Lite-On AllWrite LVW-5005 DVD/CD Recorder
AVOID; YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
I kinda feel sorry for the Lite-On company -- a scrappy Chinese (or maybe they're Korean) outfit which probably has visions of becoming a major brand by selling entry level products with great features @ competitive prices.  Unfortunately, they have a long way to go. <br /> <br />\\"All-Write Technology\\" -- the feature which supposedly allows you to write to discs of different formats -- should be renamed \\"Rarely Writes Technology.\\"  The burner is extremely flickle regarding brands, and as other writers have mentioned, I've already wasted $ on blank media.  Frankly between the $ I've lost on Media, and the $ I'm going to have to pay UPS to return the item & a restocking fee (alas, I didn't buy on Amazon) -- it probably adds up to the extra $100 I would have needed to buy something better. <br /> <br />My biggest problem with the machine is a simple, simple feature my cheap VCR has, but this doesn't.  On my VCR, when you press record once, it setys a timer for 30 min, twice for 60 and so on.  That way, lets say you want to start taping an hour long episode of something and go out to dinner, it stops after the hour.  This thing will just keep recording until you press stop, or until the disc is full.  The problem is if you record until the disc is full, there's no room left on it to finalize -- a crucial step needed ot make it playable. <br /> <br />Yes, the machine does have a 7 day timer, a la a VCR, so you'd think you could solve the above problem by using this feature.  Except, when the timer goes off, you can't see what's being recorded (at least not if the input is via the S-Video in; haven't tried w/others).  I want to lay off programs from TiVo, but if I can't see what signal is coming through, I don't know when to press start/can't eliminate commercials. <br /> <br />Finally -- the one recording that I was able to get to work, it didn't divide the item into chapters.  When I played the  movie, and hit chapter forward, it did click through at 10 minute intervals, but it didn't show these intervals on the menu. <br /> <br />1 Star seems harsh, but I'm putting it b/c a) right now the overall rating is too high & I want to bring the average down and b) I really wish I hadn't bought it.