Humax DR-M1 manual Make Mustek Panasonic Philips Sony Model, DMR-E55 DMR-E65 DVD R80, RDR-GX300

039 EHC 08 DVD REC G.Test 21/9/04 5:34 PM Page 59

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MAKE	MUSTEK	PANASONIC	PANASONIC	PHILIPS	PHILIPS	PHILIPS	SONY
MODEL	R100B	DMR-E55	DMR-E65	DVD R80	DVD R610	DVD R615	RDR-GX300
SPECIFICATIONS
Price	£200	£300	£400	£500	£200	£230	£400
Recording formats	DVD+R, DVD+RW	DVD-RAM, DVD-R	DVD-RAM, DVD-R	DVD+R, DVD+RW	DVD+R, DVD+RW	DVD+R, DVD+RW	DVD+R, +RW, -R, -RW
RGB recording	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
DVD-Audio playback	NO	YES (2-channel)	YES (2-channel)	NO	NO	NO	NO
Video CD/Super Video CD	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/NO	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES
CD-R/CD-RW playback	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES
MP3/JPEG playback	YES/YES	YES/NO	YES/YES	NO/NO	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/NO
Tel	0870 0132017	08705 357 357	08705 357 357	0870 9009070	0870 9009070	0870 9009070	08705 111999
Web	www.mustek.de	www.panasonic.co.uk	www.panasonic.co.uk	www.philips.co.uk	www.philips.co.uk	www.philips.co.uk	www.sony.co.uk
FEATURES
VideoPlus/PDC	NO/NO	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES
GuidePlus	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO
Variable bit-rate recording	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	YES
Non-linear editing	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	YES
Playlist editing	NO	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	YES
Timer	8-event	16 event/one month	16 event/one month	15-event/one month	6-event/one month	6-event/one month	YES
No of recording modes	5	5	5	7	7	8	6
Trick-play functions	NO	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	YES
Zoom	YES	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	NO
Progressive scan playback	YES	YES	YES		YES	YES	YES
	We say: Instead of a	We say: This recorder is	We say: This recorder is	We say: The first	We say: Not yet rated	We say: Similar to the	We say: Sony’s entry-
	‘time remaining’	ideal for time-shifting TV	ideal for time-shifting TV	recorder to include		entry-;level DVD R610	level machine is a basic
	counter, the machine	shows but not for recording	shows as well as recording	GuidePlus, which makes		with the addition of an	model for recording TV
	gives a useless readout	camcorder footage and	camcorder footage and	timer recordings simple.		8hr recording mode	shows with chasing
CONNECTIONS	of of the percentage of	digital still images	digital still images	Editing is limited			playback
	space left
RGB Scart in/out	NO/YES	YES	YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES
Component video out	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
DVI or HDMI out	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
S-video in/out	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	YES/YES	NO/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	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Electrical digital audio out	YES	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	YES
i.Link in/out	NO/NO	NO/NO	YES/NO	YES/NO	NO	YES/NO	NO
Photo card slot	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO
	We say: Plenty of outputs	We say: Has everything	We say: Basically, this is	We say: No problems	We say: Not yet rated	We say: Not yet rated	We say: Not yet rated
	but recording from	you might need for	a DMR-E55 with the	with connections. There
	digital TV via S-video	recording analogue or	addition of a DV (i.Link)	is even iLink to take DV
	suffers from a flawed	digital TV but won’t	input plus PC card and SD	camcorder footage
	MPEG converter	accept DV footage	card slots
VERDICT
Ease of Use	★★	★★★★	★★★	★★★★
Features	★★★	★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★
Looks	★★★	★★★★	★★★★	★★★★
Picture	★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Sound	★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★
Value	★★★	★★★★	★★★★	★★★★
	We say: Despite the	We say: This elegant deck	We say: Like the cheaper	We say: Colourful and	We say: Not yet rated	We say: Not yet rated	We say: Not yet rated
	long specs, this deck is	may not be the cheapest	DMR-E55 this elegant	detail-laden pictures on
	very average when it	DVD recorder out there,	deck is not the most	recordings made in
	comes to basics like	but but it’s one of the	affordable but its recording	optimum modes makes
	picture and sound. It	best, thanks to the	and playback performance	this a special deck.
	may be multiregional	combination of DVD-RAM	is so damn good it makes	Others can compete
	and have lots of inputs,	flexibility and DVD-R	it impossible to seriously	there, but not over the
	but the lack of	compatibility. The RGB	fault (though DV camcorder	inclusion by Philips of
	VideoPlus or similar	input on the recorder is	enthusiasts should note	GuidePlus, a seriously
	programme guide and	vital for anyone with	that there is no DV output	special addition. Editing
	the fact that the	digital TV (Freeview, Sky	for dubbing edited footage	may be limited and the
	progressive scan func-	or cable). A great	back to a camcorder).	menu navigation may be
	tion copes only with	all-purpose recorder for	Overall, a great machine if	a little slow but it’s so
	NTSC marks this out as	day-to-day use, and	you can justify the price.	feature-packed we don’t
	a dubious foreign import	reasonably priced.		have any major gripes.
	clearly not aimed at
	UK consumers.
OVERALL	★★★	★★★★★	★★★★	★★★★

ESSENTIAL HI-FI & HOME CINEMA 59