The DVD Recorder & Me

The sure, the DVD player was cool, but you couldn't record off TV. And VCRs could play and record but your parents owned those, so how is that an advantage? Then along came the DVD player/recorder. It's just what we needed. With a remote similar to the ones used by NASA for the shuttle launches, you're able to record, save, erase or copy, alphabetize, colorize and digitally enhance any program you want.

When we got ours, we put it through its paces, taping at different speeds, different blocks of time and what not. But the big test was transferring our home videos onto a DVD disc. I was really looking forward to this because once I was able to move my stuff from tape, I would be able to run this material through my PC and create and edit video files to share and post online. I couldn't wait to flood Youtube with my Steve Allen recordings, sketches I wrote for public access and skits introduced by Olympia Dukakis.

Big problem: Making sure you get the right DVD blanks to record on. You got your DVD-R disks, your DVD+R disks, your DVD+R/RW disks your DVD-R/RW disks, your DVD\∏ x √∞ disks. You have DVDs that can record and erase, but can't be reused (so what's the point of being able to erase something?). Then the DVD+R which can record something, have it deleted which then can be recorded over again.

The big trick seems to be deciding which machine now to use when recording a show; do I use the VCR to grab the show, which is great if you're going to look at it right away. But then you can't rewind it to the spot you started because someone else might come along and tape over it (I'm talking to you, Mark). If I want to use the DVD recorder, I have to make sure I have enough rewritable disks on hand because odds are I'm not going to want to keep it (Is there bigger symbol of power than being able to delete a show out of existence because you didn't care for it?). And if I do want to keep it, well, I'll just get the DVD of the whole season when it comes out.

At least on the DVD recorder I can sort it out and I don't have to watch it in the order I taped it, which lessens the amount of time I have to fast forward or reverse through the recording.

You know, sometimes it's just easier to just watch whatever's on.