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Lite-On AllWrite LVW-5005 DVD/CD Recorder
By: Lite-On Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 113
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 On: 2008-04-10
These Liteon 5005 DVD recorders are sensational.They make beautiful recordings as good as Sonys for a lot less money.You can update the firmware and they can be set to be REGION FREE allowing playbacks of DVDs from throughout the world.Very easy to use the guider button makes it a snap even if you never operated a dvd recorder before.
 On: 2008-03-03
When I bought this unit,it seemed to offer the best performance for the money. It was new on the market, and there seemed to be more customer complaints on more expensive Sony and Toshiba units. It was cheaper, far easier to use, and produced better video quality than a terrible Phillips unit it replaced.
As in other reviews, after a year or so, things started to go wrong. First, on an intermittent basis, after I loaded a blank disk, it would prepare it for recording, then read out "stop" mode, but you could hear the disk still spinning wildly in the drive. When it was doing this, it would not stop, or go into the "record mode" until I turned the unit off and on, often numnerous times. Frequently the recorder would not turn off without cutting the power to the unit. Some time after this began, all timer recordings failed. Most failures resulted in disks that could no longer be used- the unit would neither load, nor initialize them if the original recording process aborted. Recording quality also diminished noticably over time.
A piece of equipment that becomes un-reliable, and has to be replaced after a year is no bargain. Factor in wasted disks, and the frustration of missed recordings, and Ill pass on Lite-On products in the future.
 On: 2008-02-13
I got this as a Christmas gift & was pleased in the beginning. Then the door wouldnt open using the remote or the front panel buttons. Customer service is a bad joke; they dont answer their 800 number. It took 2 hours of being on hold to find out there is no local service available,you have to send it in for repair. If you read other customer reviews, this unit is notorious for the door not opening. Liteon is aware of the poor design yet they choose to not correct the problem. Avoid it at all costs. They managed to lose my unit & I have been unable to trace it.
On: 2007-08-28
Youll see another review where someone says the DVD laser simply stops working around 7 months if you keep the unit on. I didnt know this when I bought it. I kept it on, and sure enough, 7 months later it stopped working.
Based on the reviews about the nighmare of dealing with their support and/or replacement equipment, Im just going to cut my losses. Time to look for a well known name brand and purchase an extended warranty.
Lesson learned. Dont buy this unit.
On: 2007-06-25
Just learned, in the hard way, that Liteon stopped supporting this model. I sent my unit out for repair, for the second time in six months, and was informed that Liteon will replace my unit with a newer model. Unfortunately the "newer model" does not support PAL or multi region formats. Liteon refuses to even try to repair my unit. Very rude customer service.
Stay away from this manufacturer.
On: 2007-06-24
Most of the problems people complain about in their reviews are disc compatibility related. If folks would do a little bit of research theyd discover that newer DVD blanks are made to burn at high rates of speed to keep up with computer burners which burn increasingly faster as time passes. Standalone DVD recorders burn at 1x only - in real time.
A simple DVD drive firmware update will take care of the vast majority of disc compatibility problems.
Its not fair to fault a manufacturer for not making the product able to burn easily to DVDs that hadnt even come on the market when it was first sold. They do what they can to keep up. BTW, when you put a blank CD into it the machine asks you onscreen if you want to create an audio CD, a VCD or an SVCD. A previous reviewer didnt read the manual.
On: 2007-06-24
This is one of a very limited number of Lite-On models which can be firmware-upgraded to record ANY analog signal fed to them from any DVD player, any VCR, ANYTHING. Once that has been done youll never again have your recorder refuse to record certain material. If you can watch it on your TV youll be able to record it. These are no longer being made so even if the unit ever fails it will be worth repairing. Thousands and thousands are in use out there now and NEW ones are rarely available. When one of these goes bad a high percentage of the time its due to drive failure often caused by stress when using non-manufacturer-recommended discs in it. The latest DRIVE ONLY firmware makes them able to record to higher speed rated DVDs and should prolong the life of the machine considerably. One seller on another site has marketed this model as a MULTI-SYSTEM WORLD DVD RECORDER or something similar and has sold it for $449.99. They will run on any household current available worldwide and can be easily made region-free. They will even output either a PAL or an NTSC signal (you choose it from the SETUP menu) whichever is the one used in your country. The TV tuner is NTSC in those sold in the U.S. and Canada, and PAL in European countries. Be careful because some sellers represent LVW-5005X and LVW-5005XS models as being 5005s. Others have even listed the LVW-5115GHC+ under the LVW-5005 heading. NONE of those machines is as desirable as this one is.
Also, most of the problems people complain about in their reviews are disc compatibility related. If folks would do a little bit of research theyd discover that newer DVD blanks are made to burn at high rates of speed to keep up with computer burners which burn increasingly faster as time passes. Standalone DVD recorders burn at 1x only - in real time.
A simple DVD drive firmware update will take care of the vast majority of disc compatibility problems.
Its not fair to fault a manufacturer for not making the product able to burn easily to DVDs that hadnt even been on the market when it was first sold. They do what they can to keep up. BTW, when you put a blank CD into it the machine asks you onscreen if you want to create an audio CD, a VCD or an SVCD. A previous reviewer didnt read the manual.
On: 2007-04-08
I have had this recodred for 5 months, and so far I have had no problems with it. So far, it records DVDs fine (unless they are locked with the rights protected junk), and does fine with TV shows, though I have yet to use more advanced features in recording. I havent had some of the incompatibility problems with blank DVDs and CDs yet, and I just got some plain cheap ones from one of those multi-chain computer stores. (There are instructions that detail what kinds work best.) If all you are looking for is something simple to record your shows or unprotected DVDs, this should get the job done--as for anything more complex, I couldnt say either way.
On: 2007-03-20
well i saw this thing online and since i needed an AUDIO cd recorder for dj gigs and it said it recorded dvds AND cds so
STUPID me i bought it and it DOES NOT record audio cds at all but simply can record video onto audio cds all in all i would say its one of the stupidest things i have ever done in my life although to be clear it was noones fault but my own not the retailer none the less i now have a perfectly new piece of equipment which is USELESS to me wanna buy it ? drop me a line still in box as new thanks ............knightrider
On: 2007-03-09
The unit worked for no more than 6 months, LITEON customer service refused to repair the unit even though it is still under warranty. Liton would only offer a refurbed lvc 5115ghc+ in swap for the more expensive and capable 5005. After 8 NOT toll free calls, their 800 # tells you to call a 510 # where you wait on hold at lease 15 minutes.
The supervisors will not call you back after you leave a message with the first line telephone answerers if you call multi times like me and insist you are asked exactly what you want and will agree to in advance as the supervisors do not like to call a customer blind (as they put it).
On: 2007-02-04
This seemed like a good product at first, but it didnt take long to discover some quirks which are actually rather serious firmware bugs. Ive stayed up-to-date through their web site, but the firmware doesnt get better. They only add media with each update. The bad stuff sticks around...
1. DVD-RW Deletions -- If you delete the last program on a DVD-RW disc, and that program was also the first thing listed on the menu, the disc is no longer usable. It cannot even be reformatted. Its a coaster. An EXPENSIVE coaster. Not even Nero can bring it back to life. Hard to believe, but true.
2. Records Over Saved Material -- If you are recording over an erased program and the length of the new recording is longer than the space available, other programs will be automatically erased. This happens even with overwrite set to "off." To save such programs, you MUST "protect" the recording in its settings. This is a most unfortunate default behavior.
3. New Recording in RW Disc -- By default, only the last open area on the disc is set to be recordable. So if you have 2 hours at the beginning of a disc, and 5 minutes at the end, the machine will assume that you want to record into the 5-minute segment. You can change this manually by setting the "overwrite" setting of the larger block, but whenever that recording finishes, the machine will again assume that it should record next on the final block. And when it gets to the end of the disc, it stops, even if you have blank areas earlier on the disc. Forget about recording 2 TV shows with the timer unless youre using a freshly formatted disc.
4. Sleep Mode -- Whenever the screensaver is running, you must first tap any button to bring the machine back to life, then hit the button of the action you want to perform. In other words, if you want to turn the deck off, you must hit the power button twice. Its a small thing but highly unintuitive, and Ive missed timer recordings because of it.
5. No Warning for Non-Writeable Disc -- Say you have the timer set to record, but you left your favorite movie in the deck. Youll get no warning, and the timer recording will simply fail. A flashing indicator would be very appropriate (something like VCRs have when a tape is loaded with the record tab broken out).
6. Chapter Bug -- If you are watching a movie and stop the playback, when you turn on the deck to continue watching, it will play to the end of the current chapter then jump back to the beginning of that chapter and play it again.
7. Saved Stop Position Bug -- If you are watching a movie and stop the playback and turn off the deck, under some conditions the deck will return to the main menu when powered up again. It may also revert to the firstplay movies (coming attractions, FBI notices, etc.) It DOES NOT always remember where you stopped, even if the message appears telling you it has.
8. Sync Issues (Not Disc Related) -- Certain discs (mostly those recorded from TV), will develop audio sync problems if the compression in the video is too great. This happens on all types of recordable discs, even those which play back perfectly in other decks.
9. Title Screen -- The onscreen keyboard used to title programs is the absolutely weirdest configuration Ive ever seen. Its almost unusable.
10. No UHF Playback Signal -- Not a firmware bug, but this deck requires monitor jacks to be hooked to your TV. It cannot be used like a VCR (set the TV to channel 3 or 4).
Believe it or not, I could go on. Power up takes from 30-60 seconds. Any change to the disc requires 1-2 minutes before it will complete. Reformatting a DVD-RW disc can kill it (sometimes Nero can rescue these, sometimes not). The thing locks up regularly, and only a power-down will clear it. The front panel on the disc drawer is held on with flimsy glue.
At one point I had to open the case to see if I could figure out a way to get a disc out when the machine had completely frozen. Inside, you will find a DVD drive identical to one you might install in your computer, connected to a very flimsy motherboard. In other words, the design of this machine is cheap and kludgy, and it shows.
My advice is to stay away from this deck (and perhaps all Lite-On stand-alone decks -- if they are designed as shoddily as this one). Its a bad recorder and an even worse player.
On: 2007-01-24
I own one of these units and the advertising that this unit will record on just about any DVD is a bold faced lie. When I first received this unit, I had to buy three different brands of blank DVDs before I could find one that worked. Then, when I ran out of the ones I bought, I went out and bought more of the exact same brand, capacity, speed and format. They would not work in the machine.
I then contacted the manufacturers customer support and asked them what blanks I should purchase. From their suggestion of compatible blank DVDs I purchased three different brands and none worked. I talked to the customer service again to get further suggestions, bought two more different brands and they didnt work, either.
By the way, I still have one of the original disks that worked and I can still record on it but I am running out of space on it. None of the other blank DVDs I have purchased will work. I have over $200 worth of blank DVD discs that will not work in that machine that claims to have "AllWrite" technology.
If there were the capability to rate this item as ZERO stars, I would.
On: 2007-01-23
I own one of these units and the advertising that this unit will record on just about any DVD is a bold faced lie. When I first received this unit, I had to buy three different brands of blank DVDs before I could find one that worked. Then, when I ran out of the ones I bought, I went out and bought more of the exact same brand, capacity, speed and format. They would not work in the machine.
I then contacted the manufacturers customer support and asked them what blanks I should purchase. From their suggestion of compatible blank DVDs I purchased three different brands and none worked. I talked to the customer service again to get further suggestions, bought two more different brands and they didnt work, either.
By the way, I still have one of the original disks that worked and I can still record on it but I am running out of space on it. None of the other blank DVDs I have purchased will work. I have over $200 worth of blank DVD discs that will not work in that machine that claims to have "AllWrite" technology.
If there were the capability to rate this item as ZERO stars, I would.
 On: 2007-01-16
I am really happy with this product as a DVD player-it will play all types of DVD types as advertised, however, the recording has much to be desired. It places a buzz/hum on your recorded programs/DVDs so that you cant hear what you have recorded, its really annoying and I just stopped recording with this product and am using at as an expensive DVD player right now. I will definitely research any more products from this company better because the main reason I bought it was for the recording capacity and now I can use it. I guess you get what you pay for though, this was the cheapest DVD recorder out there.
On: 2007-01-12
Ive had great luck with other lite-on products for the computer, but I believe the quality of their products have slipped after using this dvd recorder. From the beginning Ive experienced intermittent poor sound quality in recording. I chose to ignore it, since sending the product back was more trouble than it was worth (low cost of product). In a little over a year the video stops or is constantly breaking up. I know one unit doesnt necessarily dictate quality, but read some of the other reviews. I dont think mine is unique.
On: 2007-01-11
this is my secound one that i bought and i love lite-on allwrite..they are very easy to operate and i get good pictures from them..
On: 2007-01-09
didnt work out of the box and then I had to pay shipping back to get reimbursed so I paid 2 times shipping
On: 2007-01-09
Cheap money, simple operation with the "Guider", what else can you ask for? Theres no digital audio input (is this true for all DVD recorders?) but everything works great. Buy this.
On: 2007-01-09
I didnt use the product for about a month after I received it, then when I started to use it , every thing worked fine EXCEPT, WHEN I would try and burn DVD+R discs 3 out of 5 would not finalize and I would have to start ALL OVER again. Ive RUINED about 30 NEW BLANK DVD+R discs. Ive called LITEON Tech Support and the are in the process of sending me an UPDATE for the LVW-Liteon5005 DVD/Recorder, bot that was about 3 weeks ago. Since then Ive called them back and found out that they sent the recorder to the WRONG address( DID NOT SPELL MARGARET DRIVE CORRECTLY)SO they are in the process of sending me the Software update NOW.IF that doesnt correct the problem, Lireon Support said they would REPLACE the LVW-5005 DVD/RECORDER with the NEWER and Latest version,(LVW-5115 GHC+),IM STILL WAITING FOR THE SOFTWARE UPDATE, AS OF 01/09/2007 @ 8.06AM-EST!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Thank you very much, Nelson R. Seely, 135 Margaret Drive, Hampton, Virginia, 23669-1809.
On: 2006-11-14
Ive used The LVW-5005 for well over 1 year transferring over 50 home videos to DVD, and now have it connected to the TV. Ive had very few problems, losing about 4-5 DVDs. I did find that although they claim all-write, the +R/RW DVDs (per Lite-On recommendations) consistently work better than -R/RW DVDs. I had briefly considered buying a 2nd unit since the price is down, but based on the reviews Im reading about newly purchased units, it sounds like theyve been having QC problems.
On: 2006-11-08
What a piece of complete GARBAGE this unit is. Constantly stops recording in the middle of programs and tape transfers; record part of a program, pause it and try to finish it later and the unit wont recognize the disc; constant disc failure; its just completely unreliable. I wouldnt buy another one of these if it only cost a penny. I probably spent more money on blank DVDs that were ruined by this machine than the unit itself cost.
On: 2006-11-04
It worked fine at first, but only for about 6 months. I cant use it as a dvd player now. I only used it like 5 times too. It really sucks.
On: 2006-11-04
I had 2 other recorders before this one. The other ones worked at first but then kept coming up with errors until they just eventually didnt burn anything at all after about 6 months of use. Ive had this one for about 3 months now and not a single error so far. I am very happy with it.
On: 2006-10-30
I purchased this product about 18 months ago , like several others of you. And all the sudden it has stopped working. I had noticed that some of my recorded shows were not coming out with sound but thought it was just the player. I went out and bought another player. Same problem. Now I have no picture on my TV. This unit had been professionally installed. I know it was done correctly. Now I have to go out and purchase a new recorder. So dont think you are getting a good deal with this unit. Your deal is only going to last a year! And then it will cost you more in the long run. I have e-mailed cutomer support and will report back with the outcome of my e-mail. Until then I suggest spending the extra $50.00 bucks for a good unit.
On: 2006-09-18
We purchased this product for considerably more than the current price of $89.99. It always had a few quirks, but we ignored them. Over the course of about 18 months, the unit became more troublesome. This weekend, it totally died. This unit is in an adult household, and it was never abused. In fact, it really wasnt used much at all. I would never buy a Lite-On product again.
On: 2006-08-20
I bought this about one year ago, and was initially very pleased with it. Unfortunatley it just started to deteriorate after a short time. Firstly the cover is not on there very well and always seemed ready to fall off, you need to be very careful with that! I have also had lots of problems with it accepting new disks, instead of preparing a disk for recording it takes 10 minutes to waste it by turning it into a "data disc". I guess maybe you need to use the ultra expensive disks for it, I have no proof on that though. Also it sometimes doesnt recognize a disc it finalized! Meanwhile another machine or any computer can read it. I would not buy this item knowing what I know now. I think Lite-on should take greater care in releasing products to people. A final thing was, it doesnt play CDs very well, it always inserts a loud click and sound gap in the sound every minute or so. It makes listening to CDs aggrevating, DVD playback was the best use of this product. But its a recorder, so dont get it for that!!
 On: 2006-07-24
Over A year ago, I bought the LVW5007. I was very happy with it. It had TVGuide which was awesome. But after 11 months, it went belly up. I emailed Lite-on tech support (yes folks EMAIL) and was VERY HAPPY with their response (there is a 1yr warantee on this puppy). Unfortunately, the 5007 is hard to get, so they offer me the LVW5005. Its pretty darned good. I record from VCR to DVD no problems. I copy my vinyl to CDs no problem. It makes VideoCDs (if you care). It rights DVD+/- RW ( hence the name ALLRight) The user interface is friendly, but limited. I found LiteOn easy to deal with and they stand behind their product.
On: 2006-07-23
I cant believe it. I just bought it. I am generally astonished that this can even be sold legally. It didnt even last me a month. It worked okay until yesterday, and now it wont read discs, wont finish recording anything, and generally refuses to work. I just had a "video now" recorder, and it worked for about six months, and slowly stopped working. It was a gift, so I figured I had lost nothing, and I went ahead and purchased another dvd recorder. Bad idea. After reading hundreds of reviews and websites, I have discovered that it is best to purchase a panasonic dvd recorder if you expect it to last. Unfortunately I have already lost my money on this one, and have been left with a sour taste for dvd recorders.
On: 2006-07-11
Unless you enjoy being on hold, being hung up on, returning products and losing DVDs, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY or time!!! This is an excerpt of our 1st communication with lite-on in June of 2005...
"I received a LITEON LVW-5005 as a Christmas gift. I just recently set it up and started using it (active duty military) and have had the following
problems:
Playback--disks hang up and/or skip (new disks without damage)
Record--fails to start the recording process
In both cases, the Recorder eventually started working after repeatedly ejecting and re-inserting the same disk. It appears there is a mechanical problem associated with the Disc Tray. Once it finally seats correctly, it works fine."
2 months later we received an RMA that was valid and shipped the unit back. We received a refurbished unit and had the following problems with in a few days
"We received the DVD writer in the mail and used it for several days. When playing a DVD, the player skips backwards throughout playback. This happens with all DVDs (work correctly on other players). DVDs created have errors when trying to copy them on our computer. In addition, the device began making a loud grinding noise after a few days of use." (November 2005)
It was January of 2006 before we received another refurbished unit. It worked great for about a month and then locked up completely with my daughters favorite Baby Einstein DVD stuck inside. After working with tech support for quite sometime, we were unable to retrieve the disc and told to return the unit with the disc and the DVD would be returned. We have yet to see the DVD and it was June of 2006 before we received another unit. The current unit is a 5115 (offered to us because the 5005 was out of stock and we were hoping it might be more reliable after 3 lemons).
Tonight was the beginning of the end when this unit locked up with the new favorite Baby Einstein stuck inside. Tech support did help me recover the disc, but tried to blame the failure on my child (who is not big enough to even reach the unit and never touched it!). I am ready to toss the thing completely and spend the money on a different brand. After over a year of hassles with this company, Id have to say this is the worst gift ever and I feel bad that my father-in-law wasted his money. Now, we will have to buy a new DVD recorder and a new DVD. I plan to share this review with all my friends and family and any other site I can find to post it!!!
On: 2006-07-07
This unit is inexpensive and does some things fairly well. However, afer using it for some time Ive discovered its limitations.
Transferring from VHS to DVD is OK only if you use the highest DVD speed setting. If you ask for anything extended, the images become unstable.
If you want better performance, you have to be prepared to pay for it.
On: 2006-07-07
This is the biggest piece of junk I have bought in a long time. First, it only accepts and reads about 50% of the dvds I put in for recording. Yet the dvds read fine in other dvrs. I bought this to record videos onto dvds. 1/2 way though, approximately 10 videos, the screen started showing that it was recording in black and white. I assumed the the video player was on it last legs......wrong the dvd recorder is now recording in black and white.
Another thing I dont like is it does not give you thumbnails, which most other dvrs do. It gives you chapters (my mistake I assumed chapers and thumbnails are the same) They are not.
I would not recommend this for anyone. I will now buy a name brand, such as Sony. Remember you get what you pay for.
On: 2006-07-04
I purchased a LiteOn LVW-5005 dvd recorder and it stopped working after 2 months. Electronic equipment does tend to fail but the worst part is my experience with LiteOn customer support. They received my unit on 4/13/2006 and it is now 7/3/2006 and they have yet to repair it. Emails to their customer support site are never answered. The hold time for phone calls is over 30 minutes. This is a very poor company. I would never buy LiteOn products again.
On: 2006-05-29
Super small remote, not universal, has very small buttons and no volume control. Can not insert images for chapter titles, only uses first screen of recording which is always blank. Very sensitive to brand of blank DVD. Stopped working after 4 months of light use. Stay away from this one and buy a brand name.
On: 2006-05-16
Within the last day or two, my LITEON 5005 can no longer recognize any rewriteable DVD+RW disk I put in it. It attempts to read it, but always comes back with either a FAIL or an INVALID DISK message. As i only use this player/recorder in the living room (I have a comcast DVR on the main TV), I have not burned on this recorder very often. From the look of other posts, contacting technical support will do no good.
On: 2006-04-25
I hate to say it as my dad really liked what he read on the lite on but this is the second one ive had and it starts write failing abtou 4-6 mos into it. Im not a hardcore user very few times do I use it and never has failed it gets to the 6 month period and starts flaking out. this one is out of warranty but its my 2nd one in one year time. I would say go sony or a brand that will be there and will put in quality parts thos lasers go out and there is not repalcing them... good luck on your search... its also really finicky on the dvds as well and you end up losing cash there when they wont recognize it... Now either its because I keep getting bad lite ons or they are really strict on what they will take but technology should be good enough now where you dont have to do back bends just to get it to work!
On: 2006-04-24
We bought this dvd recorder primarily to watch dvds. The recording feature was a plus to transfer home movies from our mini-dv camcorder. We connected the lite-on via the regular video cables (red/white/yellow), the same way we did with our old Toshiba dvd player that finally died after about 5 years of use. We put on a movie and right away noticed a huge decrease in picture quality compared to our old Toshiba. The picture seemed fuzzy, far worse than what weve been used to. It was a big disappointment! I understand we could choose to buy different types of cables that can improve the quality, but we were happy with the quality via the standard cables with our old player and figured with new technology this brand new recorder should at least give us the same quality as a five year old dvd player. So I will keep transferring my home movies onto dvd via my Mac and just stick with a regular dvd player. We returned the Lite-on to the store today and got a Sony dvd player (DVP-NS50P)~ when we got the Sony home we hooked it up via the included video cables and the picture quality is excellent. So overall, I am glad we returned the Lite-on. I think it is probably better to be used for transferring movies instead of being used as a primary dvd player.
On: 2006-04-03
I bought this really good looking machine, only to have to return it within one week. It records well on DVR Recordables but not on DVD Re-writables.
On: 2006-03-28
I thought this product worked VERY well for the first several months I owned it. The only problem was that the tuner NEVER worked from day one, but as I used the cable box anyway, and had mainly bought it to transfer old videotapes to DVD, that wasnt a major problem for me, considering the price.
However, after 6-9 months, it began having problems. The first problem was it would take several tries to get it to load partially-recorded DVD-RW discs. It would give the message, "No disc." Then it wouldnt load them at all. Then, it began doing the same to partially-recorded DVD-R discs. It was fine if I finalized the recording immediately afterwards, but if I turned off the player or removed the disc, Id get "No disc" or "Invalid disc" when I put it back in the player... EXACTLY the same problem other Amazon reviewers have reported.
Now, in the past few days, it will not even FORMAT a new, blank disc for recording. It runs and runs, saying its formatting, then after about ten minutes it says, "Invalid disc" and I have yet another coaster. Player still works fine, but the recording feature is completely broken and unusable.
Thumbs down... dont buy it.
On: 2006-03-27
I thought this product worked VERY well for the first several months I owned it. The only problem was that the tuner NEVER worked from day one, but as I used the cable box anyway, and had mainly bought it to transfer old videotapes to DVD, that wasnt a major problem for me, considering the price.
However, after 6-9 months, it began having problems. The first problem was it would take several tries to get it to load partially-recorded DVD-RW discs. It would give the message, "No disc." Then it wouldnt load them at all. Then, it began doing the same to partially-recorded DVD-R discs. It was fine if I finalized the recording immediately afterwards, but if I turned off the player or removed the disc, Id get "No disc" or "Invalid disc" when I put it back in the player... EXACTLY the same problem other Amazon reviewers have reported.
Now, in the past few days, it will not even FORMAT a new, blank disc for recording. It runs and runs, saying its formatting, then after about ten minutes it says, "Invalid disc" and I have yet another coaster. Player still works fine, but the recording feature is completely broken and unusable.
Thumbs down... dont buy it.
On: 2006-02-21
For the price, the features of this model are simply unsurpassed. Have used it frequently for nearly a year with no quality problems, and it does what other models that cost a lot more dont. Its also extremely easy to use - perfect for those who find electronics hard to deal with.
Postive Points:
1) Very easy to use with its Guider
2) Records CDs!!
3) Records both types of DVD media
4) Easily made region free and great PAL/NTSC conversion
5) Quick hook-up of camcorders thru IEEE-1394 with great results
6) Unmatched value for the price
7) Has progressive scan mode
8) Plays DVDs, CDS, SVCD, VCD, MP3s and jpg discs
9) Excellent picture on 1, 2, and 3 hour modes
Negative Points:
1) Tuner does not record in stereo - mono only!
2) Picture quality at 4 or 6 hr mode mediocre.
3) Takes a minute to prep blank media before use
Comments: This unit will record on both +/- media, but it shows a strong preference for +R/RW - a lot of gripes in other reviews stem from that. To record TV in stereo, you must use the line-in from a VCR - that sucks. And contrary to a previous review, it will record for a set time by pushing the record button several times, but the machine doesnt spin down or turn off after it stops recording. Like other brands, the 4-6 hour recording gives mediocre picture, but using a S-VHS cord helps alleviate this.
Overall, given the price it is well worth it. Got it at Costco and they dont sell junk. Would get another one if I needed another DVD Recorder.
On: 2006-01-24
I can record TV programs, or my home movies from my Hi8 and a miniDV camcorders.
Have not experienced any finalization errors or invalid media. Just buy quality name-brand media and you should be fine. Sony and Memorex work well.
I use it far more to play DVD movies than to record. The main reason I wanted the record feature was to save my home movies onto DVD.
On: 2006-01-23
I bought this Lite-On LVW-5005 recorder in OCt 2004 thu Amazon.com. The reason: being able to use the various formats of DVD and CD (DVD+/- RW ,CD +/-RW etc;) This is chinese made and has one of the worst written owners manual, especially pertaining to DVD recording procedures. Does not even mention the quick/full preparation options that pop up on screen.There was repeated malfunction of the close/open tray by remote. After inserting top quality new DVD-RW disc and pressing full preparation the unit gets stuck at99%; after quick preparation when selecting record it states "invalid disc". I was able to record only 3 dvds after more than 100 attempts. When this recoder said invalid disc, the same disc could be successfully recorded on to in another DVD recorder.After going thru the time consuming process of "Quick" as well as "Full" disc preparation in several blank DVDs on multiple occasions one ends up with screen statement of invalid disc. A DVD recorded and played in this recorder was stored in a clean static free environment for 6 months and when I tried to play it-- here we go again! "invalid disc" showed up!.But, I could play it in my pioneer dvd player immediately! Do Not Buy this recorder! By; snrajan
On: 2006-01-10
I bought a LiteOne DVD recorder in November 2005. The day I set it up and tried to use it, it malfunctioned (end of November 2005). LiteOn asked me to send the product back to them, issued an RMA. I shipped it back at my expense ($23.00 via UPS to California)-- As of today, January 9, 2006, I still am waiting to get it or a replacement back. Do not buy a product manufactured by this company unless you dont care about throwing your money away. Their customer service is horrible.
On: 2006-01-10
I tried two LVW 5005s with the same results: sometimes, at random, while recording a DVD, the unit freezes up when I push the "STOP" button. When this happens, I have to turn the unit off. This destroys the chapter I was last recording, but that space on the disk is gone.
Also, the unit developed a problem with simply playing a commercial DVD.
I contacted technical support and upgraded the "firmware" successfully with no change. I will now return the second one to the store.
When reading an online review of anything, be very sensitive to "commercials". At least one of the reviews of this product looks to me like it was planted by the company.
On: 2006-01-10
Ive owned one of these for a year now & it has some serious problems.
After the first 4 months, I would be recording tv shows to a DVD & this would be done partially until the DVD was filled. I would delete the shows from my PVR as they were recorded to the DVD, even though the DVD was not finalized. Then after awhile I found that if I turned off the DVD recorder & back on before the DVD was finalized, the DVD was now considered an Invalid Disk & the disk was basically broken. This happened after 4 months, not right away.
So I started using the DVD recorder to record without turning the DVD recorder off & doing all finalizing after it was done. Eventually this stopped working as well. If I didnt record immediately to DVD at some point it would stop recognizing the disk. Even if I did finalize the disk, take the disk out, turn off the machine & try to play it in the LVW player, it would try to prepare the DVD as if it was blank & stated Invalid Disk, though the disk would play fine in any universal player.
I complained to their Tech Support & they had me ship the unit back to them so they could replace it. Six weeks later, I got an LVW & it played & recorded fine. I could even fill up a DVD & it would still finalize. However, after another 4 months or so, it is having the same problems as it did before. Currently I have to record from the PVR to the DVD recorder at about 4 hours at a time (2 movies per disk basically or 4 1-hour tv series) & then finalize right away, otherwise, it breaks the disk. I cant even leave a blank DVD in it overnight without it ruining it.
Having to deal with these constant problems just to record to DVD is a real hassle & Im entirely frustrated with this unit. Keep in mind that I have cable TV & record a lot to my PVR & thus the LVW receives a good 10+ hours a week of recording to DVD disks. I suppose if I seldom used it, it wouldve lasted longer. But Ive lost confidence in LiteOn & will never buy their products again. If I could, I would give the rating 0 stars.
On: 2006-01-09
I bought a LiteOne DVD recorder in November 2005. The day I set it up and tried to use it, it malfunctioned (end of November 2005). LiteOn asked me to send the product back to them, issued an RMA. I shipped it back at my expense ($23.00 via UPS to California)-- As of today, January 9, 2006, I still am waiting to get it or a replacement back. Do not buy a product manufactured by this company unless you dont care about throwing your money away. Their customer service is horrible.
On: 2006-01-03
I have had a pretty positive experience with this DVD player. I bought it in a rush for $130 plus 10 for the dvds. It was set up and i had it recording in 10 minutes. I got home at 2:20 the movie started at 2:30. so you can guess how long it took for me to get it started. And i even got the beginning. This is very easy to use and i love it. I recorded for 8 hours straight. with the quality about the way of a tape. I only had one problem and it was my fault. I missed one of the plugs and recorded the sound on only one speaker. As for the dvds they worked on every player in my house. They are Memorex dvd-r 8x. They worked well, however i bought the cheap storebrand pack and it only worked on a few of our dvd players. So it might be better if you use good dvds. Would definitely reccomend for the price. THose of you who had issues with sound, it isnt as bad as you make it out to be, i can here a little static but thats only if you had the volume up all the way. Just as a head up, i bought mine as the demo model they had on the shelf for a year.
Revised
Ok so its been about a month, and as much as i hate to say it, my dvd player broke down....It was working great i recorded tons of things and loved it to death. Then it just stopped seeing the discs....Buy this, use it, save your reciept take it back. Oh well now i got $130 in my pocket.
BUYER BEWARE WILL BREAK DOWN SOON
On: 2005-12-26
I have a 5.1 surround sound system and when I hooked this up, there was a low feedback hum which I was unable to eliminate. In addition the volume was much lower. This was present when recording anything from the TV and it WAS picked up by the recording.
On: 2005-12-10
Ive had the unit for two months and used both + and - DVD-Rs. Both formats have worked well. Ive had no failures and the recording is easy using the guide screens. The DVDs were the cheapest off brands I could find.
On: 2005-12-04
We are very pleased with this model. Our first one worked for a day and then died with the hello stuck on the display. I had to take it apart to get my DVD out of the drive. I took it back and exchanged for another one. The second one was fine and it has many improvements over the LVW-5101 model we own and still use. The clock keeps time (the 5101 gained time). The remote is reliable to use (the 5101 was flakey) The recording is reliable (the 5101 would randomly start recording on its own for no reason). The easy guider menu is a dream to use, so simple. When setting up timed events you can still see the picture of whats playing on tv. We found it for 165.00 canadian and I recommend it highly. I must admit the LiteOn was not our first choice because of the quirks the 5101 had. We had tried the Cyberhome and took it back. (see that review as to why). I used Amazon to check out other reviews and I decided to give LiteOn another chance and I am glad I did.
On: 2005-11-06
Im a NOVICE at DVD recording. I was nervous about whether I could figure out how to make DVDs of our old VHS tapes.
The LVW 5005 is so simple to use...I didnt even have to read the manual. Idelighted with it with it...and Amazon had the best price for it anywhere.
On: 2005-11-02
Somewhere around your 100th-200th disc or 5-7 months it wont read blank discs anymore or record on them. This is due to the short lived cheaper lasers they put in them. They get weak over time. Also if you leave the unit on when not using it, even when theres no disc in the machine, the laser stays on. So just by leaving it on, forgetting to shut it off, youre killing the laser by shortening its lifetime. I have 2 of these units, plus an older one they made for the AKAI brand name from the year before, but its almost identical. They all suffer from dimming lasers after a few months or 100-200 discs.
Im an electronics seviceman & a videographer. Lasers do wear out, & cheap ones go dim sooner.
The machine performed great before the laser dimmed.
So youll have to ask yourself if its worth the price to burn only 100-200 discs or only last 5-7 months.
How long your Lite-On machine (ANY MODEL) lasts will depend how much you use it & how long leave it on even when youre not using it.
On: 2005-10-31
I bought the lite-on 5005 eight months ago. It is very easy to operate, and the picture quality is much better than VCR. The only problem I have is it does not recognize blank DVD-RW disc, but it does take DVD +/-R and +RW. The DVD recorded by this recorder can be played on other DVD player that plays DVD+/-R.
On: 2005-10-13
The DVD recording capabilities work fine, setting the timer is simple and you get good quality DVDs. My only complaint is the tv tuner. When I first hooked up the cable all I got was snow on the tv tuner. I went into the setup menu and found I had to adjust each channel manually to get a decent television picture. Fine tuning each of the channels was time consuming and annoying. Its not my cable because my tv and 2 other vcrs get perfect reception by just hooking up the cable. The sound output from the unit is also higher than my other equipment requiring volume adjustment when switching between the tv and dvd recorder. Maybe I just got a mediocre unit. Price and other functions make it a good deal.
On: 2005-09-30
This is my first stand alone DVD recorder and I can find nothing about it that I dislike. It cost little more than a decently rated DVD player so Im pleased. Time shifting TV recording is intuitive. It has played everything Ive loaded into it except a dirty DVD from the library (cleaning the DVD cured that problem). Ive been using Lite-On computer hardware for years and the Lite-On name attracted me. They make good computer components and this seems to be just an extension of that. Lite-On is certainly NOT an "off-brand" although I didnt know they made consumer electronics.
On: 2005-09-29
I paid $120 for this dvd recorder
Ive been able to transfer tapes from VHS to DVD; VCD to DVD; TV to DVD and the only problem I had was finding the finalize button (need to go into special menu then select finalize) it could be made more clear in the instructions but is really very simple after you do it once
You should note the recommended dvd list it does make a difference - most notably when having trouble reading a disk
I dont see how you can go wrong with what you spend and what you get. I buy blank dvds for $0.50 each. and have already recorded roughly 40 DVDs on it. highly recommended if you have a use for it.
downsides - fan noise, ambient light, gets stuck in loop when not able to read a disk well (hence the better disks recommended)I powered off and back on and then was able to get the disk out and threw it away.
On: 2005-09-28
This is an excellent dvd recorde, and the discounts sometimes given on it make it an excellent value. Obviously its most telling feature is versatility. it can record DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, or audio cds. The on screen menues are generally easy to understand, and the owners manual is well written. it is a good buy to people who may be new to dvd recording. i use it mainly to transfer vhs tape content to dvd, but it has other uses as well. It has an on screen display that lets you know how much time you are using at each recording session, and how much time is left to record on the dvd when you started the session. The dvds recorded on it are compatible with most dvd players. and you can write in a title for each recording session with easy to understand built in on screen displays. There are only two drawbacks to the unit. first of all take good care of the remote, because most of the functions related to recording are in the remote. But this is also true with most vcrs as well. The other thing is to be sure to leave the dvd drawer closed when not in use. i didnt do that, and banged my shin hard against the dvd drawer. This affected the units performance. But i was so pleasaed with the unit that i bought two more and make sure i dont leave the drawer open when not in use. Finally the on screen menu, from which you can pick which session to watch transfers well to other dvd players after the disc is finalized. Overall, this is an excellent product.
On: 2005-09-27
Unit is very easy to use and records flawlessly so far. It may not have all the bells and whistles of the expensive units, but it meets my needs perfectly. I wanted to be able to record reliably to archive my favorite sci-fi series and this does a great job with a good interface at a great price!
On: 2005-09-14
This Liteon unit only records in the VR mode. That means that sharing discs with a standard player that doesnt support the VR mode (like most all players) can NOT play the DVDs produced by this recorder. Aside from that it works great! Very good picture, even at the slow speeds. Controls are easy to work. I called Liteon and the played stupid on why my DVDs I made would not play anywhere else and didnt mention the VR mode issue. Besides not being able to share DVDs with others I was worried that if I transfer my VCR tapes to DVD using this unit and down the road others dont support the VR mode this all my DVDs will be wasted. Buyer beware on this one...
On: 2005-08-14
I got a new HD TV and the cable Personal Video Recorder that stores a bunch of movies that you can copy to a vcr or dvd recorder...and thats what I got the LiteOn 5005 for. It is a great product - easy to use too. I had a bit of a problem understanding how to set up the wires for this unit to copy from the cable box and called LiteOns tech service - he spent an hour with me on the phone, helped me set it up, and even waited while I tried to copy something to dvd. Just the greatest! Ive not made a dvd that wont play on a dvd player - grab this recorder - why pay more and get less. Liteon even updates this unit by putting software updates on their website - I dont know of any other machine that can do this.
On: 2005-08-10
Before I gush I will list the few complaints I can come up with. These units run hot and have a cooling fan on the back which makes a faint high-pitched whining sound at about the same frequency as the noise TV tubes make (so if you cant hear them you wont hear this). I would also have liked to have Angle, Subtitle, & Zoom functions on the remote control but, as I hardly use them, I dont really miss them. Otherwise this unit is an absolute gem. The price is right as is the price of their discs - you simply buy whichever type is on special as they accept all formats. The inbuilt tuner, timer recording mode, choice of all DVD, VCD, & CD formats, camcorder interface, photo slideshow mode, coupled with the choice of recording lengths and the ease of use makes this unit a logical, far superior, and very affordable successor to the VCR as well as rendering redundant slide projectors, CD & MP3 players, and audio cassette recorders. Another advantage is LiteOns regular firmware upgrades (which you download from their website, burn onto a CD and insert into the unit) which not only fix any bugs that may develop but also add new features & capabilities. This unit has also generated great interest on the internet with much advice and firmware tweaks available to adjust the unit to better suit your regional viewing habits. I have had no problems with my 5005 at all and I love it. It is far easier to use than any VCR but do remember to finalize your discs when using DVD-R, DVD+R, & CDR formats. I thoroughly recommend this unit to all. Buy it, check LiteOns website and others for firmware updates/tweaks, and transfer all of you videocassettes over to DVD and dont look back.
On: 2005-08-08
I have owned two of these for six and seven months respectively. Im not a tech geek. I went through a panasonic and sony DVD recorder sequentially and was not happy with the performance. The liteon plays everything I put in it. Especially those that I have recorded from Dish or on the computer. And contrary to the previous machines - I have yet to get a digital freeze (I know - Im lucky). We use these machines every day and are delighted in them. I give it my top rating which is four stars because nothing is perfect - I just havent found the imperfection yet in Liteon.
On: 2005-08-03
I decided to buy LVW-5005 since my Go-video R6740 died after providing great service to me. Feature and review of LVW-5005 attracted me. I bought one and had problem after little bit of use. I returned and bought second one, it had severe problems. I thought there are many people who say this is great, let me try one more time. I did and it works great so far!!! I have been doing test recording for a week without any issues. Quality is excellent too. It seems you have to be lucky to get hands on good piece... it is a lottery worth winning for the price you pay. Hope this helps. I have put 3 stars since I had to try 3 times to get to good piece of product.
On: 2005-07-28
I purchases the LVW-5005 DVD/CD Recorder a few months ago, after doing as much reading up on it and other brands of DVD Recorders. I have nothing but praise for this product.
There is really nothing that this machine cant do. I make DVDS, SVCD, VCD, Audio CDs, you name it. Now I did have a few questions about firmware that the manual suggests to have installed, but after talking with some of the customer support people and getting info on how to configure the system to work with my satellite and VHS/DVD player, Ive found it to be able to do EVERYTHING that I had hoped and More. I did not have to download ANY firmware and that made me very happy, because I didnt feel comfortable doing that and as I found out, it is ONLY necessary if you have function problems with the unit.
All I can tell you is BUY this machine. I can assure you that if you take the time to do the testing on various blank audio and video discs and configure the system to record at the speeds you want, you will not be disappointed.
Just a note, on a standard 4.7GB DVD, you should ALWAYS record at the 4 hour speed and never at the 6 hour speed, if you want a clear picture. I record cartoons, TV shows, DVDS, tennis matches and the playback is just as clear as my satellite signal.
I LOVE my LVW-5005!!!!! I will NEVER buy another VHS tape as long as I live.
On: 2005-07-28
I bought the unit because it had pretty good reviews. Unfortunately once I received it I was very disappointed because everything has to be done their way. It is impossible to record a DVD without a menu. How stupid is that!!! I just want to create a DVD with one title and one chapter that automatically starts playing when you put it in a DVD player. Unfortunately that is impossible. I returned the unit since in my opinion the lack of options is unacceptable.
On: 2005-07-19
From the looks of things there is a 50/50 chance of getting a unit that actually works properly. Unfortunately I was not one of them. I actually purchased a LVW-5007 with the hopes that some of the bugs from the 5005 were worked out. I was wrong! I should have known from the minute that the date was NOT Y2K compliant that this was bad news. It took 30 minutes and "second level support" to figure out that if you input 1905 and enter it becomes 2005. They couldnt have put that one sentence in their too-vauge-to-understand-anyway manual? The TV Guide part is a great idea in theory but in reality you have to let it "download" from your cable line for at least 24 hours with the unit off with no interruptions. That is easier said than done when you have two teenagers wanting to watch DVDs 24/7. AND if you have several choices of what your cable companys ID # is, you run the risk of the channels being wrong. Plus if you are not subscribed to HBO, etc. they still show up scrambled and they would not delete at all.
Recording to DVD was relatively easy--find your program and hit record. But several times the recorder would show that I had the timer set and I never HAD anything set to record.
It also was very picky about what type of DVD it would play. New ones--no problem. Rentals some would work, others would completely lock the unit up to the point where you had to unplug the whole thing, and then plug it back in, just to get the disk out.
Other problems--the buttons on the remote would stick, very slow in shutting down, when fast forwarding thru commercials it would skip to the next title and you would miss a whole scene.
I never got to the point where I was copying video tapes to DVD. I was too frustrated at this point to even try! Sorry Lite-On mine went back after 3 weeks. My new Panasonic was up and running in 5 minutes!
On: 2005-07-16
finally converting my digit 8 video to dvd is not a pain. I dont want to spend tons of time to edit movie. All I need is those basic features. I dont have compatibility problem. The finalized disc works well on all of my dvd-roms. My panasonic dvd player is broken several month ago. I dont know whether it works on other dvd player. But it works on my computer very well.
Recording is a fun.
On: 2005-07-16
This is the perfect DVD recorder if:
1. you are a genius at DVD recording theory and,
2. you enjoy reading an incomplete and incomprehensible manual and,
3. you do not want to watch your recordings on any other DVD player and,
4. you enjoy trying numerous brands and formats of recording media and,
5. you enjoy a help website that is written in English and then links to German and,
6. you enjoy reading broken English interpreted from Chineese and,
7. you enjoy utter frustation and,
8. you are willing to pay someone else to download and install the firmware and product updates and,
9. you want to end up with a useless piece of junk.
(From everything that came in the box, there are 2 useful items; the AV and antenna cables, and these cost $170.)
If not, then spend another $50-100 and get a quailty recorder from a local source where you can get assistance or where it can be easily returned.
Many of the positive reviews did not indicate that the recorded media was tried on other players. Pay attention to all the negative reviews and make a wise choice.
by: gadgester On: 2005-07-08
Lite-Ons AllWrite LVW-5005 DVD/CD Recorder looks great on paper: its 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.
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.
But, alas, what looks good on paper fails to translate into practical useability.
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 doesnt do anything.)
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, youll need to finalize the disc later on, after youve done all your recording on the disc.
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.
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 familys 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 its old, but my other players have no problem with DVD+Rs I burned on my PC.
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, Im pretty sick of this user unfriendliness and I dont know if I want to keep this player.
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 youll get very frustrated by the compatibility problem and the agonizingly slow speeds and occasional freezes.
BTW, a survey of reviews of Taiwan-based Lite-Ons computer optical drive products reveals that they have a very bad reputation for quality. The LVW-5005 is assembled in China (no surprise here).
On: 2005-06-18
My requirements for were basic and the 5005 fits that bill pretty well.
I need to transfer a Digital-8 home movies to dvd and record my kids favorite TV shows from our Tivo for traveling. For this I only needed to burn DVD-Rs even though the 5005 will burn all dvd media types which may come in handy in the future.
Ive used it to burn about 6 dvds from both the Tivo and my camcorder and it has worked fine. The unit is easy to hook up and the recording interface is simple. If youve not used a cd-burner youll have to get used to the notion of finalizing discs. Additionally nice is that the front-panel display provides useful information; input source, time recorded so far, and percentage finalized.
Various reviewers have called Liteons quality into question. Ive not installed any firmware updates, used only it in the most basic modes, and had no problems. Ive no plans to use this for time shifting TV shows as I already have a Tivo. I did choose to buy this from a local retailer for their great return policy, "just in case".
The recorder is really basic. Start your video source playing and start the Liteon recording. You stop the Liteon when your source stops playing. All manual; nothing automatic. I wish I could set it to record from my video source for a set period of time and then stop. Most VCRs didnt really offer this functionality either.
The digital video hookup is equally basic and not quite as smart as hooking the camera up to my computer. You still have to hit play on the camera although a blank section in the video tape does appear to pause the dvd recorder so that you dont have gaps in your dvd.
The 5005 offers no editing or chapter titling what-so-ever. You can set it to create a chapter mark every X minutes but the dvds it creates dont offer any kind of scene selection like the dvds that you buy. I wish it had the ability to at least title the individual chapters that you see from the dvd menu but I can live without that.
All in all Im happy. I wanted a basic recorder soley for the purpose of transferring various video to DVD and I got that for a really inexpensive price.
On: 2005-06-05
this dvd recorder is very easy to use.I took it right out of the box and hooked it right up and recorded 2 movies in 1 night.Then after a month it stopped reading any of my dvds.It would read my cdrs.I called tech support and was told I would be given a brand new unit.I sent mine back and got a refurbish unit.I called them and said I wanted a brand new unit.They argued with me and the one guy actually hung up on me.You cant get anyone to speak right.I could hardly understand them.They treated me really bad on the phone.After argueing with them for 2 hours they finally agreed to send me a brand new unit.That one lasted 3 months and quit working on me.The exact same thing.it stopped reading my dvds and stopped recording my dvds.
If you want a good dvd recorder stick with a panasonic or a good old Sony.Worth the extra money.
On: 2005-05-28
Literally after we used the DVD recorder for five days, the machine inexplicably broke. We placed one of our DVD movies into it, but the device could not advance past "Hello." Trying to get the recorder to eject the DVD also proved futile. It remained lodged in the machine. I called customer service asking for the authorized repair center in order to retrieve the DVD only to discover that no such repair center existed within my state. In the end, we had to send the recorder back to the retailer and our DVD movie was lost forever. There was no compensation for our DVD. My suggestion to the consumers of this device: if you insert one of your favorite movies into the machine, be prepared to never see it again.
On: 2005-05-27
5/26/05 I have owned this machine for about a week now.
Most of the other reviews I have read here I would agree with.
The main gripes on my list are the noise the machine makes (just dont sit to close), and the limited recording time slots. There are only 5 recording slots to use when recording your favorite tv shows. Also there is no way to tell the machine that you want to record a program just m-f and not sat and sun without using up all 5 time slots. My vcr had at least 8 recording time slots and the ability to easily tell the machine which days were to be recorded. The price I paid was similar to the current sale price offered here. Also note that if you record shows back to back, that the machine needs atleast 10-15 seconds to wrap up a recording before the next recording can begin. So if I want to record a tv show at 6:30-7:00 and then 7:00-7:30, I set the first recording to end at 6:59 to give the machine time to close out the first recording and set up for the next recording.
by: a_c_ On: 2005-05-27
but if you want a quality recording to put in your media library, save your money for another machine.
Like another reviewer, I found the audio synchronization to be off. While I use this to record shows for my kids, it is annoying for me to see the voice not matching the mouth movements! (No complaints from them - yet!)
I also do not like the timer feature on this unit. While you can set it to record easily, they do not give you a "weekday" option. So, if youre like me and recording shows that only are on Monday thru Friday, you have to go and delete the weekend recordings or remember to set them so that they could be overwritten.
When using DVD-R discs, I noticed its important to allow the machine to "prepare" the disc before shutting it off for timed recordings. If not, you get an error message. I dont seem to have this problem with DVD+R.
We had to use a RF modulator to connect this to our TV, as the TV didnt have the inputs needed. We had problems at first, but they were resolved when we put the cable directly into the recorder, then from there to the modulator. Going cable to modulator to recorder kept us from recording.
We bought ours at Costco, so we didnt need an extended service warranty.
Hope this helps someone.
On: 2005-05-27
Bought this unit and a few months later the drive stopped reading any DVD media. It had no problems reading CD media though. A call to liteon tech support resulted in a no questions asked RMA for a replacement. A new unit was returned a week later and everything works great.
On: 2005-05-26
I have had two units and but tuners look grainy and washed out. The unit is easy to setup and very easy to record with but use and external tuner or great for recording from camcorders.
On: 2005-05-18
My beef is that this unit does not support Closed Captioning. Even when you view a TV, Satellite, or VCR signal through this unit, you will no longer see Closed Captioning. This may not be a problem for some.
Since I rely a great deal on Captioning, using this DVD Recorder to convert my 600+ VCR tapes (with captioning) to DVD is not as appealing as I first thought.
That aside, the recorder is easy to use. It has a "Quick Guide" button on the remote that will walk you through all parameters needed to Record, Play or Erase a DVD.
You may set DEFAULT settings for the recorder/player and when you press the RECORD button on the remote, the DVD begins to record almost instantly (maybe a 3 second delay at the most).
I have recorded from TV, Satellite and VCR to DVD +/-R, +/-RW formats. After recording, I was able to play them on my AOPEN DVD burner on my PC so at least these two brands are compatible.
The unit works like a VCR when using TIMER recording. You select the time on/off, DVD record speed (quality) from 1-6 hours. The unit begins on time and shuts off after recording. It does delay a minute or two if you are recording two shows (sources) back to back (off at 7pm and begin at 7pm). The recorder must prepare the first recording for viewing with menus so there is about a 1.5 to 2 minute delay before the second recording starts.
I have used this machine mostly for RW type re-recording and it does a great job. I would even say that the recording is often a better picture than the original when recording from VCR tapes too.
Except for very small buttons on the remote, with practice you should be able to operate this recorder/player with no trouble.
I am pretty sure that the TV tuner of this unit is mono. You could use the stereo signal from another component (like a VCR tuner) so if you desire a stereo recording, be sure to use a three wire video audio cable (L&R stereo channels and 1 video input) from another component vs. just a single 75 ohm cable connection or antenna input.
On: 2005-05-16
Bought in April, 2005...This recorder works just as it should, I have recorded several movies and T.V. programs without a hitch. Very easy to use controls.
BUT...the resulting picture quality is not great. I hooked up directly from satellite to make sure it was the recorder and it was. It puts these rust colored splotches on any dark backgrounds.Actors with dark hair appear to have rust colored streaks in their hair. Its not bad enough that it is obvious to the casual viewer, but it is always there and i would have to say, i would choose another brand if i could.
On: 2005-05-01
I bought this item and it had recording problems from the start. Negotiations with LiteOn support was most unsatisfactory (I think they have difficulty with the English language)but, eventually, they agreed I had a defective product and exchanged it. The new one worked well for a time but now it is giving problems in recording. Again, I have difficulties with their support. They do not answer the questions I ask. It seems they have little interest in supporting the customer. My ultimate belief is that they have marketed a product which has not been developed fully and is fraught with problems and the consumer pays for this. I would advise everyone not to buy LiteOn products.
On: 2005-04-26
I received my Liteon unit on Friday. On Saturday morning I went online to the Liteon website and downloaded the firmware upgrade. I modified it to allow 3 hour recording, region free and MORE!! I installed the firmware upgrade and it worked great. It all took less than 45 minutes to complete. I do however record most of my VCR tapes at 4 hours to allow 2 per DVD. In the last week and a half I have recorded about half of my VCR collection to DVDs. I have used DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs and CD-Rs and all have worked without any problem. I would highly recommend this unit to anyone who has a large VCR collection to convert.
On: 2005-04-14
This is the dream machine I was looking for! It can record on all DVD and CD media and the recording quality is very good even for the 6 Hrs SLP recording.
I use this device to convert all my old songs collections from audio cassettes to audio CDs too.
Its the best bang for the buck!
On: 2005-03-25
Before go to my experience, I want to say I will not judge a product based on where it is produced, I only care the quality.
I just bought one yesterday, tested most functions and it worked great.
Setup is easy. I set it up within 5 minutes without referring to the manual - connect it to satellite receiver, cable TV, VCR, home audio and TV. Power on and it works.
Recording is easy. I tested Memorex DVD+RW and TDK DVD+R, both works fine. Also tested schedule recording, works fine.
I played the recorded discs in my two DVD players, 2 laptops, and two desktops without any problems.
Tested all the recording mode, from TV, from Satellite, from VCR (RCA input), and Camcorder(iLink in). All pretty good.
Recoded qualities are impressive. HQ ans SP are pretty good, EP is OK since it is CIF size. SLP is MPEG-1 in CIF, can not expect more from it.
I read the recorded disks to PC and use DVD authoring tools to add better title and cut of not wanted contents, no problem.
Need to verify weekly recording capability, since someone in this forum mentioned it only record 1st and 3rd programs.
One failure so far, I guess it is my fault - I formated DVD+RW using Nero, and can not be recognized by the recorder.
So far so good. It may has some flaws, but none product are perfect. We need to be more smarter to make use of it. In my opinion, it is much better than those required only some strange disks I never heard before. I do not want to limit myself to use only some brands of disks even the recorder have 10 stars rating.
From the reviews, most problems will come out in weeks. I will keep on testing it to see what happens and post my result here.
On: 2005-03-22
this was my first attempt at dvd recording. It took all of 25 minutes to set up and record.So far only used tdk +rw as no finalizing is needed. So far everything works as it is supposed to,and is super easy.I am by no means tech savy,if you a looking
for a cheap stand alone I would reccomend this model.The abiblity to record different media is a great plus! I have now burned over 55 hours of home movies,t.v. shows using +r, -r ,
and vcd.This machine is easy!I cannot believe how great it is,noise does not seem to be a problem for me, nor ,finalizing
the guider feature on the remote makes it simple. Only flaw would be the editing feature,but for the money and my needs this again is not a drawback.I have been running this almost non-stop for over a week and have not encountered any problems.
If you want to jump in the dvd recording market this is a great place to start!!So far it has played every and anything.All the finished dvds have played on my cheap Apex player with no problems and likewise on the lite-on. I have gone back to the manual numerous times I have found it easy to read and understand,the remote is simple and front panel buttons are helpful,all in all a great product.
On: 2005-03-21
Im starting to see two problems after two weeks of owning this unit. Ive updated the filmware so it cant be that. The problems Im experiencing is the picture jitter and audio synchronization. The picture jitter isnt too annoying since Im recording old VHS tapes that isnt in good quality anyway, but I dont think I can tolerate the audio issue. The voices play before the screen actually shows the person(s) who are talking. I cant pinpoint what part of the disc it started, but I can say it started towards the end of the disc like around 5 hours of use. Just a few days ago I began moving my all my VHS to DVD so I have recorded a full 6 hour VHS onto the disc with no problem. Yesterday however is when it started with the audio issue when I did my second VHS. This isnt a bad recorder, but I need something that can run for many hours without problems.
On: 2005-03-03
When I received my LVW-5005 from the UPS guy I was a little concerned about its condition. It seems the Office Depot who I purchased it from (Via Amazon)wasnt too concerned about throwing the normal box inside a box 2X its size for shipment with no cushining... Long story short. From out of the box and hooking up to the TV was maybe 5 minutes. The initial setup was easier than I had read on other reviews about DVD recorders. It was just like operating a VCR.
Ive only made 3 recordings so far but I havnt had any problems from either...Im keeping my fingers crossed that I wont have any of the problems some of the others writing reviews have had.
I have noticed there is a noticable color difference (slightly darker) when the show is running through the recorder to the TV screen..BUT during playback from another machine the color was normal...maybe its my cables,connection or TV?
Ive used GQ brand DVD-R discs not on the "list" and they work fine. I have a DVD player at my office that Ive had since 99 and it plays just fine on it too.
I was prepared to shell out the $$ for a Sony but I could not believe that thier own DVDR machines didnt have firewire (iLink)..the one feature I wanted was that and the ability to Record + and - R media, so the Lite On was my next choice.
Since I only ever wanted to record TV Shows (history, Discover programs etc.)and back up old VHS. I never had a need for a TOP END machine. The LiteOn in my opinion is perfect for that.. as long as its working Ill be a happy camper.
Hope my investment lasts a long time because right now Ill stand behind the product. I only wish I had picked it up for $149 instead of $179.
After it was done, I ripped it with Disk Decrypter and Recoded with NERO to have a better looking Menu.
Pros: Cheap Cost even at $200
Super Easy to setup and Use
Nice Picture quality (recorded to disc)
Accepts Media not on the "approved list"
Records/Plays +/- R/RW media
2/4/6 hr record times
CONS: Image output to TV is slightly darker
A little noisy (just dont sit too close)
Takes approx 30 Sec to load Disc so plan ahead
Menu is very Plain
hope it helped...B. Bussey
On: 2005-02-25
Well lets see, you go out and buy a DVD recorder that does everything for dirt cheap,...(bought mine at Costco for $159) So what should I expect from it? The first one, the image centering was off, (the image was way off center on the screen).. so I returned it! The second one, had severely pale color saturation... returned it as well. The third one, (which had the much needed 3 hour record mode.. the others did not have this!) worked just fine until one day I noticed that it started to record the picture out of sync with the sound! Called and wrote tech. support... they sent me new drivers and firmware upgrade discs, (downloading it was a joke).
Installation was smooth and easy... Prest-O Change-O... the lip-sync problem was all fixed! However... the video now looked like garbage and the machine would kick into MacroVision protection for no reason, especially when I would try to record my home videos of my kid!
Back to the store once again ...Bye Bye Lite-Off!
So thats my story.... what did you expect for $159.00...
On: 2005-02-12
We are very pleased with our LVW-5005.
Besides recording programs off cable TV, I am also finally transferring all our video camera digital tapes onto DVD+RWs for viewing and eventually editing on a PC. Very nice.
On: 2005-01-18
I bought my LVW5005 during 2004 Thanksgiving Sale, just finished exploring its features since Late Dec. I am still amazed how easy it is to operate & set Timer to record my favorite TV shows.
I called the tech support line once, and was connected with a live support in 30 seconds. The support line is listed wrong, should be 1-888-854-8366 (8liteon) NOT (4liteone)
Being a risk taker, I used Memorex DVD+RW & No Brand DVD+R that were not on the recommanded list and they worked just fine. And I also use cheap CD-R/RW to record hour long TV show with no problem. Finalized DVDRs play perfectly!
However, a finished DVD+RW is NOT ALWAYS recognized by other DVD players. (DVD+RW need not be finalized) And the VCD is also not recognized other than the LVW5005.
This model supports both PAL & NTSC, but unfortunately, most PAL is Region 6 and is not supported by this Region 1 only player.
Currently, I have it hooked up to a VCR, a JVC DVD player and a home theater system.
Overall, I am very pleased with this DVD recorder,it does much more than I expected. I cant wait to transfer all my VHS to DVDs for more shelf space.
On: 2005-01-17
My unit did the same as his. It worked for a few weeks and now it is an expensive DVD player. Doesnt record or even read the blank discs anymore.
Stay away from this unit. It is a piece of junk.
On: 2005-01-13
Yes, the price sounds like a steal, but upon living with this machine, I am sorry I bought it, even at the low price. I wont repeat some of the other criticisms already written about, but I did find some drawbacks which I couldnt live with. I have a LOT of irreplaceable DVDs made on my Pioneer DVD recorder, which I no longer have. The Lite-On 5005 will not play ANY of them, regardless of the make of the disks. Their tech support people were very nice, as mentioned elsewhere, but each time directed me to do different things, none of which worked. Second, the directions manual and terms used in it, are unique to Lite-On, and take a lot of figuring out, which was difficult. Third, when putting my satellite TV signal into this recorder, for some reason the recorder "saps" the color --- the colors are very pale, just this side of black and white. The recordings I made on the Lite-On were pale in color also. When I turn off the DVD recorder, the colors in the signal are bright and normal. Unless you dont care that much about the quality of your recordings, put your money toward a higher-end product.
On: 2005-01-10
I cant recall the last time I was this delighted with a consumer electronic product! This DVD recorder has it all: record to any format (including audio CDs, video CDs, SVCD, and all flavors of DVD (+-R and +-RW)), optical digital sound out, component video out, progressive video. But the delight really kicks in when examining what else is here that isnt obvious from just looking at the box: a beautifully laid-out remote control, terrifically simple and thoughtful software ("EasyGuider") run via straightforward buttons on the remote, a very nice setup menu, and even upgradable firmware should that ever be needed. The EasyGuider software makes it easy to copy vinyl records to CD, or TV programs to DVD or CD, with audio cuts or video chapters, with step-by-step visual instructions, with the "live" picture always shown on the side. Very cool, very friendly. Of course, the factor that pushes the LVW-5005 into the category of "astonishing" is the very low price for this kind of capability.
On: 2005-01-04
I just had my third LVW 5005 fail. The LVW works great for anywhere from 1 to 5 weeks. Then it gradually turns into a piece of junk. I have only used Lite-on recommended media (RitekG04). But sooner or later the recorder will stop reading disks that it burns. You may record something by setting the timer, after its done recording the unit turns off. When you turn it back on the unit cant read the disk it just burned. This failure starts out randomly, but quickly gets to a 100% failure rate. Eventually it wont even recognise blank disks. Tech Support is stumped as to what causes this. So they tell me to send it in and they send me a new one. But they have eached failed also. All in the same way. I cant believe that I had the only three units made that fail this way. The LVW 5005 has turned out to be a very expensive lesson in not buying Lite-on products.
On: 2004-12-27
Ive now recieved 3 different 5005s from Amazon. Each one has had a defect. Unit 1 was unable to record to ANY disk, even the one included with the unit. Unit 2 would not record to DVD-RW disks, again, not even the one included with the unit. I also bought several on their "apprved" disk list. No go. Unit 3 seemed to work perfectly! Now I see that the TV tuner does not work (I hadnt set it up before as I am not really using it to record off air)! Each time, Lite-on Tech support was great - "Just return it to the store where you bought it". Thanks alot. I dont see how I can get 3 bad units, unless thier quality control is non existant. Too bad, as this is the only unit Ive found that has all the specs I require: all format recordng including audio formats. Avoid this unit if you can, otherwse buy locally so you exchange more easily. When it works though, it does what its supposed to do.
On: 2004-12-23
It records to all formats DVD-R DVD-RW DVD+R DVD+RW
Problem is it only records in the newer DVD VR mode!
DVD VR mode allows for easy editing (data mode),
but will have compatibility issues with older players!
Will not record in DVD Video mode!
DVD Video mode is the standard dvd format (video mode).
Most other dvd recorders only record to either the + or -
media only, but they can record in either the DVD VR mode
or DVD Video mode!
Note: Finalizing a dvd does not convert a DVD VR mode
to the DVD Video mode.
Other issue is, it has a tv tuner, but it does not record
in stereo. I can not believe they would put a mono tuner in
this unit, maybe I have a defect?
I have emailed tech support six days ago, but no response!
On: 2004-12-21
Ok, so you want to record from TV, but the idea of recording to VHS tape just makes you feel "so 80s"? Come on, this is the 21st century, it is time to upgrade to burning your own DVDs.
I purchased another brand of dvd recorder before this one. It worked for about a week, then died. I was so lucky! When I took it back I decided to purchase a different brand, I did some searching and found the LVW-5005 to be a better alternative.
When I received the LVW-5005, I found the set-up to be painless. It was much like setting up a VCR for the first time. If your VCR clock is not perpetually blinking, you should do fine.
I set up the recorder without reading the manual, I know you arent supposed to do that, but didnt have any problem getting it up and going. I did read the manual and would suggest that you also read through it. There are a lot of features that are available that are not readily appearant.
The LVW-5005 records on both of the predominant types of blank DVD media (+R and -R). It also has the ability to record onto DVD+RW and DVD-RW, which can save you money if you like to watch something, then record over it. You will also have the ability to record onto blank CD media in the VCD (Video CD) or SVCD (Super Video CD) format. The VCD format is not bad for recording a 1 hour program from Television, but the quality is not very good. The SVCD format has a better quality, but if your program is much over 30 minutes you will not be able to get it all on one disc.
The remote control is relatively easy to use, it has about half the buttons of the remote for the previous brand of DVD recorder I had.
To record programs from television the DVD recorder walks you through the process with built in wizards similar to the wizards built into Windows. Alternatively you can just "push the record button" to start it recording. Pushing the record button repeatedly starts timed record with lengths in 30 minute increments. You can also set up timers to automatically record shows, just like you did that old VCR.
I guess the biggest test of someones satisfaction with a product is the question of "Would you buy it again?". My answer to that would be (without reservation) Yes!
On: 2004-12-18
I purchased this DVD recorder in July when my old VCR finally died and after reading good reviews in a electronics magazine. I bought it from an online retailer. The first one I received did not work AT ALL. After spending time on the phone with the technical support folks, they told me to ship it back and take advantage of the 30 day warranty. Major hassle but I had to do it. I received the second one in August and it worked great...until November when suddenly it would not do anything except ask me to insert a CD and give me an error message. Of course it is no longer possible to get a replacement from the retailer, so now I have to deal with the manufacturer. I spoke with a very nice guy in their technical support area who told me that they would send me a CD with some software that might correct the problem. Two days later I got an email from them telling me to send them my remote and a prepaid envelope big enough to mail a CD in it. So, basically, they wont even send me a lousy CD and plastic remote without me paying for it. For crying out loud - I just got my 200th unsolicited CD from AOL yesterday - how much more is this piece of junk going to cost me? Anyway - stay away from this thing.
On: 2004-12-09
LVW 5005 is easy to setup/use and has very good recording quality. I have been using it over a week primarily to backup my DV tapes to DVDs using the FireWire connection. So far I successfully transferred 10 tapes without much hassle. I have been using TDK DVD+R 4X. Note that there is a recommended list of writable DVDs for this product - you cannot use any cheap variety you find in the store. Once it corrupted a DVD+R after I tried to pause recording several times -- but largely I have been successful with pausing while recording to skip unwanted parts of my tapes. Also, I could play all the DVDs it wrote on my PC. However, there was one quirk - I had to change the name of the default title before I could play any DVD+RW on my PC.
I did my online research before buying it. You can download the manual and have a look at it. Also there are many reviews online and a separate online forum to discuss issues concerning 5005. You can also upgrade the firmware that controls the device easily.
Note that you cannot connect 5005 to a computer. If you edit a movie on a computer, you have to transfer it to a DV tape before burning a DVD with it. Also, the support for editing is minimal - you can change the name of the title.
Even after so many updates, the firmware of the device still seems to have some bugs. I updated the firmware to the latest version as soon as I got my unit. However, sometimes,it did not recognize my FireWire input if I connect the camcorder before I started the easy guider (the interface for recording). However, oddly enough, if I connect the cable half-way through the easy guider menu, it did fine. Therefore, sometimes, you should have some patience to try out different things. May be a later firmware version will fix those problems. Anyway, I am happy with it - its worth the money.
On: 2004-12-03
I tried the LiteOn LVM 5005 DVD recorder last night. It played DVD, VCD, CD, MP3, etc. I recorded video from cable TV and from VHS tapes. I could save the output in either DVD or VCD formats. No problem. I also played a video clip (in RMVB format) from my PC and use my TV card to output to the DVD recorder. It recorded the video in VCD format. No problem.
The machine is pretty solid. The silver case makes it very cyber look. The interface is OK, although it is a little bit confusing. You must read the manual to learn how to use. But once you understand it, it is quite easy to use. The picture quality is very good. The 2-hour recording is DVD-like quality. The 6-hour recording is VHS-like quality. It has a timer and it works just like the VCR. You can set your recording program schedule and it does the job nicely.
It is not too noisy. Many playbck functions are not on the remote control. Instead, you can to press the "Navi" (Navigation) button to access them on-screen.
I give 9.5/10 for this machine.
On: 2004-12-02
I tried the LiteOn LVM 5005 DVD recorder last night. It played DVD, VCD, CD, MP3, etc. I recorded video from cable TV and from VHS tapes. I could save the output in either DVD or VCD formats. No problem. I also played a video clip (in RMVB format) from my PC and use my TV card to output to the DVD recorder. It recorded the video in VCD format. No problem.
The machine is pretty solid. The silver case makes it very cyber look. The interface is OK, although it is a little bit confusing. You must read the manual to learn how to use. But once you understand it, it is quite easy to use. The picture quality is very good. The 2-hour recording is DVD-like quality. The 6-hour recording is VHS-like quality. It has a timer and it works just like the VCR. You can set your recording program schedule and it does the job nicely.
It is not too noisy. Many playbck functions are not on the remote control. Instead, you can to press the "Navi" (Navigation) button to access them on-screen.
I give 9.5/10 for this machine.
On: 2004-12-01
I scored my machine at K-Marts day after Thanksgiving sale (of all places) at a smoking $149.99 price point!
Ive owned the Panasonic DMR-E55S and the Philips DVDR75 before and returned them both. Compared to those two models, the Lite-On has a totally easy "Guider" menu that hand holds you through the basics of DVD recording. As another reviewer has noted though, the Guider menu series really should have included a "titling" step prior to disc "finalization". Titling is one of my gripes with this unit - only eight characters?!?! Was this software written in DOS? Anyway, I mostly skip that step now since I cannot keep producing eight character crypto titles on the fly for all the movie recordings I download from my satellite receivers hard drive - my movie collection is bursting at the seams! Plus the stuff Im starting to transfer from my old VHS collection that never airs.
My second gripe with this unit is that I cannot manually mark chapters. The software permits auto chaptering at something like 5, 10 15, etc minute intervals, but there are occassions where Id prefer that control.
So far, Ive had no media issues. It works on everything Ive thrown at it like a charm - even the "el cheapo" Great Quality (!) brand DVD-Rs from Frys Electronics - another smoking deal at 29 cents a piece.
If youve got satellite or digital cable, dont forget that this unit also burns CD-Rs and you can also rack up quite an audio collection from your digital music stations! Im copying six hours at a time off of the Sirius channels that I get through Dish Network onto a DVD, parsing out the tracks with Microsoft Media Plus, then compiling a massive audio collection (albeit after having manually keyed artist and title info).
Overall, this machine is a tremendous value. Ive had a Lite-On 52x CD burner in my PC for over two years now and have found them to be a reputable company with quality products.
On: 2004-12-01
I am suprise at the number of complaints concerning this unit. My LVW-5005 does just what I wanted it to do and more. Ive been able to start backing up my old VHS tapes and it has replaced my VCR recorder. I use mine each and every day and it has not given me any problems when it comes to recording or playing any of my dvds. In fact Im going to purchase another one for my den!!!
On: 2004-11-27
I just got this and so far its worked beautifully. every dvd Ive thrown at it so far has played very well. It was easy to set up and yes, there are a few things in the menus that are not very intuitive, but those are easily worked around. Hooking it up was very easy as well. My previous recorded didnt have a passthrough for the cable/satellite box, so you could not record a program very easily. I just wish that it had VCR+ for easier recording of shows. Contrary to a previous review, this unit does have component outputs. They are quite prominent on the back, so I think that the other reviewer either had a different unit, or he just missed them. So far, I like this unit a whole lot and would recomment it to anyone. I did find one glitch with the unit. If it detects what it calls "protected material" it will stop recording. You end up having to record your tape in several parts to get a complete recording of a tape being transfered to DVD.
On: 2004-11-20
Have to admit first that I havent been able to use the recorder the way I thought I would. I planned to transfer all my digital 8 tapes to DVD to preserve the video quality, but my Sony camcorder died on me the day I tried to hook up the camcorder with this recorder with 1394 cable. I was only able to do recorder from a VHS table using composite cable. The dvd quality looks great. No visible loss of video quality and the color looks right. The interface is ok to use except that I missed renaming the titles before finalizing the DVD. The on-screen DVD button to finalize DVD is right below the button to write the DVD, with no hint that you can rename the titles (I read about it in the manual). I guess this is something it can improve on.
My VHS was created out of digital 8 and is the combination and multiple recorderings. There are blue screens between all recorderings. I found it difficult/unpracticle to try to remember where is gap is and remove them by stopping and restarting the recordering. This would be relatively simple if you can transfer the video into PC and edit there.
Overall, a nice unit.
On: 2004-11-13
I bought this unit because I believed that it had component inputs. It does not. NOTE: This is AMAZONs fault, not Lite-ons!!!
When I received the unit, I tried to make it work, but it was defective out of the box. Upon loading a dvd, it makes a grinding noise as it tries to spin up the disc. Usually it never spins it up well enough to actually play the dvd.
On: 2004-11-12
I bought this unit because I believed that it had component inputs. It does not. NOTE: This is AMAZONs fault, not Lite-ons!!!
When I received the unit, I tried to make it work, but it was defective out of the box. Upon loading a dvd, it makes a grinding noise as it tries to spin up the disc. Usually it never spins it up well enough to actually play the dvd.
On: 2004-11-10
Ive had my Lite-on 5005 for about 3 months now. I used to have a Panasonic DVD recorder, but I gave it to a friend when I got this one. I have not experimented with all the available media types, but Ive used three differenty DVD brands, and it has recorded flawlessly on all three. I sometimes wish that they had included a video zoom like one of my old players had, but I find I seldom use that fuction. I like the unit so well that I bought a second unit just to record from. That way if there are two shows on at the same time, I can watch one and record the other and see them both at basically the same resolution. I also like the fact that you can name each program on a DVD with a separate name, so you can tell what programs are one the DVD. I bought my first machine through Heartland America and quite a savings off what I paid for the Panasonic, and then I found the 2nd machine at Costco, even less expensive. Im sure that as time goes on, there will be better units that will come out, but for the present, I dont think you can do much better than this one
On: 2004-09-28
This is just the thing for transferring VHS/miniDV to DVD. Also, with the ability to use it as a DVD "VCR" and the DV-link, its a no-brainer at the selling price. Similarly-featured units list for hundreds more. The variety of supported media is good. Operation is easy and intuitive. The quality of recordings from standard cable signal is quite impressive. I was leary of some of the concerns other people had, but the newest revision (LVW-5005) seem to have corrected most of them. Overall, I think this is an incredible product for the price and will hope for the best on long-term reliability.
I did notice a few things that are annoying, but not critical:
-No RF modulator on the cable input (cant monitor on ch3/4 like a VCR). You have to use the RCA input on a TV or other device to monitor the unit (No big deal, most TVs have RCA input).
-I found it best (for quality) to split the incoming cable and send separate runs to the TV and LVW-5005.
-Ive seen the time counters on other players get confused with discs recorded on the LVW-5005.
-Youd think that once you created your own DVD, youd be able to copy it with DVD-XCOPY or the like. That didnt work for me. The only program Ive found yet that makes copies of the outputed media is Clone-DVD. Clone-DVD seems to fix the time display problem mentioned above.
-DVD-RW and DVD+RW disks created on the LVW-5005 may not play in older DVD players, though finalized DVD-rs seem to play on anything.
On: 2004-09-23
Ive had my unit for about 4 months now and use it everyday to record one of my favorite shows. Everyday. Never a problem.
Im surprised at those that are having problems. Mine worked flawlessly right out of the box. Ive tried DVD-R, DVD-RW, and
DVD+RW, and no problems with any of the discs. I highly recommend this device. Its a heck of alot better than the Panasonic that I previously bought, and is half the price. For those that are unfamiliar with LITE-ON, they have been around for quite a while
making CD burners. Chances are you have a LITE-ON manufactured burner in your computer but dont know it. I have sought them out because I found them to be superior to many other brands. And now I feel the same about their DVD recorder.
I rate this 5 stars because this machine does absolutely everything it says it will do. Oh, and the picture is very very good. Even the lower quality(SLP) settings are are nice and
acceptable. Lower quality on many other brands are not even worth mentioning. Makes audio cds too.
On: 2004-09-17
I decided to give up griping and actually compliment a device that works as advertised. The other negative comments that have been written focused on defective machines. That did not discourage me from purchasing this good value, comprehensive recorder as I assumed we were just hearing about the bad apples. And Im happy to report that mine works like a charm. It is so intuitive and simple to record and set up that I feel like there must be something Im missing. I purchased to create space on my Tivo and specifically to keep for posterity all the Louisville basketball games from the 80s that I Tivod from ESPN classic. Now Im on to moving my tapes from my Mini DV player to DVD. I am using TDK +R DVDs and I have not had a problem recording, finalizing or playing in other DVD players or on my laptop. Im still experimenting so Ill update the review if I experience any more positive or negative results.
On: 2004-09-10
Although this product is really great at first, there are several issues that occur after a months of use.
First discs at times do not write properly even if you use the "Easy Guider". This has caused me to throw away new discs since the recorder does not "finalize" the disc properly, even after trying to finalize it as instructed from the manual.
Second, the TV tuner breaks on you. After 45 days, the TV tuner stopped working. What this means is that I can not connect the recorder directly to my cable coming from the wall. After several contacts with LiteOns customer service, it turns out that their tuners are "unstable" (per customer service) and that they suggest using the RCA cables to get the input into the recorder. I was instructed by customer service to connect the coxial cable coming from my cable company to a VCR and then use RCA cables to connect the VCR to the recorder. Of course this also means that I must use the VCR to change the channels, and not the recorder. No VCR? Then you have to purchase a converter that you can connect your incoming signal from the cable company and then use RCA cables to connect to the recorder. In affect, you have to provide your own TV tuner card.
After several failed attempts to request that LiteOn fix the recorder according to the warrenty, they have refused to. Therefore, I had to get my credit card company to do the refund. Luckily, I got the paperwork to my credit card company within the 90 day timeframe, after which I wouldve been out of luck.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-09-02
My LVW-5005 was defective from the start. It was noisy and would not read any DVDs. It would try, then give me a FAIL message. I like the styling and features I was able to use. It was easy to hook up. The manual was easy to follow. The setup menus were easy to use. Wish it would have worked. I was looking forward to using it.
On: 2004-08-22
The lite-on lvw 5005 dvd recorder is a very nice device. Im very happy with it!
I was able to play DVDs without any problem. The only comment is that in order to see the subtitles you have to press the &q | | |
