Lite-On LVC 9006 DVD/VHS Recorder

Lite-On LVC 9006
DVD Recorder and VHS Combo

by Adam Cochran
January 2005

The LVC 9006 is a VHS and DVD recorder for the home. You can copy your old VHS videos to DVD or your DVDs to VHS (Provided that they aren't copy protected).

The LVC 9006 is simple enough for anyone to use. I would primarily recommend it to users who want a DVD recorder that is as easy to use as a VCR. The menus are easy to follow and setup goes very quickly. You can record to VHS, DVD-R/+R/-RW/+RW and CD-R/RW disks.

Connections on the back feature the standard RCA pack of Audio and Video ins and outs, but they also feature coax "antenna in" and "out to TV" jacks, these coax link-ups are only for recording the TV signal and passing the TV signal through the device. To watch anything you have recorded, you must use the RCA cables and connections. In other words, if you want to watch DVDs, you need a newer model TV with RCA inputs on the back.

Quality is a mixed issue on this device. When recording old family movies at the highest quality, you can only fit about an hour on a single DVD. You can set it to record at high quality for one hour, but on a few occasions when I left it alone, rather than stopping at the end of an hour, it stepped down the quality of the video leaving a pixilated image.

If you are looking for a device that will transfer your old home movies or old VHS recordings to DVD, there are a few things you should know. One of the biggest benefits to DVDs is menus. I had the idea that I could copy a VHS tape and either by push of a button or automatically it would setup a new menu icon every so often. This is not the case with the 9006. In order to create a new menu item, you must stop the recording process completely, then let it rest for about a minute and a half before you start recording again.

You can create a new chapter, at any point by pushing a button on the remote, but these chapters are only skipped by pushing the track forward button. Individual chapters do not show up as menu icons. Lack of creating menu icons on the fly makes it very difficult to navigate through a recorded DVD if you are like me and only shoot about 10 minutes of video at a time. One of the best reasons to transfer video to DVD is for ease of navigation, the 9006 does little to improve over VHS tape when it comes to the hassle of fast-forwarding to the spot you want to watch.

I have listed a few complaints to start the article, but that doesn't mean I don't like this device, or that I wouldn't recommend it. The 9006 is perfect for someone who is willing to take the time to babysit the dubbing process. I have found it very useful while I have been reviewing it. I think the concept is great, but the Lite-On could have done a little better planning with the feature set.

Perhaps the best reason to take a serious look at the 9006 is price. It is one of the least expensive VCR/DVD recorder combos on the market. It also has many hardware features that similar devices do not. If you have a mini-DV video camera, you will be happy to find the firewire (a.k.a. i-Link or DV) port on the front of the 9006 where it also has standard RCA inputs. If you are using S-Video, those inputs are on the back.

If you are using mini-DV, you should be aware that the 9006 does not sense the starts and stops of the cameras recording and mark them as either chapters or menu items. If you want to mark chapters at specific points, you must do so manually using the same method described above for VHS dubbing.

As I mentioned above, I am happy with the technology and the ease of use of this device, but I anxiously await the next generation with smarter features that cut down the amount of manual editing required to create chapters and menu items. It will also be very nice when home DVD recorders support the new Dual Layer technology.

Castellini on Computers Rating (1-5 mics)
Recommended Market:	Anyone on a budget who is anxious to transfer their video to DVD.
Approximate cost:	$249-$300
Company and Web Site:	Lite-On