JVC DR-M 1

...we can see where the JVC DR-M1 sits in today's marketplace.

There are essentially three formats of recordable DVD, and within two of those are R (recordable once only) and RW (recordable and erasable to re-use). Some of these DVDs will play on most domestic DVD players, and some won't. The types are:
* DVD-R and DVD-RW. The JVC uses these disks. The blanks are much the cheapest (DVD-R about 22p each and DVD-RW about 45p each). ...
...JVC can record DVD-RW in two ways, namely Video mode which nearly all DVD players can play, but editing is limited, and VR mode which is very flexible but relatively few DVD players can cope with. My Panasonic DVD-S75 however does.
* DVD+R and DVD+RW, often known as the Plus format. The JVC does NOT record onto these DVDs, though I've found that it will play them. The blanks are around twice the price of the DVD-R and DVD-RW disks, especially ... more

All DVD recorders are complex pieces of kit, and so this review necessarily goes into some detail to help you make the right choice for you. The situation is compounded by a format war, almost as bad as the old VHS/Beta war which resulted in the low quality format winning, but this time even more complicated.

If you already know about the various formats available, then skip a few paragraphs, but for the rest of us, let's first explain what the DVD formats are, and how they differ, so we can see where the JVC DR-M1 sits in today's marketplace.There are essentially three formats of recordable DVD, and within two of those are R (recordable once only) and RW (recordable and erasable to re-use). Some of these DVDs will play on most domestic DVD players, and some won't. The types are:

• DVD-R and DVD-RW. The JVC uses these disks. The blanks are much the cheapest (DVD-R about 22p each and DVD-RW about 45p each). Nearly all DVD players play these DVDs. The JVC can record DVD-RW in two ways, namely Video mode which nearly all DVD players can play, but editing is limited, and VR mode which is very flexible but relatively few DVD players can cope with. My Panasonic DVD-S75 however does.
• DVD+R and DVD+RW, often known as the Plus format. The JVC does NOT record onto these DVDs, though I've found that it will play them. The blanks are around twice the price of the DVD-R and DVD-RW disks, especially at mail order prices. Slightly fewer DVD players can play these, but most do. Editing facilities on DVD+RW are slightly better than DVD-RW, and this is why a few DVD players can't cope with the format.
• DVD-Ram disks are about £5, much the most expensive type. The JVC also supports writing to DVD-Ram. This format is supremely flexible, and even allows for simultaneous recording and playing! The JVC can do this, you can watch the start of a recording before the end of the program has finished being recorded. This is called "Chasing" recording, or by JVC "Live Memory", and is very handy if you are watching a good programme when something interrupts you for a few minutes. Relatively few DVD players can play DVD-Ram, though again my Panasonic DVD-S75 can, and some computer drives will play it too. It's assumed you will play this on the JVC and probably erase the disk later.

OK, lecture over, hope you're still with me! Some DVD recorders support the DVD-R/DVD-RW format, such as Panasonic, Pioneer, Toshiba and JVC. Of those, some also support the DVD-Ram format as does this JVC, and also Toshiba. Other manufacturers, notably Philips and the cheapy manufacturers support DVD+R/DVD+RW, but don't knock them, they sell well. Some manufacturers support both DVD-R/DVD-RW AND the DVD+R/DVD+RW formats, such as Sony and computer drive makers like Liteon. These machines seem to have it sewn up, but they don't because they don't support DVD-Ram, and some of them have other serious weaknesses.It's a real pity the JVC didn't also cover the DVD+R/DVD+RW format because this does offer more editing flexibility for DVDs which you intend to share with DVD-player owners. So that counts against the JVC DR-M1.

However, what the JVC does do, it does very well. For example, it is well connected. There are two rear SCART sockets, plus extra audio and S-Video terminals for output at the rear and input at the front, as well as DV-in for connecting a digital camcorder. I've never seen another DVD recorder which is this well connected. But alas it blows away some of the gains here by failing to provide any RGB input, and surely this is a necessity for connecting a Sky box and getting the best possible picture. Most Sky boxes don't have S-Video out, mine doesn't. So I have to use the composite video input for Sky, which is good but not fantastic. It does integrate very well with a Sky Digital box in every other respect, for example it has "loop through" so you can connect the Sky box to the DVD recorder and then the DVD recorder onto whatever the Sky box used to be plugged into, be it TV or AV amp etc. When the JVC is switched off or recording, it sends the Sky signal on as though it wasn't even there. This is so useful in practice, you wouldn't believe it, and it's such a pity it only works on the Composite Video signal not the higher quality S-Video. You can even watch satellite programmes through the JVC when it is recording from elsewhere - this machine has been really well thought out. But this features is marred slightly by what it does to the clock - more later.

Also the JVC comes with a remote sender which means it can change channels for you on your Sky box, according to the Video Plus codes you have requested be recorded. Wow! (My sender was missing, JVC wanted £28, so I built one for 28p instead, but I digress...) Note this works with Sky not Sky Plus, but if you have the latter then you would use that for timed recordings.

When it comes to connecting up, you may hit the problem I had should you be using a AV amplifier. I connected the JVC up as though it was a DVD player, which if course it is, but then found I only had sound when playing DVDs. The digital audio output did nothing when used as a tuner for TV programmes for example. I worked around this by means I won't bore you with, but it can be a real consideration if this is going to be your only DVD player. One more thing around the back is a fan, which seems to run continuously. However the noise from this is pretty well imperceptible so I'm glad it's there, it should be good for long term reliability.

There is a socket labelled AV Compulink III on the rear, which is described in the manual as "Not function with this unit" (sic). Well if it's "not function" then don't fit it, and better still, proof-read the manual?!

The JVC allows for completely variable bit-rate recording, a feature lacking on many (most?) DVD recorders. All machines allow you to select basic running time vs quality, but the JVC allows you to fine-select this, for example setting it to record 2.5 hours on a DVD gives very good results and a sensible running time. The Liteon LVW-5005 for example only allows 2 hours (may be too short) and 4 hours (low quality).

In use, it takes time to fully use all the editing features of the JVC. The first time I did some editing to keep a portion of recording I really wanted, I ended up keeping everything EXCEPT the bit I wanted, darn it. Practice makes perfect, and I've pretty well mastered it now. The JVC can be very slow to do things, especially to speak to you again after you hit STOP to a recording. "Please wait" it says for ages. Also it's slow when you first load a DVD or CD. I've had an occasion where a heavily edited DVD-RW disk can refuse to record or sometimes even play on the JVC, though it will play on my Panasonic DVD player. Another time it got confused when finishing a DVD-Ram recording. It's possible there are some slight bugs in the JVC firmware which cause this sort of problem. It seems that some types of DVD work faster than others, so try some 2X or 4X blanks.

I've said enough about disk formats that I don't want to kill the subject, however there is a weakness here. If you create a DVD-R (to play on other people's DVD players), you may set it all up with nice chapters in all the right places. But when you finalise the disk to make it playable anywhere, it promptly dumps all your chapters and simply puts them in every 5 minutes. What drivel. Now I've not done much with DVD+R machines like Philips, but I think they give you more chapter control than this. If you are mostly making recordings to play on this machine though, the editing facilities, along with a built-in library database, will make you more than happy.

The first (very cheap) no-branded DVD-R single-write disk I tried, looked like it had recorded OK but then refused to play on anything. A different, equally cheap DVD-R was fine. I settled on "Datawrite Red V3" DVD-R disks at 22p each from www.svp.co.uk which work well, but are no longer available. Try the Datawrite Titanium 16X DVD-R from the same supplier, they seem very good. For re-writables I used Datawrite DVD-RW disks, the same ones I used on my old Pioneer "104" DVD writer installed in my PC, and these worked well. However the TDK Scratchproof DVD-RW from www.svp.co.uk are simply tops, I've got a heap of these and use them like video tapes for everyday recording.

My first use of a DVD-Ram disk, a £2 "SmartBuy" gave mixed results; whilst the chasing record & play is impressive, I found parts of the disk tended to break into blocks occasionally. A Datasafe DVD-Ram was even worse. I was beginning to suspect a fault until I tried a Panasonic 3-speed DVD-Ram disk (£5 from the local Panasonic shop) and the results were perfect. Argos do a good deal on a multipack of these excellent Panasonic DVD-Ram disks, so stick with them.

CD-Text is not displayed, poor show there JVC, no excuse at all. MP3 recorded CDs are supported, but not the clever ID3 tags which give extra track information, only the filenames. A few DVD recorders (Liteon LVW-5005) can also record audio and video to CD, the JVC cannot. But the ability of such machines to create anything very useful like this is weak, and the JVC isn't missing much by not having CD writing capability. There's an MP3 navigation system for CD, but I found that, despite the manual saying otherwise, it's also possible to play a DVD full of MP3 tracks. This won't play on my Panasonic player, so I'm impressed. So you could use a computer to record 1000 MP3 tracks on a DVD for really long playback time, ideal for use with a shop audio system for example, it can play all day. However, when being used beyond it's original spec in this way, there's no screen from which to select albums or tracks, and you can't scan within tracks. All you can do is jump forwards and backwards.

JVC clearly tried very hard to make this an attractive piece of equipment, a showpiece (unlike the Liteon which looks rather plain). There are blue LEDs and a kind of reflector for the light, and a mirror look to part of the front. A display tells you what is going on and has some graphics, albeit not as informative as they might be. The Philips machines for example, make it much more obvious when they are in record mode. I do say that JVC tried to make it attractive, but in my opinion they failed. It has some ungainly curves to the front, and a disjointed and confused layout. A bit like the last Ford Scorpio, it's got all the right ingredients but ends up looking like a frog. Compared to my Panasonic DVD-S75 player, it's just not beautiful. You may prefer the facelifted JVC DR-M10 which has exactly the same functionality.

The remote control is quite good, and can be set up to drive many TV sets and satellite receivers (like my Sony TV and Panasonic Sky box). Making mention of the word "Sony" in a JVC manual must have been painful, these two companies truly hate each other (back to VHS and Beta disagreement!). The remote looks as though it might be illuminated, but it's not. The instructions say that the remote forgets the satellite and TV multi-brand settings when the batteries are replaced. This is poor, it should remember these. I've not yet proven this weakness.

The timer is more powerful than most. A good Video Plus implementation, with the Sky link sender, and VPS (starts the recording at the right time even if it is running late) is all good news. Chasing record, where you can record and play simultaneously, is a clever trick never possible with video tape. There's a chance now that I won't keep missing my favourite programmes. It's obviously not quite as good as Sky Plus, but it's the next best thing in my book. The clock keeps on time automatically, or it should do. In practice the clock keeps terrible time, because the automatic clock-setting feature does not work if you use the recorder to loop through your satellite signals (and you probably will). Quite how JVC messed up this feature is a mystery! Furthermore, if you want to use loop-through with a satellite receiver using the superior S-video signals, as provided by Sky Plus and a few other Sky boxes, you will find that the loop-through function does not work even though the manual says it does. The manual has a number of errors around this subject, describing "Sat S-Video" options which don't exist.

What is a neat feature is that you can leave the Sky box to display your favourite programmes using the usual Sky Planner, and have the DVD recorder automatically switch on and record them for you, without also having to set the DVD recorder's own timer. So you never need to miss your programmes; just leave an empty DVD-RW or DVD-Ram in the machine and use this feature by pressing SAT on the front of the recorder for 3 seconds. Next time your Sky box powers up, the DVD recorder starts. If you are already watching Sky at the time, it waits until the Sky box is switched off and then comes on again. Simple and brilliant.

Picture quality is very good, excellent even, depending on the amount you try to fit on a DVD. You'll never see recordings as good as this from an analogue video recorder, not even a high quality SVHS or Hi8 one. As a player of course it has all the usual features, and includes Component Out and Progressive Scan, should you have a suitable and expensive monitor to enjoy these. Sound quality is just as good, but it's the first "video recorder" I've ever used which has no way of manually controlling the recording level. If you record acoustically demanding programmes such as opera, you may find this an unfortunate compromise. If the lack of recording level meters and controls is an issue to you, consider instead the Toshiba DR1 DVD recorder, which is very similar in many respects but includes VU meters.

The reason I personally chose this over some cheaper models was the built-in digital timebase corrector (TBC). "Do what?" you say, "sounds like a gimmick". No, a digital timebase corrector is a vital piece of electronics if you are recording from shakey old video tapes. It rebuilds the signal and re-times it, largely removing wobble and jumping which old tapes can produce. I have such a feature in my semi-pro Hi8 edit deck, and it's proven its worth over the years, with lots of video editing. One of the tasks I have for the JVC is recording people's old Beta and V2000 camcorder footage to DVD for them, so a TBC is a must. You probably won't notice the difference if you are only recording from Sky, but this is the sort of feature which sets this JVC apart from the £150 DVD recorders you will see around. The JVC was £500 when it was first released...

Enough, enough I here you cry! Cut to the chase, should we buy this DVD recorder? Or what about the JVC DR-M10 (the facelifted but essentially identical replacement)? I picked up this one as a customer return from Richer Sounds for £175, so it was a bargain. If you see one for less than £250 you should consider it. The Toshiba DR1 is virtually identical in features - so similar that I suspect beneath the skin they are essentially the same machines - and includes VU meters, and icon menus. Consider the Toshiba then, I just picked one up for £150.

If your budget is much less then maybe get a £200 Philips, Yamada or Liteon. If money is no object then consider a Panasonic with built in hard disk (care, though, no DVD-RW support on most), or better still get Sky Plus and a DVD recorder too. So far, I do like this JVC. I really do like it. And that from someone who has always avoided JVC due to their known unreliability (indeed mine was faulty when I first bought it and had to be repaired).

Having owned this one (and had to get the display replaced on day 1 as it happens), and had some time to understand what the designers where trying to do, I believe JVC are genuinely trying to create a good product. This might be the machine for you...

UPDATES:
DECEMBER 2004. Ahhh darn it, the JVC has broken down again. There's a known fault where it will flash "LOADING" in the display and just crash. JVC won't tell me what the cause is, but I know it is a resistor change and firmware update. Worse still, this crash confused the analogue tuner, which now thinks I live in Eastern Europe and won't properly tune to UK channels (no sound). Mine's out of guarantee too! But Richer Sounds, bless them, have agreed to get it repaired for me anyway. ..... JANUARY 2005: Back from Richer Sounds, suitably repaired. Happy again.....
JULY 2005: Still working well. I've found it is occasionally possible to crash the machine during a recording if the input video is extremely unstable, such as from totally worn out video tapes. If this happens it reboots and carries on recording a few minutes later. Not really a criticism because it takes an attrocious signal to make this happen.
OCTOBER 2008: I've now migrated onto the JVC DR-MH200 DVD recorder with built in hard disk, which is similar or better than the DR-M1 in almost all respects, the only downside being that the MH200 cannot pause during a recording while the DR-M1 can. But I still use two DR-M1 machines for my business. One of them took to crashing, and I had to rebuild the power supply, which is way beyond most people's DIY electronic abilities. It seems to be a common problem with them, and the key to a long life is to keep the JVC cool and well ventilated. Still the DR-M1 and DR-M10 are worth considering if you see one cheap enough. 

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