CDFreaks presents Lite-On LVW-5045 HDD+DVD standalone Recorder review

I have to make a choice between the 5045 or the 5014 - for Radio Shack - I was told by Lite On that the 5045 is closer to Tivo - I have satellite bbox - not for anything heavy duty but need some pro advice here -

Also looking into buying a 5045, dont know if info maybe under this site but could also try the Liteon User group, but will need to register. Alot of info on troubleshooting/firmware
http://ccgi.mgillespie.plus.com/liteon/smf/index.php

This recorder is one of a number of 'clones' that include the Sanyo DVR H200, Yamada DVR 9000H, and the Targa DRH5100x amongst others.

According to me LVW-5045 is not only competent of playing DVD+R Double Layer Media, it also dose feature recording to CD media, hard drive and DVD……I think you must have one placed in your living room and of course it builds on the capability of LVW-5005……If you need some more reviews about LVW-5045 just check out inods.com and I guess you’ll get good stuff there

Hi,

I just tried to copy a movie from the HDD to a DVD+R DL and the 5045 won't recognize the disk. Does anyone know - definitively, no guesses - if this machine can or can be made to, record on DL.

Otherwise, I have a stack of movies over 2 hours on the HDD recorded in SP mode that I need to copy to DVD. Can I change the recording mode when copying? Or make another copy to the HDD in LP mode?

Help?

David

Here's the answer I got from Lite-ON direct:

Dear David,


Thanks for contacting LiteOnit Customer Service.
Kindly be informed that this unit can't record on DVD+R DL and you can't change the recording mode
during copy.


=======================================
Customer Service Division
Lite-On IT Corp. www.liteonit.com
Email : DC_SUPPORT@LITEONIT.COM
=======================================

So,

Anyone got any ideas about how to get my longer than 2-hour movies onto a single DVD?

BTW - I bought mine on-line and it came modified as 'region free' so it'll play any pre-recorded DVD from any region.

If the recording is too long to fit on a DVD, the only option available is to split it across two DVDs. Unfortunately, this DVD recorder cannot re-encode recordings. If you are familiar with editing DVD content on a PC, what you can do then is merge the two recordings together and re-encode the combined recording on the PC it to fit on a single disc.

Here's a guide to splitting the recording:

1. Highlight the recording and press 'Edit'.
2. Press 'Play' and navigate to a position that you would be happy to split the recording. Assuming that you have chapter inserting enabled, you can navigate quickly through the recording using the 'Next Track' button.
3. Once you reach a suitable spot, press the pause button.
4. Select 'Split' and press 'Enter'.

Now you should be able to put these two parts on two separate discs.

---

Last edited by Seán; 21-02-2006 at 15:36. Reason: Typo

Hii Sean,

Yes - that's what I figured would work. I'm also thinking that after splitting, I could record the split DVD using the 'timer' record and a simple DVD player and set the new HDD recording to LP mode, then join the bits up. Might work

Thanks anyway

David

Yes, this will work but you're going to lose quite a bit because you'll be converting to analog along with all of it's cable connection losses, and then back to a lower digital grade. The best way and to lose the least, is to use a pc.

Sure, using a PC is the way to go - but how to get the signal from the HDD to my PC without using cables and subsequent losses?

Lite-On would have done us all a huge favor by providing a PC link to the HDD so editing etc., could be done without their kludgy DOS 1.2 version of a user interface

Someone earlier in the thread explained the process of splitting the SP video on your hard drive into 2 hour chunks. Transfer them to DVD-RWs. Re-combine and re-code the video on the pc. This process will lose the least amount of information because all of your conversions are being done digitally.

I think all of the pc tools for doing this can be found by googling.

I have tried to Firmware upgrade but little difference (now slightly slower all round).
My main problem was thet the manual says 'Once Only' record should delete once complete but I have to do this manually and it is a pain. If I don't the list will fill up and I won't be able to add more ?
I have tried the support by E-mail (DC_SUPPORT@LITEONIT.COM) but they never answer the question. I had five questions, first they said take it back and replace it, why ? they would all be thee same.
So I wrote again and copied Paul Lo (their Chief Technology Officer) and asked more questions, mainly about the Once Only problem mainly.
This time the one answer reply was this doesn't delete when it ends, well the manual says it does. So I have written again and copied Mr Lo on the mail.
I did the Firmware download a few weeks ago and hoped it would fix this but it didn't.
Any ideas on this or how to get these guys to give a sensible answer ?
I like the recorder, not expensive and easy to use, just annoying that they won't do a simple firmware upgrade to fix the problem, I would alsonlike to go back to the firmware before I upgraded but they don't know (or won't answer) how to do that either.

I feel your pain. If you want to install older firmware, try Guitarman's website. He has all of the older firmware versions that have been hacked to disable MV. I'm not using the latest version because it seems like MV cannot be disabled and there are even some network shows that you won't be able to record. I'm currently using version 201 without any problems.

http://www.ss3f.com/ilo/5045/index.htm

I know the problem with trying to use VCR+. There isn't any fix and the people at Lite-On aren't much help. I have a VCR with VCR+ and it is very easy to use. Press the VCR+ key on the remote, enter the code, press enter and after verifying everything looks good hit OK. Very simple process.

I have a work around that I use on the 5045.

After the timer list fills up, press the timer key on the remote control. This will bring up the screen that will show the first 8 timed recordings.

Press the enter key on any old recorded line that was recorded using the VCR+ function. This will bring up the VCR+ entry screen and the cursor will be in the VCR+ code entry field.

Press enter and then use the back arrow key to delete the old VCR+ number.

Enter the new number and press enter.

Move to the OK field and press enter.

The above works very well for me but not as easy as it could be. Don't look for any fix from Lite-on because this recorder is over a year old and their efforts will probably be going into a new model that they can pawn off on us product testers.

Just had 2 new faults, blank screen on startup, off-on and works okay, also corrupt hard disk which makes films unusable.

I think I may have found the solution to the problems though, I will take this piece of fecal matter back to where I bought it and exchange it for something else. Whatever I get it can't be worse ?????????????

I have a 5045 and it will readily play DVD+R DL discs that I have burned in another drive on my PC. It will NOT recognize blank DVD+R DL discs and therefore will not burn them. When one is inserted it comes back with the msg "invalid disc", or something to that effect.
On another note, I have previously posted here about Liteon's non-existent repair service after warranty expiration. My drive quit recognizing DVD+R discs some months ago, and Liteon refused to replace or repair it. I have discovered that Ritek brand DVD+R discs still work very well in the drive, and thought you all should know about this.
bobc

Just out of curiosity, have you tried cleaning the laser lens in the drive? In the majority of cases I've come across with this (or the 500x series) not recognising new media is due to a dust build-up, most were able to get their drive functioning again using a lens cleaning disc.

I would recommend giving a wet/dry disc a try without any fluid to see if this has any effect. Before trying any fluid, do a residue test by placing a drop on a shiny surface and let it dry to ensure it doesn't leave a residue (some cheaper cleaning discs often come with poor quality inferior fluid). Otherwise, use a high alcohol based cleaning fluid. The wet/dry cleaning discs have an advantage in that their brushes are generally much wider than the brushes on dry-only cleaning discs.

This is my first post to this group. If my note winds up where it's not supposed to be, please excuse the intrusion.

My own experience with the 5045 (bot in Canada) is not good. It's had very little use. Very, very little, maybe 15 hours of DVD recording, the same or less for hard drive. I've had it for a year, and it started to crumble almost immediately, and now won't recognise any media except a CD-R. The history of ever increasing failures has been told before and I won't re-hash them here.

The unit has one feature that I need, and I don't know if it's available anywhere else. It will produce and MPEG1 file when the SLP record mode is used. From time to time I have to produce an MPEG1 file (don't ask). Does anyone know of another brand that has this feature?

I've used two of these units for a year now.
Work well......
1- do not defrag.

2- What model or brand DVD burner can I replace the OEM with.
What model is in there?
What model can I replace it with?
Thanks,
YB

I've tried most of the firmwares and the only one I haven't had any problems with is 197b. It's the only one that can defrag without corruption, seems to hit all the timer recordings correctly and never refuses to record, or stops recording in the middle of, a program.

The only drives I've ever heard of being built in the LVW-5045 are a Liteon SOHW-832S DVD drive and a Seagate U Series 9 160GB HDD but I don't know if those are the only drives they've ever used throught the entire production of this recorder. I remember reading some stuff about replacing the HDD, it was complicated but some claimed it worked even with larger drives. The DVD drive seemed like it could only be replaced with certain other Liteon drives, if at all. Just for the hell of it I tried putting an extra Benq DW-1650 I had in my 5045 and it was able to play discs no problem but couldn't erase or record.

Try the forums here: http://www.techolio.com/

Where can I find firmware 197B

Liteon only lists the newest.
YB

You can start here:
http://www.ss3f.com/ilo/

There is a lot of info on that site.

Well - mine works great, records high quality, timer is good, and it gets a lot of use because I'm using it to capture all my old VHS tapes (PAL & NTSC).

But, I've found a new problem.

I have it wired direct to the TV signal and to AV2 (in) via the cable box so by selecting TV or AV2 I can record either scrambled or regular channels. I have the TV connected in the same way so I can watch either by switching the TV Video selector - so far so good.

Now, I plug my VCR line out into AV1 (front) and I get a high pitched whine on the recording, unplugging the RCA cables one at a time I found a heavy 'thump' and humming through the speakers. I'm guessing I have a ground loop somehow but the 5045 does not have a grounding cable.

Anyone got any ideas on removing this (I assume) 60Hz grounding hum?

Thanks

David

My 5045HD worked like an absolute gem for about a 7 months, then the screen saver would pop up randomly needing a REBOOT to get rid of it !!

I am sure i had a faulty unit so i wont make negative comments about the 5045 in general because of it.

It was a little picky about media to be honest, but i am a cheap skate

Despite only reviewing the Lite-On LVW-5045 about a year and half ago, the player has experienced a very short life, dying with a screen of unusual blue & green colouring (most likely its video DAC has given up). I am not sure what caused this, but one day it was working fine and the next day I turned it on, I was greeted with the following screen:



Regardless of the content I view, including a regular television broadcast, the picture comes out in quite strange blue & green colouring, fluctuating. Even the setup menu shows noise and unusual colours:



To rule out my television, I tried both of its Scart sockets, the composite out and the component out on another display, all with the same issue (including trying its PAL/NTSC selection and various video output modes). Finally, I done a restore to factory defaults and installed the latest firmware, but without any improvement.

As I only watch the occasional television, this DVD recorder has written only a handful of discs since I finished off the review and the DVD recorder itself has never given an issue writing and reading back discs. It was mostly in its standby mode when not in use, except on the occasion I had to do a video transfer or made a recording.

Anyway, it was nice while it lasted.