Watch DVDs and Record on Them -- All in one low-priced machine
Written: Jan 15 '05 (Updated Oct 25 '05)
Product Rating:
Sound:
Ease of Use:
Picture Quality:
Durability:
Pros: multiple play/record formats, auto detects disc type, excellent menu selection, easy to use, quiet
Cons: DVDs may not play on all machines -- having problems within a year of purchase
The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line is unavailable for comment. It won’t move away from this DVD player/recorder. It created a slide show of personal photos ... and has them on continuous play.
dlstewart's Full Review: Lite On LVW-5005 DVD Recorder
I have flirted with the idea of purchasing a DVD player that not only plays DVDs but also records to them. Since VHS tapes are bulky, the thought of recording on much slimmer, compact DVDs is a temptation. Think of all the space I could save!
Then my brother phones me and says he purchased the Liteon DVD Player (Model # LVW-5005) – for only $179.99. Of course I had to go over and play with the new DVD machine. I wanted to know everything.
What formats does this unit play?
Content Format Supported
DVD Video, DVD VR, Video CD, Super VCD, Audio CD, MP3, JPEG
Read Only Formats Supported
DVD-R/RW, DVD R/RW, DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW, CD-ROM
Recordable Disk Formats Supported
DVD R, DVD RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW (DVD VR Mode)
CD-R, CD-RW (SVCD/VCD Format)
When a disc is inserted into the machine, the unit takes between 20 to 30 seconds to auto-detect the type of disc. If the disc is a regular DVD, such as a store-bought movie, then the machine automatically begins to play.
Music CDs – The CD starts to play when inserted into the machine. Either let the music play from beginning to end or use the number keys (0-9) on the remote to select a track. Other options include having the disc automatically replay ... or by using the Navi key on the remote, a menu appears on the screen, and you can select one song to continuously play.
MP3 and JPEG Files – My brother was surprised when he first inserted a compilation disc he had burned. The disc contained both MP3 and JPEG files. The player detected both formats and began to play the music while showing a slide show on the television of all the JPEG images. When the JPEG files finish playing, the last image remains displayed on the screen, and if there is music still left to play on the disc, it plays until finished. There is an option available that will repeat both types of files so they continuously play.
This player recognizes the files stored in both the root directory and subdirectories. The machine plays the subdirectories in alphabetical order. The downside is that you cannot select a specific folder to play, so you are stuck listening to the music in alphabetical order by subdirectory. If you wish to skip songs or JPEG files, it is easy to do using the navigation buttons on the remote. A fun feature is that you can rotate the JPEG images on the screen as they appear, so that if the images are sideways, they can be rotated to correctly view them.
The remote also offers the benefit of viewing detailed information about the MP3 and JPEG file being played. The information is displayed on the television screen: directory path, file name, what track is playing, how many files are on the disc (broken down by MP3 or JPEG format), the bit rate and sample rate the MP3 was recorded at. When the information is displayed on the television, the information text covers the JPEG image on the screen; however, the background of the information screen is semi-transparent allowing one to view the JPEG image.
Other Features
Audio
Play different languages or an alternate sound track if available in a movie. Audio supports seven languages: English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
Auto Sleep
Set it for 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes.
Change the Scene Angle
If a DVD supports multiple angles, this machine will offer choices of playing them.
Chapter Marking
Choose to have the recorder mark the DVD for easier searching. Chapter bookmarks can be inserted at intervals of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minutes.
Clock/Date
There are 6 date/time formats. The clock can be programmed in a 12- or 24-hour format.
Fast Forward / Rewind
Each time the key is pressed, it increases the speed from 2X, to 4X, to 8X and finally 16X.
Information
Select either On or Off. When “on”, information about the movie is displayed.
Parental Lock & Limiting Playback by Children
The choices are: Off, Kid Safe, G, PG, PG-13, PG-R, R NC-17, Adult.
Password Protection
Set a password.
Repeat
Enter a start point and end point to repeat a section of a movie.
Search
Search the DVD by chapter numbers or by time – ex: 01:27:33 (hour:minute:second)
Slide Time
Using the number key pad or up/down arrows, select the time between slides of JPEG images.
Subtitles
They can be turned on and off. Seven languages are offered: English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
Video Recording Quality
This Liteon DVD Player/Recorder offers six different modes of recording. In case you were wondering, a blank DVD has a storage capacity of up to 4.7 gigabytes, which is three times the size offered by a 120 minute VHS tape and seven times more space than a CD offers. Here is a breakdown of the recording speeds and technical information.
HQ – 1 hour – Bit Rate 9.5Mpbs – NTSC 720 x 480 – PAL/SECAM 720 x 576
SP – 2 hours – Bit Rate 5.1Mpbs – NTSC 720 x 480 – PAL/SECAM 720 x 576
EP – 4 hours – Bit Rate 2.5Mpbs – NTSC 352 x 480 – PAL/SECAM 352 x 576
SLP – 6 hours – Bit Rate 1.7Mpbs – NTSC 352 x 240 – PAL/SECAM 352 x 288
SVCD – 34 mins – Bit Rate 2.5Mpbs – NTSC 352x480 – PAL/SECAM 352 x 576
VCD – 68 mins – Bit Rate 1.15Mpbs – NTSC 352 x 240 – PAL/SECAM 352 x 288
My brother prefers recording at the SP speed. I viewed videos that this machine recorded, and the quality is excellent. There is no comparison; these recordings are much better than those on a VHS tape. I experimented, and even the SLP recording speed produces a nice video. I could see the quality difference between the SP and SLP recordings, but either way, the recordings are far better than a VCR can record.
One can set a timed recording, and if using the Display view, see how long the machine has been recording and how much time is left to record. It is okay to pause during recording, too ... you may like to edit out commercials. Also, there is an OTR option that increases the recording time by 30 minutes each time the OTR is pushed. You can record different recording speeds on a DVD, too. When finished recording, it takes about 20 seconds before the machine can be used since the machine needs that time to finish writing the recording.
What comes in the box?
* DVD Player/Recorder
* Remote Control
* AC Power Cord
* Coaxial Cable
* Gold-plated Composite Cable
* Two AAA Batteries (for Remote Control)
* One Blank DVD+RW Disc
* User Manual in English (34 pages)
* Quick Installation Guide (1 page in English and Spanish)
* “Recommended Disc List” that lists compatible recording media
Note that different languages for the User Manual can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website in a PDF file format.
What does the DVD player look like?
I was surprised that this DVD player fit in the same area as the JVC DVD Player (Model XV-N44SL), which my brother moved downstairs to the other television set. The Liteon DVD Player/Recorder measures 16.5" wide x 2.8" high x 10.6" deep. It weighs just over 6 pounds.
The unit is silver and black and sits a bit taller than the other DVD Player. The front of the machine is well thought out. The power button is at the left. To the right of the power button is the disc drawer, and beside the drawer is a digital clock. When I saw the DVD player/recorder in action, I asked why the clock was so hard to read. My brother says he wishes it were brighter, but there is no way to adjust the lighting for the digital readout.
Beneath the clock are these buttons: Eject, Source, Record, Play, Pause, Stop. Under these buttons, to the right, is a flip-open door that reveals a compart with several jacks. There is a DV Jack for a camera connection, a Video In Jack and two Speaker jacks.
This machine has a combination of jacks available on the back of the machine. The jacks combine the jacks that would be found on both DVD and VHS players, offering a variety of hook-up options. There is a component Video connection, too, as well as an optical-audio connection.
Connecting the DVD player to the television
Setting up the player/recorder is covered well in the instruction manual. It is very straight forward. Since my brother has a home theater, he had to experiment with the connections (connecting a home theater is not covered in the manual). As a suggestion, if you have a home theater set-up, my brother recommends looking at the VCR set-up in the home theater manual. Once my brother did that, the connections were easy.
In case you are wondering, my brother connected this DVD player/recorder through a Yamaha home theater and digital cable box. The images play on a Phillips 34" HD TV.
Firmware Upgrade
Once the unit was installed, my brother did a firmware upgrade from the Liteon website (www.liteonit.com.tw/liteweb/csd.htm). In case you are unfamiliar with this type of upgrade, a firmware upgrade updates the software in the DVD player. The website provides complete instructions on how to perform the update. However, you must have the serial number that is located at the top of the setup menu. Each time a firmware update is done, the serial number will change to identify that the upgrade was successfully completed.
The updates are compressed using WinRAR and will have an extension of .rar. If your computer does not have a program to extract the files, my brother recommends doing an internet search on WinRAR to locate a download site for the program.
The firmware download took just a few minutes. Note that if both firmware and driver updates are offered, they you will have to download them on separate discs. When the disc is inserted into the Liteon DVD player/recorder, it takes less than a minute for the updates to install. The manufacturer cautions not to turn the DVD player/recorder off during the upgrade ... doing so can cause major problems.
Before doing the firmware upgrade, my brother discovered that a recording from the new DVD player/recorder would not play on the JVC DVD player (and the JVC DVD player supports the recorded format). After the firmware update, a new recording was made, and the JVC DVD player then recognized the video portion of the recording but not the audio. Ironically, this same recording played on one computer (but not another computer) and played in a VHS/DVD/TV combo.
Set-up Option Menus
The menus on this player/recorder are very intuitive and easy to navigate. I am amazed at the variety of choices offered for viewing/recording. The background color of the screen is a medium blue that is easy on the eyes, too. Here are some of the highlights.
The Set-up key on the remote control opens a basic functions menu. The serial number is unobtrusively displayed at the top of this page. The set-up options are:
System – Select whether to view using component or progressive scan. (Note that the manufacturer says that to use progressive scan “you must connect to the component video input terminals on a 480P compatible television”. From the System menu, you can also set the clock, date, time, auto sleep feature and restore the default settings of the system.
Language – Here one of seven languages can be chosen for the OSD (on screen display), menu, audio and subtitles. The languages are English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
Playback – Select the aspect ratio (Letter Box 4:3, Wide Screen 16:9, Pan and Scan 4:3). The parental controls and password option are also located here. Select how fast slides are shown and the VCD PBC (on/off).
Record Quality – As described above, select the quality and thereby the length of recording time.
Chapter Mark – Sets bookmarks during recording so that one can easily skip through recordings.
Audio – Digital Out (choice of Bit Stream or PCM), DTS Out (choice of on/off; select on if the optical audio cable is connected).
TV Tuner: TV Signal (choose either antenna, cable or auto), Country (America, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea or Vietnam), Utilities (Scan for available television channels, and there is an editing area for adding and deleting television channels).
The Remote Control
The remote control is a nice gray and silver color combination, and the button layout is great. The buttons are grouped in logical clusters with lots of space between areas. Just install the two AAA batteries into the back of the remote (simple to do), and it is ready to use once the DVD player/recorder is connected.
At the top of the remote are the Open/Close buttons for the disc drawer and the power button. Beneath this to the left are the Channel Up/Down buttons, a Display and Setup button. To the left of these is a number key pad.
Just above the center of the remote are the Top Menu and Menu buttons. Under this is a round area with arrows pointing north, east, south and west with the Enter button in the center. And beneath this are three more buttons: Guider, Pause and Navi.
The bottom of the remote consists of Fast Forward/Reverse, Play, Stop and Skip Chapters buttons. Beneath these are the Source, Record, Timer and Edit buttons.
Guider Key
The Guider key on the remote control offers an easy interface to set some features on the machine. When the key is pressed, a menu appears with prompts for step-by-step setting up of playback, recording, erasing discs, and even finalizing a disc so that nothing can be written to it. Note that when finalizing a disc, nothing can be added or deleted on it.
Edit Key
Once a disc is recorded, a thumbnail picture is created on the disk. A title such as “Title 01" or “Title 02" is assigned to each thumbnail as programs are recorded. The editing key allows one to rename the thumbnails using a screen and navigation buttons to enter tiles using alpha, numeric and symbols (including international character sets).
Navi Key
The Navi key controls the Slow Motion and Search functions. Using this key, you can also select a section of a movie to repeat play or turn subtitles on and off. If an alternative sound track is available on a movie, you can access it here. The same for multi-angle viewing. You can also turn on and off information about the current movie.
Update – April 3, 2005
I’ve received e-mail with additional questions regarding this machine. I thought it might be helpful if I posted the questions and answers here.
Can you record a TV show in its entirety and then later cut out the commercials?
No. You cannot record a program and then edit out the commercials on this machine. However, you can record the program, and while watching it, hit the pause button to edit out the commercials that way.
Can you record a DVD on this machine and then duplicate it?
This DVD player/recorder does not allow direct copying of DVDs.
Is there digital audio input?
There are no digital audio ins. However, there are optical audio and coaxial digital audio outs.
Is there composite or S-video input?
There are both composite video jacks (input and output) and S-video connections (input and output) on the machine.
Update October 25, 2005
Trouble in paradise. This DVD recorder is experiencing problems. It plays store-bought DVDs fine. However, it is no longer a reliable recorder. During a recording, the machine will suddenly stop and flash the word "Stop" on the display. After awhile, the player can be turned off and on again, but it repeats the flashing "Stop" message even quicker than the first time when trying to record. The recording that is being made is ruined. If the DVD recorder does record without problem, the DVD is viewable in the Liteon machine.
Cleaning the burner with a DVD cleaner kit that cleans the laser lens did not solve the problem. All the firmware updates that can be made have been done so and there are no new ones. The one good thing about updating the firmware is that now the old JVC DVD player plays the DVDs recorded on the LIteon recorder without problem ... picture and sound are great.
Purchasing
This Liteon DVD player/recorder cost $179.99 at BJ’s Wholesale Club. CompUSA sells this machine for $280.00, and Buy.com offers it for $203.99.
Summary
I've updated this summary (see October update above). The Liteon DVD LVW-5005 was a fantastic machine. Granted it has a few drawbacks such as one cannot select subfolders to play MP3s on a disc and that sometimes recorded discs don’t play in other DVD players (even though those players support the media). My brother can easily live with the dimness of the clock. For the price, this player/recorder was an excellent value. It offered the convenience of playing and recording a variety of formats ... and don’t forget the space that was saved by recording onto DVDs versus a bulky VHS tape.
However, the family is not happy now that the DVD player is having problems within a year of purchase.
I hope you have found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Specifications
Audio Output: Stereo
Audio DAC: 24 Bit / 192KHz
Video DA Converter: 10 Bit / 54MHz
Composite Video Outputs: 1 x composite video/audio input ( RCA phono x 3 ) - front AND 1 x composite video/audio output ( RCA phono x 3 ) - rear
Digital Coaxial Output: 1 x SPDIF output ( RCA phono ) - rear
Digital Optical Output: 1 x SPDIF output ( TOS Link ) - rear
S-Video Output: 1 x S-Video output ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) - rear
S-Video input - rear
RF input - rear
Also, 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK) ( 4 pin FireWire ) - front
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