High-speed dubbing from HDD to DVD (up to 24x)
Reviews (13)
the best money can buy on 6/5/05
This recorder is fantastic.I don't have digital cable just standard cable/w/high speed internet.The tv guide works great just read the set-up and set the parameters for your type of service.No more setting times and days just find the movie/show on the tv guide screen,push a button and you're done.Nice huge hard drive and excellent picture quality,maybe better than the original show.Dubbing is simple and precise after you play with it for a day or so.This thing even lists the title of the recorded movie in the title list screen automatically unlike others I've had where you have to guess by the recorded time.I love this recorder and would recommend to anybody.Very nice rich styling also,unlike some of the cheap looking recorders out there.I don't know why people knock the tv guide feature,I think it works great you can even sort programs by movie/sports/and more ...very nice. !!I almost forgot,when you use the a/b edit (very simple and fast)about 5 mins. to edit a half hour of comercials out of a 2 hr. movie.You can even pick the exact frame to start and stop if you use the pause botton and the fwd/rev arrow key.
Love It ! But where is "Fast Dub" ? + Update
We bought this primarily for the "Fast Dub" feature that supposedly lets you to dub a video recorded from the Hard Disk to a DVD-R at a faster dub speed (up to 12x) is the figure I read when purchased.
Where is it? I have never been able to find it & the manual just mentions it as "Fast Dub" is available on appropriate recordings, but they never mention what the appropriate recordings requirements actually are to use "Fast Dub". If someone knows how to use it, please post it here. Dont buy if this feature is important to you. Otherwise it works well.
**Update To Fast Dub Situation**
To access Fast Dub the RDR-HX900 needs you to set it into HQ+ recording mode (Available from the system menu button menu) The problem is when you switch to dubbing mode HDD>>DVD the machine typically throws "The Disc Is Dirty " error & trys to dub again & then shuts the machine down. If someone is using a specific blank dvd-r disc that works with "Fast Dub" mode please submit | I would love to use this machine for that. I like this machine, but if Fast Dub is important you may want to reconsider just using a PC with DVD authoring and a fast dvd burner.
Well worth the price
The price of this device is a little on the high side, but it is a freakin' excellent machine that has met or exceeded all of my expectations.
I bought this DVR about a month ago, primarily to free up my aging and slow PowerMac G4 from the VERY time-consuming task of rendering iMovie projects into DVD format. Now, I export edited projects to DV tape (which I was already doing for archival purposes) and quickly and easily dub them to the Sony DVR's hard drive. With my "titles" assembled there, I can subsequently dub them in any combination to as many DVDs as I want. This is better and far cheaper than the alternative I hd been considering -- a new dual-processor G5 -- and by itself more than justifies the cost of the DVR.
The fun doesn't stop there, however, because the unit has also enabled me to begin converting my collection of off-air recordings to DVD, with quality that seems better than the originals.
I very much like the fact that, unlike many DVRs that only work with one or two disk formats, this unit can write to R+/- and RW+/- disks. That's comforting when your disks may be played back on computers or DVD players with format restrictions.
I was not especially interested in the TV Guide feature when I was shopping for the DVR, but after trying it out I have found that it works fine and is very convenient for time-shifting broadcasts. Everything else works perfectly and smoothly too. My only worry is how well the 160-GB hard drive will hold up; only time will tell. The unit has a quiet fan in the back and throws off a fair amount of heat, even when not turned on, so I've been leaving the glass doors open on the cabinet in which it is stored. I don't have cable, satellite or a surround-sound system, so I have no comment on the issues that have been raised regarding them.
I would like to commend Sony for having packed this unit with a huge array of features without making it incomprehensible. Both the remote conrol and the controls on the set are thoughtfully laid out, and the on-screen user interface is logical and consistent. Working with video is inherently complex, and you will need to refer to the instruction booklet for the first week or so, but the manual is clearly written with no machine translation gibberish and the answers are all in there.
This recorder may be expensive (I paid $600 + shipping), but it is NOT overpriced. If you own a camcorder, it's definitely the only way to go!
Good dubbing speed, Excellent picture quality, So-So editing
I bought my HX900 2 months ago and have about 25 fully edited 3hour(LP mode)DVDs of network TV under my belt so far.I've read all the reviews to date and would like to add some observations not yet mentioned.Even though I am generally very happy with the unit, I'm focusing on some of the subtler negatives that may influence some prospective buyers and avoid some gnashing-of-teeth after purchase.
Picture quality is excellent.Network TV recorded at LP quality is nearly indistinguishable from the broadcast (and I have a very good antenna).The unit seems to clean up snow and other glitches.Dubbing at the maximum 8x speed is to DVD-R's only and is quick (15 min for 3 hour DVD) and almost completely flawless.The only transfer error I've found occurs if you alter the title name or any menu information on the DVD-R before you finalize it; Then it won't run on a standard DVD player, and mine is a SONY DVD player, so I doubt it's a compatibility problem.
The editing is good, but not great.The concerns in other reviews are overblown about the permanence of the the A-B editing. The marking of points A and B are simple and intuitive and can be adjusted to a specific frame.I've done several hundred commercial deletions at this point and not a single unwanted deletion yet, and I am now hitting remote keys quite quickly.The A-B editing leaves a 'tail' starting about a quarter to a half second before the 'B' mark, making precise edits tricky.There is a processing time of 10-15 seconds for each A-B delete, so it still takes 8-12 minutes to edit a one-hour network program even when you get good at it.The next version of the firmware should include multiple edits.Also, you can't split a title into chapters.What I've done, is duplicate the whole title to a DVD+RW working disk, then copy back to the hard disk (which occurs at 1x speed only) then do A-B editing on the two copies separately to create chapters: quite time consuming.
Finally, managing all your titles on the hard disk is tedious.I have 120 titles at LP quality and still have 50 gigabytes of space left.There are no subdirectories for the titles so collecting all my "West Wing" titles for dubbing takes 2-3 minutes when in full-display mode.You can speed it up by displaying only the title names, but then it's hard to tell what show it is without the thumbnails.Then after dubbing, it doesn't remember which shows you dubbed, and you have to reselect through the exact same process to delete the titles.It should offer a "delete after dubbing" option or leave the shows selected.You can creatively use the title sorting by date or alphabetically to jump up or down the list more quickly.
The final archived DVD-Rs are wonderful, including a menu selection that works on any DVD player I've tried.
Worth having, though not unflawed.
I've had my Sony RDR-HX900 for about two and a half months now.
This is the first DVR I've owned (previously only VCRs), and I was
primarily attracted to it for the ability to store a large number of
recordings.I'm the type of person who abhors "appointment TV" - I
watch when I want to watch.I also like having the ability to pause
for any number of reasons, and come back later.
First, my overall opinion is that I definitely recommend this unit.It
is not, however, a perfect design.There are pros and cons that should
be weighed, and compared with whatever else competes on the market.Much
of the information below can be read in the manual, which you can
download in PDF format.
There are 7 quality settings available - HQ+, HQ, HSP, SP, LP, EP,
and SLP. They are described in the manual by the approximate length of
video that one can store on a single DVD, and on the hard drive.Per
DVD, HQ allows 1 hour, HSP 1.5 hours, SP 2 hours, LP 3 hours, EP 4
hours, and SLP 6 hours.HQ+ is only available for hard drive
recording, and uses about 50% more space than HQ.It is a setup option
to use HQ+ instead of HQ, while other speeds are looped through in
succession with a button press.
The difference in quality between HQ and SLP is very obvious.The
difference between adjacent quality modes is difficult to detect.I
was able to see differences between HQ+, HQ, on down the line, but only
when trying to find them.I've come to settle into using whichever
recording mode will allow the program to fit on a DVD, in case I
decide to dub it later.For things which I've no intention of
dubbing (weekly recordings, for example), I use SP mode.
Dubbing allows copying between the hard drive and DVD.Normal DVD
Video titles cannot be dubbed onto the hard drive.As near as I can
tell, only titles created by this recorder (or perhaps other Sony DVD
recorders) can be dubbed from DVD to the hard drive.
There are two types of dubbing - fast dubbing, and slow dubbing.Fast
dubbing is only available when copying the video data directly from
the hard drive to DVD, which means no quality conversions.That means
that only recordings which fit on a single DVD without being re-encoded
can be dubbed in fast mode (e.g. a 1-hour program recorded at HQ, a
2-hour program recorded at SP, etc.).When a conversion is required
(or chosen), the recorder re-encodes at real-time speed.For some unknown
reason, dubbing from DVD to the hard drive always takes place at real-time
speed.It would be simple to do a direct read at maximum speed from
the DVD, but this device insists on actually recording to the hard
drive instead of copying.
Because the encoder can only work at real-time speed, non-fast dubs are
pretty inconvenient, especially considering the fact that while
dubbing, you can do basically nothing with the recorder.You cannot
record to the hard drive or play existing recordings.Programmed
recordings will not start while dubbing.This is probably the most
irritating limitation of this unit.
Another dubbing-related limitation is that you can't split a single
hard drive title among several DVD's (in case you want to preserve a
quality level, say, or the recorded title is actually two programs that
you want on separate discs).I don't have a killer need for this
feature, but it's an obvious omission that may be important to someone.
In most other respects, however, it's an able multi-tasker.You can
watch titles previously recorded while recording on the hard drive, and
can even watch a title still being recorded (wait 15 minutes after that
network show starts, then begin watching and skip all commercials).
You can watch a DVD as well, of course, and supposedly can watch a
title on a DVD-RW while another title is being recorded (untested by
me).However, during a recording, the only editing function available
is changing a title name.You can't erase a title, so you had better
make sure there's enough space before the recording starts.
None of the recorder functions behave any differently when the unit is
turned off, except of course for playing.
Media support is another important feature in a DVD recorder.This
unit supports both the DVD Forum standard media (DVD-R/RW), and the
DVD+R/RW media from the DVD+RW Alliance (which was created because of
the exhorbitant licensing fees charged by the DVD Forum).I've
recorded on DVD-R, DVD+R, and DVD+RW media - no DVD-RW media to test.
With -R/+R, the maximum write speed is 4x, and with +RW media, the
maximum write speed is 2.4x (which is 14 minutes and 24 minutes write
time for a full DVD, respectively). The maximum speed only applies when
fast dubbing.
One killer feature (for me) is the set top box controller, which is an
IR emitter that can change channels on a cable or satellite controller
box (but not turn the box on - you must leave it on).For me, that
means I can program the recording of non-broadcast channels of my
digital cable service.However, it's an all-or-nothing thing.You
configure the unit to either use the box controller, or its internal
tuner.You cannot use both.It's a shame, too, because it'd be useful
to have the recorder use the built-in tuner whenever possible, so
casual TV watching isn't interrupted when doing a programmed recording.
The TV Guide system is supposed to download program listing information
while the recorder is turned off.There's no data in my area, and it
says in the manual that no digital system (satellite or digital cable)
supports TV Guide listing data.For those that have it, it looks to be
a fairly simple way to program recordings (select the show in the
listing grid).
I must (and prefer to use) manual timer recording, which is still done
through the TV Guide system screens.The timer entry screen is
functional enough, but not especially good compared to some of the VCR
timer screens I've used.The one good thing is that there's room for
30 timer recording entries - more than other devices seem to have.
Beyond some playlist editing features that only work with DVD-RW media,
the three primary editing functions are changing the title name,
erasing the title completely, and erasing a section of the title (A-B
erase).
Title editing is done via a text-entry screen which is anything but
convenient to use, though it's not horrid once you get used to it.I
think making it look like a QWERTY keyboard would have been much more
efficient.
The A-B Erase function is very simple.All play controls are available
when selecting the start and end points.All erasing is confirmed, and
cannot be undone.I primarily get rid of junk at the beginning and end
of movies I record, which frees up some space until I watch them and
erase them completely.It can also be used to remove commercials from
a network program.
As a DVD player, this Sony is fairly modest in features.There are
three fast-forward/reverse speeds, FF1-FF3 (approximately 1.5x, 12x,
and 150x). There are two buttons called Instant Replay and Instant
Advance.The former skips back 10 seconds, with no display while it's
skipping.The latter fast-forwards at FF2 for 25 seconds. There's no
A-B repeat feature (if you want a scene to replay over and over), and
no zoom.You can toggle the angle and subtitles with a button press.
Despite its spartan playback options, it is very good at reading
damaged, defective, and marginal DVDs (something an old Sony DVD player
I have is horrible at).One defective DVD (since replaced) that
screeched to a halt on an old JVC player, and a newer Sony DVD/VCR
combo player, did nothing but imperceptibly skip with this unit (I only
know it skipped because the on screen play indicator flashed -
automatic status displays can be disabled, if such a thing would bother
you).
That concludes my review.It's a bit long, but I figure people might
appreciate some detailed information before plunking down $700 for a
piece of electronics.
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Doesn't play backup copies of DVDs!
Not a good start (hopefully it will get better)...
