I bought my first ILO DVDR05 3 weeks ago for my den and am happy with it. I bought a second unit yesterday for the TV in my back bedroom. Here are some of the things I have discovered. I've tried 2 brands of disks so far, ILO DVD +R and Maxell DVD +RW. The ILO DVD +R disks will not play in my standalone player, but the Maxell DVD +RW disks will play (so I'm sure Maxell DVD +R disks will play, as well.) So, I believe a lot of the problems I've read here in standalone players have to do with the brand name of the media. The playback is suprisingly good in 6-hour mode, about like standard VHS quality, and even better in 3-hour and 2-hour modes. The playback is great on my laptop DVD player. I can now watch Andy Griffith and Gilligan's Island reruns at work on my laptop if I want to, when it's slow. My standalone player is a Mintek 1600. You need a VCR with 3 RCA plugs "downstream" from the ILO DVDR05 in order to plug into a TV with just a coaxial cable input. The TV will not recognize the ILO signal simply from the coaxial cable if coming directly from the ILO. Also, the ILO will not receive a coaxial cable signal as its input. You just get snow. You have to use the 2 sets of RCA inputs. On my first ILO, one set of RCA inputs is unused, the other RCA inputs are receving their signal from my cable box/DVR (Explorer 8000 with 30-hour hard drive). Output is to a VCR and that VCR in turn is hooked up to my TV. On my second ILO, I have both sets of RCA inputs being used, one from a second VCR (where I hope to achive hours and hours of old VCR tapes onto DVD +RW) and the other with the Mintek 1600 standalone DVD player. Output is going to my first VCR and from my VCR to my TV.
I bought one but it was a dud so I took it back and just happened to find an 04 model to replace it with. I had the 05 only 1 day. I loved everything about it, but it didn't work good at all. It couldn't even find the dics most of the time. It's a real shame, because I did like it. It had lots of neat/good features for it being a budget machine. I'm not liking the 04 nearly as much because it doesn't have as many features, but it is stable and reliable so far and I guess that's the important thing. Not to mention that I really like that the hack firmware worked perfectly on it. On the other hand being that I really liked the 05, I'd have rather had the 05 work really well than have a hacked 04, but that's just me.
Someone posted: "hey all, I just purchased the 04 from a neighboring town...it records so much better than the 05 i had in the six hour mode. very pleased, probably going to find another 04 and trade the 05's back in." I've had both units, and this isn't the case for me. The 04 records more poorly in the longer recording modes than the 05 did.
I cant even begin to fathom why you like these machines if you have an old tv you have too have a converter too use it and dont have a button on it so you can switch it too the tv while recording your stuck whatching what you want too record. read my post for the new dual deck its good http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/235603
I got the 04 and it stopped working after a few months/ I didn't have a receipt and I just paid for an 05/ That thing only made 1 disc and now nothing. I checked this sight for remedies and I guess the remedy is to take the piece of crap back to walmart. I really liked all the features of these units and the ease of use. Too bad they have so many problems.
i cant understand why anyone would be having problems with the 05...i've made ttons of great copies with it...i love this thing!!!
I had to return 2 units to wal-mart before I got my third one that works (recorded) properly, and it turns itself on by itself from time to time which tells me that even this one has a flaw of some sorts you get what you pay for and these are the cheapest units out right now so......................
Armywife--You've had the Emerson for awhile, now---how do you like it? Is it doing what it should? Appreciate it. I just bought a LIte On 5104, and I can't get it to read anything video---commercial disks, any of mine from PC burning, nor will it recognize ANY to record on---I wrote to the company, as I may be doing something wrong, but I can't figure out what! It does recognize and play MP3 CRD's that I made on PC. Got it at Radio Shack. Jim
Well, after four good weeks of use, my ilo 04 finally started giving me can not finish disk errors. packed it up and took it to wallwort last month. i hope they make a good DVD recorder someday. someday....
soschief,,,sorry it has been a little while since I have written and said how we like our dvd recorder. We LOVE IT!!!!! I have not had any problems with it at all. I have been able to record home movies, and movies that we recorded onto vhs tapes awhile back with no problems. I have been able to set the timer for tv programs with success!! And, are you ready for this???!!! I can even record copy-wrighted movies. It has a record once feature which allows you to do this. It has been wonderful!! My stepdaughter has been wanting some dvd's that we have here and I was finally able to record some of them for her. The only downfall I have seen with this is,,a friend of our family records rented movies onto vhs for herself and husband and some of them I cannot record off of. It says that what I am trying to copy is protected. OH, well!! I have been so happy with this recorder,,and I would recommend to anyone who still has a ilo to take it back and exchange it for something else. Ours is the Emerson EWR10D5, and we have been very impressed with it. I hope me saying this has not jinxed anything!!
Has anyone actually had any experience with the Lite On 5104? I had heard good reports, and it is right under $200, with rebates at Radio Shack making it closer to $160. I can only get it to play MP3's, not any video-based disks. It won't recognize any diskst to record on, pc-burned disks, or comercial disks(movies). It seems like either the machine is faulty, or I am doing something wrong. Any thoughts? thanks. Jim
Hello, well I have been using the DVDR05 ZU model for about 2months, I have noticed a bit of unordinary heat coming from the unit when I use it, however, all electrical devises give off some heat, So far no overheating yet. I also am having great luck with recording to Maxell DVD+RW (4x) but for some reason my ILO does not like the Maxell DVD+R, or the Sony +R, so I have to say that I am just going to stay away from any R's, and just use +RW's. I also tested my recordings on other DVD players (Low end of course as that is what I can afford). all my recordings work on my Apex ad1000 and also work on my sister in laws apex though I do not know what model it is, also I tested my recordings on my new but low end Walmart.com Balance notebook, and it worked great. however, I did try a recording out on an XBOX, which is supposed to play DVD's, with no luck, it just didnt like the recording. So i have to say that so far i like my ILO DVDR05 very much, with the exception of the compatibility with DVD+R and DVD+RW. I still do sometimes get "Bad Disk" and "Disk Empty" messages even with the Maxell DVD+rw but it seems to be something like 1 in 10 disks, and for anyone who has ever burned CD's on their computers, knows that sometimes you get a bad disk in the batch.
Actually I spoke to soon, No sooner did I finish the last post, and I went out to finish up a DVD, and it froze up and gave me a "Empty disk" error, of course I only get this message after wasting 6 hours of my time. But again I still like the product. The only other thing I dont like about the ILO is that I cant edit chapters "rename and such"......
wow sorry to hear that buddy ..i have a ilo5 & i couldnt live without ..it does everything...and it likes maxell & sony dvd+r too...
It almost sounds like it is a hit or miss kind of thing, some people have nothing but troubles, and others like you and me, have been having lots of success with them, I mean aside from not being able to use anything but Maxell dvd+rw's I really cant complain. The money I spent on the dvd's that didnt work, I consider to be a learning experiance.
Like I stated in an earlier thread, I had to return 2 units to get one that worked like it should, now I have recorded about 30 movies without one coaster (knock on wood). They wont play correctly in my HP pc, but play fine in the unit itself. BTW I am using Memorex +R discs and am having good luck with them.
That stinks..... Like I said I guess I just got lucky my first time out, and I have no trouble playing it in my low end notebook...... Really strange that there is suck a wide range of likes and dislikes with this product. You would think the manufacturer could do it right the first time. And for the most part the only coasters I have are from the maxell dvd+R's, I would say that about 1 in 10 maxell dvd+RW's are bad, and about 9 in 10 Maxell DVD+R's are bad, not much luck on my part. And of course the Maxells I buy are the least expensive dvd's that I can find, I am a little nervous about buying another more expensive brand, just to end up with a case full of "Coasters".
i have had the ro5 unit since dec. 'o4 and i got to tell you the only thing i don't like about it is the !@#$ macrovision on it.I have only 1 coaster from it and it was a dual disk that was given to me from a friend out of another dvd recorder package. i've noticed diffrent quality burns from diffrent dvd brands, maxwell by far is the best 6 hrs, 8 hrs. no matter high picture and sound perfect.memorex is good only if you keep it under 6 hrs. anything over fuzzy picture.RCA is the worst i've tried, for viewable dvds keep it to 2 hrs.ONLY I USE THESE FOR TV RECORDING .most movies like before 88-89 i've noticed you can record with ease, after that try it on a re-recordable disk to test. IF YOU HAVE HAD DIFFRENT RESULTS THAN I REPORTED PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LET ME KNOW CUZ' AFTER ALL I'M HUMAN AND NOT PERFECT.
