A fine and easy-to-use digital recorder but not a top-notch player.
Written: Sep 03 '04 (Updated Sep 15 '04)
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Pros: Easy-to-use, best feature-set for money, good appearance and built-quality, use of popular DVD standards, multi-system.
Cons: No simultaneous bilingual-recording to harddisk, NTSC/PAL manual selection, unsatisfactory photoviewer, composite/component-out quality should be better.
The Bottom Line: Best Buy.
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| ricehigh's Full Review: Pioneer DVR510HS (80 GB) DVD Recorder |
I bought this unit to replace my 12 years old Panasonic VCR which has served me for 4 Olympic Games ( but the most funny thing is that I didn't get the new DVR before the Athens Games but only after its closing :-) I wait the price cut for too long :-( )
What I like:-
1. Easy to use:
What I first did was just read the introduction part of the user manual and I could know what the recorder could do for me. The connections are easy and trouble free, the first time setup wizard would guide the user to input all the basic essentials into the unit. The control panel's layout is very logical and easy to understand, so are the remote controller and the menu screen and sub-screens. The menu design is the best I have ever seen, very user friendly (logically organised and presented) and the user can see what're the current settings with remarks and to change settings with minimal button pressing and steps.
2. Best feature set for the money:
Whilst unique features include DV in and out, disk copying and video/audio quality fine-tuning (adjust) feature can hardly be found in competitors' units of this class or even more expensive models, the 510 DVR does offer all standard features such as chase play, simultaneous recording and playback, one touch file transfer between DVD and HDD, simultaneous copying and recording or playback, trailer preview for playback, non-destructive editing (called original and playlist marked with index/pointers and both of which can be selected at anytime with a touch of button), etc.
3. Good appearance as well as fairly good built quality:
Initially, I have some worry about that the unit was made in China. However, the reality is that the built quality and quality control of the unit are really very good (of course it is not built like a tank and I think nowadays "tanks" can hardly be found in consumer grade products). The appearance of the unit looks very elegant to me, especially with the front panel display and HDD indicator lamp turned on. Furthermore, the cooling fan at the rear of the unit produces no noticeable sound at all. If I am not looking at it when it operates, I really don't know there is a fan.
4. Use of popular DVD-R and -RW standard:
Use of DVD-R means my burned copies can be played at almost all computer DVD-ROM and most of the DVD players of my neighbours. The DVD-RW is a recognised industrial standard and the discs can be bought much cheaper and easier than the almost-the-same but not so popular DVD-RAM (although Panasonic claims that DVD-RAM is more durable and is more resistant to scratches but I really wonder if I will use my discs like that). On the other hand, I found that DVD RW is not a better standard but with more limitations and is not so widely adopted, and it is even not an accepted standard at the DVD Forum.
5. Good recording quality:
I have used the default SP recording quality mode as well as the Fine mode and I really can't tell the difference between the source and the copy in both modes. I can't tell the difference between the Fine mode and SP mode as well. I have no DV device, though. So, I can't tell if there will be any difference when a better source is copied, digitally.
6. Multi-system compatibility:
The 510 accept NTSC/PAL-60 or PAL/SECAM video signals but not both at the same time or on the same disk. For DVRs, this is a special feature as many other models from other makers only support either NTSC or PAL input signals, whilst a cheap analog multi-system VCR can support both with auto-detection and random switching.
7. The user manual is clear for the basics:
It is logically presented and well written, generally speaking. All the essential features and functions available are briefed clearly and precisely. More details can be found in the "Notes" sections under each part and those notes often provide useful hints just in case the user need to know somethings relevant more. It is already the best user manual I have seen these years amongst those from Panasonic (the worst) and Denon (better but cumsy). Nevertheless, the manual isn't perfect and I shall explain further in the "cons" section below.
What I don't like:-
1. Weak packing protection:
I got the unit from shop to home by myself. Shortly after I left the shop, I discovered that the unit inside was "floating" and could be moving around, despite I had checked that the sealed tape, which has the Pioneer printing on it, remained intact. After I reached home and unpacked the packing, I discovered that the foam plastic is very thin and weak. Therefore, some parts had already been broken. I am sure that this is environmentally more friendly as much little foam plastic was used but I am also sure that all the 510 units are in danger, for such poor protection inside the packing! So, good luck to you if you're going to get one ;-)
2. No simultaneous bilingual recording to harddisk:
That means that I have to choose which language to record right before. What even worse is that I can't simply select the language channel by using the "audio" button but must select it in one of the option menus. Yet fortunately, the simultaneous recording of both language channels can still be done by recording to DVD-RW discs which are formated (by default automatically) in VR mode. I really wonder why it is designed and I simply suspect that this is not an unresolved technical difficulty but rather a marketing concern afterall - to force the user to get DVD-RW discs so as to promote the standard.
3. No auto-detection and switching for NTSC and PAL signals:
Which means that I can receive only sound of some Japanese satellite channels but not the pictures if I have not changed the setting in the (initial) setup menu. Same case applies to my Panasonic DVD player, Denon AV amplifier and Sega Dreamcast.
4. The photoviewer is virtually useless and should be made better:
The playback quality is poor and the load speed is terribly slow. Also, the viewer is so primitive, I wonder why the firmware cannot add some more standard playback features such as the input of playback interval and manual advance of frame, etc. Nevertheless, it's good to have this uncommon feature but it should be made better before it is practically usable. Fortunately, I use a separate PC connected to my Plasma display for viewing digital photos so that this would not be a major problem for me.
5. Both composite and component video out quality are not that good:
The composite video quality is not good indeed and the difference is obvious when compared with my ancient Panasonic VCR (even after choosing the appropriate "Video Adjust" factory setting). The component out don't give me better quality than the S-video out and strangely the S-video out seems to have less noise while the component out picture would be a little bit more stable (by looking at the "Initial Setup" menu and picture from the tuner). I have tried to enable the progressive out and couldn't see any quality improvement on my two-year old progressive scan compatible Panasonic 37" Plasma TV. As a remark, the 510 unit needed to be warm up for the first time it had the electricity before the displayed picture became stable - I think about 30 minutes of time.
6. No coaxial audio-out:
Anyway, so do many other DVR models and afterall we can't expect to use this unit for audiophile music listening, right? But this would still be a minor drawback. In general, coaxial cables are preferred over optical connections amongst audiophiles and are believed to have better sound and is generally a much cheaper solution too (for attaining nearly the same good results).
7. Not an excellent DVD player:
My old Panasonic RP-82 DVD player seems to have a better playback picture than the 510 DVR (Hearsays always mention that the RP-82 has the king Faroudja progressive scan chipset but it has never been confirmed in any means officially by Panasonic). Noise can easily be seen around the B&W subtitle texts when using the 510 but not the RP82 for the same DVD source. I do not mean that the DVD playback from the 510 is junk, and indeed it is quite good enough, but I simply regard that the 510 is not a top-notch DVD player comparatively afterall (whilst the inexpensive ~$200 RP-82 surely is, IMO).
8. Other "hidden" restrictions:
I used this new toy to record playback from my old VCR to backup a VHS tape for the first time. Whist the backup was in progress, I could playback any previously recorded materials in the DVR via the "Disc Navigator" function. However, in fact, the unit does not allow the display of (change to) any other channel while recording is in progress. The result is that I could not change to tuner presets as that recording (line-in) channel had been locked. This restriction is really not desirable as those line-in dubbing tasks usually require extended time (and I really wonder if DV-in would be the same here, and most likely it would). What makes thing worst is that my Plasma TV don't have its built-in tuner and I couldn't find anyway to watch TV programmes on my Plasma under the case. Since the DVR has only one tuner, it is very normal and totally acceptable that when one TV channel is being recorded, swapping to another TV channel would be impossible. But why line-in / TV recording would require locking of that particular recording channel (but they provide different functions)? I suspect there exists some other unknown hardware limitations which only Pioneer knows. Furthermore, even that I can playback the recorded material in harddisk simultaneous during recording, I need to stop the playback if I want to monitor the recording channel. BTW, I have checked with a friend of mine who owns a LG 4820 (HDD/DVD recorder) about this limitation and he confirmed that the case is the same here. Therefore, it seems that there exists a technology barrier here.
9. The user manual don't tell the user about some more advanced details which he/she should know:
The user manual don't mention all the above "hidden" limitations and nothing has ever mentioned for those scenarios which I think the user will shortly face. I think no one would like to see his/her DVR being locked mostly during recording but I think the manual should at least tell something about these. Besides, I found that the manual cannot provide clearer definition about the advanced settings, e.g., the "video/audio adjust" parameters. It simply repeats all those info which are already displayed in the configuration menu. The most obvious example is that I simply want to know about the effect of adjusting the "black level" and "white level" sliders. That is, does setting "max" in the "black level" mean darker black or is it just in the opposite way? I found by experiment that "max" in "black level" will have an mild effect of producing lighter dark (the difference from "min" to "max" is subtle). Since the settings of "white level" and "dark level" is totally different from the conventional concept of "brightness" and "contrast" combination, I think Pioneer should explain more for their own philosophy. Finally, it's good to see that there is an index section at the end of the manual but I think the index is really too short to make it to be truly useful.
My conclusion
I have a simple conclusion after I got and tested the 510 unit. That is, we should only buy and judge a unit on its intended purpose(s) and don't expect much for all those bundled gifts and bonuses and we would then be much happier. The 510 DVR is indeed a fairly good DVR (I dare not to mention "very good" or "excellent" owing to some major and minor drawbacks mentioned above. Though, many of these are not specific to the 510 unit but common to all current DVRs, regardless of make and model). And, its user-friendliness, except the bilingual recording to harddisk, is still the best I have ever used. But for more demanding music-listening or movie-watching purposes, one would better use another better dedicated DVD or even CD players.
After all, I think those “imperfection” I mentioned above will be eliminated some days when newer generation DVRs are designed and marketed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 629
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Epinions.com ID:
ricehigh
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Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 2 members
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