Any one have a ilo DVD Recorder With 80 GB Hard Drive, DVDRH04, from Wal-Mart,is it a good recorder?

when i connect this unit to my surround sound system should i set the audio to bit stream or pcm??

 

Mine is set at bitstream and sounds great. Not sure what the PCM setting does since I have never used it.

 

PCM stands for "Pulse Code Modulation", basically it's multichannel audio. Full multi-channel surround sound can be recorded in high fidelity PCM creating a sound field with the ambience and fullness of a live performance. PCM is better audio than bitstream. You can read an article on PCM vs Bitstream here but bear in mind it's a personal opinion but I prefer PCM.

http://www.meridian-audio.com/ara/bitstrea.htm

 

I'm going to start recording all of my Sony camcorder footage to DVD today. Not the stuff I already have recorded on VHS, I'll do that later (the transfer). I mean the new footage from the 4th of July weekend etc. I'm thinking the best way is to use the DV i.link cable to get the best sound and picture. Anyone tried this yet? I need the IEEE 1394. My problem is that I've seen the 4 pin to 4 pin and a 4 pin to 6 pin, etc. Camcorder is a 4 pin but I can't tell what the ILO DVDR04 is. It looks like a 4 pin. Another thing is the IEEE 1394 at Radio Shack says 400 Mbps transfer rate and the one at Circuit City says 1600 Mbps rate. A higher transfer works better if using a computer so it's faster right? But with DVD burning does it matter? Does it make a crisper picture and better sound at a higher rate? I've seen these IEEE 1394 for $19.99 on up to $34.99 and so on. Any help is greatly appreciated. GTRMAN has been ahuge help since I bought this thing in December and his help is greatly appreciated and I know I speak for others on that. If it wasn't for him I would of $hi!canned this thing long ago. My ILO has run flawless since his hacks and help. Thanks RAPR

 

thanks everybody for all the info, no problems with my ilo, this is such a great thread

 

Hello,

I've not followed this thread as well as I should have since purchasing my ILO last winter. Frankly, it has been working well and I've not had enough motivation to keep up. Also, much of the discussion is at a level that is too far above me.

Anyway, there is one problem I've had with my recorder and that is that it won't finalize DVD+RW disks. I had assumed that I would just wait and finalize when I was ready to move programs to DVD+R disks. This week, I attempted to use the +R disks for the first time, but they won't format. I've used three different brands and none of them work. Also the last shipment of +RW's I got failed at a rate of about 3 out of 4. Right now I'm just making coasters.

Do any of you recall a previous discussion of this problem here? If so could you give me some general directions about where I might find it?

 

As far as I know, you don't need to finalize dvd+rw and your ilo won't finalize them, if you have another player that reads rw, it should work fine(does in my panasonic). Now it should finalize your +r's. As far as dvd's go, i use memorex in my ilo, work fine and they are cheap, try those and see if you have better luck. Just afraid that if it won't finalize your +r's something might be wrong, hoping that's not the case and maybe it's just that brand of dvd. I have also used fuji +r, they work fine too. I'm not a pro but not a newbie either, keep us informed and good luck

 

Slick44 is correct you don't (can't)finalize RW's and you don't have to (can't)format +R's.Just burn to them till their full or you want to use them on another reader then finalize them. Not all TV DVD players read RW's if your not sure, use finalized +R's.

 

Slick & Buddy,

Thanks. First, I appreciate your confirming what I'd begun to suspect -- that you can't finalize the rw's. I had a gateway dvd burner first (with no hard drive) and it wouldn't finalize the rws either, of course. Unforunately, it was a barking dog all the way around. My ILO does read and will even copy the files from the older disks. Unfortunately also, I can't edit them on the ILO.

I appreciate the suggestion of Memorex. I don't think I've tried any. I got down on their VHS tapes around 1985 and have generally avoided them since.

I will report back to you when I find some that will work consistently.

 

Just received mine yesterday and hooked it up. So far so good. $171.00 on ebay for the model with the 80hd.

 

HI! I really hope one of you is on-line. I bought an Ilo DVDR05 and can't get it to work except in the PLAY DVD mode.

I think I've hooked up all the cables as in the directions. I can see my TV channels in the SETUP mode, as in setting up which channels my cable gives me.

BUT the SOURCE button that should let me choose TV mode to watch a program or record from TV...all it gives me is a schematic of the recorder and some icons.

I may be attempting to tell me that my cables are not correctly set up.

Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Is the cable hooked to the line inputs of the recorder or the COAX RF connection on the recorder?? If you have nothing connected to the COAX/ANT IN on the recorder, you will not have a signal to the internal tuner and the TV setting will do nothing.

 

Guitarman,
Thanks for the reply. I finally figured out that the funny icons WERE the menu for selecting the TV Tuner.

At first that screen would not "persist" long enough for me to even get a good look at it.

Thanks, again.

Regards,
Jackie

 

Glad you got it going! I love mine. Works great, no problems so far.

 

Has anyone viewed the inside of both DVDR04 and DVDRHD04???

I am curious if they have different motherboards or if the DVDR04 can be made into a DVDRHD04 with a specific HDD addition plus proper firmware.

Anyone try this?

 

Anyone know what the 8-22-05 update does? I wish they'd place a description next to the update.

 

Hey ever notice that the only REAL hack that ever cam out for this box is the macrovision hack? Any REAL software hacks ever gonna be made? Like a LIVE pause and rewind buffer feature? I dont think so. SO i think its better to take the hack page down and this forum because its become a waste of time in my opinion.

 

Hey ever notice that the only REAL hack that ever cam out for this box is the macrovision hack? Any REAL software hacks ever gonna be made? Like a LIVE pause and rewind buffer feature? I dont think so. SO i think its better to take the hack page down and this forum because its become a waste of time in my opinion.

 

Well, Danny boy, if you find this thread useless, it is certainly within your power to unsubscribe from it. I have not seen much here recently that has been helpful, but I am sure if an importantissue arises or an important hack is constructed, it will come up here.

 

Finally a weird flaw in this machine. I have had the DVDR04 for almost a year and I just hit my first bump. So I guess I can't complain too much. Hopefully someone can help on this one. I have a regular dvd-r in the ILO and I keep recording cartoons for my daughter once a day every week day. It seems like when I get 5 or 6 different things recorded my ILO pulls the "preparing" crap on me. This has happened with a dvd-rw also. You record on it, turn the machine off for a couple days, turn it back on and the ILO says "preparing" for fricken ever!!! I have to push the power button about 50 times to turn it off. Then it takes me a bit to open the drive. Anybody else have this problem? Any help is already appreciated. Thanks.