DVD Recorder Buying Guide

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If you’re ready to toss out your VHS VCR in favor of a DVD recorder, this Buying Guide is for you.  Nothing beats the optical disc format when it comes to direct and random access, digital video and audio quality, and long-term durability.  VHS VCRs can’t touch DVD recorders in these areas.  As a removable medium, it beats the hard disk personal video recorders (PVRs) like TiVo and ReplayTV in terms of virtual capacity.  You simply insert another blank disc.

DVD recorders can record any of the following material:

• analog TV via over-the-air broadcasts, cable, or satellite

• standard definition digital television (SDTV), same quality as DVD-Video (480i)

• analog camcorder video (8mm, Hi-8, VHS, and VHS-C formats)

• digital camcorder video (miniDV and Digital-8 formats)

DVD recorders can not record high definition television (HDTV) signals.  For HDTV, you can use the Digital-VHS VCRs available today, or wait for the high definition DVD (HD DVD) recorders to come out.  If you want to do extensive video editing and create a professional looking DVD for your home videos, you should use a computer with a recordable DVD drive and a video editing and DVD authoring software package.

Now that you know what a standalone DVD recorder can and can not do, we will cover the following topics in this Buying Guide for standalone DVD recorders:

• Must-have features

• Nice-to-have features

• Connectivity: inputs and outputs

• Which recordable DVD format?

Must-Have Features

As a basic replacement for the VCR, standalone DVD recorders must have an NTSC analog TV tuner and an electronic program guide (EPG).

NTSC Analog TV Tuner. To pull in TV channels, you need a built-in NTSC analog TV tuner.  Just like your VCR, this allows you to program recordings for different channels.  The tuner receives analog TV channels via antenna or cable.  If you have a satellite system, you should be able to use the DVD recorder just like you’re using a VCR today.

Electronic Program Guide (EPG). To make programming the DVD recorder to record your favorite shows as easy as possible, an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) is essential.  Sometimes, it is called an Interface Program Guide (IPG).  Many DVD recorders make use of the Gemstar-TV Guide’s VCR Plus+ Gold system, which has been available for VHS VCRs for a number of years.  Some are using the newer GUIDE Plus+ and GUIDE Plus+ Gold systems.  The EPG puts up a nice graphical display of the TV programs on various channels for different times, up to eight days in advance.  You can interactively sort by various categories to quickly locate the show you want.  Once you find the show that you want to record, push one button and voilà, the DVD recorder is programmed to record that show for you.  These EPGs are free and the EPG data/ signal should be be available through most cable providers.

 

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