Stand Alone DVD Recorders???

[jackbutler]

I purchased a Samsung DVD-VR330 yesterday and I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on it. I can't seem to find any reviews on it and I have 30 days to take it back. I was looking to replace my Denon DVD Player (it is acting up) with something of decent quality and figured why not get a recorder to boot so does anyone have any experience with this model. If not what do you guys use. I am not interested in just having a good recorder I want a decent player as well!!

Thanks....

[kILLURIDOL]

depends what you want to use it for...transferring old VHS tapes, and recording your favorite tv show is about all their good for. I have a magnavox and its the worst piece of crap out there...has some bugs...I way prefer the PC burners and authoring software to a stand alone...but its the easiest when transferring VHS tapes

[rherron]

I can’t answer your question, but let me ask another as maybe someone can answer both of us (mine’s similar to yours).

I want to get a stand-alone DVD burner just to copy junk off my DVR (which is in the cable box here in Columbia, SC on Time Warner) and then put it on my PC. Every now and then it would be nice to tape PBS Soundstage or something like that and then make a DVD of it myself and not have to hope it shows up on the net somewhere to DL.

What’s a good stand-alone for a task like this? What’s a reasonable amount to pay?

I know I can connect my PC to the DVR but it would be a huge pain (different rooms) and I’ve just got too many other “Honey Do” items to deal with that.

Thanks,
Rob

[jackbutler]

Well I copied the Van Halen Balance PPV from 95 I had on VHS with it last night and it worked great. The picture is pretty damn good. I recorded the PPV back in 95 on a 4 head Hi-Fi Samsung VCR so it was a 1st generation tape. Anyway I think I am going to be happy with it but if anyone has any other ones they have used and has opinions on them please let me know.

And if anyone is interested in this VH I will do a vine, let me know!!

Rob, I would seriously consider this one for what you want because it really does seem to work good and it is a DVD/VCR combo so you can record straight from VHS to DVD. They list at $249.99 - $279.99 but Sams has them for $199.99!!

[rherron]

So let me ask you this – how do these things work exactly? Once you make a DVD I’m guessing it has VOB, IFO, and BUP files. Can you just copy the VOBs to the HD on your computer then author a decent menu, etc. from there?

I have downloaded a few shows that were taken from stand-alone DVD players and they seem to insert chapter marks at given intervals (say every 10 or 15 minutes). That sucks but can easily be remedied on the computer. Basically I would just want to take the VOB files and stick them on the PC and then go from there.

Can I do that with one of these things? I’m guessing yes but don’t know for sure.

Rob

Yes, you can copy all the files and completely reauthor the DVD. Chapter marks are stored in the IFO files, so making menus and changing chapters is no problem.

[jackbutler]

Originally Posted by hanshak2015

Yes, you can copy all the files and completely reauthor the DVD. Chapter marks are stored in the IFO files, so making menus and changing chapters is no problem.

Well that would be great cause I was looking for a program to do that but every authoring program I found wants you to convert the files back to mpeg first. Can you give me a suggstion for a program that will let me do a menu and new chapter points with the vob files??

And yes it does insert chapter points every 5 minutes

Sorry, can't recommend any prog for creating new menus. You can edit chapter points with IfoEdit

[rherron]

Originally Posted by jackbutler

Well that would be great cause I was looking for a program to do that but every authoring program I found wants you to convert the files back to mpeg first. Can you give me a suggstion for a program that will let me do a menu and new chapter points with the vob files??

And yes it does insert chapter points every 5 minutes

Nero will let you make a DVD (menus, etc.) without converting the VOB files. There are lots of programs but the few times I have done it I used Nero because it was easy and I just didn't want to take the time to make fancier menus in other programs -- programs I own like Vegas. The menus are pretty simple with Nero. There are probably things better than Nero and easier to use than Vegas.

Any suggestions anyone?

Rob

[jackbutler]

Originally Posted by rherron

Nero will let you make a DVD (menus, etc.) without converting the VOB files. There are lots of programs but the few times I have done it I used Nero because it was easy and I just didn't want to take the time to make fancier menus in other programs -- programs I own like Vegas. The menus are pretty simple with Nero. There are probably things better than Nero and easier to use than Vegas.

Any suggestions anyone?

Rob

Thanks man you are right, I can use Nero Vision 4. Will have to play with it and I will let you guys know how it turns out