MAKE CYBERHOME GOODMANS HUMAX JVC LG LOEWE MICO
MODEL CHDVR750 GDVD300R DRP-560 DR-M1 DR4810 CENTROS ESPEJO R311
SPECIFICATIONS
Price £250 £200 £315 £400 £300 £450 £200
Recording formats DVD+R, DVD+RW DVD+R, DVD+RW DVD+R, DVD+RW DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW DVD+R/+RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
DVD-RAM DVD-R/-RW
RGBrecording NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
DVD-Audioplayback NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Video CD/Super Video CD YES/NO YES/YES YES/YES YES/NO YES/YES YES/YES YES
CD-R/CD-RW playback YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES
MP3/JPEG playback YES/NO YES/YES NO/NO YES/YES YES/NO YES/YES YES/NO
Tel +49 21 0238000 0870 8730080 020 8547 4240 0870 3305000 0870 6075544 0800 0276465 0852 2951 4538
Web www.cyberhome-europe.de www.goodmans.co.uk www.humaxdigital.com www.jvc.co.uk www.lge.co.uk www.loewe.de www.micoelectric.com
FEATURES
VideoPlus/PDC YES/YES YES/NO YES/YES YES/YES NO/YES YES/YES YES/YES
GuidePlus NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Variable bit-rate recording NO NO NO YES NO YES NO
Non-linear editing NO NO NO YES YES YES NO
Playlist editing NO NO NO YES YES YES NO
Timer 6-event 8-event 6-event 8-event/one month 7-event YES 6-event
No of recording modes 5 6 5 5 3 4 5
Trick-play functions YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Zoom YES NO NO YES YES YES NO
Progressive scan playback NO NO NO YES NO NO NO
CONNECTIONS
RGB Scart in/out NO/YES NO/YES NO/YES NO/YES NO/YES NO/YES NO/YES
Component video out NO NO NO YES YES YES NO
DVI or HDMI out NO NO NO NO NO NO YES/YES
S-video in/out YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES
Composite video in/out YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES YES/YES
Stereo audio out YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Optical digital audio out NO YES YES YES YES YES NO
Electrical digital audio out NO YES YES NO YES YES YES
i.Link in/out NO/NO NO YES/NO YES/NO NO YES NO/NO
Photo card slot NO NO NO NO NO YES NO
VERDICT
Ease of Use ★★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★
Features ★★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★
Looks ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★
Picture ★★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★
Sound ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★
Value ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★ ★★★
We say: Easy to install
with a good remote
which controls many of
the functions, but has
fairly basic features
We say: Onscreen user
interface is easy to
navigate, while DVD
playback is difficult
to fault
We say: RAM compati-
bility means fantastic
editing options and
progressive scan gives a
great picture
We say: Menus and
scans through DVD
chapters are smooth,
and editing on DVD-RW
discs in VR mode is easy
We say: Editing features
combined with dual-RW
format support are great
but the lack of progressive
scan is a disappointment
at this price
We say: Offers fewer
editing options than the
Philips deck it was
cloned from
We say: It’s a bit light on
features, especially RGB
recording for digital TV
and it can’t divide
DVD+RW recordings
We say: Not RGB ready
and only supports
composite and S-video
so set-top boxes can’t
be connected
We say: This budget
recorder lacks RGB input
We say: No RGB input is
a letdown but
recordings made from a
good S-video source
look excellent
We say: The lack of inputs
makes this virtually useless
for making quality
recordings from digital TV
We say: Neither Scart
supports S-video or RGB
input, so decent quality
digibox recordings require
plugging an S-video cable
into its front!
We say: No RGB input
is bad for digibox users,
and there’s no RGB
out if you select
S-video input
We say: You can’t make
RGB recordings from
digital TV sources but you
can do DV dubbing from
digital camcorders
OVERALL ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★We say: This retro
looking model is at the
lower end of the market
and comes with what
you would expect in the
way of features. A
budget Philips clone
with limited editing
options, it’s nevertheless
a good performer when
it comes to sound, while
recordings made in SP
mode are as good as the
original broadcast.
Better, though, to spend
a bit more and get an
RGB input and more
flexible editing capability.
We say: It may be a
budget DVD recorder but
this smart model is the
equal of many more
expensive units. DVD
playback picture quality is
more than adequate while
sound too is very reliable.
Recordings made in SP
mode are near-DVD
quality, although sounds
quality is fairly weak. All
in all a great value
recorder for the price, just
don’t expect miracles.
We say: Fantastic audio
(although there’s no
manual control of
recording levels) and
very good picture
quality, combined with
an attractive street
price, equals a good
value unit. Slight pulling
noticeable with captions
but overall it can’t be
faulted as a DVD player.
The combination of
DVD-R and DVD-RAM
gives you freedom while
editing. All it needs is an
RGB input.
We say: It might be
available at a decent
price, but there’s a
good reason. Despite
attractive casing this is
a fairly mediocre
recorder that suffers
from limited editing
options and a poor array
of inputs. Fewer
recording modes than
most models and a
bland picture make this
a limited, albeit easy to
use, deck that is worth
avoiding: better units
are available, and
much cheaper.
We say: A disappointing
case of style over
substance. Lacking even
rear S-video input let
alone RGB, there’s no
proper way to get good
recordings from digital
TV, which is daft, and
there’s no progressive
scan playback. Dual
format recording is handy
but apart from the
excellent editing features
it’s quite tricky to use.
We say: There are too
many cut corners here
for the budget price to
overcome. It’s too easy
to mistakenly record
over a partially recorded
disc, the remote lacks
any class and DVD+R
recordings can’t easily
be edited. We do like the
audio output, which is
good on both surround
sound sources and CDs,
and the picture quality is
excellent. What a shame
it has no RGB input for
recording digital
TV sources.
We say: By no means a
bad DVD recorder at
Humax’s first attempt.
Quite easy to use and fine
for recording analogue
terrestrial TV but, sadly, not
digital. Its eye-catching
design, complemented by a
stylishly thin remote
control, is let down by a
sluggish menu system and,
above all, the price. A
good unit but other
recorders offer just as
much for the money. A
sizeable drop in price may
be needed if Humax is to
keep up with its rivals.
58 ESSENTIAL HI-FI &HOME CINEMA
DVD Recorders