The Pioneer DVD recorder -the DVR 57H-is a TiVo DVD recorder
This Pioneer DVD recorder, the Pioneer Elite DVR-57H, is following the current trends with digital video recorders (DVRs). They are using TiVo as the central selling point to their DVD recorders.
Although TiVo is not the only brand of DVR on the market today, it's by far the most recognized. If you watch TV at all, a DVR can dramatically change your life.
This Pioneer DVD recorder is basically a TiVo DVR that lets you digitally record video programs on its hard disk and copy them to DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. To take full advantage of these capabilities choose the High quality setting rather than Extreme as the default record mode. It doubles the amount of time (2 hours) you can record on the hard disk, and looks just as good.
A DVR like a VCR, can record video signals with their associated audio information from an antenna, cable feed, or other A/V source. Instead of using tape, a DVR has an internal hard-disk drive on which the material is recorded digitally. This allows the user to instantly access any part of any recording without having to shuttle tape back and forth, making it much easier to select the desired program and to skip commercials.
DVRs also provide an electronic program guide (EPG) that lets you see what's on each channel. These EPGs also let you select what to record by name or genre rather than by channel, time, and duration. DVRs are easier to program than VCRs. DVRs offer several record modes that trade image quality for recording time; the higher the quality, the lower the amount of time that can be recorded on the hard disk.
DVRs are always recording up to half an hour of whatever channel they're tuned to, usually at the highest-quality/lowest-time setting. This lets you pause, rewind, and replay live TV as you're watching, one of the most touted benefits of DVRs. It also means you can capture an entire show even after it has started, as long as you had the DVR tuned to that channel from the beginning of the show, and the show hasn't been on for more than half an hour. In addition, you can record one show while watching another that's already been recorded.
One of the advantages that VCRs have over DVD recorders is that you can transport whatever tape you record.
Pioneer has teamed up with TiVo and introduced a device that combines a DVR and DVD recorder.
This Pioneer DVD recorder, DVR-810H,which is identical to the 57H except for its 80GB hard disk (the 57H has a 120GB hard disk), single-layer chassis (the 57H has a double-layer reinforced chassis to reduce vibrations), and one-year warranty (the 57H has a two-year warranty).
This Pioneer DVD recorder has a gloss-black front panel. The center shows a good-sized display with a large, 10-character, dot-matrix alphanumeric status indicator. Above the display is a thin translucent strip that indicates the current activity: the right end glows red when the hard disk is recording, the left end glows orange when the DVD is recording, and the center glows blue when anything (hard disk, DVD, or CD) is playing. Directly above this indicator strip is the disc tray.
The DVR 57H is a DVR and is designed to be on all the time so there's no front-panel power switch.
The rear panel is straightforward. A standard RJ11 phone jack connects to a phone line to allow the DVR-57H to update the EPG. Inputs include two composite-video, one with an S-video input as well, and both with analog stereo audio inputs. An RF input lets you connect an antenna or cable feed, and an RF bypass output sends the signal back out to another device.
The primary outputs of the Pioneer DVD recorder include component video, two S-video, two composite-video, two pairs of analog stereo audio, and one optical digital audio. There are two controller jacks, one that connects to certain cable or satellite receivers, and another that connects to an IR blaster. Either one of these provides the means to change channels on the external device for recording onto the 57H.
There is a USB port that lets you connect the DVR-57H to an Ethernet home network with an optional adapter. This Pioneer DVD recorder is a TiVo Series 2 device, which lets it use TiVo's Home Media Option to connect multiple TiVos and computers to a home network and share content among them.
The remote for this Pioneer DVD recorder will be familiar to TiVo owners. It does have a few additional buttons, including DVD, Top Menu, Menu, and Stop, as befits its DVD-player functionality. Also, the Channel Up/Down button does double duty as a DVD chapter-skip button.
You can also configure the remote to control the TV's power, volume, mute, and input selection, as well as the receiver's power, volume, and mute.
The menu system of this Pioneer DVD recorder is pure TiVo, with the addition of several DVD-related pages. The menu system is easy to learn and use.
The two manuals (one for installation the other for setup/operation of the DVD recorder) are comprehensive and relatively easy to follow.
There are four quality settings to allow for varying material quantity that can be recorded. The recording time also depends somewhat on the quality of the source signal; poor signals tend to take more space because the MPEG encoder has to work harder to sort them out.
The 57H comes with TiVo Basic service at no additional cost. TiVo Basic lets you control live TV (pause, rewind, etc.), gives you a three-day EPG to see what's coming up, and lets you program recordings on specific channels at specific times.
As a DVD player, the 57H can play DVDs and CDs (including those with MP3 data), and it includes Faroudja's DCDi deinterlacing and Pioneer's PureCinema 3:2 pulldown.
This Pioneer DVD recorders uses the DVD-R/RW format. DVD-R is among the most compatible of the recordable formats—finalized discs can be played in most DVD players—and DVD-R blanks are typically the least expensive of any format. DVD-RW lets you erase and re-record new material up to 1000 times, but is less compatible with DVD players, especially older ones.
This Pioneer DVD recorder is not like other DVD recorders in some significant ways. It can copy only material that already resides on the hard disk; it can't record an external source directly. The quality setting determines the length of program that can be copied onto a DVD.
The Pioneer DVD recorder has been designed as a hard drive recorder that has the ability to transfer material from the hard drive to its onboard DVD recorder, if desired. If you want to record material from a VCR, or camcorder you must first record it on the hard disk, then copy it to DVD. It takes at least 15 button pushes in eight screens each time you want to record something from an external source
It's Pioneer's current DVD recorder.
