Stand Alone DVD Recorders

Stand alone DVD recorders are becoming more commonplace as prices have plummeted. According to research company NPD, the average price for such a device in the first half year of 2001 was $2,300, in first half of 2002 it was $936, and finally, $568 in the first six months of 2003. The trend is likely to continue for some years.

And according to research company Strategy Analytics, DVD recorder sales will surpass that of DVD players by end-2006.

As is the case with computer DVD burners, there are several recording standards to choose from: DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, and DVD-RAM.

The trend towards multiple format recorders, which is evident in computer burners, is also reaching standalone recorders, with Sony recorders showing the way.

The next generation stand alone DVD recorders technology will use blue-ray, which will multiply available capacity many times. Unfortunately, there are several competing standards for blue-ray, of which NEC's and Toshiba's one standard is endorsed by the DVD Forum.

Stand alone DVD Recorders - Resources

When you're choosing a standalone recorder, don't only pay attention to the recording capabilities.

Many use these recorders for playback most of the time, so the playback features play an important role in how satisfied you're likely to be with the device.

As for recording capabilities, pay attention to whether you need a recorder with a hard drive, or whether you need quality editing options from camcorders, and so on.

Also, the recording format is important if you're likely to share the discs with others. Good resources to learn more about the format standards and their differences include:

* dvdforum.org (for DVD-R/-RW information)
* dvdrw.com (for DVD+R/+RW information)



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