The DVR-8100 is certainly cheap - it and can be bought for as little as £135 online. It also comes from Yamada - hardly a home cinema heavyweight - is a basic silver box and has a remote that looks cheap and flimsy. But can it rise above its uninspiring origins?
The absence of a HDD is hardly surprising at this price, and it's good to see that the Yamada does at least support both writeonce (DVD R) and rewriteable (DVD RW) discs - although editing features are limited. What's more, it boasts progressive scan (for top-notch pictures to your flatscreen TV via component video outputs) and it is multiregion (meaning it can play US Region 1 DVDs) straight out of the box.
It also has a decent set of video inputs, including two Scarts - one RGB in and the other RGB out, which is good at the price - and an i.Link input at the front for DV camcorders (a luxury often trimmed off budget models).
Easy does it
Another good point is the EasyGuider disc tool menu, which has a good on-screen display, with big clear graphics and simple stages - which is more than can be said for the Philips deck in this group test! The 'auto-tuning' isn't so hot, however - it gave us ITV where BBC1 should be, and an unholy mess elsewhere, so you may have to delve into the installation menu to rearrange them.
There are four recording settings, ranging from the top quality HQ mode (1hr), to SLP (6hrs). Other recording features are scarce. There's no chasing playback or VideoPlus timer setting, leaving just manual timer entry. Recorded disc navigation is not too intuitive either, and the only editing options are to protect or erase individual titles on a disc, and rename them.
What's more, while you can delete a DVD RW title, you can't overwrite anything unless it's the last programme - rendering the RW format almost as limited as DVD R. Your only other option is to erase the whole DVD RW and use it again!
