On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 21:33:37 GMT, "John" allegedly wrote:

I just wondered if there are any other VCRs besides Panasonic that can
record in EP mode to give 3 times as much recording on a tape? I'm
not too struck on the Panasonics because they are quite big and not
very compact.

When I was looking for a new VCR I didn't think the Panny's were much
bigger than any others.

The picture quality on EP is a bit rubbish though. It's ok if you must
get 12 hours out of a single tape, and are willing to sacrifice, but I
wouldn't use it otherwise. Tapes are so cheap now.

Also, what DVD recordable standard do you think is likely to win
through? I always though the DVD-RW sounded the best, but the only
ones I seem to have seen are the +RW, /R and RAM.

Not heard of /R.

You have DVD-R and DVD-RW - same format, one is write-once, the other
write many.

Then there's +R and +RW - again same format as each other, but different
from the 'minus' format.

Arguments a-plenty about which will win. When I made my choice, I
looked at what my players would take, and those of family and friends.
A lot accepted both formats, some didn't claim to accept any, a couple
accepted the '-' but not '+', and none accepted '+' but not '-'.

So I went for the '-' format. Big bonus on that is that the '-' format
plays in my mate's old Sony 7xx when it's not supposed to.

DVD-RAM is a re-recordable format, useful for those PVRs without a hard
disc type thing, and also for data backups on the computer. Putting
DVD-Video on DVD-RAM is not widely supported, and not many standalone
players will accept it.

- Dave.

In message , Dave R
writes
DVD-RAM is a re-recordable format, useful for those PVRs without a hard
disc type thing, and also for data backups on the computer. Putting
DVD-Video on DVD-RAM is not widely supported, and not many standalone
players will accept it.

In the new Argos Catalogue there's a *very* nice "multi-format Panasonic
DVD player that supports DVD-RAM. £129 IIRC. I'm gonna wait a few weeks
to see if a lower price *happens* on the Internet.

Needless to say I have a Panasonic DVD-R burner that supports DVD-RAM.
--
Tony Morgan

On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 15:21:02 GMT, Tony Morgan
allegedly wrote:

In the new Argos Catalogue there's a *very* nice "multi-format Panasonic
DVD player that supports DVD-RAM.

Have you used it? What's the picture quality like?

- Dave.

In message , Dave R
writes
On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 15:21:02 GMT, Tony Morgan
allegedly wrote:

In the new Argos Catalogue there's a *very* nice "multi-format Panasonic
DVD player that supports DVD-RAM.

Have you used it?

No, I haven't even bought one (yet). Waiting for it to become more
widely available so I can push the price I pay down a bit.

What's the picture quality like?

I'll let you know :-)
--
Tony Morgan

"Dave R" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 21:33:37 GMT, "John" allegedly wrote:

I just wondered if there are any other VCRs besides Panasonic that can
record in EP mode to give 3 times as much recording on a tape? I'm
not too struck on the Panasonics because they are quite big and not
very compact.

When I was looking for a new VCR I didn't think the Panny's were much
bigger than any others.

The picture quality on EP is a bit rubbish though. It's ok if you must
get 12 hours out of a single tape, and are willing to sacrifice, but I
wouldn't use it otherwise. Tapes are so cheap now.

Cheers. I was just planning on using it for CCTV that's why I was looking
for EP mode, so the quality isn't an issue. It's a lot cheaper than getting
a Time Lapse VCR to just buy an EP mode one and get a 4 or 5 hour tape and
stretch it to 12 or 15. Yep, they are a lot bigger and wider than other
VCRs so I just wanted to check if there was any other makes that had EP
mode.

Also, what DVD recordable standard do you think is likely to win
through? I always though the DVD-RW sounded the best, but the only
ones I seem to have seen are the +RW, /R and RAM.

Not heard of /R.

You have DVD-R and DVD-RW - same format, one is write-once, the other
write many.

Then there's +R and +RW - again same format as each other, but different
from the 'minus' format.

Arguments a-plenty about which will win. When I made my choice, I
looked at what my players would take, and those of family and friends.
A lot accepted both formats, some didn't claim to accept any, a couple
accepted the '-' but not '+', and none accepted '+' but not '-'.

So I went for the '-' format. Big bonus on that is that the '-' format
plays in my mate's old Sony 7xx when it's not supposed to.

DVD-RAM is a re-recordable format, useful for those PVRs without a hard
disc type thing, and also for data backups on the computer. Putting
DVD-Video on DVD-RAM is not widely supported, and not many standalone
players will accept it.

I think I will probably still go for -RW when I eventually get one. How
much video can you fit on one disc with the lowest and best quality mode?

John

On Sat, 09 Aug 2003 19:01:46 GMT, "John" allegedly wrote:

Cheers. I was just planning on using it for CCTV that's why I was
looking for EP mode, so the quality isn't an issue. It's a lot

Sorted then... it'll be fine for that.

I think I will probably still go for -RW when I eventually get one.
How much video can you fit on one disc with the lowest and best
quality mode?

Good question. You could probably get 4hrs or maybe even a little more if
you drop the bit rate down really low. Each disc contains about 4.5GB of
data. Figure about 2Mbps for low quality video and 196Kbps for compressed
audio, should give you a rough guide.

- Dave.