The Humax DRT800 DVD Recorder with TiVo service doesn't break much ground in terms of new technologies, but it brings together an impressive array of capabilities in one box--at a price that won't leave you shell-shocked.
At $500, the DRT800 sells for much less than the comparably equipped Pioneer DVR-810H, a groundbreaking product at a budget-breaking price of $1199 when it came out. The DRT800 stores up to 80 hours of content on its 80GB drive, and includes a 4X DVD-R/RW drive that lets you transfer content to disc (it won't allow direct-to-DVD recording). It also serves as a progressive-scan DVD player and plays back audio and MP3 CDs.
I had a ball using the DRT800 to burn DVDs, thanks to TiVo's friendly interface. You can squeeze up to 6 hours onto a DVD using the Basic Quality setting, but it looks pixilated and, frankly, pretty bad. It's better to record at High Quality (2 hours) and spring for extra discs. I successfully burned a dozen DVD-R and DVD-RW discs using both expensive and cheap media, and each worked fine in a variety of DVD players.
The DRT800 isn't perfect. I wish it offered some rudimentary editing tools for cutting commercials or trimming the raw home videos you can import using its various ports (including FireWire). Also, its hard drive seemed a bit noisy.
But these are minor quibbles. If you're a TiVo fan ready to start archiving your favorite recordings--or you simply want a great personal video recorder--the DRT800 is an excellent choice.
Tom Mainelli, PC World
