DVD Recorder...what do you use?
 

I'm looking to purchase a DVD Recorder. I would like to use it for the following:
1- Transfering VHS tapes.
2- Use it to as a deck. Firewire input from camera for recording short meetings.

It would be nice if it have a HD, Firewire support, and Tuner.

I've searched around online, but have been unable to find a DVD Recorder with those features.

Panasonic's come close...but no firewire support.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Hi Mike,

I think JVC makes at least one unit that that includes S-VHS, DVD, & HDD recording, along with a FireWire input.

If you can live with using a VHS Recorder/Player to input to a DVR/HDD unit, then Panasonic and Phillips have such units.

I've got two Pana's (40 & 80 Gig HDD's) and three Phillips units (160 Gig HDD's) that all work very well. One of my Pana's and all three Phillips have the FireWire input.

The three Phillips units have the newer Digital tuners, and they can record from non-comercial DVD's back to the HDD's for editing and making new copies - very niffty.

I've used them in the ways you mention, in addition, I've used the Phillps' for all-day Horse Shows. You can put 32hrs in HQ on their HDD's.

Harold

Avoid Toshiba. My recorder (R-150) gave up the ghost in under a year with light use (less than 100 discs). I've got a Panasonic now.

I would also recommend Panasonic - I've had one for about five years that has worked flawlessly. I also recommend that you use a separate VCR unit to play the tapes into the DVD Recorder, preferably using the S-video line for video and separate audio cables for the audio.

Another Panasonic vote here. I've had a Hard Disk + DVD recorder for years now and it's rock solid. I used it for shifting a lot of VHS onto DVD as well, several years back - it's never once rejected a disc and never let me down.

I have a newer Sony model as well and it seems a lot more tempermental than the Panasonic - fiddly menus, fussy about discs etc.

The JVC Dual SVHS/DVD recorders work great especially if you want to do entire transfers of VHS to DVD. The deck times the tape out and sets to DVD to the best recording rate and finalizes the disk with a push of the button. The quality is excellent as well. The Panasonic DVD recorders are the best stand alone units you can get. I have two Panasonics with FireWire, one with FireWire and a Hard Drive but I don't like the quality of the video that comes out of the hard drive.

My Toshiba RD-XS55 can connect to your PC and allow you to upload menu images, type titles and stream your footage (as well as TV). Its a bit expensive, but pretty solid. No issues over the past year and a half with medium-duty use. Built in 250GB HDD allows me to store pretty much everything.
Learning curve might be steeper than other units, but that's always the case when there are more capabilities to deal with.

Note: it won't do motion thumbnail images or motion menu backgrounds if thats of any concern to you (and ultimately why I use other software for certain projects).