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Got a comment? Email - CLICK HERE With the market as it is today,VideoCD and DVD recording have come somewhat cheaply into the households of the world - where do you spend the money? What do you go for at this moment today? What is really the best media for what your recording needs? Is it cost? Is it quality? Maybe both? The only true VCD recorder on the market today is the Tarapin unit, which costs about $285 if you shop around online ($199 at Sam's Club 2.26.02 I bought one). Panasonic makes a new DVD recorder for $999 off the shelf. Which is better? The DVD recorder of course, if you want quality over cost. VideoCD's can also be done using nothing more than a CDrom and some software. This isn't about just quality though. It is also about the format to use for recording TV series for your personal collections. DVD - $1000 for the unit and about $20 per DVD disc which holds a lot of material. Unfortunately right now that DVD you recorded may not play on the other DVD player in the house, or the one at a friends house. There are at least three different formats being used right now, and the industry has yet to settle on one format. VCD - $300 and less than $1 per disc. You will only be able to record one one-hour episode to disc with or without commercials. Perhaps two on the 80 minute discs minus the opening and closing credits. Quality: DVD will be as outstanding as the media you record it from. A Satellite recording will be digital quality. VCD on the other hand will be VHS quality at best. There will not be any better quality than that, no matter what you do. But... How it Plays: The DVD you record will only play on a DVD player, but more than likely is not going to be compatible on some other DVD units out there. That VHS only quality VCD will however will play in nearly every DVD player on the market, and ... it will play on any CDrom attached to the computer. Biggest Questions: How much stuff are you going to record and how often will you watch it? If you put that series on DVD or VCD how many times are you going to watch it? I am not talking about a favorite episode or something like that. The series. How many times will you run through the series watching every episode? Take a few minutes and really think about it. Not that often. Is it worth the cost of a DVD recorder just to have it in digital quality? Cost: DVD disc $20 for how many episodes? Say five discs for one season of 22 episodes at $80. VCD disc at .50 per episode including . $11 per season. Now, once again I ask - how many series do you want to record onto disc? Nine seasons of say... the X-Files on VCD $99 - DVD $720. Hmmmm - we're looking at $700 for just one complete series. Hell, you might as well by the seasonal boxed sets people are getting ripped off on for that price. At least you'll get the extra material. But on the VCD side the cost is awesome. For that $700 you can buy 700 discs and record a lot of complete series. Overview: Either format kicks the crap out of VHS hands down. Price, storage and longevity go to both formats. DVD wins for quality and VCD for cost. If you are anything like me, cost is very important. Using VCD, you can record more for less. And if you are recording a few series then VideoCD is by far the best route. VHS quality has been good enough all these years in movies and series recording. For how much these series or even movies will be watched I can be extremely happy with VCD rather than DVD. Until DVD recorders drop to VCR prices and the discs to VCD disc, VideoCD is the best recording method for the videophile. When you can use a format in DVD or Computer CDrom how can you go wrong? My Take - It's pretty obvious I favor the VCD format at this time, rather than DVD. You have to make your own decisions based on your needs, and your money situation. Get what is right for you. NOTE: VideoCD/VCD's have better quality when played in a DVD player than the CDrom on a computer. Area Winners: Format: VCD Tim Blackwell
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