The Pioneer DVR 520H Great Blend of Features- Nice PQ Too
(Reviewed 11/21/04)
Pioneer’s lowest priced DVR is the Pioneer DVR 520H. This Pioneer
DVR has an 80 Gig hard disk. The DVD recorder copies TV programs or VHS to
its hard drive, as well as DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. It reads DVD+R discs too.
This DVD recorder's hard drive is smaller than comparable models from
other manufacturers but that's still 18 hours of "Fine" recording or 36 hours of
"SP recording (which is just fine for regular time shift recording).
Of course the specs say the Pioneer DVR 520H records up to 80 hours of TV
programming but we all know picture quality degrades as you store more content
on the HD.
Like most DVD recorders it has a front-panel FireWire jack to allow easy
transfer of home movies from DV camcorders. The Pioneer DVR 520H has a slimmer
design, with a really cool feature that allows previously burned DVDs (no not
the copyrighted ones) to get buffered to the hard drive then copied to multiple
discs.
The Pioneer DVR 520H still lacks an EPG and has no IR Blaster. This means you
have no control over cable/satellite TV. You have to program the recorder and
your cable box to record TV shows. the
Pioneer DVR-810H does has the TiVo interface.
Overall Pioneer DVR 520H records stellar reproductions (PQ is what it's all
about), very good audio, has an outstanding interface, uses an easy edit menu,
has the ability to dub at high speed. The title editor is simple and the "change
case" button on the remote saves a good deal of time.
The One Touch Record (which works FROM the content that you happen to be playing
- hard disk or DVD) is excellent. The unit is pretty easy to set up.
If you buy this DVD recorder here are some tips to follow:
Do all your editing on the "Copy List" because this retains the original
content on the hard disk Do NOT do it on the HDD. Then HS dub to DVD.
When naming titles, be aware that there will be a line break at the 17th
character of the title name (32 chars maximum) in the DVD Menu. You can, if
you wish, format the title name taking this in consideration.
In the setup menu you can see the PQ of all the 32 Manual Modes, without
recording anything, regarding the AV input you have selected. Try them and
see what is are the ones that suite your needs.
When HS dubbing you can actually get a little bit more than what is
stated in the manual.
When inside "chapter editing" you can delete a chapter just by pressing
the "clear" remote key (it will ask you to confirm) - you don't need to
return to the menu and select "Erase".
DVD-R integral backup (bit per bit copy) - you can make a copy (clone)
of any DVD-R. It will copy menus, audio tracks (DD5.1, DTS, whatever),
subtitles and so on.
(Reviewed 11/21/04) 