Home
Blu-Ray Players
Pioneer DVD Recorders
Panasonic DVD Recorders
Toshiba DVD Recorders
Sony DVD Recorders
Lite-On Recorders
JVC DVD Recorders
Philips DVD Recorders
Other DVD Recorders
DVRs
Copy Software
DVD Burners
DVD Connections
SiteSearch
LCD & Plasma TVs
DVD Recorder FAQ
Site Map

To Compare DVD Recorder Here and There—A Tough Challenge

(Reviewed 10/1/06) We compare DVD recorder with other DVD recorders and see if these recent units are really as hot and feature-packed as they claim to be. Different brands, different forms, different features… DVD recorders are popping in virtually every corner of the market. We picked on Lite-On’s LVW-1105HC and tried it on for size.

For a start, when we compare DVD recorder, the Lite-On’s LVW-1105HC got an A for producing a good DVD recorder with an inexpensive price tag. How did Lite-On do it? We compare this DVD recorder with the other DVD recorders and found out that this DVD recorder sported a major change from what we usually see as the mainstay of video recorders: no front-panel display at all.

But you will not see us crying over it because the lack of front-panel display made Lite-On’s latest DVD recorder look way better than the other DVD recorders that we compared it with… considerably smaller and stylishly clean.

Lite-On’s latest DVD recorder includes only front indicators for power on/off, recording/playback, and timer recording on/off. An onscreen display provides essential feedback which you can easily call up using the Easy Guider button on the remote; a feature that is quite useful as it restricts your choices to whatever is immediately pertinent. Lite-On’s LVW-1105HC has certainly proven that it takes no front panel display to make a simple DVD recorder work well.

When we compare DVD recorder (Lite-On’s LVW-1105HC) with other DVD recorders in terms of video performance we basically got the same thing. Lite-On’s latest DVD recorder may have excellent recording quality in its top two recording modes that offer optimum disc playing times of 1 to 2 hours but like any other deck, the image quality decreased beyond the 2-hour capacity.

When you get to the 3-hour LP mode, horizontal resolution was totally halved; the 4-hour LP mode had distracting “mosquito” noise (a roughness or "busyness" on object borders) and blocking in which the picture degrades into mosaic-like blocks. By the time you get to 6-hour LP mode, the picture looked totally miserable.

Progressive-scan conversion was also fairly typical, no more, no less. Lite-On’s LVW-1105HC still had the usual “jaggies” that disturb diagonals in video-based content.

But as we compare DVD recorder (Lite-On’s LVW-1105HC) with the other DVD recorders closely, we discovered the most upsetting thing of all: You cannot edit your recordings even on discs that are supposed to be erasable. You cannot mark chapters, hide or delete them… and most important of all you cannot eliminate annoying commercials from your favorite TV shows.

Maybe they had to sacrifice that feature for the price cut? As a consolation though, Lite-On’s LVW-1105HC does come with a remote that includes a commercial-skip button so you can jump forward in 30-second increments while playing your discs. Not as spectacular but it will have to do.

Conclusion : as we compare DVD recorder with other DVD recorders out in the market, we find Lite-On’s LVW-1105HC just a good down-and-dirty burner that more suited for simple off-air buds or for making camcorder footage copies.