DVD/VCR Combo Recorders Help!!

[Mumbank]

I have finally taken the plunge and signed up for Foxtel. Before they connect it I thought I might get rid of the old VCR that works sometimes and the basic DVD player and get a combination DVD recorder/VCR, so the nice man can connect it all up together (hopefully)

My son who is a bit of a whiz reckons they are no good because if one part breaks you lose both - fair enough.

Does anyone have one of these and do you recommend it??

Or, do you have DVD recorder that you recommend? I have also been told that those with the HDD can break easily too and then you lose everything?

DVD/VCR combo is my preference because then I kill two birds with one stone.

I would really really appreciate any input.

 

[ctp6360]

This isn't really answering your question but if you can afford it get the Foxtel iQ box, it is THE BEST THING EVER.

Seriously, its all I use.

You can:
- Pause live tv
- Record multiple shows at once
- Fast forward and rewine recorded shows at huge speeds
- Store masses of tv shows and movies

It even lets you rewind the show you're watching if you miss something, or if you pause for a bit before you start watching you can FF all the ads.

It is great technology, works seamlessly and for me is basically the only device I need hooked up to my tv. I have my BOSE dvd player but I rarely, if ever, use it!

 

[krisbarry]

I have finally taken the plunge and signed up for Foxtel. Before they connect it I thought I might get rid of the old VCR that works sometimes and the basic DVD player and get a combination DVD recorder/VCR, so the nice man can connect it all up together (hopefully)

My son who is a bit of a whiz reckons they are no good because if one part breaks you lose both - fair enough.

Does anyone have one of these and do you recommend it??

Or, do you have DVD recorder that you recommend? I have also been told that those with the HDD can break easily too and then you lose everything?

DVD/VCR combo is my preference because then I kill two birds with one stone.

I would really really appreciate any input.

Yes I would agree with your son, if she breaks it will be more costly to fix, and you will be without two players instead of one.

The best DVD players on the market are the ones you get from KMart, $59 will buy you one that will play everything...original DVD's, burnt DVD's and multi-zoned DVD's from other countries, along with Cd's. Never buy a brand name DVD player for $500, they don't play anything except original DVD's.

And not for anything...but KMart are great with replacing broken stuff, even if you bought the product a year ago, have no box or receipt, they always replace everything!

 

[Happy]

I assume you want to record shows yourself, so you need DVD recorder for that.

If you can afford, get one with hard drive, but despite they dropped in price are still bit pricey.

 

[sam76]

Yes I would agree with your son, if she breaks it will be more costly to fix, and you will be without two players instead of one.

The best DVD players on the market are the ones you get from KMart, $59 will buy you one that will play everything...original DVD's, burnt DVD's and multi-zoned DVD's from other countries, along with Cd's. Never buy a brand name DVD player for $500, they don't play anything except original DVD's.

And not for anything...but KMart are great with replacing broken stuff, even if you bought the product a year ago, have no box or receipt, they always replace everything!

Totally agree there - I bought a celestial (think Chinese) about 2 years ago. It plays 2-4 DVDs a week and works perfectly. Only cost me $60 as well.

Def. go to kmart.

 

[surelle]

ditto, go for the cheaper models, they're more reliable for playing generic stuff. But in reality, these days you wouldn't fix the broken unit, they've become so cheap, you would just replace it anyway.

I have a combo and am very happy with it..
have fun

 

[dreilly]

not for the faint of heart, www.mythtv.org.

If your looking for a DIY PVR then this is the bomb.. Ive had one setup for a couple of months now and its great. Does everything the IQ box does and a hell of a lot more.. The only draw back is that it requires a reasonable level of linux literacy to install..

Does anyone use a VCR anymore?

 

[Smurf1976]

Bottom line is that no matter what you buy, it has a design life of about 3 years and can be expected to be living at the tip not long after that.

In the case of DVD players / recorders there are also serious deficiencies in practically all major brand models which reduce the usefulness of the machine. So, in short, I would be going to Kmart, Big-W etc rather than Myer or Harvey Norman and buying something relatively cheap. It WILL break in a few years but the big brand names don't last much longer and at least the cheapie will actually play DVD's without question unlike the expensive models.

If you have any form of video tapes that you want to keep long term then I suggest that you transfer them to DVD as soon as possible. VHS equipment is likely to be pretty hard to get (if not impossible) by the end of this decade at the latest so you'll end up with tapes but no means of playing them. And of course the tapes themselves are constantly degrading too (keep them somewhere cool and dark if you want them to last longer).

As for connecting things, I'm a bit wary of Pay TV installers since most have no relevant qualifications and only a limited understanding of what they are actually doing. There are plenty of exceptions of course but if you want something non-standard connected then I wouldn't be counting on them being able to do it properly unless you're lucky to get someone good.

(The qualifications of installers might vary between states and Pay TV companies - my comment is based on Austar not Foxtel.)

 

[Prospector]

Ok, at Christmas I bought a DVD player combined VCR recorder for around $150 at Harvey Norman. It was a cheapie given both functions. And it will play EVERYTHING. I agree with earlier posters, do not buy an expensive DVD player - it wont do everything you want it to do.

Now, Foxtel. Someone suggested the IQ. Well, I think it is a waste of money because Foxtel has so much repetition that you really dont need to record it! And it wont record the Box Office and will delete it after a couple of days. It is expensive upfront and then you have to pay monthly access fees on top of your Foxtel fees. And you cant record Free to air TV with it.

We have just made a major purchase of a Plasma TV,and a PVR (this is a hard drive recorder and digital tuner). The PVR wont record Foxtel but we have set up the VCR to record anything we want from Foxtel. The PVR is awesome but it doesnt burn to DVD - you need to buy a dvd burner for that! But you just press a button and you can record two different programmes at once! Very easy and no more looking for tapes. But again it isnt portable, although we could do a direct record to VCR if we were watching the programme on the TV having first recorded it to PVR.

We paid for someone to set the lot up - your Foxtel man may not be happy to do it, or he might.

Have I totally confused you?

 

[scranch]

Agree with the cheap dvd,we have one that seems to play anything you you can throw at it.
You may do better getting a local video guy,or even a high school kid to do any setting up for you,but your foxtel man may do it quite happily.
The optus guys I have had out for tv and broad band gave me the impession they had done a course on the basics,and their wasn't much depth in their knowledge base.
I was advised by a friend of a friend not to get a combo for the same reasons your son gave,but a couple of months later he bought one himself.
To be fair,I have another friend who bought one and it stopped working after 3 months,and he was without anything for a few weeks till it was replaced.
Just look around and see whats on offer and make up your own mind.
I have just bought a dvd recorder with a 250 hdd,can record from tv,vcr,so I can save some of my tapes to disc and will dub to from hdd to disc.
One thing to watch with dvd recorders with hdd,some cannot copy to disc,so when the hdd is full it starts to delete.
When in woolies at Christmas,saw a vcr/dvd recorder for$175.00.
Thought about it to copy some tapes,even if didn't last long,but the next day they had sold out.
Brian

 

[scranch]

Mumbank,
A couple of things I forgot,I don't know how the viewing quality of the el cheapo brands compares with the better ones,and we bought a dvd/vcr combo for my daughters caravan about 2years ago and as far as I know it is still going alright,but probably doesn't get regular use,more concentrated in school holidays when the kids use it a fair bit.It was a samsung I think and over twice what you can get one for now.
Have a look at jb hi-fi if you have one near you,the one near us has been having a sale recently.
Good luck with your foxtel,when we switched to digital cable,the difference was quite noticable.
Brian

 

[FXST01]

I bought an LG combo player about 3 years ago and now the DVD hardly works, so now im up for another DVD player. In hindsight, i should have bought two separate machines.