anyone have either emerson dvd recorder from Walmart and do you like it?

About how long does it take to burn a 2-hour movie onto disc? Has anyone used video "stabilizers" to make recordings possible? My machine says it was built in April 2004--so these machines are probably getting elderly, technologically speaking. Does anyone here have an LCD or Plasma TV? I see the LCD prices are dropping (beware 300:1 contrast units, 600:1 is the ticket). Also--it's interesting how many unknown brands of LCDs are out there...like Soyo and many others.

 

Hmmm,

With a x4 disc it takes about 4-7 mins for me to burn a 2hr movie.

My unit was built in May 2004 but not shipped to the store until Jan 2005.

 

That's Right! the X Factore means NOTHING to a set top DVD REC..

It can only recorde in real time so i f a show is 2 hours it will take you 2 hours...

All the Upgrade will let you do is use the 8x media as thats about all that's out there...

With out the upgrade it cant even us e the 8x Disks...

Best order it now, as Emerson will takes it's sweet time getting it to you.

James Farmer
migraine@knology.net

 

I got my disc 6 days after ordering it from Emerson.

 

Possible warning though...I just added a recording to a dvd-rw in VR mode that contained other videos recorded before the firmware upgrade. When I hit stop, it acted like it was recording to the disk as usual but took about 3 minutes,and now,the whole disc is blank. What is the deal with that?

 

For those of you who are using the strategy of stocking up on 4x DVDs and avoiding the upgrade: eBay is a good source. You can generally get a pack of 100 4x DVD-R for almost nothing (plus about $20 shipping) from various vendors. That's 20 cents each...Just go to eBay and type "blank DVD-R 4x" in the search box and you will have lots of choices.

WalMart house brand "DURABRAND" still seems to be all 4x also. The 4x is in REAL TINY type though. Look close.

 

Who makes the DVD Media listed on EBAY?

 

There are dozens listed from various sellers. Check each listing to find out.

 

eBay auctions have a lot of brands...over a few days you will probably see whatever brand you want (I use the "favorite searches" feature on eBay and I get an email notice as the items are listed --an easy way to buy). eCost.com also has them. I use Maxell usually--does anyone know of any 'bad' brands to avoid?

 

Most places say to avoid Princo brand discs.

I've used them w/o any problems in the EWR10D4. However, what people say is that they don't last long and lose data.

I also use CompUSA DVD x4 (frosted silver top). These are "AML" listed discs. These work fine, but again on most websites you find mixed reviews of this media. I've had no problems with this media as well.

I also use Maxell, TDK and Verbatims too.

 

This might sound a little dumb--BUT--can anyone explain the difference in DVD+R and DVD-R, and what makes them incompatible?

 

Different industry groups have pushed different formats (remember Beta vs. VHS)?

For a fuller story see
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2003/DVDFormatsExplained.asp

Here is a brief condensation:
"DVD+R formats are supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha and others.
DVD-R formats are supported by Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple Computer, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp. These formats are also supported by the DVD Forum."

By the way, regarding my earlier post about buying media on eBay: The brands you see there will not be the retail brands you are used to seeing like Maxell or TDK. As I understand it, the retailers do not actually manufacture their own media, just label bulk media they buy from the actual manufacturer. So the "brands" you see in bulk are direct from the manufacturer, minus the famous brand name. Definitely no-frills but that's OK. I just bought a 100 spindle of DVD-R 4x on eBay, it cost me $0.11 plus $19.50 shipping = $19.61. (Deflating the cost and inflating the shipping is a scheme to minimize the commission to eBay which is based only on the selling price, not the shipping).

 

That Rapidshare site does have the zip file, but try to unzip it. It won't work, try it and and see. What gives??????
Anybody have the hackware on a disc????

 

Thanks for the reminder about eBay sellers who try to "gank" you with hyper-inflated shipping cost. An interesting aside--by Federal statutes it is illegal to make profit on a shipping cost--but the "handling" can be whatever. I especially like the items that cost 10 cents "Buy It Now" and the shipping is $19.95 for a 2-ounce package. I buy a lot of things from eBay, with some caveats it is a great place to shop at 3am while watching "Mothra".

 

The zip file works! Me and several others here have used it to update.Read some of the previous posts on how to use it.

 

Well that is true about Manufacturers not making there own discs, however, Maxell does make their own discs. Other lables like TDK, Sony etc do have others make their discs but to their own specifications.

The problem with buying bulk no name media from Ebay is that cheap no name manufacturers steal "Manufacturers Identification Codes" and put them on crappy discs sometimes. Often times, these are bulk discs made to the no name makers standard, but since they make discs for quality lables they just put the quality lables codes on their crappy discs.

For instance, Joe Blow Media could make discs with Maxells codes and you would by the discs thinking they were really unlabelled Maxells when they are crappy Joe Blows.

0.11 cents is good, but I just paid 22 bucks for 80 discs (50 TDK's and 30 Maxells). This works out to about 27 cents a disc.

Those EBAY discs work out to about 20 cents, which is good, but you do not really know if they are legit.

You should really, pay the extra few cents and get quality stuff. Its better in the long run.

Try those Ebays out and let us know if they last a long time. I am a defender of CompUSA silver top DVD-Rx4's and people bash me liking them. (made by Advance Mega Media Limited aka AML's)

 

I just had a nervous epiphinay--why are hard drives called "disK" and the CDs called "disC"? One with a C and one with a K. These are the kinds of things that have spawned wars...

 

Hi Guys, I just downloaded the firmware upgrade and loaded it. Work great. The folks at Emerson indicated that there were 2 different versions. They had me do the CMskip 123 trick to give them the version in my machine. Anybody know about the other version ?? Just curious. Thanks for posting all the good info. It was very helpfull.

 

Don't go with a video stabilizer....piece of crap...so far out of over 40--or-so movies ((original VHS versions)) only American beauty and Time Served have been able to be re-recorded..the rest I get an Error message and it won't record...guess I should of heeded the advice in these forums and tried to get the COPY_THIS from SIMA!!!

 

both of mine still working just fine after firmware updates.
I accidentally broke the door off 1 and it's still working fine.
bkrawitz If you don't like this player find another thread.
Your no rocket scientist, I am.