Lite-On LVW5001 DVD Plus Player/Recorder
By: Lite-On Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 26
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 On: 2005-04-29
I purchased this recorder depending on Lite-ons great name. Unfortuneately right after the warrenty ran out the recorder died. I didnt use it very much at all.It stopped reading DVD +/-R and would only record on DVD+RW for 1 minute before failing. For a Lite-on I expected a lot more than 14 months of minimal use before dying. While it worked it worked great. I would buy an extended warrenty on my next recorder. The life span is too short for the money.
 On: 2005-03-04
I purchased this unit in June 2004 for Fathers Day. I loved it. We burned over 200 DVDs with only a few problems. Then after 6 months of use we started noticing a few problems here and there. First it would skip in playback mode, then it not allow me to finalize the DVD, then it recorded the video just fine and dropped the audio.
After 8 months of use, I selected "open" to eject the disk, out came the disk along with a smaller white foam/rubber disk. It was the piece that helps to hold down the DVD while reading and recording (I assume). I took it back to the store (had the extended warranty)and they gave me a new one to replace it. It was DOA right out of the box ("Fail" came up on the LED screen).
Ive definitely lost my confidence in Lite-On. Too bad, it was a great unit while it worked.
 On: 2005-02-12
I bought this unit for my family for Christmas. I was looking for something affordable and easy to use, and something that would produce nice quality. This unit meets those requirements very well. Some here have complained that they have to turn the unit off and back on to make a recording "take", or some such thing. If you read through the directions, it is very easy to learn how to "finalize" a disc after recording it. The only thing lacking on this machine, as far as my purposes go, is the ability to use DVD/-R media. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a sensible, everyday machine.
 On: 2004-11-07
This is my first review on Amazon & Im only doing this to counteract the brainless knuckleheads who give products on Amazon bad reviews they dont deserve. Almost anything listed on Amazon has undeserved bad reviews from these morons which helps screw up purchase decisions made by people like you & me who use these reviews to help decide whether to purchase anything.
Anyway, the bottom line is this a great and super easy to use very inexpensive DVD recorder (I got mine for $169 new from one of the chain stores)and a moron could figure how to use it in 5 minutes- its that easy and simple, ignore what some of the idiots said here. It copies old VHS tapes to DVD and TV broadcats to DVD with great results & total ease. This DVD recorder burns DVD+R & DVD+RW discs, which is what Ive always used anyway. As it copies and records in real time, you should get & use the cheapest DVD+RW discs (I can get them for less than 30 cents each) as it takes the same time to record on a 1X disc as it does a 8X disc. Also you do not need to finalize DVD+RW discs but you do need to finalize DVD+R discs, so there clearly is an advantage using a DVD+RW disc here which as I said are available at the 1X speed super cheap.
by: gadgester On: 2004-09-23
I got the rebranded Gateway version of this DVD+ recorder while it was on sale. I have a Panasonic DVD-R recorder which is much better: better picture quality, better reliability, and better user interface. Also, DVD "minus" discs are much more compatible with DVD players than DVD "plus," although if you have a new player, it should have no trouble with either format.
The real problem with the Lite-On/Gateway is build quality. The player feels cheap, and it does tend to get hot as some reviewers have pointed out, which is a problem for those of us wanting to keep it in an entertanment center. You literally need to put an AC next to it to cool it during long recordings. Also, my particular unit broke after a few months, so I dont have much confidence in this brand.
You might be better served with a Panasonic or Toshiba, which will offer better quality and reliability (important for DVD recordings) at a reasonable price.
On: 2004-08-28
Ive had my Lite-on LVW 5001 for more than 3 months now and since that time have used it for hours at a time most days. So far, I am very happy with the performance of the machine as well as the picture and sound quality. I have read elsewhere that this model comes with a mono tuner, but mine, manufactured in March 2004 has a full stereo tuner. One handy hint is to ONLY use good quality DVD+R/RW discs such as Verbatim or TDK as I have found these work the best. A really good recorder for the price! Im very happy.
On: 2004-07-22
I have only one nights experience with this unit to grade it on but so far so good but I wanted to know does anyone else notice that when you copy a dvd that was already copied say through x-copy or any other decrypter software it seems like the picture is darker than original any one have any ideas on this
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-06
For the guy downstair. You have to change the output setting from composite to s-video to use the s-video output.
On: 2004-07-06
It worked well when it did work.1)Poor video output. Output from the recorder is dark and you lose lots of details in the shadow area.
2)Destroy DVD if you attempt to record more than space that you have left on DVD. Not intelligent enough to stop recording when you run out of space.
3)If you hit the record button and walk away and forget to stop it, it kills the DVD media. See #2.
4)It died on me after 6 months of casual use. Was able to record 15 DVD before it died.
On: 2004-07-06
I like this recorder, but it has a tendency to overheat if not positioned in a well ventilated area. In once incident, the unit got so hot that it literally cooked one of my DVDs (a DVD+RW) rendering it useless. After I set a fan near the recorder to keep it cool, it had no problems.Aside from the overheating problem, Im actually impressed with this thing. Picture quality is better than I expected and far better than a VHS recorder. I transferred some SVHSC camcorder recordings to DVD as well as some miniDV recordings. I tried to use the firewire port, but either it didnt work or the port on my camera doesnt work (I think its my cam). The recording quality using the S-video input was spectacular though. HQ and SQ modes were both excellent. When recording, it automatically creates a chapter every five minutes (this is user modifiable) and whenever you begin a recording, it creates a title set. When playing the DVD, the title sets are listed with a screen capture of the first frame along with the recording date. This makes it easy to navigate to a desired recording. The title sets are automatically named TITLE 01, TITLE 02, etc., and I dont think these titles are user modifiable. That would be a nice feature upgrade. Overall, for the price, this unit cant be beat. I read a recent article in Yahoo, however, that claims dvd recorder prices are expected to plummet this year. So if youre not in a hurry, Id suggest waiting. If youre like me and have to be an early adopter, go for it, you wont be disappointed.
On: 2004-07-03
Bought this to transfer my Hi8 tapes to DVD. It works superbly! The Mepg2 tapes it creates are very sharp and clear and play on any computer. You need to download the update from the website in the manual and burn this to a cd and insert into the drive. It fixes most of the problems mentioned by others in reviews. I plugged my Hi8 into this to burn the DVDs and the DVD looks better than the original! If you have tapes older than 1988 do something with them before you lose them! They will pop and crack and lose color in time. Mepeg2 files recorders create are fine but you cant sharpen, lighten etc. like you can with AVIs you capture with firewire PC cards by plugging your camera into the PC. I tried the capture route first and spent a fortune. It never worked right unless you have a 200gig hard drive or 2 and a new Pentium machine. It is time consuming. This recorder is quick easy. Splice these later on the PC if you want and burn to dvds.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-06-20
I, too, like one of the other reviewers, had trouble with the S-video connects: both were bad. Took it back for another, and this one was defective, also.Another example of gettigng what you pay for. Theres a good reason that the next cheapest (name brand) recorder is $150 more...
On: 2004-06-15
For The Money This Is It>>>>>>
Works Great !!!!!!!!!!
Records DVD+RS AND DVD+RWS !!!!!!
Plays All
One Button Records
What can I Say
Buy It...
On: 2004-06-01
I just picked up the LVW-5001 on sale for $199 after mail-in rebate and cant say enough good things about this dvd recorder. Set-up was easy and the clear, crisp picture is incredible. It puts my other name-brand dvd player to shame! The "Guider" feature makes formatting & finalizing dvds extremely easy. Another nice feature is the front a/v inputs, which makes connecting a vcr, camcorder, etc. to it much easier than other models that have the connections in back. And I agree with earlier reviews in praise of the updates available from the LiteOn website. All you have to do is download the updates from the website, burn to a cd, place the cd in the unit and it updates itself to correct for any bugs or to add system enhancements. This is a much more efficient way of making corrections or adding enhancements, and much more cost effective than shipping it off or bringing it to a service center. You cant go wrong with this unit if youre in the market for a dvd recorder!
On: 2004-03-31
First of all, I paid $267 for this Lite-On DVD recorder, and it has a $30 dollar MIR. I got free shipping from newegg.com and so far I love this product. I can record from my direcTV clearly and I didnt even need to read the manuals for directions. It was so easy to connect to my TV, Satellite Receiver and VCR and the interface is very simple. I have already recorded television shows and Ive already backed up some home VHS tapes onto DVD. And they look fantastic. DONT FORGET YOU HAVE TO FINALIZE DVDs to get them to read on other DVD players!! (Just like a regular DVD burner/ CD burner will finalize discs when you burn them off a computer)Only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because the discs get really really really hot when theyre done burning.
On: 2004-03-14
This DVD recorder could be easy to like, if it only worked. My first experience with this gem of a product was early January 2003 ... After unpacking and hooking everything up, its drive wouldnt open. It behaved like a frightened turtle. I took it back for an exchange and the 2nd unit worked fine, for about three weeks. Now early February, the recorder no longer read media, nothing. (...) I had to box it up and send it to the Lite-on service center in Hayward CA. (...) ... . I received my repaired unit at the end of February. The good news, it reads DVDs. The bad, it couldnt read anything it recorded. It destroyed 5 DVD+RWs along the way (continual invalid disk). I downloaded the firmware as was recommended, but this didnt help. The unit destroyed media it formatted, recorded flawlessly (I assume) but couldnt read what it recorded. None of my other DVD players could read the recorded disks as well. I again emailed Lite-On for a RMA, which I received a couple days later. So off I go to the shipping department to send this thing. I later received the unit back from lite-on, unfortunately the same problems remain. Im not sure if they did anything. I have lost a lot of confidence in this brand name. I have since purchased a new DVD recorder (RCA) and am very pleased with it thus far. As for lite-on, I can only hope my experience was just a case of bad luck. I hope anyone whos purchased one is happy with it. Im glad to have moved on from what has been a very bad experience and horrible electronics choice.
On: 2004-02-17
When I saw this DVD recorder on sale I was amazed that prices had dropped so fast, but after having it for 30 days I just find myself wishing I had been a little less impulsive. At first it worked quite well, the recording quality on HQ,SP and even EP are quite good. I noticed a number of artifacts during quick screen transitions or fast motion, but compared to VHS recordings the colors are much richer, edges sharper, and one of the nicest surprises is the ability to fast forward at various speeds to jump over commercials. How could I give this up? The cons...1) disc failures with DVD+RW media can render recordings and whole discs unusable (happens 5% of time)
2) startup time is a painful 30-60 seconds (swapping discs can take over a minute)
3) you can only record 3h 50m on 4h disc, 1h55m on 2h disc, etc. This seems like no big deal until you start recording 1h programs and up to half of each DVD is wasted!
4) menus are slow and difficult to navigate
5) DVD+R/W media only plays in DVDs made in past 1-2 years.
6) discs are not spun down when idle, and recorder gets very hot.
7) interface for mp3 and jpeg playback is horrible. But judge for yourself; go try one out at the store. It does everything it claims to, but given the above problems, I just cant recommend it. If you are considering buying a DVD-recorder I would wait 6 months for the next generation of recorders to come out in this price range.
On: 2004-01-30
I bought this for $269.00 and it has a $30 mail in rebate. I hooked it up and within 5 minutes I was recording. You can not get any easier then this. The quality is great. I have read other reviews and let me tell you; bang for buck you can not beat this. I transferred VHS tapes over and the play back quality was better looking then the VHS looked. Digital cable playback was DVD quality. This is a great in-expensive unit.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-01-13
I have bought this recorder from NewEgg.com for $286.00 with free shipping! let me tell you I have researched DVD Recorders for some time now and was going to make the mistake of buying a "BIG NAME" brand, glad I didnt! this recorder is easy to setup and use. Recording quality from cable actually was visibly better as mentioned in other reviews. As far as other reviews that say remote is week - I can be 20 away and it works flawlessly and the guy with the s-video problem - you need to enable that connection in the menu (probably someone that doesnt read manuals). the key selling point is you can upgrade the firmware yourself instead of sending the unit in to the company,costing you $$ unlike the pioneer 310 that I was going to buy, has a date problem with the recorder..no way was I going to buy a recorder that I would possibly have to send back to them to fix before I could use it! why does the BIG NAME companies make you send your product to them? how come they cant incorporate firmware updates for there products? also when in search for DVD recorders I noticed that the Popular ones in stores and online had alot of OPEN BOX RETURN SPECIALS makes you wonder why doesnt it? if you want a recorder with the same features and dont need a hard drive this is the one!Bottom Line LITE-ON ROCKS!!!! Dont waste your hard earned money Paying for a "NAME"
by: Anonymous On: 2004-01-03
Pro: Recorder is simple to set up and operate, it does take getting used to, the discs have to be formatted but that takes less than a minute. Easy to record off the air, even at 6 hour rate, the digitizing of the analog TV signal seems to look better during playback than off the air. Price is a positive, you can find them for $279. The recorded disc DVD+R or +RW also play on Apex, Pioneer (portable), Norcent (cheap DVD player) but doesnt play well on a Samsung DVD player (I have all of these players).
Con; It doesnt fully record 2 hours in the 2 hour mode, I found the max was 1hr 56 minutes. This seems to be the same in the longer modes, just shy of the expected time. The other con is the one touch recording, you have to manually turn it off or it keeps going to the end of the recordable time on the DVD. Each press of the recording button is not 30Min like a VCR.
Overall, I am Really Impressed and would consider buying another unit because it also plays regular DVDs as well or better than regular DVD Players.
On: 2003-12-31
Just bought the Liteon DVD Recorder. I was charmed about the price (euro 300,in the Netherlands). I had doubts when I had read all reviews. Then the salesman told me that it was impossible to swap channels in order to put your favorites at top. At home I discovered he was right. But after updating the firmware a menu item was added and channels could be put into any order.
I am pleased with this DVD recorder, it does what is supposed to do and has a very good recording/playback picture quality. Even at EP (4 hours/dvd) the picture quality outranks my old VCR.
The only negatives points I found so far are the relatively slow start up and the strange noise it makes when it is switched on. If you have questions you can mail me at: max@ffkijken.com
by: Anonymous On: 2003-12-17
I bought it for a number of reasons. Storage of information from my computer. But it works great recording TV shows that you can watch later on a portable DVD player, great for passengers that hate driving. I made discs of my digital photos on CD, but when played on a DVD they just looked OK. Now I can make DVD and the digital pictures look stellar on a regular TV. One final note, after recording shows from my cable, I played them back and they look better than the direct cable connection. In fact, the 6 Hr DVD records look cleaner than the 2hr VCR recordings. The 2 hour DVD TV recordings look as good as DVD’s from Blockbuster.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-12-13
POOR QUALITY!!! I bought this for $199 at BB and was ecstatic. Then I went home to discover that my remote did not work. Im not sure if it is the remote or the reciever on the unit with the problem. I would exchange my system at BB, but they only sell this DVD recorder on-line, and they are SOLD OUT! Worse yet, LiteOn tech support will not replace my unit unless I send it to them first (a process that will take 2 weeks). Plus, I have to pay for shipping. There goes my thoughts of giving it as a Christmas gift. Good thing I tested it first! There have been so many reviews with lemons, I suggest getting a brand name system. I cant imagine how many time this DVD Recorder model will break over a few years. POOR QUALITY!!!
On: 2003-12-13
Hi and good day...I burn alot...so I thought I would like to own a back up burner (just in case) BAD IDEA!!!I paid $199.99 at some other place (BB) hooked her up and nothing.....All the s-video connects were NOT funtional...sent it back...denied I ever owned it ...if only for a few hours
by: Anonymous On: 2003-12-07
This recorder is still hard to come by. I have had about 30 days experience with it, and here are my thoughts. The good: 1) Intuitive menus that I have grown to appreciate 2) burns a disc successfully and plays on my 3 other dvd players in the house. Here is the not so good: 1) 1 button record only records, for example, it does not give you the option of 30 minutes, 60 minutes and so on. I wish it would. 2) It is finicky playing audio cds. This is a big drawback. 3) I think it takes a while to load the disc (I am not sure if that is representative of all recorders, but it seems a little long 4) Its odd that the S-Video port is not enabled out of the box. You need to be aware of this before you return it. Hook it up to a composite video source first and then enable the s-video. Lite-on has a good reptuation for their PC products. This unit appears to have positive reviews overseas.
On: 2003-12-02
Great value. Finally a DVD recorder priced to replace the VHS recorder. Record from analog or digital (firewire) devices.First the good. DVD recorder works well. Auto chapter marking. TV tuner has auto scanning and neat window feature where you can see the channels being scanned in a window from the setup menu. Has progressive out...even for TV signal. Lots of inputs....rca front, firewire front, S-video back. Has 16-9 and 4-3 outputs. 4 recording speeds/qualities....from 6 hrs (mpeg1 352x288) to 1 hr (mpeg2 720x576.) Dolby Digital and DTS. Plays MP3, Jpeg, VCD, Super VCD. Next the not so good. Recorder must be turned off and back on to "take" recording settings. Remote is very weak...must be aimed directly at recorder. RCA video out jack does not work even though they provide a yellow jack and that is the only cable you get (at least not on mine.) In the directions it says that it will only output to a single output device...the one you choose in the setup menu. There are three choices, s-video, component, and progressive (no rca.) Switching output is a bit tough...when you do it blanks out the output you were using, leaving a black screen and then you must select OK in 10 seconds or it switches back...but you cant see the new source to click on "OK" until you have something hooked to it so you almost need two output sources or a TV with two inputs that you can switch quickly between. I used one with picture in picture. If you have component in, this isnt such a big deal...just leave it on component in. No mpeg3/DIVX No CD recording...DVD+R/DVD+RW only. No time shifting...no TIVO features. Need to check disk space before recording. Overall conclusion: Recommended. A great device for those that want to save old video tapes onto new digital media. Nifty digital VCR.
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