Terapin TX-0002 Audio/Video CD Recorder , Gray
Great image quality - Overheating problem but can be fixed
Before I start let me clarify that this Video-CD recorder is NOT for everyone. For instance, my mother could never use it... it has too many buttons and there is no single-button operation (except for Video-CD playback). Recording involves pressing the menu button, selecting the video and audio source, hit record, waiting for the &quot;Record ready&quot; message, and then pressing the &quot;confirm&quot; button.<br />With that in mind, for the video and techno-geek, this unit is very nice. I will start by listing the good points:<br />1. You can record around 73 minutes of video on 650mb CD-R media<BR> - or 79 minutes of video on 700mb (80 min) media.<BR>2. You can use CD-R OR CD-RW (rewritable) media.<BR>3. The unit has composite video (RCA plugs), stereo sound (RCA) inputs and outputs in the back, and a secondary set of inputs in the front.<BR>4. The unit has s-video input and output connectors in the back.<BR>5. The unit has digital audio input!<BR>6. In addition to TV programs, movies, etc, you can also record CD-Audio to cdr-audio media.<BR>7. The unit records in MPEG1 video cd format but with EXCELLENT image quality, much better than the dazzle 1 or other PC-based mpeg1 hardware encoders. There is no pixelation, if the source image quality is clear and good.<BR>8. You can play back recorded programs on CD in the unit OR on any Pentium 1 - 100Mhz or higher PC running Windows, Linux, or MacOS.<BR>9. You can see what the recording is going to look like by hooking your Terapin's video-out to the Video-IN of your TV (what you see is what you get, no surprises!).<br />The bad:<BR>1. You need to &quot;finalize&quot; the disc before a disc runs out of space, otherwise, you can't play it back on a PC.<BR>2. The unit overheats. The manual recommends turning the unit off to let it cool down after 4 hours of continued use. This can be easily fixed by opening the unit (voids warranty), and drilling a few holes to let the hot air get out. Yes, the company should have thought about this, but after you do this, the unit works flawlessly.<BR>3. There is no TV-out or TV-tuner in the unit, you need to hook it to a VCR via the rca video and audio connectors to tune into tv/catv programs