JVC DR-DX5S DVD Recorder / HDD Recorder review
| Design |
| There’s no denying the DR-DX5S is a good looking machine with a simple two-tone design. Measuring 17 x 13.5 x 3.5 inches, the DR-DX5S isn't a slim devil, but is expected with a three-headed monster. The front is split into a silver top and a black bottom. The silvery-grey door covers the whole of the front of the JVC HDD/DVD and homes the DVD and MiniDV cassette behind it. Flip the door open and not only do you see the cassette and DVD place but also the standard array of playback and recording controls as well as a set of A/V inputs with S-Video and a FireWire input for digital camcorders. The HDD/DVD navigation menus display nine title thumbnails at a time, plus a preview window for the highlighted title. While this is a nice setup, it does take about 15 seconds for a full page of thumbnails to load the first time. The DR-DX5S comes with a jam packed remote control with enough buttons to keep a toddler happy for years. We like the fact everything is compartmentalised beautifully. There’s a section for all the controls so things like playback and record controls are in one section, channel and volume controls are in another section and then behind a flap are the DVD functions. We especially liked the dedicated recording-mode and progressive-scan buttons, both of which save you time browsing the setup menu. There's no navigational pad for menu navigation so you’re in trouble if the remote goes missing. |
| Setup/Installation |
| There’s very little to do with the JVC DR-DX5S other than plugging it in, plug your TV into the device and off you go. |
| Features |
Like we said the DR-DX5S is jam packed with features. And first up is the whopping 250GB hard drive. With that much room you’ll comfortably be able to record around 50 hours of recording on XP mode and up to an incredible 328 hours in EP mode. And like the Sky+ box you can pause and rewind live TV which we love. And thanks to the video cashing facility you can pause for up to three hours or you could just decide to record it half way through watching and the JVC HDD/DVD player will record the programme straight away from the beginning. However JVC have not bothered putting in a EPG or IR blaster for direct recording but have put in VCR Plus which is very old fashioned. The JVC DR-DX5S player will accept practically all formats including –R format discs, dual layer DVD-Rs, DVD-RAM, but no +R/+RW. You’ve got the MiniDV drive which means that your digital camcorder recordings can be put straight on to the hard drive or straight to a DVD and you can edited it using the HDD/DVD editing tools, save it and play it back straight away too. And to give it that fully professional feel you can even add audio tracks to your MiniDV video via the A/V port. There’s a whole variety of editing functions on the DVD including cutting scenes, deleting chapter marks or creating or modifying playlists which is all very handy. Now on the audio side of things the DR-DX5S offers six-way dubbing by simply pressing the dubbing button on the remote control or you can use high-speed dubbing straight from the hard drive to DVD otherwise it’s only available in real time. And there’s an impressive selection of connections with the DR-DX5S. On the back you’ll get a component video out, two S-Video outs, a S-Video-equipped input, optical and coaxial digital audio outputs, RF ins and outs. And on the front panel there’s a set of A/V inputs with S-Video and a FireWire input for digital camcorders but there’s no HDMI output which again is a bad, bad move. |
| Performance |
| On the whole recording was pretty good. Recording using XP or SP was of the same standard we’ve seen with other recorders like the Panasonic DMR-EX85 and others like it giving a really solid image with little blockiness. The dark scenes were excellent as was fast moving scenes. Even in long play the image was pretty good, a bit softer than on XP but never the less pretty good. However in EP the picture became even softer and people seemed washed out so not best for that. But other than that the DR-DX5S was pretty good all round. While editing your MiniDV video is available it’s fairly crude and you’d do a better job on your computer. Unfortunately you also can’t transfer high definition video recording either just standard recording. The menu functions were very easy to follow too making it an easy DVD player to control. |
| What's In The Box? |
| JVC DR-DX5S and remote control. |
| Overall Opinion |
| It’s a real shame because our mouth was watering at the prospect of the JVC HDD/DVD recorder, particularly as it had integrated MiniDV deck. But on every count it was a tease and no sooner had we got excited it let us down. Like for example you can play, record and edit MiniDV camcorder tapes on the DR-DX5S – but while you could record on DVD-RAM discs and even dual-layer DVD-R discs, you could use +R/+RW formats. And while you could pause and rewind live TV via the huge 250GB hard drive you couldn’t pick the programmes off an electronic programming guide. Unfortunately we found that if when it came to HDD/DVD recorder the Panasonic DMR-EX85 was far more superior to the JVC DR-DX5S and cost half the price. |
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Pros + 250GB hard drive + MiniDV cassette facilities + 80 hours of recording in normal mode + Six way dubbing + Live pause and rewind |
Cons - No HDMI - No EPG - No IR Blaster - Incompatible with +R/+RW discs |
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Overall Rating 
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30/10/2006 at 3:49:19pm
Read Jvc Reviews
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JVC DR-DX5S JVC's stylish new HDDDVD recorderthe first we've seen with an integrated MiniDV deckcomes with an impressive, yet incomplete, set of features... read | |||
cnet.com
18/10/2006 3:13:00am
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