it's very slow to boot up, though lately it's taken to doing all kinds of strange things such as switching on by itself when not even programmed to, or occasionally refusing to switch on at all!
So i think it's time to replace. I'd like a bigger HD capacity and am not bothered if it's another LG or some other brand, but which make/model gives value for money along with reliability? |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,792
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Quote:
I'd like a bigger HD capacity and am not bothered if it's another LG or some other brand, but which make/model gives value for money along with reliability?
![]() The best manufacturer still making them is Panasonic, but they are well known for plenty of reliability problems, commonly power supply issues. Really it's down to personal recommendation, but all of those are likely to be based on tiny sample sizes. |
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#3 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 17,902
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Quote:
Options are limited, as DVD recorders are pretty well dead - and reliability isn't great across any makes - it's not a very reliable format, HDD's often fail fairly early, and DVD mechs aren't known for the long life either
![]() As for reliability, my LG DVD is about six years old and was a refurbished unit when purchased. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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Quote:
As for reliability, my LG DVD is about six years old and was a refurbished unit when purchased.
![]() Sony used badged LG DVD Recorders at one time, they were an absolute disaster - EXTREMELY short life on the DVD mechs. To make matters even worse, there were two versions (same model numbers) but with entirely different insides - BOTH suffered the same massive failures of the mechs. |
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Witham, Essex.
Posts: 266
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I agree that DVD/HDD recorders are old hat these days.
I have a Sony RDR-HDX890. It has been very reliable and never missed a recording (unlike my PVR) but it only has a 160GB hard drive. It can still be purchased from Amazon and eBay: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-RDR-HXD.../dp/B0018PRXWE I never got around to increasing the size of the HDD but there is a discussion on how to do it here if you are brave enough: http://www.avforums.com/threads/upgr...-dvdrs.851966/ I mainly use it now as a DVD player and I have changed it to multi-region by using a One-for-All programmable remote. It has a very good upscaler to HDMI. |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,792
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Quote:
I have a Sony RDR-HDX890. It has been very reliable and never missed a recording (unlike my PVR) but it only has a 160GB hard drive.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Witham, Essex.
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I notice that a Sony RDR-HDX890 with a 500GB HDD is for sale on eBay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-RDR-H...item27ddf9a7e9 This would seem a bargain if you want a good DVD/HDD recorder. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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Quote:
I notice that a Sony RDR-HDX890 with a 500GB HDD is for sale on eBay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-RDR-H...item27ddf9a7e9 This would seem a bargain if you want a good DVD/HDD recorder.
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: DAVEVILLE, Daveshire DA1 1VE
Posts: 33,621
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Quote:
Rather pricey for a pretty old machine
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Witham, Essex.
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OK it was only a suggestion. I do not know how competent the OP is in changing a HDD.
The final cost of the upgrade would would be: Original machine cost + 500GB HDD + programmable remote control (or service remote) You might be lucky and get a 890 for less than £100 on ebay plus you have to do the modifications. The alternative is to buy a Panasonic machine as has been suggested. |
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#11 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 17,902
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Quote:
The 890 was a Pioneer manufactured machine, and has been a fairly reliable and popular machine. Unfortunately Pioneer ceased production of TV's and recorders, so Sony moved to Samsung ones, which were pretty crap!
So i'm not so sure about "crap" as his old Samsung is still going. Lot's being mentioned about old technology and old machines etc, but slightly o/t i have three Sony SLV-715 VCR machines. A tape edit deck which Sony brought out in the late 80's early 90's. Possibly one of the best VCR's around all three are in perfect working order, but more importantly due to the build, they can still be repaired by any competent electrician and parts are still available. As for audio/visual quality, even with the cheapest of tapes which have been used endless times the heads are that good the audio/visual is indistinguishable from that of the television. |
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#12 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
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Quote:
So i'm not so sure about "crap" as his old Samsung is still going.
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#13 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Worcestershire, UK
Posts: 779
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Not sure if I am missing something? There's a lot of comment on the unreliability of HDD recorders and combined HDD/DVD recorders versus the reliability of a PVR.
Take the DVD player / recorder away and surely you effectively have a PVR? So why should the reliability be any different from say a Sky+, V+, TiVo or Humax? I've had four Of this type from Panasonic and 2 are still working. One did fail and another is in the shed because it only has an analogue tuner. I still use my DMR-EX768EB to record in SD as a backup and because I can transfer recordings to DVD. The DMR-PWT520 is fairly new and although it lacks the sophistication of my TiVo it's still very useful and I can stream SD recordings to my computer. I suspect a little bit of snobbery is going on here. |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Witham, Essex.
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Quite so.
My Sony RDR-HXD890 is still working (although I don’t use it as much as I did). My two year old HD PVR has had a new HDD fitted and it locks up occasionally (requiring a power cycle). I would still be using the Sony every day if it could receive HD and had two tuners. |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: DAVEVILLE, Daveshire DA1 1VE
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Quote:
OK it was only a suggestion. I do not know how competent the OP is in changing a HDD.
The final cost of the upgrade would would be: Original machine cost + 500GB HDD + programmable remote control (or service remote) You might be lucky and get a 890 for less than £100 on ebay plus you have to do the modifications. The alternative is to buy a Panasonic machine as has been suggested. So if the OP was confident in changing a PC HDD he could, if he is lucky to get a decent condition 870 or 890 for say £80 save quite a bit, as changing the HDD is easy for someone confident in installing PC HDDs. 870/890 - £80 500Gb HDD - £40. Service remote - £13. A total outlay of £133, pretty much half the price of an already upgraded model. If he isn't confident and doesn't mind the cost, then even at £250 odd the upgraded models are decent machines, especially if the company provides a warranty of some kind. But if the OP wants new then he really only does have the Panasonics to choose from these days. |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Witham, Essex.
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Quote:
The 870 tends to go for around £50-£70 on Ebay. It's slightly smaller in physical size to the 890, and only came with a 120Gb HDD but otherwise has the same spec. It can also be easily upgraded to 500Gb in the same way and with the same service remote as the 890.
So if the OP was confident in changing a PC HDD he could, if he is lucky to get a decent condition 870 or 890 for say £80 save quite a bit, as changing the HDD is easy for someone confident in installing PC HDDs. 870/890 - £80 500Gb HDD - £40. Service remote - £13. A total outlay of £133, pretty much half the price of an already upgraded model. If he isn't confident and doesn't mind the cost, then even at £250 odd the upgraded models are decent machines, especially if the company provides a warranty of some kind. But if the OP wants new then he really only does have the Panasonics to choose from these days. Half the price? The guy on ebay I quoted above was selling a 890 with 500GB HDD for £150 plus postage. Your calculated figure is only £17 less and you dont have the hassle of doing the modification. |
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#17 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 17,902
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Quote:
I suspect a little bit of snobbery is going on here.
Quote:
Half the price?
The guy on ebay I quoted above was selling a 890 with 500GB HDD for £150 plus postage. Your calculated figure is only £17 less and you dont have the hassle of doing the modification. |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Witham, Essex.
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I think there always has been in electronics, particularly in the entertainment field.
When you set it against the cost of 'modding' it doesn't seem too bad. Incidentally what type of hd do they use? Changing a drive is no problem for me, installed plenty of pc drives and even when i bought a new pc last year the first thing which went in was a second 2tb drive. Read the old AVforums thread: http://www.avforums.com/threads/upgr...-dvdrs.851966/ before you start to see what the upgrade entails. Good luck. |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: DAVEVILLE, Daveshire DA1 1VE
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Quote:
Half the price?
The guy on ebay I quoted above was selling a 890 with 500GB HDD for £150 plus postage. Your calculated figure is only £17 less and you dont have the hassle of doing the modification. |
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: DAVEVILLE, Daveshire DA1 1VE
Posts: 33,621
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Quote:
I think there always has been in electronics, particularly in the entertainment field.
When you set it against the cost of 'modding' it doesn't seem too bad. Incidentally what type of hd do they use? Changing a drive is no problem for me, installed plenty of pc drives and even when i bought a new pc last year the first thing which went in was a second 2tb drive. If you are comfortable changing a PC HDD then changing the drive in the Sony isn't difficult. You do need the service remote, or a clone as linked to earlier though. |
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#21 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Scottish Borders
Posts: 11,995
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Quote:
Not sure if I am missing something? There's a lot of comment on the unreliability of HDD recorders and combined HDD/DVD recorders versus the reliability of a PVR.
Take the DVD player / recorder away and surely you effectively have a PVR? So why should the reliability be any different from say a Sky+, V+, TiVo or Humax? I've had four Of this type from Panasonic and 2 are still working. One did fail and another is in the shed because it only has an analogue tuner. I still use my DMR-EX768EB to record in SD as a backup and because I can transfer recordings to DVD. The DMR-PWT520 is fairly new and although it lacks the sophistication of my TiVo it's still very useful and I can stream SD recordings to my computer. I suspect a little bit of snobbery is going on here. A DVD/HDD recorder, even when recording to hard drive, encodes and compresses the stream, and introduces a layer of complexity that isn't present in pure PVRs. Also the PVR can only record from it's internal tuner, whereas DVD/HDD recorders almost all have the ability to record an external source via scart. |
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,792
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Quote:
Not sure if I am missing something? There's a lot of comment on the unreliability of HDD recorders and combined HDD/DVD recorders versus the reliability of a PVR.
Take the DVD player / recorder away and surely you effectively have a PVR? So why should the reliability be any different from say a Sky+, V+, TiVo or Humax? The reliability is different because you're adding a second unreliable major component - the DVD recorder mechanism. So while a PVR has one major unreliable component (the HDD), an HDD/DVD has two major unreliable components - so 'roughly' twice as unreliable (ignore other failures of course). I would also advise using WD drives, Seagate are really crap, as were Quantum (who were taken over by Seagate). |
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#23 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 17,902
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Quote:
I would also advise using WD drives, Seagate are really crap, as were Quantum (who were taken over by Seagate).
First Seagate i've had (others were WD) so i'll see how it fares as it's only just 12 month old. The WD drives i had in my old pc, one lasted ten years but the other i replaced twice over the same period.Back o/t i've noticed that the DVD/HDD that were, have simply become HDD recorders.....period. Manufacturers are simply removing the DVD mechanism and flogging HDD recorders. I knew this was going to happen when i bought my Humax, but for me personally i still like and need DVD discs. It all has echoes of when new hi-fi sytems were no longer sold with a deck, leaving folk like me with a huge collection of vinyl very little choice. I'll resist opening debate over Vinyl vs. CD too as every music 'buff' knows the answer to that! |
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#24 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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Thanks for that!! The 2tb drive i fitted in my pc is a Seagate!
First Seagate i've had (others were WD) so i'll see how it fares as it's only just 12 month old. The WD drives i had in my old pc, one lasted ten years but the other i replaced twice over the same period.![]() But almost all the faulty drives we change are Seagate ones. Quote:
Back o/t i've noticed that the DVD/HDD that were, have simply become HDD recorders.....period. Manufacturers are simply removing the DVD mechanism and flogging HDD recorders.! |
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 17,858
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I have a Panasonic HDD-DVD with no tuner, and a Sony one with a Tuner. I bought the Sony when the Panny stopped dubbing to DVD, then realised I could clean the Panny DVD mechanism, which fixed it.
I hardly use either now. I have a PVR, and realised that I hardly watched anything I saved to DVD anyway. |
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