DVD recorders.

[paulhopps22]

Was thinking of buying one but a m8 said he'd resisted the temptation because there were several formats available. very much the 'betamax' or 'vhs' situation again. Any advise????

[lisaj]

There are currently three competing formats, all of which are as strong as the others and have the same balance of manufacturer support. Unsurprisingly, none of these with play in the other manufacturer consoritum's players, so you're really very restricted with this - on the one hand it's a shame, but on the other hand it's great for the copyright issue, since you can't buy a recorder and be guaranteed the ability to copy movies for someone else - indeed, this is almost certainly why there are still three competing formats when so clearly this competition could have been resvoled.

[joeycole]

soz, but u lost me there, lisaj.

[bluedolphin]

Just to let you know what might be coming down the line. At the moment in Japan there are a couple of things happening. There is the Hard Drive + DVD recorder combination. Your record to the hard drive and then transfer the stuff you like onto the DVD. Also they have a stand alone hard drive for recording up to 120 hours of tv on it. And also the VHS+DVD combo. The 120 hour hard drive is very new while the HD+DVD has been out for a while.

[rinkytink]

Saw an article about this in todays Metro........ Don't get stuffed with a DVD turkey GADGET fans with their eye on a DVD recorder for Christmas are being warned to hang on a few more months. Experts say it is not worth spending up to �1,000 on a machine that could lose out in a three-way battle between formats. While pre-recorded discs can be watched on any system, DVDs recorded at home might not play on another machine. Major manufacturers Panasonic, Pioneer and Philips all use different formats: DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD+RW. It mirrors the VHS/Betamax video war of 19805 -in which VHS finally emerged as the winner -says What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision magazine.

[TheheftyGeorge]

F(() k the DVD get a VHS player!