lite-on dvd recorder

natanddan1

if this has been posted before than appoligise.

Ebuyer have a clearance sale at the moment and are selling a liteon dvd recorder (with component out for enhanced picture quality) for £76 incl vat.

Seems like a good deal and have bought from this company before.

Hope it helps somone.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=78146&_LOC=UK

Poppycat

Seems good but speaking from experince Liteon 5006 have a problem. Whilst they appear to record in 16.9 widescreen format and playback fine, they actually playback on other systems in 4.3 aspect ratio. The problem lies in how it records saves the info on what format it records too. Even with the lastest firmware it doesnt address this fault and Liteon are not in any hurry to fix it.

You can correct the fault yourself only by editing a file on a dvd. I have done this myself. It isnt my system as others report the same problem.

The file on the dvd stores infor on the dvd aspect ratio and appears even when the native broadcast is 16.9 that it persists in flagging it up as 4.3.

Due to this fault and that Liteon dont even reply to my emails and try and fix this problem, I would never buy Liteon again.

Purdy_1

My husband bought this dvd recorder for almost £200 from Currys 18 months ago. We now have problems with the drawer not shutting properly. We only had the 1yr manufacturers guarentee . Still works but a pain in the bum. Its only a matter of time before it wont open at all it swallows a dvd for good.

Poppycat

Purdy_1 you still may be able to get it sorted under the sales of goods act. As the law states that items must be fit to use for a reasonable time

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

Q3. Are all goods supposed to last six (or five) years?

No, that is the limit for bringing a court case in England and Wales (five years from the time of discovery in Scotland's case). An item only needs to last as long as it is reasonable to expect it to, taking into account all the factors. An oil filter would usually not last longer than a year but that would not mean it was unsatisfactory.

paul_h

Poppycat wrote:

Seems good but speaking from experince Liteon 5006 have a problem. Whilst they appear to record in 16.9 widescreen format and playback fine, they actually playback on other systems in 4.3 aspect ratio. The problem lies in how it records saves the info on what format it records too. Even with the lastest firmware it doesnt address this fault and Liteon are not in any hurry to fix it.

It's not really a fault, the problem is the format the LiteOn uses - DVD_VR.

With the VR recording format, the aspect ratio is actually encoded into each recording on the disc, rather than for the whole disc which is the norm for DVD. The problem occurs when you play the disc on a DVD player which is not fully compatible with the VR format - these players are unable to read the aspect info from each recording and default to the standard 4:3 ratio encoded into the .IFO files on the disc.

The DVD_VR is actually the most advanced format for recording onto DVDR, unlike standard DVD discs it can mix aspect ratios on one disc - but these problems occur with non-compatible players. There are a number of other manufacturers that use this format, including Philips.

The LiteOn seems to have gone up to £80 now - still looks quite a good buy to me, particularly if you want one that will also record audio onto CD-R.

AlanS

Purdy_1 wrote:

My husband bought this dvd recorder for almost £200 from Currys 18 months ago. We now have problems with the drawer not shutting properly. We only had the 1yr manufacturers guarentee . Still works but a pain in the bum. Its only a matter of time before it wont open at all it swallows a dvd for good.

Liteons have a standard 2 year gaurantee ... take it back

OGB03

I originally saw the first post of this thread, and seriously considered replying with my thoughts concerning this model/manufacturer, however, I kept my experience to myself as negatively thought I'd just get a stream of people lambasting my humble opinion (sorry, but I've seen some people get 'toasted' on here for just expressing their point of view).



Anyhoo, I bought the Liteon Model 5004 (previous model to OP's) from Argos 1 year 1 month and ++ days ago, and after recently recording several American Idol audition episodes (don't ask) suddenly got a 'FAIL' message. It would swallow a DVD, do 'something to it', FAIL the reading of the disc and then make it impossible to play/read the said disc on any other machine. Just to compound it all, there was no manufacturers guarantee included in the box with the machine (interesting to note Liteon apparently has a 2 year guaranty) and the Instruction Booklet listed the only relevant contact details to be their European Head Office location in the Netherlands - no UK details. Period. I also checked the list of Manufacturers at the back of the Argos catalogue for a Liteon contact number and found they are not listed.



As such I went to the store on Wednesday, with item boxed in original pristine packaging and receipt, fully aware of the Sale of Goods Act and armed with my 'bible' 160 Letters that get Results (Ajay Patel, Which, 200, £11.99) and my old Business Law Uni text book. I was confidently told my a MOS that as it was outside of the years guarantee there was nothing Argos could do for me. Further, "…Our training says that after a year, customers must contact the manufacturer…!". Luckily, armed with 'The Law', and after speaking with a Manager, I managed to enlighten them with regard to the ‘6 years' quoted in the Act, and to query the 'misleading' advice that was being confidently expressed by a MOS (directly contravening 'The Law'). I got a full refund (at worst I was expecting them to depreciate the value of the goods and refund me the balance) in the form of gift vouchers (which does restrict me to buying a replacement from Argos, but under the circumstances I guess this is a satisfactory outcome).



In conclusion the main points to be drawn from this post are:



1. Be careful with Liteon, and where you purchase it from in the first instance, returning it if/when problems occur could prove a tad difficult depending on the supplier/retailer.
2. Have a quick look at the main points of the SOGA and make a note of the key features of the Law as it stands from a Consumer viewpoint.
3. (Absolutely Essential) By rights this should have been number 1, buy the following book: 160 Letters That Get Results by AjayPatel, Which, 2005, £11.99. A book of imperious value to all consumers.
4. Always post a comment if you think it could be of help to someone (like others here have been helpful to me); rather help only 1 person than to help no-one at all, despite the fact that some rather unhelpful people can make a poster reluctant to comment for fear of cutting reprisals (Not here though!).



I hope this all made sense! Thank you in advance for reading this long post. HTH.

BritBrat

There is a EU directive that gives you 2 years on all electrical stuff, thats why they try and sell you extra cover as one extra year is covered anyway.

Purdy_1

AlanS wrote:

Liteons have a standard 2 year gaurantee ... take it back

It does? What do I need to do ? I think we still have the original receipt somewhere. Do I contact Currys or Liteon?

robonz

does anyone know what the latest firmware is for the 5006 and how to check what version I have on my machine?

Poppycat

The firwmare number is in the setup

http://www.liteonit.com/DC/english/index.htm

See pictures on that web site