I'm thinking about buying a stand-alone Toshiba DVD recorder that allows me to record TV shows, video tapes, etc. The problem is no one specifies whether this machine will allow me to burn at "EP speed" so I can get six hours on one DVD-R disc. Does anyone know? Gateway and Sharp have versions that will do what I want so I'm hoping that this Toshiba unit will too. (I know I can record up to 8 hours of programming using a double-sided 9.4GB DVD-RAM disc ... but it's the DVD-R disc I'm concerned about.)
Mine also sez it'll do the different speed thang ie; ep,lp,sp, however, in reality it all depends upon the software u use to rip, compress and burn. DVD players don't play the media at different speeds like a VCR will, so u have to approach the issue a little differently. You can put 6 hours worth of video on a dvdr, however, you'll have to do it in some other format besides the standard dvd file structure. If u tried it in DVD-Video format, it would be extremely grainy and glitchy, and pretty much unwatchable. MPEG1 or VCD, for instance, would allow u to put several movies onto one dvdr, but I'm not sure you'd be able to watch it on a standalone. It's all about the compression, not the play speed. The more compression u use, the smaller the file, the more you can fit onto one disc.
Thanks, Bodene - I called Toshiba and found out the machine will record in XP (2 hr.) and LP (4 hr.) on a DVD-R. I'm having one shipping so I guess I'll find out in a few days what they're like.
