[bold]Review of ILO DVDR05[/bold] Well, here is my small review. I purchased one of these units thinking it would be an "okay" unit because the price was so low. (I paid $98.95 at WallyMart.) I felt it might be a better unit since it was made by Cyberhome. (similar to the Cyberhome 1600.) (better that the other Ilo's I tried) I liked the formats it supported (DVD-ROM, DVD±R, DVD±RW, CDDA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW.) Well, in using the unit. I had it crash (lockup and nothing would respond except un-plugging the unit from power.) several times within a week. The last straw was that I recorded the Shuttle landing and in trying to play it, the disc started skipping and freezing. (It was a DVD-RW that I re-formatted later with no errors on either the Ilo or my Sony DVD drive on my computer.) It would pause sometimes upon playback. Once the sound was out of sync with the video. The IEEE1394 input connection would work most the time. But I would loose control sometimes. (controlling the camera.) Video quality was about a 7 out of 10. This units tuner was much better that the previous Ilo recorders I tired out. It had very little 60 HZ hum on the audio. So I took the unit back and purchased a Sony RDR-HX900 which does everything. And works great. Does not crash. Has a hard drive. Main problem is that it cost was much higher and will be on the credit card for some months. Daveshome
No stereo tuner. Seems like it would only cost $0.50 to add the chip for Stereo but I guess that would cost too much! (when you make 200,000 of them.)
[daveshome] There are two different models of the R05 a ZU and the MU. The Mu is reported to be a better and more versatile. Most units from WalMart, [at present], are the ZU. As I understand it Most Cyberhome 1600 are the MU. Go to the following sites and check for comments on theses units especially those of Normando who has a 1600 http://www.techolio.com/ Http://www.normediasolutions.com/ PS The 04 was made be LiteON and can be hacked, a very good machine.I have the RHD04 and have never had any proplem The 05 is made by Cyberhome and there is no hack.If it could I would consider getting one I also have a Cyberhome 300 that is 1 yr old and no problems. Anyone should take the time and learn the Individual quirks of any machine they decide on. They all have them
I bought one at Wal Mart. Took it back 2 hours later. I couldn't get video. Went to Best Buy and got a Magnavox.
LCSHG OK. Well, you read everything you can find and I always find conflickting data. Some users think the tuner has stereo and some don't. Some say the Cyberhome can play DivX formats. Most say they don't. So what can I say except the WWW is a crazy place. I have not seem any of the MU units from either ILO or Cyberhome. Maybe it is a European model ? I really tried with the ILO units. I have had them all. And if it had a few quirks. No big deal because if the price. But they just had too many quirks. Now that I have the Sony RDR-HX900 all my problems are over. (as far as NTSC recording go's) Next step will be HDTV recording on Blue-Ray/HDDV. Dave
My review of the Ilo DVDRW 05 recorder (ZU) can be found on the following link: http://www.livedigitally.com/?p=461 While not as good as the fabled 04 model, it was ok in my testing. Enjoy!
Nothing worse than a link to a web full of flash ads that waste my time and patience. WHY not use a website without all that ad crap!
Sorry about the "flash dance" in the link...however, it's not from our website, it's from this forum. As it is the only real objective review out there for this product, it's still worth a look IMHO. I'm not a fan of those annoying ads either!
Purchased a ILO DVDR05 MU1 at Walmart (1/23/2006). I have experienced the similar experience and frustrations that some people had with this unit. I was on the verge of returning it but then since I bought it cheap, I might as well find ways to live with it. I read and created several theories on its failure, ie. hacked firmware, heat dissipation, etc. then finally I came up with something and has proven to work 99%: 1. Start with a cool system, preferably unplugged overnight. 2. Insert a brand new DVD R/W 3. Format the 4.7G DVD. After reaching 100%, remove the DVD and place in a PC with DVD writer and a Nero software. 4. If you click "My Computer", it will show that the DVD is full. Run Nero and select Copy DVD. Create an ".nrg" image file instead of copying to another blank DVD. This may run you from 10 to 20 minutes. 5. If the creation of .nrg is a success, no errors were detected and the blank DVD is verified for recording. If not, re-format the DVD again. If the disc consistently gives errors, discard the disc and try another. 6. Keep a set of formatted and verified blank DVD R/Ws for reserves. I have not tried DVD-R and I'll probably stay away from using DVD-Rs. Conclusion, there are possible firmware flaws on the 'format' stage or the media is just bad. However, knowing you have good blanks on hand, saves you time and having excessive coasters around the house. Hope this helps.