[discobay]

I have a BBK model which is useful for keeping the dust off the shelf on which it sits. Never buy their products if you want them to work after the warranty has expired.
I see that there is a good choice of hard disk-based DVD recorders from brand names for under $3000. Pioneer, Panasonic and recently Grundig. In fact the Grundig comes with a 250GB drive for that price whereas the others only offer 160GB. Does anyone have experience of these models?

[Madshpr]

wow! i had asked about these exact same 3 brands before and this is what the guy told me : Pioneer - made in PRC; Panasonic - made in Malaysia; Grundig - made in Germany. the Grundig one seems like a good bargain for under $3k. there's a Sony one that was quite tempting too but around mid $4k.

[chris_in_hk]

Hey! I've got a BBK DVD player and it's given me no troubles and I've had it for a number of years now!

I've got a Pioneer DVD hard-disk recorder for over a year now and I like it. No problems with it, though some of the menu system needs quite a number of button pushes, but you get used to it.

You might be able to google for reviews to read if you like. That's what I did before buying mine.

[DCLex]

I have a panasonic - i absolutely love it. I did have a problem during the first week that I bought it. Something went wrong with the Hard Drive. Not sure exactly what but we called panasonic and they came to look at it and then ended up giving us a new one on the spot. Since then, no problems!

[discobay]

Your BBK DVD player doesn't have to do much so that's probably why it has survived this long. Recording brings out the best or worst in the machine's capabilities. Like I sat down tonight to watch 24 from last night and found that it didn't record anything. Fortunately my wife recorded it on VHS.
I like Pioneer and Panasonic. Panasonic produced a model last year that won a What Hi-Fi award in the UK.
Google came up with nothing for the Grundig model GRDR8250. I am sorely tempted by the Grundig and that 250GB hard disk. I need to check that it has nicam and I could well be buying next week.

[jaetee]

Would really like to find a decent dvd recorder that has a HD but also allows easy transfer onto DVD from the HD. Any hopes of finding one for below $2000?

[discobay]

jaetee, Grundig also do a 160GB model for $1990. MAX do an 80GB model for about $1900.

[dougp]

I have a slightly older Pioneer (1yr+) and generally it's excellent. A couple of quirks though. Most anoying is that while it deals with both NTSC and PAL, they don't mix. So if you're watching an NTSC DVD, it won't record a PAL signal, even to the hard disc. Also, in the building I used to be in we got a few NTSC chanels piped in alongside the normal PAL ones, and it can only tune to one set or the other - doesn't auto-detect.

[discobay]

That's interesting and something I need to ask before purchasing - thanks dougp.

[discobay]

I did a dry run last night and found that Fortress are trying to sell the 250GB model for either 2990 or 3390 both reduced from the tag price of 3590. Why am I not surprised. Chung Yuen is up-front and honest at advertising at 2990. Neither had brochures so I contacted Grundig HK and got them to email me one. Unfortunately, the one page 'brochure' tells me little I didn't already know. It does have Nicam support.