PC-Free Editing
All ten recorders let you edit video on the disc itself if you record to a rewritable DVD format. Every model supports one or more form of RW disc, and the Samsungs, the Panasonic, and the Toshiba support the less interchangeable RAM format as well. With a rewritable disc, you can edit and remove advertisements or other content directly from your recorded video disc, without having to transfer it to your PC's hard drive, perform the editing there, and then re-render and burn the video to disc.
Still, the process was easier on certain models than on others. The CyberHome, Panasonic, two Samsungs, and Sony let you remove sections of video from rewritable DVD discs by selecting start and end points anywhere in the video (a technique known as A-B editing). The other recorders require you to define ads and other unwanted sections as chapters before you can delete them--a less elegant process.
With the three hard-drive-equipped players, you can edit video on the hard drive before committing it to disc (the best bets are low-cost write-once DVD-R or +R discs).
Sadly, the Humax does not support any editing. Instead, you have to burn the whole recording, and if it exceeds your media's capacity at all, you must use two discs.
Video Quality
Photograph: Marc SimonVideo quality is critical to a DVD recorder. Fortunately, I found few examples of egregious recording quality when I tested these recorders at their highest image-quality mode, which can pack a full hour of video on a single-layer disc, or twice that amount on a double- or dual-layer disc (the Pioneer is the only model here that supports dual-layer media, however).
I was particularly impressed with the quality of both Samsungs, the Panasonic, and the Toshiba, all of which produced accurate recordings of the video sources that I used to test these models. Top marks went to the Samsung DVD-VR325, especially when we played back its video on a calibrated high-definition TV using the HDMI output: The colors were extremely accurate, and the blacks looked intensely dark while at the same time maintaining shadow detail. Similarly, the Toshiba and Panasonic recorders produced great-looking, balanced video with accurate colors.
The CyberHome and the Lite-On produced the least-impressive image quality. Though the low-cost CyberHome's video was acceptable, it looked more like the output from an old VHS recorder than from a spanking new DVD recorder: The colors were unappealing and I saw noticeable noise in areas of flat color, such as in some cartoons. The Lite-On's videos were better, but they suffered from poor contrast: Blacks looked gray, and colors appeared dull and muted.
A Perfect Recorder
It's difficult to choose a single winner in this diverse group. The good news is that no matter what your budget or criteria for a living room DVD recorder, you should be able to find a model to suit your needs and wallet.
The HDMI-equipped Samsung DVD-VR325, one of our Best Buys, does an excellent job of bridging the chasm between old technology (the VCR) and new (HDTV and DVD recording). Among the hard-drive recorders we tested, the pricey Toshiba RD-XS54 wins a Best Buy as well: It holds the most video, produces terrific-looking recordings, and is jam-packed with features.
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