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
RGBrecording NO YES YES YES YES YES YES
DVD-Audioplayback 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
CONNECTIONS
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
VERDICT
Ease of Use ★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★★
Features ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★
Looks ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★
Picture ★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★
Sound ★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★
Value ★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★
We say: Instead of a
‘time remaining’
counter, the machine
gives a useless readout
of of the percentage of
space left
We say: This recorder is
ideal for time-shifting TV
shows but not for recording
camcorder footage and
digital stillimages
We say: The first
recorder to include
GuidePlus, which makes
timer recordings simple.
Editing is limited
We say: Not yet rated We say: Similar to the
entry-;level DVD R610
with the addition of an
8hr recording mode
We say: Sony’s entry-
level machine is a basic
model for recording TV
shows with chasing
playback
We say: This recorder is
ideal for time-shifting TV
shows as well as recording
camcorder footage and
digital still images
We say: Plenty of outputs
but recording from
digital TV via S-video
suffers from a flawed
MPEG converter
We say: Has everything
you might need for
recording analogue or
digital TV but won’t
accept DVfootage
We say: No problems
with connections. There
is even iLink to take DV
camcorder footage
We say: Not yet rated We say: Not yet rated We say: Not yet ratedWe say: Basically, this is
a DMR-E55 with the
addition of a DV (i.Link)
input plus PC card and SD
card slots
We say: Despite the
long specs, this deck is
very average when it
comes to basics like
picture and sound. It
may be multiregional
and have lots of inputs,
but the lack of
VideoPlus or similar
programme guide and
the fact that the
progressive scan func-
tion copes only with
NTSC marks this out as
a dubious foreign import
clearly not aimed at
UK consumers.
We say: This elegant deck
may not be the cheapest
DVD recorder out there,
but but it’s one of the
best, thanks to the
combination of DVD-RAM
flexibility and DVD-R
compatibility. The RGB
input on the recorder is
vital for anyone with
digitalTV (Freeview, Sky
or cable). A great
all-purpose recorder for
day-to-day use, and
reasonably priced.
We say: Colourful and
detail-laden pictures on
recordings made in
optimum modes makes
this a special deck.
Others can compete
there, but not over the
inclusion by Philips of
GuidePlus, a seriously
special addition. Editing
may be limited and the
menu navigation may be
a little slow but it’s so
feature-packed we don’t
have any major gripes.
We say: Not yet rated We say: Not yet rated We say:Not yet ratedWe say : Like the cheaper
DMR-E55 this elegant
deck is not the most
affordable but its recording
and playback performance
is so damn good it makes
it impossible to seriously
fault (though DV camcorder
enthusiasts should note
that there is no DV output
for dubbing edited footage
back to a camcorder).
Overall, a great machine if
you can justify the price.