Entered CNET Catalog: 12/01/2004
SKU: 0844149006000
Manufacturer: Lite-On IT Corp.
Manufacturer description
Forget about the running out of recording space. With the built in 160GB HDD (Hard Disk Drive), you may record up to 198 hours (SLP modes) of quality video programs on it. The co-existence of the optical disc drive and the built-in HDD on LVW-5045 doesn't stay for nothing! With it, you can record the camcorder footages onto the built-in HDD all at once. In there, you can utilize all the editing functions to the titles and then save them onto discs respectively to share them with family or friends. The contents on any types of disc by copying them to the built-in HDD, where all the editing functions can be utilized. This not only solves the problem that certain editing functions are only applicable to certain disc types but also is convenient given the huge storage space of the HDD. Advance feature such as "Time Shift", is also featured on LVW-5045. The "Time Shift" feature allows you to virtually "Freeze" the live TV program while you are temporary interrupted and "Un-Freeze" it to continue viewing the live program. With LVW-5045, you can watch the recording program from the very beginning while it is still being recorded, regardless of how far along that recording is in progress. Simply press a key and you no longer need to wait until the recording is completed. Recording will not be interrupted and viewing can be performed any time you desire!Product summary
The good: Relatively inexpensive; easy to use; roomy 160GB hard disk; high-speed dubbing to HDD or DVD; chasing playback; solid editing features; records to DVD+R/+RW/-R/-RW; FireWire input; copies images, MP3s, and WMAs to the hard drive; records audio CDs.
The bad: Long hard-disk recordings cause lip-sync errors; won't let you watch one taped show while recording another; no onscreen programming guide or IR blaster; can't record video at one speed and dub in another.
The bottom line: Despite a decent price and easy-to-use functions, the LVW-5045 suffers from a lip-sync glitch and a hobbled feature set.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/08/2005
Lite-On's first hard-disk/DVD recorder costs less than just about any comparable product on the market--close to $300 online. Competitors such as the TiVo-driven models from Humax cost more and, in some cases, deliver inferior features. For example, the Lite-On has a FireWire input for recording from digital camcorders, but the Panasonic does not.
The Lite-On LVW-5045 also boasts a refreshingly simple interface that puts the arcane menus of competing, better-known decks to shame, and its speedy dubbing makes it a snap to archive your favorite recordings to DVD. So what's the catch? Aside from the deck's pedestrian styling and lack of a few important DVR-like features, the LVW-5045's tendency to introduce lip-sync problems into long recordings will keep most users away.
Measuring 12 by 17 by 3 inches (about as high and deep as other recorders in its class), the boxy, silver-and-black Lite-On LVW-5045 looks decidedly ho-hum, and its haphazard collection of logos and an ultrabasic LED display contribute to a somewhat downmarket feel. Nestled beneath the display are the unobtrusive open/eject, play, stop, HDD/DVD mode, record, and source buttons, while a set of A/V inputs (including FireWire but not S-Video) sits exposed in the bottom-right corner.
The LVW-5045's basic-looking remote comes with the typical five-way navigational keypad and such niceties as a one-touch button for copying HDD to DVD (or vice versa), as well as a time-shift button that lets you pause and rewind live video (see Features). We had little trouble using the remote, but we wish the display and setup buttons were closer to the playback controls, rather than up near the numeric keypad, and we would have also liked to see a dedicated button for record mode. More annoying was the deck's tendency to disable the eject function when certain menus are engaged.
We're big fans of Lite-On's beginner-friendly Guider menus, which take you step by step through the recorder's main functions, including playback, manual and timed recording, and copying. No other HDD/DVD recorder we've used makes everyday operation so reassuringly simple. Advanced users may grow annoyed by the hand-holding approach, and we wish the Guider took you through the initial setup process--as it stands, you must go through the deck's myriad setup options manually, which could be confusing for novices.
The list of recorded shows seemed less polished. We like the inclusion of thumbnails for each program, but the thumbnails are annoyingly slow to appear, and you can see only six programs on each page. Once you select a recorded program, pressing the big Enter key immediately causes playback to begin. We'd prefer Enter to summon a list of options for editing, erasure, playback, and so forth in this situation. With LiteOn's setup, you have to remember to press the tiny Edit button if you want to do anything besides initiate playback.
The Lite-On LVW-5045 has some limitations that aren't quite balanced by a few unique features. The worst limitation is its inability to do anything else while recording. You can't watch one title on the HDD while recording another--a feature found on every other hard-disk recorder we've tested so far--nor can you access any menus. This may seem like a small thing, but trust us, once you've been able to watch a recorded program while recording something else live, you'll never want to go back.
Like most standalone recorders, the LVW-5045 won't record two live shows at once, although it will let you chase playback--that is, begin watching a recording that's still in progress. To do so, you must hit the time-shift button, which pauses playback until you resume by hitting Play (annoyingly, hitting the actual pause button while watching a program has no effect). Unfortunately, you cannot skip ahead in 30-second increments; you must fast-forward manually.
The Lite-On's 160GB hard drive, significantly larger than most of its competition's, stores as much as 33 hours of video in HQ mode or as many as 198 hours in lowest-quality SLP mode. Once you've built up a library of shows, you can archive them in every recordable DVD format except DVD-RAM. The deck's high-speed dubbing is relatively speedy: HQ titles are dubbed at more than 2X, SP at about 3.4X, LP at close to 5X, EP (4-hour mode) at 6.6X, and SLP (6 hours) at about 8.3X. Annoyingly, you can't dub a title recorded at one speed to another speed--that is, if you recorded a title in HQ mode, you must dub it in HQ mode. Unlike other decks we've seen, the LVW-5045 can record to CD and CD-RW in VCD and SVCD, or audio-CD format. We don't see much use for VCD and SVCD these days with DVD media being so inexpensive, but being able to record audio CDs is a nice bonus.
Recording is a simple process; you can either hit Record or use the deck's Guider feature, which takes you step by step through manual or timed recordings. Unfortunately, the LVW-5045 doesn't have an Humax's TiVo models, so setting up recordings takes some work. You can set the Lite-On's timer manually or via VCR Plus, but there's no IR blaster to change the channel on your cable or satellite box, meaning you'll have to make sure the channel is set properly before your recording begins.
We missed Panasonic's flexible-recording mode, which lets you squeeze a precise amount of video onto a DVD while maintaining optimal video quality--great for recording a 130-minute movie without resorting to the 3-hour EP recording mode, for example. On the other hand, we were pleased with the LVW-5045's range of editing options, which are even more extensive than those of the Panasonic. If you're recording to the HDD drive or to DVD-RW/+RW discs, you can split and merge titles, erase them, insert or remove chapter stops, hide chapters (which is good for snipping out commercials), or change the title thumbnail.
While many HD/DVD recorders just pay lip service to picture files and music, the Lite-On does an impressive job of handling MP3s, WMAs, and JPEGs. Just click the music or picture tabs on the deck's browser to see your images or to play music; there's even the option to watch a slide show while your tunes play in the background. Even better, you can copy your images and music to the HDD, then again to other discs if you want. You could conceivably use the LVW-5045's hard drive for your music library, as long as you don't mind sacrificing disk space for music.
The LVW-5045's connectivity options should be fine for most users but inadequate if you have more than two sources. Outputs include component video, S-Video, composite, and RF, plus both coaxial and optical digital-audio outs. Inputs include one composite, one S-Video, one RF, and a set of analog jacks on the on the back, while up front there's a composite video/stereo audio input and a FireWire port for a digital camcorder. In a perfect world, we'd have preferred a few more inputs, such as an extra S-Video input in back and one in front, too.
During the course of testing the Lite-On LWV-5045, we came across one major performance snag. In the third hour of a recording we'd made to the hard disk, we noticed that the audio became out of sync with the video. We double-checked the source and confirmed that the issue is the LVW-5045's fault and that earlier portions of the recording were synced properly. We tried it again in HQ mode, and the audio sync was fine. If you decide to buy the Lite-On, you should be aware of the lip-sync issue that arises with longer programs.
Otherwise, the Lite-On scored high marks in our image-quality tests, although it wasn't up to the standards of the Panasonic. It delivered a healthy 450 lines of horizontal resolution in HQ and SP modes, dipped to a much softer 260 lines in the three-hour LP and four-hour EP modes, and dropped below 250 lines in the six-hour SLP mode, with serious MPEG artifacts and background blockiness. In our test recordings of Star Trek: Insurrection, the villainous probes strafing the fleeing peasants looked rock-solid in both HQ and SP modes, but much softer at LP speeds although we didn't note much background blockiness until we geared down to the very soft and juttery SLP mode. Switching to scenes of the damaged, smoky Enterprise bridge, the picture looked sharp in the HQ and SP modes, although colors seemed to float a bit while the tough-to-render smoke suffered from a little digital tiling. Our LP and EP test recordings looked predictably softer, with the SLP mode coming out very soft and juttery.
The deck aced our 2:3 pull-down test, smoothly rendering the tricky haystacks and bridges at the beginning of Insurrection. The LVW-5045 also breezed through the discs in our test suite, stumbling only with the DivX-encoded video burned on CDs and DVDs.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11out of 11 user reviews
Excellent addition to my home entertainment system!
Pros: Recording to either HD and DVD, timer recording, massive 160GB HD, easy navigation, many connection options
Cons: Not HDTV compatible, occasional split second delay on remote
out of 11 user reviews
Excellant toll-free telephone help
Pros: low price & big HD
Cons: sometime machine hang when editing
out of 11 user reviews
Great machine for the price
Pros: large HDD, upgradable firmware, easy menu navigation
Cons: no high speed dubbing from VHS, recording mode locked on recorded data
The machine is definately a good one to own now that the original firmware issues have been resolved. The large HDD and ease of use make this model a steal at the sub $300 price.
out of 11 user reviews
ok for the price but...
Pros: good output video
Cons: does not play back dvd in dts dolby
out of 11 user reviews
Good DVR for the price
Pros: Easy to use. 160GB HD. Write multiple formats
Cons: Cannot watch and record at same time. Cannot title timer programs. Cannot categorize or sort recorded programs.
Transfered about 10 hours of VCR tapes to DVD.
Transfered 4 hours of TV from HD to DVD
I paid $300.
Pros:
-- Great price for 160GB HD.
-- Can update the firmware. My firmware version is 197 (this is important to know when reading reviews). Previous versions are extremely buggy.
-- Very easy to use menus.
-- The remote is simple.
-- Setting a show to record is simple.
-- Great for transfering old video tapes to DVD
-- Can write to DVD+R/+RW/-R/-RW and CD-R/-RW
-- Can pause live TV
-- Can start watching a recorded program before it is done.
-- Five recording modes. From HQ (fits 1 hr on DVD) to SLP (fits 6 hrs on DVD)
-- great forum at liteonusers.org.uk
Cons:
-- Cannot watch one recorded program while recording a new one. This would be nice for me but not a deal breaker.
-- Cannot categorize or sort recorded programs on the HD. They are all sorted by oldest recorded to newest. This can cause issues once you have a couple screens full of programs. This annoys me.
-- Can only title recorded programs after they have recorded not before. This one really annoys me.
-- Can only program by old VCR style. No TiVo like or TV Guide interface. Not a big deal for me.
-- Does not automatically record what you are viewing. So you cannot rewind back a few seconds like you can with TiVo.
-- A one time only Timer Record is not automatically deleted once the show is recorded. Annoying.
Other Details:
-- can show jpgs (have not used)
-- can play back music files (have not used)
-- can split and merge recorded files to remove commercials (have not used)
-- Manual is a little weak.
-- I have not seen the lip sync bug.
-- The machine has not crashed for me.
So the question is it worth $100 or more to get some of the cons fixed by buying a Toshiba or Panasonic but I am sure they have their own problems.
So far I am happy with it.
out of 11 user reviews
Needs some work to be a really nice machine
Pros: huge harddrive
Cons: Tuner is a piece of junk.
out of 11 user reviews
Worst Purchase Ever !!!!
Pros: Sorry, Can't Think of any !!
Cons: Too Many, Please Read On !!!
First, The TV Tuner is really bad, if your TV support Picture-in-Picture, Set your TV and the Video from Liteon Tuner side-by-side on the Same Channel. You can easily tell the Tuner from Liteon is Really Bad (Blurry+Redish+Noisy) , How I fix it ? Well, I set my VCR¡¦s Tuner and use Video-Audio/Out Connect to Liteon to record a TV Program ¡K
Second, Firmware 191 ( It Came with the machine) is so buggy, there¡¦re tons of problems associate with it, Even though I¡¦ve successfully upgraded it to Version 193. I still have following problems.
1. Lipsync problem, When record a program for more then 60 minutes, Video and Audio will not sync. 2. Splitting Videos in HD will lead to System-Hang. Only a reboot can make the machine function again, and, the File being split is no-longer viewable. 3. DVD-RW recorded by Liteon sometimes can be recognized by my computer¡¦s DVD-Drive, But not all the time. 4. Record direct to a DVD-R may cause system to hang at the end of the 2-hour recording. The ¡§Stop¡¨ sign is flashing on the front Panel infinitely. Unplug to make the machine to work, but, the DVD-R is no longer usable.
out of 11 user reviews
Fantastic DVD Recorder
Pros: It can write to all DVD media formats; Very easy to use interface menu; firewire input; 160 GB hardrive; lots of editing functions; "VCR+" for easy recording; Timer Recording up to 8 programs
Cons:
out of 11 user reviews
A Piece of Junk that cost me USD$800
Pros: This machine has a mind of its own.
Cons: 1. Time Record is not working. Sometimes it will record, sometimes not. Sometimes it records but will hang at the end of the session. 2. TV input , there's 12 pixels in height on the top portion of the video is garbage. 3. Various Operation can cause sy
out of 11 user reviews
Most bang for the back!
Pros: Ability to split/merge recorded material. It allows me to take out commercials. Multiple quality settings: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 hours for a 4.7GB DVD. Ability to change thumbnails of recordings. Ability to rename recordings. Timesifting capabilities. Updating fi
Cons: Does not timeshift by default. User need to press the timeshift button for the feature to activate. My dish network PVR buffers a show as soon as I change channels. I have yet to use the S-Video input, but the RCA inputs are showing artifacts in dark area
out of 11 user reviews
well placed product
Pros: lots of features,reads all media , except dvd-ram.
Cons: menu system could do of some work. does not accept dvd ram. looks may put some people off. remote vary basic
