hard disk recorder advice

C

cmostech

Active member
Im am lookin for a portable video recorder i can plug into my dvx and record straight to hard drive. I was looking for something other than than the $600 on at B&H. I would like something that has a screen to view what i record also. like a personal video player. and ofcourse no compression or anything like that, full res.
Thanks for the great site guys! its great to know i don't only have a great camera but also i got a great support site with it! woo hoo.
 
I don't think what you're describing exists, and if it did I bet it would cost $$$. Check out DV Rack, I think it comes closest. But you'll need a PC.
 
then i guess i'll re-think what i want, what would be the best/cheapest way to record direct to a hard drive without a pc?
 
Firestore is the way to go. From what I've read online, people have had bad experiences with the other cheaper options out there - drive failing, not recording, yada, yada. I've got a firestore and it works great. So much so, That I almost never use tape anymore. It is a HUGE time saver, and has paid for itself through the increased productivity I now have.

One word of caution tho- their tech support is not good at all. They never respond, and if they do, their answers confuse you even more. It can be really frustrating. If you get a FS and need help getting it to correctly record 24pa, checkout my resluts / how-to at: http://www.235studios.com/html/tutorials.html
(the basic jist is to record in normal quicktime mode.)
 
The nNovia QC is just the opposite -- they were great about support when I had problems, but the problems were never fully resolved. And I know it ruined one critical location shot that I had to take a half a day to redo.

If I were starting over, I'd probably shoot tape + HD. The problem I chose to overlook when I switched from tape to HD only: not having the original media on tape. Hard to find a good long-term storage solution for many GB of footage.
 
I have mentioned this several times, both here and on the DVR message board. It didn't seem to light a fire with anyone, but I still think it would be a good idea. Maybe you pay more for a tablet, or they're not as reliable...I don't know.

Not as portable, but better than a naked laptop, is this case I bought:

http://www.kata-bags.com/Item.asp?pid=226&cid=62&perentId=4&ProdLine=4

It has side and top panels that keep the lighting pretty consistent on the LCD, and it's built like a tank.
 
Seems like you could get a bracket to attach the whole thing to your tripod

Dell has a 12.1 in. screened notebook with 1 gb of ram and a 100 gb 7200 speed hd for less than 1500.00.

then you have a field monitor also.
 
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