Lite-On AllWrite LVW-5005 DVD/CD Recorder

Rating:
Summary: 1/2 the price of equally featured units
Review: Imagine being able to plug your miniDV camcorder Firewire cable into the front LVW-5005. Load a DVD R or RW, hit the REC button on the LVW-5005 and the play button on your camcorder and minutes later have a DVD copy of your video. It's really that easy to use. Yes there are some menu's to navigate, but once you read the manual and figure out what each item in the lcd display means your can be recording a dvd in seconds. For the faint of heart there is an on-screen menu system with a wizard that walks you through the recording process. AND the unit can play any CD or DVD you feed it, except DVD RW's recorded on some other brands. Perhaps earlier models were buggy, but mine has been great. One issue that may be by design: when you record from firewire the monitor audio drops in and out BUT the recording is fine. All audio does transfer with the video. For the price, you can't beat this box.

Rating:
Summary: Not Pleased At All
Review: It records to all formats DVD-R DVD-RW DVD+R DVD+RW

Problem is it only records in the newer DVD VR mode!
DVD VR mode allows for easy editing (data mode),
but will have compatibility issues with older players!


Will not record in DVD Video mode!
DVD Video mode is the standard dvd format (video mode).

Most other dvd recorders only record to either the + or -
media only, but they can record in either the DVD VR mode
or DVD Video mode!

Note: Finalizing a dvd does not convert a DVD VR mode
to the DVD Video mode.


Other issue is, it has a tv tuner, but it does not record
in stereo. I can not believe they would put a mono tuner in
this unit, maybe I have a defect?
I have emailed tech support six days ago, but no response!


Rating:
Summary: Great Recording Quality + Good Value
Review: LVW 5005 is easy to setup/use and has very good recording quality. I have been using it over a week primarily to backup my DV tapes to DVDs using the FireWire connection. So far I successfully transferred 10 tapes without much hassle. I have been using TDK DVD+R 4X. Note that there is a recommended list of writable DVDs for this product - you cannot use any cheap variety you find in the store. Once it corrupted a DVD+R after I tried to pause recording several times -- but largely I have been successful with pausing while recording to skip unwanted parts of my tapes. Also, I could play all the DVDs it wrote on my PC. However, there was one quirk - I had to change the name of the default title before I could play any DVD+RW on my PC.

I did my online research before buying it. You can download the manual and have a look at it. Also there are many reviews online and a separate online forum to discuss issues concerning 5005. You can also upgrade the firmware that controls the device easily.

Note that you cannot connect 5005 to a computer. If you edit a movie on a computer, you have to transfer it to a DV tape before burning a DVD with it. Also, the support for editing is minimal - you can change the name of the title.

Even after so many updates, the firmware of the device still seems to have some bugs. I updated the firmware to the latest version as soon as I got my unit. However, sometimes,it did not recognize my FireWire input if I connect the camcorder before I started the easy guider (the interface for recording). However, oddly enough, if I connect the cable half-way through the easy guider menu, it did fine. Therefore, sometimes, you should have some patience to try out different things. May be a later firmware version will fix those problems. Anyway, I am happy with it - it's worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Looking, but defective out of the box.
Review: My LVW-5005 was defective from the start. It was noisy and would not read any DVD's. It would try, then give me a 'FAIL' message. I like the styling and features I was able to use. It was easy to hook up. The manual was easy to follow. The setup menus were easy to use. Wish it would have worked. I was looking forward to using it.

Rating:
Summary: Agree with D. Cordes
Review: My unit did the same as his. It worked for a few weeks and now it is an expensive DVD player. Doesnt record or even read the blank discs anymore.

Stay away from this unit. It is a piece of junk.

Rating:
Summary: VCR your days are numbered!
Review: Ok, so you want to record from TV, but the idea of recording to VHS tape just makes you feel "so 80's"? Come on, this is the 21st century, it is time to upgrade to burning your own DVDs.

I purchased another brand of dvd recorder before this one. It worked for about a week, then died. I was so lucky! When I took it back I decided to purchase a different brand, I did some searching and found the LVW-5005 to be a better alternative.

When I received the LVW-5005, I found the set-up to be painless. It was much like setting up a VCR for the first time. If your VCR clock is not perpetually blinking, you should do fine.

I set up the recorder without reading the manual, I know you aren't supposed to do that, but didn't have any problem getting it up and going. I did read the manual and would suggest that you also read through it. There are a lot of features that are available that are not readily appearant.

The LVW-5005 records on both of the predominant types of blank DVD media (+R and -R). It also has the ability to record onto DVD+RW and DVD-RW, which can save you money if you like to watch something, then record over it. You will also have the ability to record onto blank CD media in the VCD (Video CD) or SVCD (Super Video CD) format. The VCD format is not bad for recording a 1 hour program from Television, but the quality is not very good. The SVCD format has a better quality, but if your program is much over 30 minutes you will not be able to get it all on one disc.

The remote control is relatively easy to use, it has about half the buttons of the remote for the previous brand of DVD recorder I had.

To record programs from television the DVD recorder walks you through the process with built in 'wizards' similar to the wizards built into Windows. Alternatively you can just "push the record button" to start it recording. Pushing the record button repeatedly starts timed record with lengths in 30 minute increments. You can also set up timers to automatically record shows, just like you did that old VCR.

I guess the biggest test of someone's satisfaction with a product is the question of "Would you buy it again?". My answer to that would be (without reservation) Yes!

Rating:
Summary: Low Price with Low Performance
Review: Yes, the price sounds like a steal, but upon living with this machine, I am sorry I bought it, even at the low price. I won't repeat some of the other criticisms already written about, but I did find some drawbacks which I couldn't live with. I have a LOT of irreplaceable DVDs made on my Pioneer DVD recorder, which I no longer have. The Lite-On 5005 will not play ANY of them, regardless of the make of the disks. Their tech support people were very nice, as mentioned elsewhere, but each time directed me to do different things, none of which worked. Second, the directions manual and terms used in it, are unique to Lite-On, and take a lot of figuring out, which was difficult. Third, when putting my satellite TV signal into this recorder, for some reason the recorder "saps" the color --- the colors are very pale, just this side of black and white. The recordings I made on the Lite-On were pale in color also. When I turn off the DVD recorder, the colors in the signal are bright and normal. Unless you don't care that much about the quality of your recordings, put your money toward a higher-end product.