What should I look for when buying a DVD recorder?

What are the things I should look out for when buying a DVD RECORDER?

• I am new to dvd recorders and would like some advice on what to look for in one, for instance (make, quality and price) also are they easy to play and record.

• Answer:

  I'll bet that most people will just list their favourite machines. That's not going to be helpful to you. Before you part with your money you must list exactly what you intend to use it for. Expect to spend up to £200 for anything decent. More if you want a brilliant one. This may seem daft but there are so many makes and models all with different specifications that you could easily end up buying something that you'll soon regret. The adege "you get what you pay for" still applies. If you intend to use it the same as your old VCR (i.e. to timeshift programmes, watch one while recording another etc) then it must have a built in Freeview (i.e. digital) tuner (sometimes called DVB-T). You really don't want to be messing around with an external tuner for this. If you intend to record to removable DVDs then check to what DVD standard it Records. Most machines will play back DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW as well as commercial DVDs and CDs. But they normally only record to one of the types. If you already have a PC which you use for burning holiday DVDs then it makes sense to have your new recorder use the same standard. If you intend to do a lot of timeshifting but not recording to removable discs for archiving, then you must consider the size of the built in Hard disc ( the HDD). 80-160 GB is common and perfectly good for most purposes. Some of the machines offer a "Long Play" mode so that you can get more storage time at the cost of a small loss in quality (you'd probably not notice). Do you want to be able to copy your camera's SD card to a DVD? If you do then you'll need a recorder with an SD card slot. Most Panasonics have one of these. Very good for archiving your photos without using a computer. Do you want to play it into a HDMI input on the telly? This does not mean that the DVD recorder will play HD or Blu-Ray discs. It does mean that a conventional DVD is "up-converted" and the signal stays in the digital domain. You get a very much improved picture from a regular DVD than you do from one played via a SCART socket. Do you want the instructions to be in English instead of Japanese translated into pigin American? With proper spelling and grammar and clear and logical layout? If so, the Only manufacturer that does this well is Panasonic. Have a look at the range listed in the following link to give you an idea what's available. What you must not do, if it's your main machine, is to buy the cheapo things with unususal names that are sold in supermarkets. These are often poorly spcified and not well made. Pop along to a good shop like John Lewis (definately not Curry's or Curry's Digital or Comet) to see a range and get good unbiassed advice.