DVD recorder / DVD writer

young_pensioner

Please excuse my inadequacy of knowledge, but what is the difference between a DVD recorder and a DVD writer?

I recently received a small digital camcorder and I am trying to decide the best way to download and store 'movies'. We have a DVD player and VHS recorder attached to the television. My PC has a slot which will both play and record a CD, and the same slot will play a DVD.

All donations of guidance will be gratefully received. Please try to avoid technical terms as much as possible!

Skyhigh

Technically theres not any difference between the two.

"DVD Writer" is often used to refer to PC based dvd writers that let you write data to a DVD. These cost about £18-£25

"DVD Recorder" is often used for stand-alone DVD recording units that often sit near your TV and let you write data to DVD's.
These cost anywhere between £90 and £210.

So in essence they're exactly the same thing.

How does the camcorder save video, does it do it to a tape or directly to a DVD?


If you wanted to take recordings from your video camera and put them on your PC then you'd probably need a video capture card so that you could plug in the s-video cable from your camcorder into the PC.
This would be similar to plugging in your camcorder to the TV to watch the recordings on TV, or into your VCR to stick them on a tape.

So you'd plug it in, load up the bundled software that often comes with the device and it should (most do) talk you through transferring the data to your PC.
Once on your PC you could then write it to a DVD....providing you had a DVD writer.


Alternatively, there are some stand-alone DVD-recorders that sit under your TV and have both a VCR tape slot and a DVD slot.
So, again with these you can put a tape in the VCR slot and write it to a DVD using the same device.
But this would lead to some degredation of image quality.

Usually these units also have a video in port, so you can just plug your camcorder into the device, then write it to a DVD.


:!:

startrekker

dvd writer is one that you would use with computer equipment.
dvd recorder is one that you would use with television equipment.

You have a cd writer/dvd player combi in your computer. I presume that you want to film something and watch it on your tv. If your dvd player doesnt support vcd format etc you will need to install a dvd writer in your pc and transfer your film to a dvd before you can watch.

young_pensioner

The camcorder saves it to tape. There is also a slot for a memory stick (for photographs I think).

If I were to purchase a writer to attach to my PC, would it be better to have an internal one installed or to add an external one? Is there any difference in the quality of recording? Also, will the DVD then play through the TV from my current DVD player?

young_pensioner

Hi Startrekker
How can I tell if the player supports vcd format? It is a Panasonic DVD/CD Player. There are two symbols on the front cover of the operating instructions. One says "DVD Video" and the other says "compact disc digital video". Does that give any hints!?

albertross_2

The easiest option (but not the cheapest) is to buy an under the telly dvd recorder with a firewire input (to retain the mini-DV tape quality - if that is what you have), this will replace your dvd player, record, and play everything. It is far easier than fiddling about with a PC. You can also get them with video recorders, and or hard disks built-in.

If you want to do it on the cheap, then buy a DVD writer for the PC, a firewire card (if that's what your camcorder uses), and some software to burn it to DVD.

startrekker

hi young pensioner,

post the model number and i will have a look for you

young_pensioner

Hello again...
Startrekker, The model number is RV62. Thanks once again for your assistance.