The Pioneer DVD recorder (DVR7000) Reviewed
This Pioneer DVD recorder is a 1st generation machine. (review is dated but recorder is still available)
This sleek, feature packed Pioneer DVD recorder (DVR7000) has elite written all over it. There are two A/V inputs and two outputs (digital optical and co-axial audio are available), all with S-Video connections. There are extra sets of A/V inputs and a FireWire port on the front of the Pioneer DVD recorder (DVR7000). The DV port is bidirectional. These inputs are concealed on the front of the machine beneath a flap. There's also jog dial (for trick play) and a large record button. These all add up to give the Pioneer DVD recorder (DVR7000) the appearance of a high end DVD player. The jog dial allows three-speed picture scan, four speed slow motion, still, frame advance/reverse, resume and repeat functionality. There's also a Discnavi button that allows you to create play lists of previously recorded content. The Discnavi feature is useful for doing basic editing of home movies. All on screen menus are nicely presented. The Pioneer DVD recorder's (DVR7000) playback is slightly better than Panasonics and about the same as Philips. The Pioneer DVD recorder (DVR7000) features user-selectable bit rate recording that will allow you to put one to six hours of video on a standard 4.7GB disc. There are 32 recording settings that allow you to fine tune the trade off between picture quality and recording time. You can choose a maximum of six hours of recording time yieding VHS picture quality or a minimum of one hour of recording time yielding better than DVD images.
These choices are only available in the VR mode. In video mode where you copy DVDs to DVD-R, you are limited to two settings. There's V1 (one hour) or V2 (two hours). This is an important consideration. If you want to copy DVDs greater than two hours you'll need to copy DVDs in the DVD-RW mode. These discs are more expensive and generally less compatible with other DVD players. It has VCR like functioning with VCR Plus timer programming, a built in tuner, RF inputs and outputs for antenna, satellite and cable box connections. The Pioneer DVD recorder (DVR7000) has a progressive scan output (3:2 pull down) and Dolby Digital (not Surround Sound 5.1) only stereo. The Pioneer DVR7000 burns DVDs on DVD-R or DVD-RW. Major Quirks: The DVR7000 has component Output but no component Input. The machine cannot burn DVDs on DVD+RW or DVD-RAM discs. The editing features can only be used with DVD-RW discs. Additionally, the video mode (DVD-R recording) settings are limited to two hours maximum recording time. The Pioneer DVR7000 manual is somewhat thin and lacks an index. Conclusion: This sleek DVD recorder has all the bells and whistles any videophile would love but unless the price comes down significantly I'd spend my money on the Panasonic DMRHS2.
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It's Pioneer's current DVD recorder.