I decided to treat myself to a HDD DVD recorder. I bought a Toshiba RD-XS32 and this thing is funking great! The quality of recording is fantastic if it is set to its highest quality setting but even at the lowest setting it is damned good. According to the manual, it would take approximately 1 1/2 hours to burn a full DVD from content stored on the HDD...it did it for me in about 15 minutes! When making DVD's, it allows me to edit out parts I don't want. What I accidently found to be the best part though is its ability to produce almost factory quality video from video tapes. When I copy videotapes to my PC HD my video card does a good job but because of the different resolutions between DVD's and tapes, the result look exactly like what it is...a videotape burned onto a DVD...but when I recorded some videotapes onto a DVD using this recorder, the result was almost true factory pressed DVD quality. My only complaints are the facts that it is complicated to use...the instructions take up about 230 pages and it seems to be picky about recordable DVD's...it rejected a cheap no name, a mid-priced Imation and an expensive Maxell...but it had no problems with a Fuji. If you're considering buying a HDD DVD reorder, I highly recommend this one!

:madhack:

Hey Tom I just started a post asking about something like this. When making a disc how hard is it to edit out the commercials? Is it difficult to use? How do you know if a player lets you edit out parts you dont want? This thing sounds great except I'd like a 160GB Hard drive. Can I make a disc editing out what I dont want in 15 min or does this add significant time to it? What does it cost brand new? Feel free to tell me all about it. Boomer

i have the one from aldi , it has a 160gb hard drive, plays divx xvid. really is good.

I still haven't read the entire instruction manuals. I've just read about the functions I'm interested in e.g. recording, editing, burning etc.

1 ) It's easy to edit commercials out.

2 ) It was difficult to use for about one week but that's because I hadn't memorized how to use it yet.

3 ) I guess the best way to find out about a particular model's editing capabilities is to check it up on the company's website.

4 ) Editing out portions of your recorded content will add time to the entire process but not that much ( on my model it's best to record something, make a playlist ( that's just what you want on a DVD ) and then burn the original copy you make from the playlist onto a DVD. You could edit out whatever you don't want and burn it directly to a DVD but the manual suggests not doing that.

5 ) Brand new, this cost a little under $1000.00 CDN one year ago ( I checked it up on the net ). I bought mine on ebay for $120.00 CDN in September...it was less than a year old and in excellent condition.


Depending on your recording quality you can fit a lot onto a DVD. I currently have a big Simpsons/Family Guy/American Dad file that's over 3 hours long and recorded at a very low AV setting and it looks as though a blank DVD will hold 4 hours whereas when I recorded something at the highest setting, the DVD would hold only about 1 1/2 hours. It can record from cable, VCR, DVD palyer and just about anything else that you could plug into it. One feature which it has which I don't like, is it will not record from a DVD player which is playing a macrovision encoded DVD. I currently have about 9 hours of recorded content on the HD which was recorded at a pretty high AV quality setting and it looks like it can hold a lot more. If you need more info, let me know.

BTW, it will also play DVD's, CD's, VCD's, DVD-RW, DVD-R, etc.

Thanks for the good detailed replies. I'm a little confused on number 4.

4 ) Editing out portions of your recorded content will add time to the entire process but not that much ( on my model it's best to record something, make a playlist ( that's just what you want on a DVD ) and then burn the original copy you make from the playlist onto a DVD. You could edit out whatever you don't want and burn it directly to a DVD but the manual suggests not doing that.

Do you mean when you make a playlist that gives you points or chapters (or whatever they call them) to skip to? The second way of just editing and burning gives you one long program and thats it? Am I understanding that right?

I guess I would have to ask if you record at a very low AV setting, how is the quality compared with watching the original broadcast? What setting makes it the same quality as watching it on TV? Thanks

Lets say I record a 1 hour program and there are commercials at the 15 minute mark, 30 minute mark and 45 minute mark. I could burn the entire thing onto a DVD but as I don't want any commercials, I go through the file, find all of the points where the commercials begin and end and then I create a playlist...this is a file which contains all of the program which I want and no commercials...every point where commercials were cut out would be a chapter. I might be able to burn the playlist directly onto a DVD...but I'm not sure as I haven't truly read the owner's manual. So what I would do is create an original file from the playlist and then burn that original onto a DVD. However, I might actually be able to program the recorder to automatically skip recording commercials...but like I said, I haven't truly read the manual. The manual suggests making playlists but there is another method you could use but manual discourages it and if it's done too many times it could fragment the HD. I could take the original 1 hour recording and just delete the portions I don't want from it and then burn what's left onto a DVD.

If something is recorded at the lowest AV quality setting, I could fit more onto a DVD but the quality is not good...you could definitely tell it's not a DVD when watching it. If something is recorded at the highest quality, it looks just like a factory pressed DVD...on my recorder, that setting would be 9.2 MB per second. To get good quality ( it will look just as though you're watching a tv broadcast ) a setting of 2.2 MB per second is required. Let me know if you need any more info.

Thanks alot Tom. At the setting of 2.2 MB per second how much time could you fit on a standard DVD-R?

The 2.2 MB per second is actually the video quality...you also have to set the audio quality. If you used a video quality of 2.2 MB and the lowest audio quality ( 192 KB per second ) you could fit a little under 4 hours on a single layer DVD-R...I'm not sure that my recorder can handle dual layers DVD-R's. Those settings will give you a really good DVD. It won't be professional quality video...but it will look very good...tv braodcast quality. The audio setting will give you a good result...I can't tell the difference between this audio quality and a store bought DVD's audio...maybe if I had some type digital, big screen, kick a$$ tv, I would be able to hear the difference...but on a regular tv, at those settings, you'll get good results.

Thanks Tom. You have been very helpful. I've learned a good bit from this discussion. I see the XS52 is the 160GB version. That would be pretty nice. I usually read the manuals too so I might find a few more tips if I decide to go with one of these units. Thanks again.

Hey Tom, You can record one program while watching another correct? Also are timers set like a vcr say i wanna record to the HD from 1 pm to 6 pm?

With my Panasonic I can record one program & watch another program on the tv or also watch a dvd or another program on the hd. Should be the same for other recorders. IF you want to know more just search the net for: panasonic e85 manual --but mine has a 400 gig hd.

Btw, you can in most areas of the usa get a dvd recorder from your cable company for about 10 dollars a month that lets you record 2 programs @ the same time.

The e85 has a 400 gig HD? For some reason the newest Panasonic recorders on their web site only go to 100 gig. Everyone seems to like Panasonic models though from my reading on the net. How long does yours take to start recording? They are touting their new ones to have a 1 sec start.

No, I have an E500, with a 400 gig HD, but it works pretty much the same as the other models, just a bigger HD.

Here's a pic of HandyGuy,


http://www.888handyguy.com/plumber.gif :laugh:

Thanks, I really like that picture too. It's pretty creative.

This is another idea in dvd recorders:
"Product Description:
Entertainment Special! Argosy Inoi/Lasonic HDD/DVD Home Media Player The remarkable HV670 HDD/DVD home media player offers direct DVD playback from its removable hard drive…without a computer! Or you can connect the 3.5-inch hard drive to your PC via the high-speed USB 2.0 interface to easily edit and store your personal home video."

I have a amateur cooking show and need to be able to make copies of the shows at home. I would like to be able to take the DVD-R the producer gives me and copy it for guests who come on the show. I have copied the dvd to hdd and tried burning a copy to a DVD-R but it keeps saying it's not the right kind of disc. I'm bewildered. Did I waste 400 bucks? Is this equipment not the one I needed?

Does your burner support DVD-R?

If it does, try another brand.

If not, try DVD+R or whatever the burner and player supports.

I have a amateur cooking show and need to be able to make copies of the shows at home. I would like to be able to take the DVD-R the producer gives me and copy it for guests who come on the show. I have copied the dvd to hdd and tried burning a copy to a DVD-R but it keeps saying it's not the right kind of disc. I'm bewildered. Did I waste 400 bucks? Is this equipment not the one I needed?

Kathy what is the manufacturer and model number of this 400 dollar piece of equipment?