Hi

I am interested in getting a VD recorder and am a bit confused re different formats.

basically im looking to use DVD-R or DVD+R - Im not sure what the difference is, but from what Ive read, it seems that -R is compatible with more players.

I notice they only record for 120 minutes in SP, which dosent seem great, but you can get dual layer disks that double this. I wondered if comercially available dvd recorders can tape onto dual layer disks or not?

Also, If I record in LP, will it be playable on standard VD players or wouldnt it be able to decode it?

sorry if this has all been asked before. Ive tried searching on wikipedia etc, but its all really confusing. Why cant it be as simple as VHS!!! lol.

A few years ago dvd -r was the more compatible disc of the two available,many recorders can now use both formats.
Playback of your recorded disc on another dvd player is usually fine.
Some recorders will record to double layer discs,again,years ago, trying to find a player that would play a recordable double layer disc was more difficult.
You will have the option of putting more than 2 hours on a dvd disc,1,2,3,4, and 8 hour recording are all common modes on dvd recorders.
It all depends on the quality of recording you want,2 hours is fairly close to the quality you'd expect on a shop bought dvd,i'd personally say a recording of around 1 hour 20 minutes is more comparable to shop bought dvds,with an equivalent bitrate per second.

Get a DVD recorder with a Hard Disc, then you can record hours at HQ quality and the copy them to disc if you need to keep them.

ASDA do a great ONN DVD Recorder for 48 pounds.

....or if you really dont want/need to archive stuff to disk, have look at a freeviw twin tuner PVR which records in broadcast quality, has series links for recording recurring episodes of a program, can record 2 channels at once (while watching a previously recorded program), can pause live TV, etc

This is the sort of machine that most people really need when they start looking at DVD recorders!

Rgds,
Scorp

Hi, Thanks for all your replies.

basically, I need a VD recorder to archive stuff. Ive got a lot of films on my sky+ box, and the disk is getting a bit full. Ive copied some of them to VHS but obviously the quality isnt all that, and they take up a lot of storage space.

My main concern is weather or not the DVD will play on ordinary vd players. some films are just over 120 mins - so I might have to record on long play. If did this, what are the chances of it playing on my mates dvd player, or the one in the bedroom?

The quality is irrelevant as to whether another VD (sic) player will play it or not. Once it is finalised, it should play back on any other player that is capable of playing that type of disc.

Thanks. That sounds ok then.

I suppose I was thinking of the old VHS days, where you couldnt play something you'd recorded using LP on a VCR that only had SP.

I shall record most of my DVDs in SP anyway, except in the rare case of a very very long film!

they will play no problem

get one with a hard drive, as you will have problems recording ' on the fly'

it takes ages to send sky recording to the dvd machine and you must really like your mates!!

the high end recordings will be top quality and if you have a camcorder with say important recordings you would use the best quality. For long films you would reduce the quality and you probally wouldnt notice the 2nd best quality and would begin to tell on the third. Its not as bad as say Long Play recording on VHS.

Then you will have the hassle of getting discs to work and only buy a pack of 5 discs to start with until you are sure that type of disc works. The disc may even be by the same manufactor but its a different model and that counts.

With the price of dvds about a £5 now ( films ) I would tell your mates to beat it as it is a lot of hassle, but if its for yourself go for it. Have you not got an old video and tape that way?

always finalise a disc when you have burnt to a disc

It sounds alright for what I want.
basically all I want to do is archive my recordings, with the ability to watch them upstairs in the bedroom, or lend them to a friend.

Is it usually difficult to get the discs to work then?
I might try dvd-r. because I hear they will work with most dvd players.

thanks again for your help!!!

its not too dificult to get discs working as long as you know the pitfalls, with silly discs and the like

I agree with Niall in that you should get one with a hard drive but also, when burning from HDD to DVD a very useful featuere is what Panasonic call 'variable record' which adjusts the quality to ensure that any movie etc fits the disc exactly with no wasted space.

Hence on a DVDR without VR you would have to use EP for a 2:10 min movie compromising the quality - with VR it makes the quality '2:10' qiality not 4hr quality.

Rgds,
Scorp