iLO DVDR04 DVD Recorder - VideoHelp.com

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iLO DVDR04

Write
~~CDR~~
~~CDRW~~
~~DVD-R~~
~~DVD-RW~~
~~DVD-R DL~~
DVD+R
DVD+RW
~~DVD+RDL~~
~~DVD-RAM~~

Read*

CDR
CDRW
DVD-R
DVD-RW
~~DVD-R DL~~
DVD+R
DVD+RW
~~DVD+R DL~~
~~DVD-RAM~~

*based on user reports.

Desktop, Firewire

$150

6.9/10
104 votes
Read 127
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DVD Player features:
Video formats:
~~DivX~~ JPG DVD-JPG
Audio formats:
MP3 ~~WMA~~ ~~DVD-WMA~~
Other features:
Progressive Scanning

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Region code free hack

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Comments

127 comments, Showing 1 to 25 comments

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wcb4 from United States reported October 17, 2008:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R? DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	over 1 year	8 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
a lot of folks have had trouble with these wonderful little machines failing after a few months or a year or so, and I was one of them. The drawer stopped openning. I think that some of this may be due to the overheating trouble that a lot of folks have complained about. so Here is what I did. I went to Walmart and bought a liteon DVD+/-RW drive (the allwrite one) for about $50. I brought it home, took the faceplate off the drive itself, and off the DVD04. I then remove the casing from the DVDR04 and pulled the drive itself out (its only help on by about 3 screws. Upon doing this, you will notice that the aluminum casing around the new drive would prevent it from fitting in to replace the old drive, it causes the drive to sit too far back in the DVD04 housing, and the drawer has trouble if you put the shiny silver faceplate back on it. You can always forget that as its not really needed, but I took the aluminum casing from the lite-on drive and applied a dremel to the problem (there are few issues that can not be solved with judicious use of a dremel) You could use tin snips, but this was much cleaner. I cut the front 3/8" or so (10cm or so for non US readers) using the dremel and ground the metal down so it would not be jagged. I put this back on the lite-on drive and viola, it now allowed the drive to fit in the DVD04 housing and slide far enough forward that the drawer cover could be put back on and the unit will close again properly. I wedged a bit of the packing material from the lite-on in there to force the drive to stay in place (the screw holes do not appear to line up with the holes in the original dvdr04 housing, unfortunately) which works well enough. This is a peice of electronic equipment and once in place will likely not be moved, but my kids have bumped it several times and its still holding fine. Well folks, its like brand new again, with an added bonus. The machine now records on brands of DVD+R and DVD+RW that never working properly in it before. I generally record to RW then use DVD-shrink to strip the god-awful menu that the machine creates. Previoulsy it was very picky about the brand of DVD+RW I was using, I guess because it was an older drive, but the new drive seems to have no problem with cheapo Office Depot 4xDVD+RWs. I have not tried -RWs, just don't have any laying around right now to test with. An interesting thing of note..... The write ups for this machine state that it does nto record to CDs, and this is true, but this is basically a lite-on 5005 recorder with slightly different firmware. The 5005 DOES support CDR and has a 3 hour record mode (something the DVDR04 only has with hacked firmware) however, there is no hack for the 5005 to make it region and macro free, but you can flash the DVDR-04 with the firmware to make it a lite-on 5005. This provides you the flexibility to either use it as a 5005 with 3 hour mode and CD recording capability or as a DVDR-04 with region and macro restrictions removed. Good luck

CustomRCmodels from United States reported July 08, 2007:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	over 1 year	No rating
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I bean reading about quit a few problems with this unit , since I just ended up in the same situation , After 1 year of trouble-free operation I started wasting disks … Mostly I did get the plain “ Fail “ display when I tried to close the disk … Tried the latest firmware-upgrade which first seamed to fix it , but it turned out after a couple recordings to give me the same “ Fail “ message during closing … As it was already reported , the internal drive is a Lite-on unit ….typical computer-hook-ups … Therefore I just went to Walmart and got me the newest ( the only type they had ) Lite-on 20x SuperAllWrite internal Computer writer ,Model # LH-20A1P33C….. This was just a hunch , since I wasn’t sure if it would require a particular unit , Well , this one work’s so far without a glitch ! Recorded a few DVD’s with menu’s and title-edit and it all worked like with the old drive … I would be not surprised if almost “any” Computer DVD writer would work in this DVDR04 …, But I don’t know , at least it looks like you don’t have to look for an original unit , A new lite-on internal computer writer does the trick … So far I used it with the latest firmware , but I will try it also with the older hacked firmware for 3hr recording , macro-vision disabled … .. this is now an interesting question , does the firmware only changes the actually settings on the board or does it also changes settings within the drive ? ..well I guess I will find out and will post my findings about that at a later time … installation of that lite-on internal drive is easy , no hacking or chopping of the case or front-plate required ( as it was mentioned in a previous post ) …. Yes , the new lite-on drive has a different case as the original one installed , but you can mount it with at least to existing screw-holes on the new drive which will match with holes in the case of the DVDR04 .. , you just have to use a small round file and widen 1 of the holes , otherwise the drive will not align properly With the mounting-method I used , the drive sits a little deeper in the case …means the tray doesn’t come out as far as with the old drive , but still far enough to insert and take out a DVD without any hassle … I did NOT had to hack or chop up the front panel of the DVDR04 , I just removed the face-plate from the tray of the new drive This way the tray will fit in the existing opening from the front-panel … I removed the face-plate of the old drive and use it just to cover the hole when I don’t use the unit … If I use it , I leave it out , since that additional opening in the case will help with cooling , Since that is a problem on the DVDR04 , it get’s way to hot on the inside … A bigger fan and more openings in the case would be the way to go … Some people reported some funny noises , I discovered that the heat-sinks from the power-supply vibrating when the drive is running ..these heat-sinks are soldered to the board , but on mine the solder was broke on the few points .. After re-soldering the mounts for the heat-sinks , everything is quiet now … I like this unit , since it’s very simple to operate for quick recordings ( as long you have a prepared disk ready ) , With a simple interface …and to have a fire-wire connection in such a cheap unit is a big plus ! Otherwise I just would have junked it and purchased a different one … But with a investment from around $ 50,- I will hopefully get some more use out of it … In fact , since I know that a computer-drive will work in this unit , I am planning to do a little conversation on my own , Installing a computer-hard-drive-selector-switch and a USB and fire-wire interface .. That a way I could use the unit also as a external computer-DVD-writer ……

ilodvdr05 from United States reported January 18, 2007:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R? DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	over 1 year	No rating
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I've been seeing a lot of people having problems with this DVDR. I've taken a look at a few of them and the components of the power supply are at fault. This poor design leads to many malfunctions like: DVD tray won't open, Squealing or winy noises when turned on, Power won't come on, Screen freezes, Screen turns different colors, DVD NO BURNS, No disc errors, plus more. I've made a webpage explaining how to fix the power supply your self. http://www.ilodvdr05.computed.net/ If yours is working get it away from the heat, like other VCRs or Top of TV this little thing can't handle much heat.

Russell from United States reported August 12, 2006:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R? DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	over 1 year	5 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
My DVDR04 stopped working properly and i tryed everything but nothing worked. I did fine that if you Open up the case pull out the flat computer cord from the back of the drive and the power cord from the back of the drive. Connect it to a Liteon 16X speed duel layer drive Model number: SHW-160P6S10C i bought from walmart just set it on top of your dvd recorder and it will even play duel layer disks that were recorder in computer. It wont record duel layer disks but it will record again like new!!!! Probley any computer DVD Drive will work but thats the cheapest one i came accross i think it was $49.95 at walmart. These DVD recorders just need a new dvd drive and ilo is not alowed to sell us new parts at anyprice so just use a computer DVD drive and its back to new.

Joe from United States reported June 07, 2006:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR CDRW	~~DVD-R~~ ~~DVD-RW~~ ~~DVD-R DL~~	DVD+R DVD+RW ~~DVD+R DL~~	~~VCD~~ XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3 WMA 32kbit/s CVD?	over 1 year	6 of 10
~~DVD-RAM~~
Comments:
I had this ILO DVDR04 for about a year and a half and back in December it stopped recording back in December and before that it would only record for a halfan hour and then stop i also tried the frame ware techsupport sent me and still does not work can some one help me that be great thanks

ThyPentacle from United States reported March 21, 2006:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR CDRW	DVD-R DVD-RW DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	over 1 year	9 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
Great recorder. Easy to hack. Just popping on here to let people know that if your drive dies (as mine did a few days ago) you can pop in an old Lite-On DVD+/-/R/RW 16X Dual Format DVD Writer. (Not dual layer.) I had an extra one of these laying around and it was either put that in or trash the recorder. Not sure of the model number of the drive. Think it was SOHW-813s or something like that. (Not taking unit apart again to see, might break it. ;) Note, though the drive works great in the recorder, it is much louder than the one that was in it. Also, you will have to cut up your front plastic cover to make room for the drive door to pop out. Just carve out the curved open slot area next to the display and pop in the drive without taking the drive apart. Mount with glue or brace it from the back with the drive pushed up to as far forward the front of the unit as possible and the drive door clears fine. Just one way to save your unit if you are about to trash it. Works fine for me as I only use it to record VHS rental movies I can't find on DVD.

Art from United States reported March 11, 2006:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	~~DVD-R~~ ~~DVD-RW~~ DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3 CVD?	360 days	8 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I've had the recorder for about a year. It has not givrn me that many problems at all..

Dennis from United States reported March 06, 2006:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR CDRW	DVD-R DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	~~VCD~~ XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	150 days	1 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I bought my first one (which was my first ever DVD recorder) from Wal-Mart for about $100. It worked well until it failed about two months later. I returned it, received a refund, and tried another one. It failed within about the same time frame. I tried one last time prior to getting another brand of unit. The third one failed within a few weeks. To be fair, when the units were working, I was very happy with the results. However, reliability is the problem, three failed on me pretty quickly. I've since switched to a Sony DVD recorder and Iam pretty happy so far.

otpw1 from United States reported February 28, 2006:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR CDRW	DVD-R DVD-RW DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW Bit DVD+R DL	VCD XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3 VBR ~~WMA~~ CVD?	over 1 year	9 of 10
~~DVD-RAM~~
Comments:
Update. The original ddw451s drive became exceptionally picky about what would & wouldn't work as media. The final straw was when it ruined a finalized DVD+r by "preparing" it. The disc had to be recovered, reauthored and burned again. It would still play pressed discs even in this condition. I had access to a LG 4163b, liteon sohw1693, benq 1620. All recorded fine, prepared discs, better than the original drive. The liteon was the final donor as it was "family". Not a pretty installation, as it involves double sided tape and the face plate for the drive had to stay off. I just noticed a big drawback of the swap; the ability to play factory discs is gone. It goes to the menu and hangs. As this is a glorified capture card to me, I will probably not investigate further. But be advised.

otpw1 from United States reported January 31, 2006:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR CDRW	DVD-R DVD-RW DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW Bit DVD+R DL	VCD XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3 VBR ~~WMA~~ CVD?	over 1 year	8 of 10
~~DVD-RAM~~
Comments:
I use this as a capture device from the rear line-ins only. The front jacks are noisy and have a high pitched whine that is tough to ignore. The discs it creates are not 100% compliant. Especially the first session or title set. The tuner is crap and mono. It is barely usable straight out of the box. And I love this stupid piece of crap. This unit must have its firmware replaced, not once but twice. The last firmware doesn't include the drive firmware updates! So you must upgrade with 1 of the 2 ver 1097 firmwares depending on the burner that they built it with. Then you must update with the hacked 1098 to get the colors right, lp mode and mv killed. Congratulations, you've almost got a usable machine. Now to find reliable media. I use only DVD+RW because this is a glorified capture card to me and the computer will burn the "keepers". With this machine, my computer and dvd decrypter, more than 1/2 of my VHS collection is on DVD. Including the wedding videos! There have to be better DVD recorders out there, but considering the results I get on my VHS caps, I'm very satisfied with the machine. The picture from a quality source is great. I don't recommend it for everyone, but if you need to capture VHS tapes, I do consider it a viable choice.

James G. from United States reported January 11, 2006:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	300 days	2 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
Bought it at Wal-Mart Christmas '04. Set it up in March '05 and used it until January 2nd of '06. I thought it was somewhat touchy as I had to be careful on how fast I selected functions. It would jam and fail if I didn't have patience and be sure to wait for it to complete it's current job. (ie, stopping.) For the price I thought it was pretty good and even bought the new DVR05 model for another room. Jan 2nd and recordings got wierd at 55 minutes of recording or longer. Disk lens cleaners and all tech support/downloads don't help and warranty just ran out so per ILO I'm screwed. I don't think the quality for longevity is an ILO target. I returned the new DVDR05 to Wal-Mart and went to Costco since they provide better quality equipment than Wal-Mart with better warranyies that usually exceed the manufacturer's. I've told Wal-Mart and ILO my feelings per the above and they have just an "oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles" attitude. They don't care.

mmthomas from United States reported October 26, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R? DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	150 days	No rating
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
Worked for many months without problem. RW discs. Last week I recorded by pushing the red record button (instead of normal timer setup) and left the recorder on all night to finish as much as it could get. Disc would not play. Nero on computer will recognize the disc but not transfer any files. Disc was erased on ilo before starting recorder. Show contents screen page does not show the normal blank page after the recorded page. I am thinking that record to end is a badly programmed function in the unit. It may not "finalize" correctly.

auntstefy from United States reported September 06, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	~~DVD-R~~ ~~DVD-RW~~ DVD-R DL?	Few DVD+R DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	90 days	6 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I've had 2 Ilo dvdr04 recorders in the last 6 months. The first one worked good for a couple months and suddenly stopped recognizing any of my blank media (khypermedia) that it had recognized before. I would get invalid disc message on all discs previously recorded and in order to get the power off I would have to unplug it. I took that one back to WalMart and bought another ilo dvdr04. That's the one that I have now and it still works but won't recognize 50% of the media I burn. It's really irritating that I've wasted so many discs. I've tried memorax and maxell and the percentage rate is about the same. I'm considering just getting a different brand of recorder just not sure which one would be better than ilo. All I can say to future buyers is to make sure that if you record something important don't delete it off of tivo or get rid of the original because there is no guaratee that the recorded copy will play the next time you put it in the Ilo.

FKrueger from United States reported September 05, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	7 days	8 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
This is my 2nd ILO, it had a frame dropping problem out of the box, as they are no longer available at Walmart, I opted to send it in for repair. Ilo was great, they sent me anoter R04 within 3 weeks. Unlike Philips that took 5 mos to repair their warrenty return. And, my philips is acting up again, I took a dvd I started in the Philips DVDR75, burned a 2nd movie to it in the ILO and finalized it? Nice.

Erasmo from United States reported August 21, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3 CVD?	240 days	9 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
This unit is a great buy for the price, the hacks work as well. I can now transfer unreleased VHS to DVD with no problem. I first burn them on a DVD+RW(DVD_VR), then create a more professional DVD using my computer with ULead Video Studio 9.0(which has motion menus and background music, etc.) The only problem I've had is with 16X DVD+Rs it has a very hard time reading them. I used Memorex and they don't read well on this unit. I normally use TDK 8X(DVD+R), Sony 8X(DVD+R) or Imation(DVD+RWs). As mentioned in another post, this unit does manage to clean up a VHS tape. I need to find a Dual Layered DVD+R that will work on this unit, so if anyone has found one, let me know. Thanks,

Becka from United States reported August 15, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? ~~DVD-R DL~~	Few DVD+R DVD+RW? ~~DVD+R DL~~	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	150 days	3 of 10
~~DVD-RAM~~
Comments:
I have had so many problems with my ILO recorders. I also have the INVALID DISC or FAILED DISC problem. I was given one for christmas and it crapped out in 3 months and then I returned it and got the one I have now hoping it would work and it hasn't worked for 2 months and I've only had it for 5. I suggest writing or calling the ILO support and asking for a new one or for them to fix the one you have. I just did that today, I will let you know what happens. I have about 25 discs with stuff recorded on them and it won't read them. :( (P.S. I did do everything the ILO support asked me to do with the downloads and unplugging it for a while, nothing worked.)

Mike from United States reported August 12, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR CDRW	DVD-R DVD-RW DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3 CVD?	90 days	5 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I already copied many of VHS to DVD with this ILO DVDR04 without any problem.Now I tried to copy more VHS but all the DVD+R discs are getting damaged and finally DVDR04 says INVALID DISC, also all the DVDS recorded by this unis can not be played but can play in other DVD player (Sanyo dvw-5000). In DVDR04 can play any other DVD. Anybody around have an diea what could be happend ? Thanks, will appreciate any help.

rydude07 from United States reported August 06, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R? DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	1 days	No rating
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
at ILO site it says that vhs with copyright cannot be recorded? But you guys said it has microvision free?

Tom Brown from United States reported July 03, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	360 days	10 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I had many problems when I first purchased this machine. I have to say that the tech support is the best I have come across. They were,to a person, as polite and helpful as could be. They finally swapped me for a new one and so far no problems. The one thing I miss with this is the fact that it does not record or play the captions.

Richard Ott from United States reported June 10, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	21 days	8 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
Initially had a problem with it stopping on a homemade VHS tape with a "Protected Content". Firmware update for January 05 fixed that. DVD's recorded could not be read on my son's Apex AD-1201. I copied the disk on my computer with Nero 6.6.08 and the copy worked on his Apex. I could copy the Ilo DVD+R onto either DVD+R or DVD-R disks and they worked on his Apex. My Apex AD-1500 read the disks OK right from the Ilo.

FKrueger from United States reported June 10, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD XVCD XSVCD?	SVCD SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	60 days	10 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
Best Bang for the buck, got 2 friends to buy them, ran the 3hr and mv hack and they're happy. Just wish it had a "Sport" mode like the Philips 75.

nidan75243 from United States reported June 08, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	Few DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	90 days	5 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
Just wanted to let everyone know a couple of other things I've noticed. First, if you're within 90 days of purchasing this unit, take it back to Walmart and get them to credit you back their latest price difference. Since I got both my units in March, I've done this about twice per unit. When I purchased mine, it was like $150, now they're down to $98. Walk in with the unit to their service desk, complain about the lower price, ask for the difference, and they'll give it to you. Also, you can completely return it, and ring it up again, and you get another new 90 days! Someone I know is doing this every couple of months, and is turning his into a free rental he says, until he completely takes it back. ;-) I'm keeping mine! Second, verify your burns, over 100 I've had to re-do! Between both ILO's (same model), roughly 30-50% of my +R burns are bad! If you don't have Nero, at least go to: www.cdspeed2000.com and get "cdspeed.exe". It is a FREE part of Nero that tests the files and surface structures of your DVD's (and cds too). Do BOTH tests by going through the menus there: extra-scan disk (check file and surface tests). And see how many bad +R's you have! Again, be sure to do BOTH tests! Here's my verdict on that. Out of about 6 different brands of +R media NONE have produced less than 50% errors! Out of 100% of +RW's, I've had NO errors. Yeah, I know +RW's are expensive, but here's something else I found playing around. The ILO doesn't seem to like +R's as much as it does +RW's, when we're talking about "Error Free" burns. So I'm burning everything on RW's, and then on my PC via CloneDVD, copying the RW's to +R's. And guess what? No errors anywhere across that process. Yes, I know it's a pain doing the extra step, but I'm testing all RW's and subsequent R's this way, with the cdspeed.exe test, and NO ERRORS compared previously to about 30-50% errors! Again, about 6 different +R media brands, and the percentage of errors via those tests remained consistent. Verdict? Seems both my ILO's love RW's more than R's.

plokent from United States reported June 06, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	90 days	8 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I've purchased my third unit today from my local Georgia WalMart. This will be my back up unit in case one of the other two units should die. They've marked the DVDR04 down to $98.74. I was initially worried that it may not scan with the $98.74 price since there were at least three different price tags on this unit. They seem to be replacing these with the new DVDR05 which has been reported elsewhere as being a clone of the CyberHome CH-DVR 1600. I've been using CompUSA's bargain DVD+Rs and DVD+RWs with almost no problems. Noted the tinting problem when recording "Combat! in Color" episodes in the 6 hour mode off of Cox digital cable. My "solution"was to adjust the TV color setting and watch it in black & white. The firmware hacks by Guitarman and the remote hack for region code free by ericleala work great!

vinnie1984 from United States reported May 10, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R DVD-RW DVD-R DL?	DVD+R? DVD+RW? DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	30 days	6 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I'm thinking about trading for the DVDRHD04 but does the macrovision hack work on this machine too?

nidan75243 from United States reported May 09, 2005:
Read features:						Time used:	Rating:
CDR? CDRW?	DVD-R? DVD-RW? DVD-R DL?	DVD+R DVD+RW DVD+R DL?	VCD? XVCD? XSVCD?	SVCD? SVCDSubs? SVCDTracks?	MP3? CVD?	60 days	5 of 10
DVD-RAM?
Comments:
I'm going to revise my previous review of 10/10 to 5/10. I've had one of my ILO's for 61 days and a 2nd one (same model) for about 45 days. The first one has done about 240 dvds and the 2nd one about 180 dvds. Each is burning about 4 dvds a day, on Sat and Sun each does more than 4 per day. Thank God I bought both online and got the 3 yr extended warranty for $17, which I highly recommend!!! The first one is having major problems and I'm taking it back to Walmart today. It's gotten to the point where you can't "load" any brand of blank dvd. When you attempt too, it just spins it endlessly, and doesn't ever stop the "preparing" phase. Again, doesn't matter what brand of media! Additionally, I can't turn it off easily with the "power" button when it endlessly does the "preparing" phase. The remotes "power" button doesn't do anything while it's doing this, and I have to either hold the "power" button down on-the-unit for about 15 seconds or physically unplug it. Over the past few weeks it's done this constantly spinning/"preparing" thing a couple of times, but unplugging it has reset it. As of thise weekend, now unplugging doesn't reset it and when you plug it back in, it just keeps spinning. I suspect when it starts doing this (back a few weeks ago), that's indication of impending death! Also, I've noticed that many of the various brands of DVDs it's made over the past few weeks, about 50% of them have errors! As a result, I've lost alot of money, making coasters on this 1st unit. 2nd one in the other room is still chugging along fine, no errors on its burns! FYI - Nero has a cool disk checking utility that does a "file error check" and "scan disk" on each dvd. Takes about 5-10 minutes per dvd. That seems to be a fairly reliable indicator of coasters. Also, System Suite 5 (V-Com) has a "Media Verifier" feature which seems accurate. I am now using both tests on each ILO copy. Final thoughts - keep an eye on your ILO burns, verify your copies, cause the "finalize" portion of the ILO doesn't guarantee the copy is good! And don't forget to buy the 3 yr ext warranty for $17!

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