Anyone own a standalone DVD recorder?

[david]

A friend wants to transfer a buncha camcorder tapes to DVD. (Her
husband recently died.) She is NOT a computer person, so standalone DVD
recorder is the only way for her to go.

Anyone here actually using one of these? Does it really make an almost
identical copy? What is a good but not overly expensive model to buy?

Any feedback or tips much appreciated.




David Correia
Celebration Sound
Warren, Rhode Island


www.CelebrationSound.com

[blacktick]

We got a Sony RDR-GX7 about a week ago...seems great so far. But will not
record onto +Rs, which seems like the 'winning' format. (that was all that
was available at Sam's Club over the weekend).

It really is very nice looking video. Will not input component-video, but
will do s-video.

I think the price is somewhere between 525-580 or so. I recommend it,
except for the +r problem.

"david" > wrote in message
...
> A friend wants to transfer a buncha camcorder tapes to DVD. (Her
> husband recently died.) She is NOT a computer person, so standalone DVD
> recorder is the only way for her to go.
>
> Anyone here actually using one of these? Does it really make an almost
> identical copy? What is a good but not overly expensive model to buy?
>
> Any feedback or tips much appreciated.
>
>
>
>
> David Correia
> Celebration Sound
> Warren, Rhode Island
>
>
> www.CelebrationSound.com

[nuke]

That's a good question.

You know, another avenue to consider is having a service do the work of
transferring the tapes. Given the cost of the recorder and the media and the
amount of time it takes to do the job, it might be better to just pay someone
to do the job. There are many places that offer this kind of service.

If the tapes are in DV format, it would be far preferable and easier to use a
computer in the first place. A superdrive equipped iMac is a great way to do
this, since everything is integrated out of the box and the software is
actually very easy to use, even for beginners.

As far as quality goes, that's kind of iffy. DVD is a lossy-compression format.
Some data gets lost in the MPEG compression. Most of the DVD recorder chipsets
are moderately good, but don't offer the options available on software
workstations.

If you are starting from VHS to begin with, there's already a lot of quality
lost to begin with. Some cleanup on a video workstation can often improve the
final DVD product a lot.


>A friend wants to transfer a buncha camcorder tapes to DVD. (Her
>husband recently died.) She is NOT a computer person, so standalone DVD
>recorder is the only way for her to go.
>
>Anyone here actually using one of these? Does it really make an almost
>identical copy? What is a good but not overly expensive model to buy?
>
>Any feedback or tips much appreciated.
>
>
>
>
>David Correia


--
Dr. Nuketopia
Sorry, no e-Mail.
Spam forgeries have resulted in thousands of faked bounces to my address.

[nuke]

That's a good question.

You know, another avenue to consider is having a service do the work of
transferring the tapes. Given the cost of the recorder and the media and the
amount of time it takes to do the job, it might be better to just pay someone
to do the job. There are many places that offer this kind of service.

If the tapes are in DV format, it would be far preferable and easier to use a
computer in the first place. A superdrive equipped iMac is a great way to do
this, since everything is integrated out of the box and the software is
actually very easy to use, even for beginners.

As far as quality goes, that's kind of iffy. DVD is a lossy-compression format.
Some data gets lost in the MPEG compression. Most of the DVD recorder chipsets
are moderately good, but don't offer the options available on software
workstations.

If you are starting from VHS to begin with, there's already a lot of quality
lost to begin with. Some cleanup on a video workstation can often improve the
final DVD product a lot.


>A friend wants to transfer a buncha camcorder tapes to DVD. (Her
>husband recently died.) She is NOT a computer person, so standalone DVD
>recorder is the only way for her to go.
>
>Anyone here actually using one of these? Does it really make an almost
>identical copy? What is a good but not overly expensive model to buy?
>
>Any feedback or tips much appreciated.
>
>
>
>
>David Correia


--
Dr. Nuketopia
Sorry, no e-Mail.
Spam forgeries have resulted in thousands of faked bounces to my address.