Lite-On AllWrite LVW-5005 DVD/CD Recorder
Good features on paper, but serious compatibility issues
Lite-On's AllWrite LVW-5005 DVD/CD Recorder looks great on paper: it's the only DVD recorder on the U.S. market today that can also burn audio CDs (useful for transfering old tapes and LPs to CDs without using a computer); it supports both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW; it can record up to 6 hours of video on a DVD disc; and it has i.Link (IEEE1394) connectivity, allowing you to connect a DV camcorder directly to the recorder and obtain the highest-quality video recording.<br /><br />And the LVW-5005 has a generous collection of input/output ports.  Besides the i.Link port, you also get two (2) sets of composite, RCA-type input jacks (one set on front \\"AV1\\", the other set on back \\"AV2\\") as well as a cable-in jack.  For output, you get progressive scan composite jacks, S-video, as well as digital audio.<br /><br />But, alas, what looks good on paper fails to translate into practical useability.<br /><br />To start off, the LVW-5005 is *painfully* slow in loading a disc, of any kind.  About 1/3 of the time, it would actually sort of freeze while loading a disc (of any kind, even with pre-recorded content).  Nothing short of a hard press of the power button on the remote would make the recorder respond.  (Interestingly, pressing the power button on the unit itself doesn't do anything.)<br /><br />Then, recording anything is a multi-step process, requiring you to decide whether you want to \\"quick-prepare\\" your blank media -- akin to formatting a blank diskette -- or \\"full-prepare\\" it.  The latter takes a good 40-60 minutes, before you can record anything!  The full prepration pre-finalizes the disc so after you record, it can work in other players (more on this later).  With the quick prep, you'll need to finalize the disc later on, after you've done all your recording on the disc.<br /><br />The recording itself takes place in real time, i.e., a one-hour video takes exactly one hour to record.  After you finish recording a DVD disc, unless you are using DVD+RW, you must finalize the disc so you can play it in other players.  This process usually takes about 30 minutes -- again, this is in addition to the recording time.  Compare this to the latest models from Panasonic and Sony, which can finalize a disc in seconds.<br /><br />The worst sin of this recorder is, a finalized DVD often fails to work in other DVD players.  This is truly disconcerting.  When I burned my first DVD-R and finalized it on the LVW-5005, it played fine in the LVW-5005 (no surprise here), but could only play back in a 5-year-old Pioneer DVD player, but would not work in my family's three other DVD players: one Apex, one Koss, and one Cyberhome.  This totally shocked me because these latter three players are usually more versatile than the older Pioneer player.  I then burned another DVD-R, a DVD-RW, and a DVD+R.  The DVD-R would play in the Pioneer fine, but would only show video but have no sound on the Apex.  The DVD-RW would play in the Pioneer and the Apex, but would kind of stutter on the Koss.  Finally, the DVD+R would not play in any of my players -- which is not surprising for the Pioneer since it's old, but my other players have no problem with DVD+Rs I burned on my PC.<br /><br />The poorly written getting started guide does have a \\"recommended brands\\" list of DVD media, so maybe I should try again with one of these recommended brands.  On the other hand, I'm pretty sick of this user unfriendliness and I don't know if I want to keep this player.<br /><br />Conclusion: this Lite-On has serious compatibility issues.  Unless you want to be able to record CDs -- in which case this is the only consumer CD recorder available -- steer clear of this poor-quality product.  Chances are you'll get very frustrated by the compatibility problem and the agonizingly slow speeds and occasional freezes.<br /><br />BTW, a survey of reviews of Taiwan-based Lite-On's computer optical drive products reveals that they have a very bad reputation for quality.  The LVW-5005 is assembled in China (no surprise here).e LVW-5005 is assembled in China (no surprise here).