Date published: Thursday, September 22, 2005

The STAR Review - LiteON LVW 5045 DVD/VCD/HDD Recorder

All in one swoop

By ANTHONY LIM

Model: Lite-On LVW-5045 DVD/HD recorder
Price: RM1,999

Distributed by INTEGRITY MICRO DISTRIBUTORS (Tel: 03-2274 6692)

IN AN age where turn of speed is everything and new technological features the defining cutting-edge, you'd think that something like the Lite-On LVW-5045 DVD/HD recorder on review here would be swamped. No, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that are currently emerging in some other machines, like Dual-Layer recording, but it does have, besides a solid set of fundamentals that you'd expect from a good recorder, a neat trick up its sleeve...

Inside the light
Utilitarian would best describe the looks of the LVW-5045, though it does in fairness look more elegant that the LVW-5005 DVD recorder I reviewed last year. The front panel is clean, with just seven main function buttons on call, and a Firewire DV-Link connector and a set of line-in audio/video RCA jacks.

PLAIN, BUT IT'S NOT VANILLA: The Lite-On LVW-5045 DVD/HD recorder has simple looks, but it's a cracker when it comes to performance.

Features include DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW capability, plus a 160GB hard disk recorder (offering up to 198 hours of recording time), as well as CD-R/RW recording and MP3/WMA and JPEG playback.

What else? Besides 10-bit/54MHz video and 24-bit/192kHz audio DACs, there are Time Shift and simultaneous Record & Playback functions so you can view even as you record, and the neat trick I mentioned earlier, which no other recorder I've tested to date has - bi-directional recording, from HD-to-disc and disc-to-HD. Actually, the other recorders do have disc-to-HD listed as a proviso in the menu interface, but none have functioned when I tried them. This one, well, this one will allow you to do whatever you please.

Connections at the rear are made up of a component video output, RF input and output, coaxial and optical digital outs plus a set each of S-Video/composite video and stereo audio inputs and outputs.

Roll... disk!
Setting up the LVW-5045 is a straightforward affair - the Easy Guider graphic interface parameters are a doddle to work, and makes for a quick and trouble-free setting up procedure. I did however run into a wall trying to dial in the tuner section of the review sample. The unit had only Australia and New Zealand for country assignability, and scanning for channels returned nothing in providing a feed from Astro via the RF input. In the end, I went with RCA video and audio outs from the Astro decoder into the unit's AV 2 input.

In terms of operational use, the LVW-5045 differs little from the LVW-5005. Most of the workings are the same, save the extended points brought about by the HD.

JOIN US: The input and output connections on the rear panel.

Recording is simple enough, at the touch of a button, while editing functions remain somewhat limited, but ample enough for straight-through video dubbing or satellite feed recording purposes.

Recordings made on to the HD were problem-free in terms of stability, as were the multiple pass transfers from HD to disc on both DVD-RW and +RW. As for the bonus, which is transferring material from DVD to HD, the 5045 is pretty much a gem. Here, the read/write speed takes a little longer than going the HD to disc route, and if anyone's counting, it'll take under half an hour to record from disc to HD, and make a copy of that recording back to disc, with everything in situ. In this case, everything means just that - all sub-menus, subtitles, audio tracks come across as is.

Like the 5005, the picture quality is dependent on which mode you run - going at the maximum SLP mode will give you the close to 200 hours of recording time in total, but does nothing for the eye; going to half that time makes for acceptable quality. Picture quality off the HD is clean and generally crisp, dependent on the source feed - the variation from a disc to HD to disc transfer compared to the original were slight, and imperceptible without A-B comparison, so nice points scored here.

LOOKS REMOTE: You'll need this to control the LVW-5045...

Jack, is that you?
Another solid, competent offering from Lite-On then, the LVW-5045 - sure, it's not the glitziest machine there is right now, but if you're looking for a no-nonsense, straight-shooting recorder, with the ability to do recordings just about every way possible, then this one's a sure bet.

For: Thoroughly competent machine; price; versatile, and that disc-to-HD thing is way cool.

Against: Not the fanciest looking or loaded machine, if you're into style and tech.

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