Presidian, Lite-On DVD Recorder..Value or Junk?

[Defshep]

Anyone have any experience with the Presidian PDR-3222, or the Lite-On LVW 5006 dvd recorders? They seem to be good values for basic stand-alone dvd recording. Any experience with these or other budget brands?

[EdwardGein]

First off, I recommend you either get a Lite On or an offshoot put out by Lite on- they sold a small set called a Magna something or other for around $100 if you are just going to do simple recording (converting Video tapes, copying shows from your DVR, etc). Lite On is excellent because its super easy to use with the remote control. You can not record in 5.1 sound on stand alone recorders, only DVD burners. You also, unless you buy a device on Ebay or look online, record most commercial DVDs on a stand alone. Its easier to do on a computer DVD burner through free online programs like DVD Shrink (you also need commercial DVD software such as Nero). There are some juiced up lite on recorders that you can find on Ebay & online that they've taken the encryption off so you can record commercial DVD's & also play foreign PAL DVDs on them as well.

All Stand Alone DVD recorders are built to break down- the lasers wear out (in fact in alot of cases when the power button is on, even if the machine is not recording the laser is running), so get an extended warranty no matter how low the price is becasue within a year to 1 1/2 years, I almost guarantee your recorder will break down.

Here are some simple facts for you: Most DVD recorders either use the DVD+R or DVD-R format, if you want one to do both, it will cost you more. Both produce the same results, so there is no reason to buy one with both formats. personally I prefer DVD+R. Either one will play on almost all DVD players.

Here are other words of advice. No matter what some people on this board say, DVDR's are like CDR's, you get the exact same quality results whether they are a cheap brand or an expensive name brand, so your throwing your money away not buying the cheapest brand. Since you will be recording in Real Time on your stand alone, there is no advantage buying a DVDR that records at say 16X speed as opposed to 1X speed, all your doing is spending extra money for the same time recording on a stand alone (on a computer burner yes you save time). On all stand alone DVD recorders, if you do not use a DVDRW disc, you will have to finalize your DVD or it will not play on other DVD players. The easiest way to avoid this problem is to record with DVDRW only, as you do not need to finalize. In short, I recommend if you are buying a stand alone DVD recorder to buy Lite On but buy it with an extended warranty.

[Defshep]

Thanks, EG! The Presidian is made by LITE-ON. I found this and the actual LITE-ON at Radio Shack, both for $99 (Presidian, w/$30 mail-in rebate, LO with $50 mail-in rebate). All I need is basic recording-from tv and non-copyrighted dvd and vhs. I did see a Daewoo at Sears. It seems to do an awful lot, and it's a closeout price at $110. I can get a two-year PRODUCT REPLACEMENT agreement for around $15 extra. I figure that may be worth taking a chance...
Thanks for your informative response.

[bfalls]

I work for Sony/DADC and the DVD drives we have the most consistency with are Sony, of course, Plextor Plex-Writers, and the BenQ 1690. They seem to provide the most reliable copies at higher copy rates.