Lite On LVW-5005 DVD Recorder

On paper, the Lite-On LVW-5005 seems like a nice affordable entry-level DVD recorder. Unlike competitive entry level recorders, it has FireWire (IEEE-1394 or iLink) input, can write to many kinds of DVD and CD media, and has a reasonable price tag. However, it lacks polish. It may be suitable for undemanding users, but those that want a reliable, rugged device may do better elsewhere.

My impressions on the LVW-5005 are based on about 2 weeks' use of the device, plus researching it on various etailer and video web sites. This is my first DVD recorder.

Lite-On's LVW-5005 is the mid-range member of Lite-On's DVD writer family. For those of you unfamiliar with Lite-On, it's a $5 billion sales Taiwanese company that makes all manner of PC peripherals including optical disc drives.

The LVW-5005 DVD recorder set top box is a step up model from the LVW-5001 DVD recorder set top box. The latter only writes to DVD+R and DVD+RW.

The LVW-5005 claims a nice feature set on paper

- set-top box optical media writer writes on many DVD media
(+/- R, +/- RW) 4.7 GB single layer, single sided media
only, and CD media (-R, -RW)

(Note that the LVW-5005's behavior is somewhat different
when you are using DVD media and when using CD media.
When using DVD media, behavior is somewhat different
if you have decided to prepare the media prior to
recording vs. preparing the media after recording.)

- writes DVD Movie, SVCD (Super VCD), VCD (Video CD),
audio CD

- up to 6 hrs DVD on 4.7 GB DVD media depending on data rate
(video quality) desired (choice of 1, 2, 4, 6 hr),
- up to 34 min SVCD on 650 MB CD media
- up to 68 min VCD on 650 MB CD media, 1 hr 14 min on 700
MB CD media

HQ: 1 hr, 9.5 Mbps MPEG-2, 720 x 480 resolution NTSC
on 4.7 GB DVD media

SP: 2 hr, 5.1 Mbps MPEG-2, 720 x 480 resolution NTSC
on 4.7 GB DVD media

EP: 4 hr, 2.5 Mbps MPEG-2, 352 x 480 resolution NTSC,
on 4.7 GB DVD media

SLP: 6 hr, 1.7 Mbps MPEG-1, 352 x 240 resolution NTSC,
on 4.7 GB DVD media

SVCD: 34 min, 2.5 Mbps MPEG-2, 352 x 480 resolution
NTSC, on 650 MB CD media

VCD: 68 min, 1.15 Mbps MPEG-1, 352 x 240 resolution
NTSC, on 650 MB CD media

- progressive scan DVD player (480p progressive
non-interlaced output), component output

- plays DVD Movie, SVCD, VCD, JPEG, mp3


INPUTS
- antenna F-type (for cable tv, rabbit ear antenna)
standard definition NTSC
- S-Video (audio for this is on rear RCA audio connector)
- composite video (1 front and 1 rear)
- IEEE-1394 FireWire (front)
- stereo audio RCA connector (1 front, 1 rear)

OUTPUTS (all rear)
- antenna F-type
- composite video
- component video
- stereo audio RCA connector
- stereo audio optical
- stereo audio coaxial

OTHER FEATURES
- can set up recording like a VCR using Lite-On grid
system, but does not have a
channel guide (no TiVo or ReplayTV functionality)

WHAT IT DOESN'T HAVE
- TiVo, ReplayTV, or Guide+ electronic program guide
- hard disk
- USB
- Ethernet
- doesn't record or play back DivX
- doesn't stream from other devices (no networking)
- seems to lack features basic to DVD players such as
multiple zoom levels
- does not write on DVD-RAM
- does not write on dual layer or double sided DVD media

The LVW-5005 was fairly easy to set up. In my case, the
LVW-5005 was the 2nd device connected to my monitor, the
first being a ReplayTV (which also functions as the TV
tuner). The ReplayTV's S-Video output goes to the LVW-5005. A stereo VCR is connected to the LVW-5005's
front composite input.

I didn't test the LVW-5005's off-air recording ability as
I noticed that the LVW-5005's tuner gave out a poor quality
TV picture compared to the ReplayTV.

I was able to record shows I had on the ReplayTV (medium quality on the ReplayTV) onto generic DVD-RWs in EP mode on the LVW-5005, and the DVD-RWs played on a Pioneer DVD player I also have. EP mode is comparable to VHS in quality, which works fine with my grainy Comcast cable tv picture. (If I win the lottery, I will upgrade to the Vooom high definition satellite TV service...) If you can help it, use the 1 or 2 hour recording modes instead.

However, when I tried to copy the DVD-RWs onto PCs, I kept getting CRC read errors, which prevented me from copying the contents of the DVD-RWs. This was very annoying as the LVW-5005 never gave any indication that anything was wrong, and the DVD-RWs played on a Pioneer DVD player as well.

Next, I tried saving a TV show onto Philips DVD+RW media.
The LVW-5005 recorded about 10 minutes of the TV show. I then removed the DVD+RW from the LVW-5005 and reinserted it. The LVW-5005 then reported an "Invalid disc" and
refused to do anything else except open the disc tray. This was very annoying. I erased the DVD+RW on a nearby PC, and the Lite-On was good to go on the same DVD+RW.

The LVW-5005 has some user-friendly features. If you insert a blank disc, it will ask you if you want to prepare the disc. Preparing a CD takes a few minutes; preparing a DVD can take a while (up to an hour or so). While the LVW-5005 is preparing a disc, you can't do anything else. Pressing buttons will result in an ignore-type icon being displayed, or nothing happening at all while the LVW-5005 is busy.

When using a DVD, you can choose to prepare the blank DVD disc (or erased DVD+/-RW media) at the time the disc is first loaded in the LVW-5005, or later, after you are done recording on the disc. Preparing the disc now is a better choice (preparing a few discs ahead of time is an even better choice), as discs generally need to be finalized before they can play on devices other than the LVW-5005. Having to prepare while finalizing a DVD disc can take an awfully long time. Finalizing locks the disc so that no additional recordings can be made on the disc.

Apparently, a benefit of preparing a DVD+/-RW disc now is that the DVD disc can be played back on other devices without the discs being finalized.

The LVW-5005's slowness in responding to commands can be frustrating. When you first power the LVW-5005 on, it can take a while before it starts responding to your press of the disc tray open button. You may have to press the tray open button several times before the tray eventually opens.

You also have to allow a few seconds between commands. It's probably best to let a command run to completion before issuing another command.

If you try to use the LVW-5005 as an editing recorder by using the pause button, the LVW-5005 can turn your disc into a coaster. When I would pause more than once in a single recording session on DVD or CD media, the LVW-5005 would take several hours (!) to stop recording, even if what was recorded only took a few minutes. Inevitably, the result would be an "Invalid disc".

If you use the LVW-5005 to make straight, uninterrupted
recordings, most likely you won't have any problems.

Another annoying "feature" is that when you insert a disc which has some recorded material on it, and you are set to record from a particular input (say S-Video), the previously-recorded material will either play or show up its thumbnail menus. When you stop the playback, you aren't returned to the screen showing your S-Video source. You have to repeatedly press the input selector button on
the remote to get to the proper input source.

The included remote control also groups the fast forward
and rewind functions in vertically-adjacent buttons, rather
than the more common buttons to the left and right of the
play function. This takes some getting used to.

The LVW-5005 can take thumbnail pictures of each recording you make. It does these by taking the first frame of your recording, and adding date, time, and duration stamps. However, before the disc is finalized, you may not see the thumbnails unless you play the disc from the start to the end of the recorded material. Pressing the menu button may not bring up the thumbnails, just a list of titles. (It's possible that enabling the thumbnail view is a part of the finalization process.)