I'm a big fan of cartoons, with a huge collection of VHS tapes that won't last forever. Even with the gorwing market of cartoons on DVD, I think it's pretty likely that more than half of what I own will never see a disc unless I put it there myself. The problem is, I have limited funds. I need a DVD recorder that I can hook up to my VCR (I would prefer one without a built-in VCR) that will/can be made to beat Macrovision... and I need it for $300 or less. It'd be nice if I can kill the region encoding while I'm at it, but quite frankly, I'll take what I can get. The local Wal-Mart has a very limited selection of recorders, but they are the only store within 50 miles of me that carries them. I'm hoping one of them is up to the job, but I doubt it. The ones they have are the ILO DVDR05, Emerson EWR10D4, Pioneer DVR-231-S, and Panasonic DMR-E55. Any help?
I think Best Buy carries the brand Sima video enhancer that plugs in between you vcr and dvd recorder. Or if you order on line you can get one that will also do dvd to dvd. They will let you copy with no problem with macro or css protection. Another good one is Stardevelopment.com
Okay... any chance something like that is available at Wally-world? It might be quicker than trying to get to a Best Buy (and I don't have a credit card to get it online). Follow-up: Which, if any, of the four DVD recorders I mentioned would you recommend? The reviews I've been able to find pretty much pan the ILO one (and previous experience with CyberHome taints my opinion), and I've seen conflicting reviews on all the rest.
I've got a Apex and a cyberhome stand alone and don't have any problems with them. The others I know nothing about.
