Lite On LVW-5045 (160 GB) DVD Recorder

I won't get into the features/details of the device, as other reviews cover that well.

In general, when I first bought this device, I was quite happy with it. A few quirks are annoying, but all in all, it did the job well. We used it primarily as a DVR unit, and DVD player, rarely attempting to record DVDs. It took time for me to figure out that the resolution you record a show to the HDD impacts how much you can then copy to the DVD. I had assumed that it would automatically convert the video quality as necessary to fit it on the DVD, but that appears to not be the case. As such, I recommend that if you record with this device, you record in SP mode so that you can fit more onto the DVD.

We ran into a few problems with the timer, where it would randomly change the times we had set to record, or only record a portion of a show and quit for no reason, resulting in us missing half of the show. I upgraded the firmware from the website 4 times, but this problem never completely went away.

Oh, speaking of upgrading the firmware...be advised that everytime you do this, everything you have set up in the machine will be lost. This means channel assignments and timer settings. I went to a lot of work to assign the channels names, etc, early on, but this effort was wiped out the next time I upgraded, so I've given up using that feature. It is silly that they don't store that information since it has a huge HDD.

Anyhow, more problems started to appear, the most significant of which was that many of the commercially produced DVDs we had purchased wouldn't play. It appears to be totally random. We can play 10 DVDs fine, but then the 11th won't play, no matter what we try. We stick the disc in the machine, it chugs away for a while, then says, "Invalid Disc". Nevermind that the disc plays fine on every other DVD player just fine, and, in fact, may have played fine on this DVD player before. But not anymore. This problem has grown worse through the year, and now we are no longer confident when we get a new DVD to watch that it will work. At least three times we were unable to watch Netflix rented DVDs on the machine. I checked for scratches, etc.

I e-mailed Lite On, but they are less than helpful. They tell me to upgrade the firmware or take it back to the place I bought it. I bought it on-line, so that won't work. Not that they could do anything about it. I even explained in grand detail the types of problems, but it was clear from their response they didn't care.

Today, we are unable with the device. While it still works most of the time, having a device that we can't count on has made us start looking for a replacement.

I wouldn't recommend purchasing a Lite On DVD/DVR device like this as a result. Had you asked me six months ago, I would have said otherwise. Now...save your money and buy from a different company. It is a shame, too, because it has the potential to be a great device.