Review on Lite LVW5001 Plus Player Recorder by George Halbohm

I like this recorder but it tends to overheat if not in a well ventilated area. At one point the unit got so hot it literally burned one of my DVDs (DVD+RW), rendering it unusable. Having installed a fan next to the recorder to keep it cool, there was no problem. Aside from the overheating issue, I'm really impressed with this thing. The picture quality is better than I expected and much better than a VHS recorder. I transferred some SVHSC camcorder footage to DVD, as well as some miniDV footage. I tried using the firewire port but either it didn't work or the port on my camera didn't work (I think it's my camera). However, the recording quality via the S-Video input was impressive. HQ and SQ modes were excellent. While recording it automatically creates a chapter every five minutes (this can be changed by the user) and every time you start recording it creates a series of titles. When playing a DVD, title sets are displayed along with a screenshot of the first frame and the date it was recorded. This makes it easier to navigate to the desired entry. Bibliographic records are automatically named TITLE 01, TITLE 02, etc., and I don't think these titles can be changed by the user. That would be a nice feature update. Overall, for the price, this device can't be beat. However, I recently read a Yahoo article claiming that DVD recorder prices will fall sharply this year. So if you're not in a hurry, I suggest you wait. If you're like me and need to be a pioneer, go for it, you won't be disappointed.