Solid machine at a reasonable price--
Written: Jan 25 '04
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Pros: Low cost recorder with good features, easy operation
Cons: Reputation for long-term quality problems
The Bottom Line: Hard to justify spending more when this unit does a great job and has most of the features the average person needs.
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| bugman223's Full Review: Philips MDV630R DVD Recorder |
The Magnavox MDV630 and MDV650 are the same machine, with the 650 having extra blank disks in the box and offered only through certain retailers.
This unit is made by Magnavox's parent company, Philips. As a result, it uses the same inner workings and user interface as some of the more expensive DVD recorders that Philips markets.
I got the impression that this machine was designed for those users that are slightly techno-challenged. They tried to make the user's guide and remote as simple and user-friendly as possible. This makes some more advanced features hard to get to or non-existent, but most users will never miss them.
All Philips recorders use the DVD plus R and plus RW format that they developed. This is different from the -R and -RW formats used by Panasonic and others. The total disk space is the same and results are identical, but the plus RW is the easiest format on the market because there is no need to "finalize" a disk to read it on another DVD player. The plus format works on every player I have tried them on. The plus R does need to be finalized, but it is a faster process than finalizing on some -R machines.
The 630 has lots of inputs, including composite video, component video, S-video, and of course coaxial in/out. The front panel includes composite in and S-video in. Digital audio output is also included.
The front display screen is oversized so you can tell what the unit is doing from your couch, which is a nice feature. Of course, you can also get information from on-screen displays.
I recorded home video (8mm camcorder) onto DVD using the composite inputs on the front. The image quality is great as long as you use the highest recording quality (about 1 hour per disk). Longer record times are available, up to 6 hours on a disk. This is possible due to "variable bit rate recording." This means that video information can be recorded with lots of data per second, or less data per second. Unlike store-bought DVD's, the recording level does not change within a single recording session. Store-bought DVD's use higher bit rates in scenes that include lots of movement or quickly changing light/dark and color images. More simple scenes use lower bit rates (a polar bear walking across the ice needs very little data, but exploding buildings and racing cars need more data). When recording at low bit rates, you get digital artifacts, like pixellation at the edges of objects. This is much more noticeable with home movies than with television programs. I have recorded shows for my kids at pretty low bit rates and the quality is fine, but any bit rate that allows more than 4 hours on a disk is probably not going to give you satisfactory results.
I should mention that some very expensive recorders claim to offer variable bit rate within a single recording session, but I haven't tried it and don't know if they have all the bugs worked out. The vast majority of DVD recorders work just like this one--they call it variable bit rate but it can only be altered at the start of recording.
Recording can be done with a single touch of the record button on either the unit or the remote. You can also use timer recording settings.
After recording, you can name the title of each recording session (a somewhat tedious process because you have to scroll through the letters and numbers available using the remote) and each session creates a thumbnail image of the recorded material that shows up on any DVD player that will read your disk (most players out there). You can also set chapter markers within a title (can be marked manually or automatically every 5 minutes of record time). This is one of the biggest improvements over VCR's--easy access to all the content of the disk.
Using DVDplusR disks allows you to fill a disk once, and the plusRW allows multiple record and erase cycles. You can erase one title at a time or the entire disk.
I have not encountered any glitches in the recording process and the unit seems robust in comparison to some other DVD recorders I have played with. I haven't created any coasters yet.
The key to this or any DVD recorder is to have some patience. Read the manual first. Go through the set-up process carefully. Then, when you record, remember that there is a slight delay between your commands and the response from the machine due to the analog to digital conversion that it must perform at all times.
I am pretty confident that this unit is as good as others that cost a lot more depending on what you need from a DVD recorder. These are assembled in Hungary (??) as opposed to some Asian country and there are some who have questioned whether the quality is as good. I suspect they ship some that are lemons right out of the box, but if you get yours from a regular retailer you can exchange it and I think your experience will be a positive one. I got mine from Sam's Club for under $320.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 317
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Epinions.com ID:
bugman223
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Reviews written: 3
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