Fun with My New DVD Recorder
I would like to be but even if I had the finances, which I don't, my badly cluttered mind would prevent me from being what is called in the computer world a "first adopter." That is, one who tries out new products as soon as they're developed and come on the market. So I was years late when, six months ago, I finally entered the DVD world by buying a standalone recorder, for use with my satellite dish, a BUD (big ugly dish).
I bought a Lite-On Model LVW 5001 at Amazon for about $150, not including shipping. Lite-On might be considered an off-brand, compared to the biggies like Sony and Toshiba, but in the computer world it is a respected name for CD-Rom players, and I have several and have had good luck with them.
So far this Model 5001 has worked great, too, and I've been maybe even a little too busy recording movies, at the rate of about two a day.
My favorite feature on the recorder is its timer. I found that I could easily record movies even while I was asleep, and, using also the timing function of my 4DTV satellite receiver, the movies don't even need to be on the same channel or the same satellite, with the only restriction being that they can't be running simultaneously. I could theoretically set the timers for five movies in a row, though the most I've tried so far is three. I greatly enjoy waking up in the mornings to see what I've caught, just like trappers walking their trap lines in the Far North.
That doesn't always work out, however, not because of the machines but because of me. I have to stay on my toes when I set things up. The recorder is not forgiving if I forget the date when the recording should start, which I sometimes do, and whether the start and end times are in the A.M. or the P.M., which -- as you know though I apparently sometimes don't -- switches from one to the other twice a day. And then you have to allow for enough room on your disk, which I sometimes forget, and on top of that the various broadcasters are sometimes in disagreement with the program guides as to exactly when a movie starts and ends, so that it's hard to get beginnings and ends with no extraneous stuff, unless you are right there to hit the button.
But all in all, using my new recorder is a lot of fun, though it's making me more aware than usual of the things that movie people throw into their creations, often not for the best. But that's a whole another story.
I bought a Lite-On Model LVW 5001 at Amazon for about $150, not including shipping. Lite-On might be considered an off-brand, compared to the biggies like Sony and Toshiba, but in the computer world it is a respected name for CD-Rom players, and I have several and have had good luck with them.
So far this Model 5001 has worked great, too, and I've been maybe even a little too busy recording movies, at the rate of about two a day.
My favorite feature on the recorder is its timer. I found that I could easily record movies even while I was asleep, and, using also the timing function of my 4DTV satellite receiver, the movies don't even need to be on the same channel or the same satellite, with the only restriction being that they can't be running simultaneously. I could theoretically set the timers for five movies in a row, though the most I've tried so far is three. I greatly enjoy waking up in the mornings to see what I've caught, just like trappers walking their trap lines in the Far North.
That doesn't always work out, however, not because of the machines but because of me. I have to stay on my toes when I set things up. The recorder is not forgiving if I forget the date when the recording should start, which I sometimes do, and whether the start and end times are in the A.M. or the P.M., which -- as you know though I apparently sometimes don't -- switches from one to the other twice a day. And then you have to allow for enough room on your disk, which I sometimes forget, and on top of that the various broadcasters are sometimes in disagreement with the program guides as to exactly when a movie starts and ends, so that it's hard to get beginnings and ends with no extraneous stuff, unless you are right there to hit the button.
But all in all, using my new recorder is a lot of fun, though it's making me more aware than usual of the things that movie people throw into their creations, often not for the best. But that's a whole another story.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 7:36 AM
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