DVD recorders becoming latest trend in electronics
“Dad. Dad, did you hear me?”
There was a long pause. I was deep into my book.
“Dad. We really need to get a DVD player,” Bonnie said.
She was holding a DVD someone had loaned her.
“Go play it on the computer. It plays DVDs,” I told her.
But I felt her pain. There were several times I had thought about getting a DVD player.
When you’re watching a DVD movie, you want to be in a comfortable chair, not the bad chair in front of our computer.
For some reason, we’ve held off getting a DVD player, probably because we had two VCRs and a TV/VCR-combo.
But I’ve noticed at the video rental stores, videotapes are on the way out and are being replaced by DVDs, which is short for Digital Versatile Discs.
Introduced in 1996, DVDs can store a tremendous amount of information, including music files, computer data, photos and movies. A single-sided disc (DVD-5) can hold up to 4.7 gigabytes.
A double-sided, dual-layer DVD (DVD-18) can store up to 17 gigs. And that’s why it’s quickly replacing not only videotapes, but CDs as the new medium of choice.
I checked out a few manufacturers and consumer Web sites to learn what was out there.
Alphabet soup
You can get DVD players for under $100. But I was interested in a recorder to swap out for our VHS consoles.
Most of the recorders I saw were in the price range of about $425 to $1,000.
I learned there aren’t too many DVD recorders on the market that will record a DVD you can play on any DVD player.
That’s because there are several different formats, such as DVD-R and DVD+R (write once) and the rewritable formats of DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD+RW.
Plus formats
The newer DVD “plus” formats allow for advanced movie editing features and offer a wide compatibility among DVD players.
One of the newer models that will accept a write-once disk (DVD-R and DVD+R) and a rewritable disk (DVD+RW) is the Philips DVDR985.
It will let you record from a TV or a camcorder, or transfer movies from your existing VHS library to a disc. Amazon.com had it for $472. Epinions.com’s user reviewers gave the Philips model four out of five stars.
Backward compatibility
Panasonic’s DVD recorders will record to both DVD-RAM discs and DVD-R discs.
The main problem with the DVD-RAM (Random Access Memory) mode is that it isn’t backward compatible.
DVD-ROM (Read Only Memory) drives and DVD players can’t read the DVD-RAM discs it produces.
The Panasonic models ranged in price from $425 to $1,000.
Dueling disk modes
Sony’s new RDR GXT model records in “dual RW,” which means it will record in both DVD+RW and DVD-RW modes (and the once-only DVD-R mode.)
But Sony, by giving the recorder the ability to do both +RW and -RW modes has created limits in the way a disc can be recorded in the “plus” format, according to DVDplusRW.org.
For example, you can’t edit your linear playlist, such as cutting out commercials or adding chapter markers after recording.
The Sony recorder (about $800) is expected to soon hit store shelves in the United States.
Coming attractions
I went downstairs to check some e-mail on the computer. But Bonnie was watching her DVD.
“Shhh! Can you come back later?”
As I went back upstairs to read a book, Julie was coming through the front door.
“Just going to get online,” my daughter told me as she buzzed past, headed downstairs.
As I sat down to read, I soon heard the sounds of loud voices. Then one was directed at me.
“Dad, we need a DVD player!”