Pioneer DVR-320-S DVD Recorder / Player with FireWire Input
Written: Dec 07 '04 (Updated Dec 07 '04)
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Pros: Low price, excellent recording quality in Fine and SP modes, easy to use
Cons: Can only use DVD-R and DVD-RW, but not DVD+R/RW or DVD-RAM (not a big deal)
The Bottom Line: The Pioneer DVR-320 is a versatile and inexpensive DVD recorder that produces DVD recordings of excellent quality (in Fine and SP modes). It is...
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| dkozin's Full Review: Pioneer DVR-320S DVD Recorder |
The prices of DVD recorders are getting lower every day and seem to have approached what you would have to pay for a good VCR when VCR was the only way to record TV shows. I remember paying $340 for my Panasonic SD11 VCR... Now, for the same amount of money, you can get a DVD recorder that will produce much better picture and sound quality, be more convenient in use and use media that requires no rewinding and takes up less space to boot.
The Pioneer DVR-320 is a good example. It sells for a little over $300 and provides excellent picture quality and functionality. It even has a FireWire port!
The Pioneer DVR-320 is a DVD recorder/player that can record on DVD-R (write-once) and DVD-RW (rewriteable) discs.
Front Panel
The recorder's front panel houses a multitude of buttons, along with the FireWire (i.Link) port and a lid that conceals front A/V/S-Video input. The FireWire port can be used to record directly from a digital camcorder in digital format without loss of picture and sound quality caused by having to convert digital signal into analog signal and then back to digital.
Rear Panel
The recorder's rear panel has a cooling fan (make sure that there is sufficient space behind it), an AC power jack and A/V/S-Video/RF inputs and outs.
The rear panel features and RF in and out, a component video out (selectable interlaced/progressive scan), an optical digital out, 2 A/V/S-Video inputs and 2 A/V/S-Video outs. There is an additional A/V/S-Video input on the front panel, as mentioned earlier.
Each A/V/S-Video input or out contains an analog stereo audio, a composite video and an S-Video connector.
Remote Control
The recorder's remote control has a lot of buttons, some of which have similar shape and are difficult to distinguish by touch. You will need light to use the remote. At least, there is no lid concealing some of the buttons, unlike on remotes of some other DVD recorders.
The remote can control power, input selection, channel and volume on some brands of TVs - there is a separate section in the lower portion of the remote for these buttons.
Features
The recorder can record to DVD-R (write-once) and DVD-RW (rewriteable) discs with flexible speed/quality selection. It also plays (not listed in the order of importance and, in fact, in no particular order) DVD-Video, Video CD, Audio CD, MP3 and WMA, CD with JPEG images, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW.
The video playback can be switched between standard ("interlaced") mode and progressive scan. The recording can be programmed manually or using VCR Plus+. The built-in tuner has 181 channels
Also, there is a TiVo-like "Chase Play" mode (with 2x or faster DVD-RW discs) - ability to simultaneously record and play the same show. The simultaneous record and play ability lets you also watch something that is already recorded on the disc while recording another program.
The child lock and other "standard" DVD functions (e.g. fast and slow scan, soundtrack select, subtitle select) are also present.
Performance
The DVR-320 has 4 recording modes - Fine, SP, LP and EP. Obviously, the companies that make DVD recorders decided that it is better to use the terminology that people are familiar with. The SP, LP and EP acronyms came from the VCR world and mean Standard Play, Long Play and Extra Long Play.
The Fine quality mode lets you fit 1 hour on a DVD-R or DVD-RW disc at the best quality. The EP mode fits 6 hours at the worst picture quality. You can also select the quality level of the recording manually with level 1 (worst quality, highest capacity) representing EP mode and level 32 (highest quality) representing Fine mode.
The most important characteristic of the DVD recorder is its ability to record material on DVD and record well. The DVR-320 produces recording of an excellent quality in Fine and SP modes with SP mode being almost as good as Fine. The images are crisp, colorful and the detail level is excellent.
The LP mode produces softer pictures and exhibits some block noise in the areas of fast motion. The EP mode has more block noise. I dislike digital noise (block and mosquito noise) more than analog noise in VCRs in the EP mode. The analog noise is more chaotic and easier for me to accept, whereas black noise is more noticeable. Bottom line: SP mode - good, EP mode - not so good.
The recorder lets you edit material on DVD-RW discs by using Disc Navigator screen. It is pretty easy to split or join chapters and do other editing tasks. Most screens are self-explanatory and you don't have to read the manual to figure out most tasks.
The DVD playback of this recorder is excellent. It is no surprise, since it is difficult to find a name brand DVD player (or recorder) that would not play DVDs well. The DVR-320 produces sharp images with good detail level and no noise (provided the recording is good).
The sound wholly depends on the receiver and speakers, if you are using the recorder's digital audio out. There is no digital coaxial audio out, but the optical one (which I prefer anyway) is present.
I have not tested the quality of the audio DAC of the recorder itself by listening to the sound from its analog audio outs, but I am sure it will not be bad.
The recorder doesn't play high-resolution audio formats (DVD-Audio or SACD), but Dolby Digital soundtracks from DVDs and DTS soundtracks from DVDs or DTS CDs sound as good as your receiver and speakers permit.
Bottom Line
The Pioneer DVR-320 is a versatile and inexpensive DVD recorder that produces DVD recordings of excellent quality (in Fine and SP modes). It is more than a match for a VCR.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 320
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 838
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About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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