DVD Recorder/ Video

hev_2

Don't know where to start looking, or who to ask, so I thought I would start here. Please forgive me if these questions are really obvious - I'm not that clued up on this sort of thing.

Our video player has just packed up and our DVD player is looking a bit creaky. Both were just about bottom of the range, bought a long time ago. I was considering saving up and buying a DVD recorder/player instead of replacing both as it seems hard to get video players these days. I noticed when I looked in the Argos catalogue that you can get combined DVD recorders and Video players. Does anyone know if you can play a video and record it with the DVD recorder on any of these? We have a load of video tapes that I will be loathe to lose, so it would be wonderful if we could.

I hope to get lucky in the sales if I have managed to save up by then, so any advice would be grateful.

shown73

I noticed recently that Amazon had some very cheap video recorders still. Some of the combined jobbies only play, not record, so you would have to be a bit careful to get at least a dvd recorder option. Some do both, but they are not cheap. I'm thinking of getting a cheapish video as well, because the pre-recorded tapes that you have bought are, I understand, not transferable, and it would be a great shame to lose them. I also have a lot of stuff that is personal, or old, and not available on dvd. A new video should, with luck, last a good few years. I have heard that the combined units don't perform too well, but can't say for sure, just read some reviews a while back.
Perhaps if you asked the question on the AVForums website someone could offer more useful advice.

ffym

There are a lot of cheap DVD / Video recorders being dumped at the moment -and even cheaper DVD (players) / video recorders! This is because they do not have Freeview or HDTV. If you go for one of these check it has a DVD recorder not just a player. Most will copy from VHS to DVD and back but you will need an add on box in a year or two when they switch off the analogue signal to keep it working.
If you can afford it check out the Panasonic DMR-EZ47. They are currently dropping in price at just over £200 on the web (£219 in Amazon), and about £250 in the shops. Although that's a lot compared to the cheapies it has the advantage of a freeview tuner - one of the very few machines that has a freeview VHS recorder. The advantage of that is bye bye timer settings - you simply select a program from the on screen program guide to record either on VHS or DVD, and of course the picture quality is great. It will copy your old tapes onto DVD with one button push and also supports DVD-RAM which is as versatile as a hard drive. It's a quality piece of kit and I'm sure it will do everything you want it to.

hev_2

Thank you for your advice - we have a load of videos we recorded ourselves. When Walking with Beasts was first on I recorded not only the main show but the stuff you got on BBCi as well, some of which is not on the DVD. Some of the home recorded stuff I just can't get on DVD. Knowing that I have a chance to keep it creaking on for a little longer is great.

I'm starting saving now!