Hey.

Just wondering what is the best, or atleast very good quality DVD-RW that i can buy?

(by the way im not talking about ones for your computer...)

ALso, can they play VCD etc??

Thanks,

Ango

Apex 110W in my opinion ... but many people are against Apex b/c they are not an expensive brand like Sony, JVC, Phillips, etc. You can't beat their compatibility though. :)

yeh, apex 1100wb's are great for the price [£69 in asda] and they look tidy enough [compact and silver in colour]. They are compatable with dvd dvdr dvdrw svcd jpeg and mp3 out of the box and its easy enough to find the firmware upgrade on vcdhelp which, when burnt to a cdr, will enable multiregion, macrovision free and vcd playback, infact asda themselves will provide you with a firmware upgrade to enable vcd playback but it doesn't do the region or macro. The only downside is that there are a few dodgy players out there so you may find yourself having to take a trip or two back down to asda to swap it but you may strike lucky and have no probs at all . when I say probs I've seen players that have trouble opening and closing the cd tray and another with a bad scart connection but asda are more than willing to exchange. I'd definately recommend these players especially for the price.

Hope this has been of some help.

By the way I also have a smart little silver portable in the Nextbase portable dvd player which is only just bigger than and actual dvd case this one is a tad more expensive but still relatively cheap this is my personal favourite and combined with a mini tft/lcd screen can be installed in the car using the provided 12v in car power supply which makes it perfect for trips etc or to keep the kids quiet. [I myself could provide one of these players for you for around £160] which does all of the above and a touch more which includes xvcd and xsvcd playback according to reports on vcdhelp and with the right firmware upgrade, which I can also provide, you can also skip those annoying warnings on the start of dvd's that you usually have to sit through.

I can provide pictures of the nextbase if required. Just post on this thread and I'll get in touch.

All the best

bulldog188

yeah bulldog, im Interested about your nextbase......it accepts VCD and SVCD you say?

By the way I mean like a dvd player which you can record stuff onto dvds'.......so your watching say "The Simpsons" and the you just put a blank DVD-RW into the stand alone dvd player. And record your program.......

ah you want a recorder also ... you didn't mention that in your original post. :) not familiar with those ... Phillips makes a decent one though, not sure what model #.

yeah ango I'm affraid I got the wrong end of the stick also I just thought you were after a player not a recorder. You'll have to stump up a lot more money for one of those little beauties. Even on ebay a decent recorder such as the panasonic dmr hs2 which has a built in 40gb hard drive, on which you can also record and later put to disk, are touching the £800 mark and I'm still not sure about vcd svcd compatability. I would advise against the phillips, even though they are much cheaper, infact I saw one on ebay the other day for a buy it now price of £349, I have been told that they are not up to scratch. The main downfall is that they only record onto dvd+r and dvd+rw which are different to normal dvdr and dvdrw which most dvd playing systems are compatable with plus to my knowledge these dvd+r etc discs are a hell of a lot dearer to buy.

Hopefully someone with a bit more experience with these recorders can shed some light on this thread for you mate.

In my opinion I would go for the panasonic, and I soon will unless something new comes along as I'm in the market for one of these myself.

I'm planning to link up to my nextbase which plays everything and is macrovision free and transfer all of my vcds, svcds and probably even dvds etc onto dvdr's I'll probably fit about two or three films onto a dvd obviously depending on quality of recording ie sp lp ep etc, and with the editing modes on the recorder I should be able to link the two halves of the film pretty much seemlessly doing a way with that pesky swap in the middle of all my films. Then I could sell/auction off my vcd, svcd and dvd collection and put the cash into some more discs. Marvelous, I just hope it all works out as smoothly as I've planned.

Anyway just got to clear the funds with her in doors.........I love being married. haha.

Make sure you post and let us know how you get on mate.

Take care

Yeah, ok, thanks Bulldog you've been alot of help......

Ill have a look at the panasonic one that you suggested.

Thanks again.

no problem ango good luck

try here www.panasonic.com/recorder