Pioneer DVR 220-S (DVR-225-S) Progressive Scan DVD Recorder - silver
Very Good but...
This review is actually of the DVR-225s, which I believe is identical to the 220. I recently purchased the new Panasonic DMR-ES10S & returned it because of the flimsy jack panel. I replaced it with the Pioneer DVR-225s.<br /><br />Every dvd I've seen made on a standalone player has had problems with motion jitter (motion occasionally slowing down & speeding up). I've never run into this with pc authored dvd's; to this day I don't know what causes it on set top players. I was told that Panasonic & Pioneer have less problems with this issue then any other brand. That's 1 of the 2 criticisms I have of this machine; it does have the motion issue. I have ordered a Sima stabilizer from Amazon; I'm curious to see if that helps when it arrives.<br /><br />The other issue I've experienced with the 225s is that it isn't real happy with cheap media (Specifically ESA/CMC). Media that plays back fine after burning on my PC tends to occasionally freeze during play back on my Philips 727 when burned on the Pioneer. It seems fine with Taiyo Yuden though.<br /><br />Now for the good - really excellent picture other then the motion jitter. Easy to use; much easier then the Panasonic DMR-ES10S. Also feels more solidly built. I paid $195, I'm reasonably happy although I'd love to find a standalone without motion problems. I might have been happier with a capture card, but that seems like a lot of work!<br /><br />Added 1/06: I've now owned this unit for 9 months. It's extremely reliable. The motion issue turned out to be a problem with my otherwise excellent Phillips 727 playback machine, not this unit. My only criticism at this time is that both of my inexpensive Pioneer units tend to have some problems with dark blacks & dark black & white scenes in general being a bit grainy.<br /><br />Edit 8/23/11: I've now owned this unit for over 6 years & put heavy use on it. Other then having to replace 1 capacitor (which would have been a big deal if i didn't have a tech friend), the unit performs flawlessly to this day.