Mtv Mdr250 Dvd Recorder - Coles Cat. 19-25/3/07

[mddawson]

Coles have another DVD recorder, this time the MDR250 (going by the blurry photo in the cat.).

Features:

250GB HDD

Built in TV Tuner (presumably analogue)

MPEG4 & Divx playback

$299

It appears identical to this Sansui: http://www.oo.com.au/product1.cfm?product_id=4335 which means no cooling fan (more overheating problems?). The Sansui Features:

Record directly to recordable DVD, or the integrated hard disk

250GB memory

Up to 320 hours recording time

Built in DVI enables fully digital hi-fi recording from digital camcorders

5.1 channel Dolby Digital surround sound

24 bit audio DAC

Record up to 102 hours on the hard drive and 6 hours on DVD+/-R and DVD+/-RW discs

5 recording modes: HQ, SP, LP, EP and SLP

High speed recording from hard disk to recordable DVD disc

Built-in analogue TV tuner

Intelligent timer recording

Watch DIVX 5.0 movies or listen to MP3 music

View picture slideshows of JPEG images

Compatible: DVD, DVD+R, DVD + RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, SVCD, DVCD, HDCD, CD-R/RW, CD-DA

Record to the following disc types: DVD+R. DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW

Progressive Scan feature enables high quality video output

Component (YcbCr), S-Video, Composite outputs

Digital audio output (optical, coaxial)

Multiple languages

Multi-angle

Subtitles

Easy to use on screen menus

Full function remote control

Multi zone playback

Accessories: remote controller (batteries included), audio / video cable, and instruction manual

Dimensions: (H) 5cm x (W) 43cm x (D) 35.5cm

[taylordiving]

I just saw this too and was going to post asking about the unit. From previous discussions I remember being warned off of Sansui's because of inferior quality when compared to the (then) Tinshed MTV's. Does this unit represent a drop in quality even though it has the 250GB HD? Memory serves that the programming/editing features were quite limited on the earlier Sanui's, is that a problem here? Any other firsthand info from anyone else out there would be greatly appreciated. If thing is any good it's going to be funny when all of us who purchased MDR100's/MDR5501's/TS2080's for $299 rock on up with our purchase receipts and exchange them all for this MDR250!

[mddawson]

I just saw this too and was going to post asking about the unit. From previous discussions I remember being warned off of Sansui's because of inferior quality when compared to the (then) Tinshed MTV's. Does this unit represent a drop in quality even though it has the 250GB HD? Memory serves that the programming/editing features were quite limited on the earlier Sanui's, is that a problem here? Any other firsthand info from anyone else out there would be greatly appreciated. If thing is any good it's going to be funny when all of us who purchased MDR100's/MDR5501's/TS2080's for $299 rock on up with our purchase receipts and exchange them all for this MDR250!

Sansui like the MTV is just a rebadge brand now. Earlier Sansui & current AWA DVD recorders are made by Ellion but I think this one is from a different manufacturer based mainly on Ellion not producing a similarly styled model. At a guess it probably retains some of the disfunction of the older MTVs. Also its a pity it still has an analogue tuner.

[Joey76]

Hi,

Bought one of these late Sunday night at Coles Mentone. It's an MTV MR250. Had my father-in-law with me at the time, and used his Coles discount card - picked it up for $285. Manual ain't the best, but the warranty card gives out the phone number for the Yale Appliance Group, who have now joined up with Prima Australasia - distributors for Akai, Telefunken, Thomson and a few other brands.

Havn't had much time to tinker, but have managed to record to HDD, record to HDD with timer and record to DVD-R (and finalised). It worked on our JVC DVD Player - so was happy with that. It is noisy in DVD mode though - sounds like a fan. Doesn't seem to happen in TV or HDD mode though. Will monitor how it goes.

Remote is responsive enough - seems better than feedback on previous MTV models.

Menus are easy to use. My father-in-law has a Conia 160GB DVDR, and he said the menu is far better and easier to use on this MTV unit.

I need to figure out now how to connect it to my Teac STB, so I can ditch the analogue tuner on it and go back to digital.

Hope this helps.

[taylordiving]

I decided to break down and buy one of these on Sunday, the last day they were on sale (according to the catalogue). I am very impressed and would trade in my MDR5501 in a heartbeat. Here are the imnprovements I've noticed. The remote does work better than both the 5501 and the TS2080 (or whatever the original 80GB unit was), the menu is better and there are front SVideo and composite video ports. Most importantly, however, is the annoying timeshift bar that used to remain on the screen during viewing. Not only is that gone but you can now vary your timeshift by 1 sec increments if you choose whereas the other units would go in approximately 10-11 sec "chunks" of timeshift. Not a problem when you want to watch a tv programme 30 min after it's started but a big problem when you are recording a sports performance and want the athletes to view their effort 5-8sec after they've taken their turn.

My only complaint is I am noticing a bit more screen "noise", even using SVideo.

For those who want to get one of these (they're a bit hard to find; I had to go to 3 Coles to find one as most stores still have plenty of the MDR1000 still in stock) first double check that it is the 250GB (not the 160GB) and don't worry about the price they quote you but have them scan it. I was quoted $349 on the MDR5501 I bought a few months ago but when they scanned it it came out at $299. Hope this helps anyone interested and anyone having any suggestions about the screen noise I'm enduring please help as necessary.

[Guest thermionic]

G'day all, this is my first post under this userename, it's been so long since I last posted here that I've forgotten my original username... Oh well!

Back on topic then.

I bought a MDR250 last week and curiosity got the better of me. I took the cover off to have a butcher's inside.

The hard drive is: Seagate ST3250820ACE

DVD drive is: noname

The video Processor is: Mediatek MT8158ADE.

I can't find any data sheets on the MT8158ADE, their website doesn't even list them.

I would say it was purpose built for El-cheapo OEMs. Maybe a one off production run.

There does seem to be a firmware for them.

Edited March 29, 2007 by thermionic

[taylordiving]

Two more improvements I've noticed on this unit. There's nowhere near as much heating as takes place with the MDR5501 and when saving files ("titles") on the HDD you can use as many numbers/letters/symbols as you'd like in naming the file as opoosed to the 5501/TS2080 where it was only 8 characters or something. Any details on the firmware?

[Guest thermionic]

One more thing to note: There is a possible electrocution hazard on this unit.

On the left rear of the MDR250 unit where the PSU is mounted there are ventilation slots on the cover. Just beneath these slots are uninsulated wire and components that are at mains potential (240VAC). It would be very easy to put a conducting object (say a paper clip) in through the slots and come into contact with the mains power.

I have informed Consumer Affairs Vic about it and are awaiting their response.

It may well be that the unit will get recalled, which might be good if the unit gets replaced by an unit with a digital tuner.

[bulberry]

Hi, I purchased a MDR250 today, very happy with the unit, very easy to use, menus

are basic one button record, i have it hooked up through my HD box, can only get 576p

via cvbs but i'm quite happy with that, i can always switch back to 1080i when the footy is on

but i think that the unit was a bargain $150.00, $142.50 with my staff discount....

last one left, i grabbed it quick smart.....

bulberry

[taylordiving]

One more bonus I've found/clarified. This unit does dub from DVD to the HDD which none of the other MTV units do, and will do so at a variety of speeds. More and more this unit looks like an incredible bargain, all except for the slight lack of image quality which I am trying to work out.

[techo]

One more bonus I've found/clarified. This unit does dub from DVD to the HDD which none of the other MTV units do, and will do so at a variety of speeds. More and more this unit looks like an incredible bargain, all except for the slight lack of image quality which I am trying to work out.

I have this unit but can't work out how to do this. Can you give a pointer please?

[taylordiving]

I have this unit but can't work out how to do this. Can you give a pointer please?

When I put a dvd into the unit and went into dvd mode and hit either "edit" or "menu" (can't remember which), "dubbing" at a selected speed came up as an option. I didn't verify the process but seeing this was good enough for me.

Hope this helps and, if it does, maybe you can give me some advice on my screen quality (resolution?) issue.

Cheers,

Jack

[techo]

When I put a dvd into the unit and went into dvd mode and hit either "edit" or "menu" (can't remember which), "dubbing" at a selected speed came up as an option. I didn't verify the process but seeing this was good enough for me.

Yes, I can only do that with non finalized DVDs.

Interesting point (to me) is that I can take an unfinalized DVD from this DVDR, read and use it my other DVDRs. They are all cheapies, the MTV MDR5501, MTV TS2080, Kross TS5188 and vice versa. Why I find that interesting is that the MDR250 has Media Tech logic and all the others have LSI.

Hope this helps and, if it does, maybe you can give me some advice on my screen quality (resolution?) issue.

I'm not sure what you mean by resolution, but I had some minor on screen noise when I had this DVDR sitting on top of my old CRT, no more since it has graduated to a nice LCD screen.

*********

I have to say this HDD DVDR is probably the best sub $300 unit I have seen, way ahead of the current offering from Aldi (which is essentially Coles old model). The remote response is better, the software is better, for me the pq is good, it runs much cooler with a good PS and seagate HDD and finally, at last, a lithium clock BATTERY. Wonderful

[techo]

It seems like things could be even better with this unit than I initially thought. I decided to try a blank recordable TDK double layer DVD+R in the MDR250. Well I was shocked, it read the DVD and promptly formatted it, when I checked its state in disk info I had 8118 MB with 242 minutes (4 hours) in SP available. I thought something must be wrong so I removed the DL DVD+R and placed it in a MTV MDR5501 (Coles previous HDD DVDR), knowing that it will read an unfinalized disk from the MDR250, sure enough it read and displayed the MDR250's formatted background, proving the MDR250 actually wrote to it. I know all my other DVDRs will not format a DL DVD, including the MDR5501, but of course they can read them.

I would like to hear if others have burnt DL DVD+Rs with this unit and confirm that in fact this is a DL DVDR.

[adam1302]

Hi can you connect the dvd player to your computer by using firewire.

[taylordiving]

Back to my picture quality issue. What I've now discovered is my screen noise is a 4cm wide horizontal band of slight pixillation (or noise) that rolls vertically from top to bottom or bottom to top (varies for no apparent reason). I suspect that it is vibration based because when I press down on the top of the unit (pressing it against the cabinet that it rests on) the horizontal band is lessened significantly, but not completely. When I press down on the top of the unit I can feel a slight vibration coming from inside (a fan perhaps?). Anyway, I'm wondering if (a) anyone else has this same problem and ( what to do about it. Techo mentioned having a plasma screen, I definitely have a crt. However, given that I can lessen the strength or amount of noise on the screen simply by pressing down on the top of the unit it would seem that I can do something to eliminate this (I hope).

Otherwise this unit is one excellent piece of equipment, especially considering the price.

[mddawson]

I picked up a Sansui clone from K-Mart today (Coles had sold out) but I will return it tomorrow.

1) My main gripe is the picture quality with a darkish band running across the top of the screen.

2) You can rename recordings with long names but only a dozen characters are displayed in the menu defeating the purpose of the longer name.

3) Cannot change menu index picture although the program does play.

4) Lack of 2.5hr mode.

5) 10 min chapter breaks are the minimum length.

One good point is that it can transcode recordings, that is turn a 3hr SP recording on the HDD into a 3hr LP on a disc.

[techo]

I picked up a Sansui clone from K-Mart today (Coles had sold out) but I will return it tomorrow.

Mddawson, Is the sansui exactly the same because the mdr250 will segment, sort of. It has “erase A-B” I was able to edit a recording and eliminate unwanted segments with that. I topped and tailed with “Divide”. Different to LSI but I ended up with a good result a and about as quick.

[mddawson]

I picked up a Sansui clone from K-Mart today (Coles had sold out) but I will return it tomorrow.

Mddawson, Is the sansui exactly the same because the mdr250 will segment, sort of. It has “erase A-B” I was able to edit a recording and eliminate unwanted segments with that. I topped and tailed with “Divide”. Different to LSI but I ended up with a good result a and about as quick.

I was just reading through the manual and found that so I came here to edit my post. One difference with this is that it appears to permanently delete the section rather than mask it. I will still return it (it was $369) due to the picture problem. It appears to be on the video output as it did not affect the recording when played back on another DVD player.

[techo]

One difference with this is that it appears to permanently delete the section rather than mask it.

Yes that is correct, something I was not impressed with initially, however after a while I was comfortable with it. It actually goes to 3 views on screen 1 with the the recording being edited 2 with where you activate the A and 3 B end of course. The issues is that you can only do them 1 at a time however I found it no problem since the IR control is good. As I have said this IMO is the best sub $300 DVDR I have seen, clock backup, I have good display output and Dual Layer (it seems). There is still ½ dozen in Ballina Coles with Aldi just up the road and selling Coles old model (well close enough) undercutting the mdr250 by $20. Its a no brainer for me.

[Joey76]

Hey Taylordiving,

I've got mine hooked upto an LCD and have kept an eye on my unit and havn't noticed any screen noise or rolling pixillation at all.

Can you try it on a tv other than a CRT and see what happens?

uote name='taylordiving' date='Apr 4 2007, 01:55 PM' post='634105']

Back to my picture quality issue. What I've now discovered is my screen noise is a 4cm wide horizontal band of slight pixillation (or noise) that rolls vertically from top to bottom or bottom to top (varies for no apparent reason). I suspect that it is vibration based because when I press down on the top of the unit (pressing it against the cabinet that it rests on) the horizontal band is lessened significantly, but not completely. When I press down on the top of the unit I can feel a slight vibration coming from inside (a fan perhaps?). Anyway, I'm wondering if (a) anyone else has this same problem and ( what to do about it. Techo mentioned having a plasma screen, I definitely have a crt. However, given that I can lessen the strength or amount of noise on the screen simply by pressing down on the top of the unit it would seem that I can do something to eliminate this (I hope).

Otherwise this unit is one excellent piece of equipment, especially considering the price.

[techo]

Back to my picture quality issue. What I've now discovered is my screen noise is a 4cm wide horizontal band of slight pixillation (or noise) that rolls vertically from top to bottom or bottom to top (varies for no apparent reason). I suspect that it is vibration based because when I press down on the top of the unit (pressing it against the cabinet that it rests on) the horizontal band is lessened significantly, but not completely. When I press down on the top of the unit I can feel a slight vibration coming from inside (a fan perhaps?). Anyway, I'm wondering if (a) anyone else has this same problem and ( what to do about it. Techo mentioned having a plasma screen, I definitely have a crt. However, given that I can lessen the strength or amount of noise on the screen simply by pressing down on the top of the unit it would seem that I can do something to eliminate this (I hope).

Otherwise this unit is one excellent piece of equipment, especially considering the price.

Actually it was an LCD and the lines I had were vertical on a CRT that I used to test the DVDR with. The lines disappeared as soon as I moved the 2 apart, so it was EM interference, as expected. Your issue, as you describe it, look more like RF related. Is the issue prevalent at all times or only when using the tuner?

I suggest you move the recorder out by its self (at least a meter from other devices), remove all IO cables including RF. Connect TV with Composite video only and leave audio off. Test it, if no line, turn unit off and add 1 thing at a time starting with audio (analog), testing in between. Note and report back what point the line appears.

One thing I haven’t mentioned is that when I unpacked my mdr250 I noticed something rattling inside. Before I applied power to it I pulled the cover and discovered a 10mm bolt roving about. It looks like a dvd drive mounting bolt but on further inspection I found nothing missing. No problem in removing the cover since mine had no tamper seal (not that it would stop me anyhow).

[taylordiving]

Back to my picture quality issue. What I've now discovered is my screen noise is a 4cm wide horizontal band of slight pixillation (or noise) that rolls vertically from top to bottom or bottom to top (varies for no apparent reason). I suspect that it is vibration based because when I press down on the top of the unit (pressing it against the cabinet that it rests on) the horizontal band is lessened significantly, but not completely. When I press down on the top of the unit I can feel a slight vibration coming from inside (a fan perhaps?). Anyway, I'm wondering if (a) anyone else has this same problem and ( what to do about it. Techo mentioned having a plasma screen, I definitely have a crt. However, given that I can lessen the strength or amount of noise on the screen simply by pressing down on the top of the unit it would seem that I can do something to eliminate this (I hope).

Otherwise this unit is one excellent piece of equipment, especially considering the price.

Actually it was an LCD and the lines I had were vertical on a CRT that I used to test the DVDR with. The lines disappeared as soon as I moved the 2 apart, so it was EM interference, as expected. Your issue, as you describe it, look more like RF related. Is the issue prevalent at all times or only when using the tuner?

I suggest you move the recorder out by its self (at least a meter from other devices), remove all IO cables including RF. Connect TV with Composite video only and leave audio off. Test it, if no line, turn unit off and add 1 thing at a time starting with audio (analog), testing in between. Note and report back what point the line appears.

One thing I haven’t mentioned is that when I unpacked my mdr250 I noticed something rattling inside. Before I applied power to it I pulled the cover and discovered a 10mm bolt roving about. It looks like a dvd drive mounting bolt but on further inspection I found nothing missing. No problem in removing the cover since mine had no tamper seal (not that it would stop me anyhow).

Thank you Techo, helpful as ever.

First, let me clarify my description of the pq problem. I mentioned that it was a 4cm wide horizontal band of noise but what I really meant was a 4cm high horizontal band of noise that reaches from one end of the screen to the other. As far as I/O devices and RF interference the only input device I use is a mini dv camcorder via the front svideo port, usually without sound. For output I utilise svideo only, also usually without sound, thus there is no RF or any other I/O that could contribute to this problem. Thus, I'll move the unit 2-3m away from the tv and first connect using the composite video and then the svideo to see if this eliminates the noise. BTW, I've been examining the pq of the HDD menu and stored files, not input devices, when I've evaluated this problem so it's not the input device causing the problem (although attaching my input device of choice-mini dv camcorder-leads to the same pq issue).

In addition to this I will crack open the case and try to locate the (potentially) loose 10mm bolt and tighten (or remove) it. After doing these two things I'll report back, hopefully with positive resuls.

Thanks again for your input.

[mddawson]

It seems like things could be even better with this unit than I initially thought. I decided to try a blank recordable TDK double layer DVD+R in the MDR250. Well I was shocked, it read the DVD and promptly formatted it, when I checked its state in disk info I had 8118 MB with 242 minutes (4 hours) in SP available. I thought something must be wrong so I removed the DL DVD+R and placed it in a MTV MDR5501 (Coles previous HDD DVDR), knowing that it will read an unfinalized disk from the MDR250, sure enough it read and displayed the MDR250's formatted background, proving the MDR250 actually wrote to it. I know all my other DVDRs will not format a DL DVD, including the MDR5501, but of course they can read them.

I would like to hear if others have burnt DL DVD+Rs with this unit and confirm that in fact this is a DL DVDR.

Have you confirmed if it will record dual layer discs yet? This might convince me to hang onto the Sansui.

[taylordiving]

Back to my picture quality issue. What I've now discovered is my screen noise is a 4cm wide horizontal band of slight pixillation (or noise) that rolls vertically from top to bottom or bottom to top (varies for no apparent reason). I suspect that it is vibration based because when I press down on the top of the unit (pressing it against the cabinet that it rests on) the horizontal band is lessened significantly, but not completely. When I press down on the top of the unit I can feel a slight vibration coming from inside (a fan perhaps?). Anyway, I'm wondering if (a) anyone else has this same problem and ( what to do about it. Techo mentioned having a plasma screen, I definitely have a crt. However, given that I can lessen the strength or amount of noise on the screen simply by pressing down on the top of the unit it would seem that I can do something to eliminate this (I hope).

Otherwise this unit is one excellent piece of equipment, especially considering the price.

Actually it was an LCD and the lines I had were vertical on a CRT that I used to test the DVDR with. The lines disappeared as soon as I moved the 2 apart, so it was EM interference, as expected. Your issue, as you describe it, look more like RF related. Is the issue prevalent at all times or only when using the tuner?

I suggest you move the recorder out by its self (at least a meter from other devices), remove all IO cables including RF. Connect TV with Composite video only and leave audio off. Test it, if no line, turn unit off and add 1 thing at a time starting with audio (analog), testing in between. Note and report back what point the line appears.

One thing I haven’t mentioned is that when I unpacked my mdr250 I noticed something rattling inside. Before I applied power to it I pulled the cover and discovered a 10mm bolt roving about. It looks like a dvd drive mounting bolt but on further inspection I found nothing missing. No problem in removing the cover since mine had no tamper seal (not that it would stop me anyhow).

Thank you Techo, helpful as ever.

First, let me clarify my description of the pq problem. I mentioned that it was a 4cm wide horizontal band of noise but what I really meant was a 4cm high horizontal band of noise that reaches from one end of the screen to the other. As far as I/O devices and RF interference the only input device I use is a mini dv camcorder via the front svideo port, usually without sound. For output I utilise svideo only, also usually without sound, thus there is no RF or any other I/O that could contribute to this problem. Thus, I'll move the unit 2-3m away from the tv and first connect using the composite video and then the svideo to see if this eliminates the noise. BTW, I've been examining the pq of the HDD menu and stored files, not input devices, when I've evaluated this problem so it's not the input device causing the problem (although attaching my input device of choice-mini dv camcorder-leads to the same pq issue).

In addition to this I will crack open the case and try to locate the (potentially) loose 10mm bolt and tighten (or remove) it. After doing these two things I'll report back, hopefully with positive resuls.

Thanks again for your input.

Had an intensive "play" as per Techo's suggestions. Upon first moving the unit away from the tv the noise all but disappeared, maybe only remaining slightly. However, when moving the unit incrementally closer to the tv to find the distance limit I found that I could move the unit as close as I liked so long as I kept the Svideo cord stretched out (uncoiled/unkinked). The instant I coiled or kinked my svideo cable the noise reappeared. Does this make sense? Also, I have 2 different length svideo cords; a 0.75M and a 2.5M one and the 2.5M one (uncoiled/unkinked) shows almost no screen noise as opposed to the shorter cord (kinked or unkinked) which shows substantially more. Before I go run off and buy another 2.5M (or longer) svideo cable (quite dear) I want to confirm that there is some substantiated logic behind this perceived phenomenon.

After opening the unit I could not locate any 10mm bolts, only much smaller (maybe 6mm) mounting bolts for the HDD. However, upon inspecting the screws that hold the frame that the HDD bolts onto, I found that THEY were loose so I tightened them (not too tight but more that they were initially) and this showed a positive result as there was significantly less screen noise after putting the unit back together.

I did experiment a bit with a composite video cable which had more screen noise than the 2.5M svideo but less than the 0.75M one (regardless of whether the rca cable was kinked or unkinked).

Any feedback which could justify what I've witnessed would be greatly appreciated. ALso, while it appears I've eliminated the majority of the screen noise a little bit still exists and, seeing as I've put this much time into it, I'm on a mission to eradicate it completely if possible. I haven't yet done Joey's suggestion which is to connect the unit to a different tv as the place where I've got the MTV located only has the one tv.