"Homer J Simpson" wrote in message
news:PLRsh.173470$YV4.16012@edtnps89...

"Buck Turgidson" wrote in message
...

I am not very tech savvy and up on the latest stuff. I have had bad luck
with VCRs lately, and am too cheap to pay the monthly Tivo fee. Do DVD
recorders allow a DVD to be re-written over and over like a video tape?
Are they are viable replacement for a VCR?

Try news:alt.dvd.video

Don't expect long life out of the DVDRWs in one of these. They are
trouble.


Based on the amount of these that I see for repair - probably 8-10 a week on
average - I would have to say that they are the most unreliable piece of
consumer technology to come out in the last 30 years. They can be very picky
about what media they work reliably with, and even which make. They suffer
all sorts of software upgrade problems, and the sorts of faults where you
think that the owner is mad or doing something wrong. For instance, I
currently have one in where on some commercially pressed discs, you can't
turn the subtitles off - others it's fine. I have another where timed
recordings just won't happen. These are both big-name machines. In fact,
I've found that some of the longest lived ones are actually the cheapo
supermarket specials, although these tend to have poorly made power
supplies, and you've got bulging caps on your hands after 12 months.

Another problem that you may have is that if it does go wrong out of
warranty, you won't have much luck taking it to your friendly neighbourhood
repair shop. The manufacturers are *very* anal about who they supply service
info and spares to for this equipment - particularly so, Panasonic.

All in all, I don't believe that this technology will replace the humble VCR
for long. HDD recorders are far better at replacing - and indeed improving
upon - the functionality of a VCR. My HDD recorder is built into my sat box,
and has proved totally reliable at its job. My recommendation to anyone
wanting to invest in a new recorder, would be to spend a little bit more,
and get a HDD recorder, with a DVD recorder built in. That way, the HDD
section does all of the time shift day to day donkey work, and if you need
to get a recording physically off the HDD, you can archive it to disc via
the DVD writer.

Arfa