Buy Now...

Last August I looked at the Bush Video and DVD recorder, this April it was the JVC DVD and HDD offering. So anything that can offer all three certainly has a market. Quite naturally it is somewhat bigger than the DVD/HDD offering as it also has to accommodate the video mechanism. It is 43x37x9cm and while that may seem only slightly larger it certainly sticks out more than my own unit and is that little wider. Just for good measure it looks a lot taller than most other modern bits of kit so do check the space it needs to fit in.

It is possible to dub any format to any format and I feel that is less confusing than the ‘6 way dubbing’ that JVC mention. I suspect in most cases you will be wanting to move items from video to either the HDD or video to DVD. But often the simple solution is to record everything to HDD and then transfer to DVD once you know you want to keep it. This is also a good way to remove adverts as it is possible to edit content.

See also: DVD players/recorders

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The look of the unit is somewhat different from the unit I reviewed in April although the remote control works in much the same way. There is a flip down lid that is likely to only be used for inserting and removing DVD’s or Videos for most people. Initially I found the white and red blobs of light that come through the partially transparent lid were flashy and dare I say unnecessary when recording, of course you would often not be around during this process. Then I realised that there was only a white blob when replaying and things started to fall into place. This was further confirmed by the placing of the blobs according to what media you were recording to and the penny finally fell into place.

Setting up the unit was easy and the unit quickly found all the available channels. As I have previously reviewed another JVC offering I found setting the recording of programs easy just remember to select the medium you want to record to before you press the Programme button. You can set timings manually IE day, start time, end time and channel or use Video Plus and just enter a numeric string. However the one problem with Video Plus is that if a programme runs late you miss the ending. So even if it means a bit more programming I tend to use the manual method especially if there is a live program in the schedule beforehand.

The sixty key remote can do everything apart from change DVD’s or Videos and for that reason only do you need to go to the unit. There are many modes of recording to HDD and to DVD so that a DVD can take anything between one and eight hours or content dependant on the mode selected. The HDD drive in this unit can store up to 160 hours of content again according to the mode. While video only has two forms of recording SP and LP. A four minute advert break on a hard disc or DVD recording can be zoomed through in as little as six seconds with practice and nifty fingers on the remote. www.amazon.co.uk have the unit for £489.99 inc delivery. The JVC site description (link below) has no less than 73 bullet points of detail on this unit.

Link http://www.jvc.co.uk/product.php?id=DR-MX1SEK&catid=18