Digital recorders continue to appear in ever-increasing varieties, from hard-drive-based personal video recorders, standalone DVD recorders and combinations of the two.A few stalwarts of the videocassette era also add VHS.
It's unusual to see Pioneer join the club because its video background has been in discs - from laser disc to DVD - but given that its digital recorders are among the finest for features and usability, it's a welcome development.
Unlike the slim build we expect with digital recorders,the DVR-RT601H is large and heavy due to the VHS mechanism.Its looks are more functional,too,with exposed front AV inputs (no i.Link for DV camcorders incidentally) and buttons of various shapes.
Rear inputs are fairly limited,as most things are built in,but there are two RGB Scarts for TV output or to take a decent input from digital TV boxes.The recorder also has component video for progressive scan playback but there's no HDMI digital AV connection.
This three-in-one combi copies from VHS to hard-disk drive (HDD) or straight to recordable DVD with either DVD-R or DVD-RW. It's best to go via the HDD so you can rename or edit before transferring to disc (at high speed in most circumstances). You can backup home-made DVD recordings onto new discs using the HDD or put live or previously recorded content onto VHS too.
The DVR-RT601H is based mostly on Pioneer's DVR-530H harddisk/ DVD recorder,except that instead of an ample 160GB,the HDD is only 80GB,so the capacity is halved to between 11-227hr depending on quality mode.The better news is that, in contrast to the company's disappointing new flagship,the DVR-930H,this model contains all of the 2005-2006 range's outstanding features,including the ability to edit or dub to DVD while recording something else on HDD.
Other notable features include GuidePlus,which provides free onscreen TV listings and sets the timer for you (including changing channel on set-top-boxes automatically).There's no built-in tuner for Freeview channels, unfortunately,but it's up to date in most other ways.There's an HDDonly 15Mbps top recording mode, support for larger-capacity Dual Layer DVD-R,and you can play or copy from DVD-RAM or use the digital 'jukebox' feature to store CD audio on hard drive.
