JVC DRMH30S DVD Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive (Silver)

Other products by JVC

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 17.1 x 20.7 x 6.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002V240G
• Item model number: DRMH30S
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,293 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 10, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

JVC's DR-MH30S combination DVD recorder/player and hard-disk recorder provides extraordinary home-entertainment versatility. The sleek, 2.8-inch-high deck permits flexible on-disc editing with DVD-RAM and DVD-RW media and easy, digital-to-digital dubbing of high-quality MPEG-2 images, including high-speed dubbing (DVD-RAM: 3x normal speed; DVD-RW: 2x; DVD-R: 4x)--and all with no ungainly component stacking or complicated hookups.

The built-in hard drive boasts a whopping 160 GB of storage space, holding up to 204 hours of audio/video programming--that's more than 8 solid days' worth of quality shows, an ideal tool for time-shifted viewing and temporarily storage before you evaluate and archive only the programs you want to long-lasting DVD.

The DR-MH30S can pause a live recording, and it provides several simultaneous recording and playback options: recording on the hard disk while playing back from the hard disk or DVD, or recording on DVD while playing back from the hard disk. Not to be overlooked is a fail-safe recording feature during DVD recording that automatically moves an entire program to the hard disk should the program run longer than the DVD's available space.

The deck's Super MPEG Encode Pre-Processor is a 3-step process that takes place before MPEG-2 encoding of the input signal. A time-base corrector eliminates jitter, a frame synchronizer provides frame normalization, and Motion Active Noise Reduction provides a clearer image than with conventional frame noise reduction, such as 3D noise reduction, by way of an algorithm that predicts motion, which the recorder applies between moving pictures to minimize image lag.

The Super MPEG Post-Processor enhances playback image quality through block noise-reduction circuitry, Color DigiPure (which provides 3D noise reduction along with color and detail enhancement), and Hadamard noise reduction (to eliminate mosquito noise).

Editing using the DR-MH30S is a snap, thanks to its navigation system with thumbnail images. Editing from the hard disk to DVD is as simple as creating a playlist, and the thumbnails make it easy to find the desired scenes. Dubbing is just as easy: just select the desired scenes and press "OK".

Convenience features include live memory, which allows fast forwarding, rewinding and slow replay during recording (DVD-RAM only), and DVD Navigation, which can accommodate information about 1,300 recorded programs, including disc number, title, and other details. Load a disc and DVD Navigation will display a thumbnail of recorded programs so you can easily identify content, and the player will even animate the thumbnail images, with sound, when you select them with the cursor.

Other features include quick skip for skipping 30 seconds forward, instant/1-touch replay (which replays the last 7 seconds viewed), natural reverse playback, and a multi-brand remote control. Connections include an i.Link/DV input for your digital camcorder; front and rear S-video and composite-video inputs; component-, S-video and composite-video outputs; a front-panel audio input; and digital-audio outputs (1 each optical/coaxial) alongside a stereo analog audio output.

Product Description

DRMH30S DVD Unit with a 160 GB Hard Drive ( Silver )

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good quality recorder, April 25, 2005

By	JMT "Electronics Collector" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

I tried a few different models and brands before getting this JVC recorder. I have now had this for just over a month without a problem. A previous reviewer states that his recorder freezes; return it for warranty replacement. I haven't had any locking up or non-working issues. He also stated that you can't record to the DVD and the hard drive simultaniously; thank the motion picture industry for that problem, not JVC.
Overall this is a good recorder with a ton of space on the hard drive for all of the shows I used to record on S-VHS tapes. Now if they would only follow Toshiba's lead and integrate TIVO into this setup. Other than that small issue I would recommend this recorder.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No TV Guide?, July 18, 2005

By	Travis D. Sinclair (Bremerton, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After my Panasonic DMR-E85H gave me the dreaded "U99 error", I decided to get my money back and go for a different unit. It was between this (the DRM H30S) and the Toshiba RD-XS34.

I decided to go with the JVC, and as expected, the image quality is excellent. I always recorded in "XP" mode on the Panasonic, and "SP" mode on the JVC looks just as good if not better. The user interface is really quite straight forward, after the normal learning curve. Basically, the JVC has so few features it's really tough to get lost.

The calendar for recording is a nice touch, really quite unique.

The images here make the unit look really nice... too bad it's a bit different in real life. The blue light on the DVD drive is REALLLLY bright. The light also only comes from one side, and there's a very obvious difference in where the light is vs. where it's not. The display on the unit is tiny and dim. It's a good thing it's so useless (anything you want/need to know can be seen using the on-screen button). Sure you can adjust the brightness... but it's adjusts both the DVD drive light and the display light... why can't I adjust them seperatly?

But really the kicker for me is no TV Guide functionality. This was probably the single best thing about the Panasonic unit. With TV Guide all you have to do is find the show you want to record, and tell it to record. Even tell it how often, it's like VCR+ on steroids. You even have the ability to see a week+ of programming. Plus it really takes the usability of the unit to a whole new level, it lets you do so much more then just record stuff. Sure, the Toshiba has TV Guide, but you HAVE to set everything through the TV Guide, which is also a VERY big downfall (since no cable = no TV Guide, and no TV Guide = non usable device). The Panasonic lets you do either TV Guide recording or manual recording.

All in all I'd say I'm happy with the JVC. If great recording quality is what you desire, look no farther.
If you want a feature filled unit, get something else... but if you get the Panasonic DMR-E85H make sure it was manufactured in 2005 to avoid the U99 error (...)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not pleased. Owned 6 mos. and I'm ready to replace it..., January 12, 2006

By	CrazedLeper (FL, USA) - See all my reviews

This thing is only good in theory. All the specs look good, but it is unreliable. Freezes and reboots plenty. After a couple of months the DVD drive door dropped open and hasn't closed since. Program scheduling is convoluted and tempermental. I couldn't get it to record a regular program at 11:00 am M-F unless I created a second regular program to "wake it up" at 10:57.

There's one thoughtful feature that creates a library of all the programs you record to DVD but, like everything else about this device, it is unreliable. There appears to be no ability to backup or download this data or upgrade the firmware as appears to be necessary. The JVC website was utterly worthless as help.

When I copy a program to DVD extra frames of video creep in and push the audio out of synch. MP3 audio and a few other DVDs won't play at all. High Spped Dubbing only works with SP mode. That's just stupid. Many aspects of the navigation are poorly designed. The cable box control does not work with my Dish Network box.

Using the remote to name ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING is tedious. Television programming now has id tags but this machine does not know it. All the letters and symbols are placed on an open pallette and navigating it is very tiring and unintelligent. Picture quality is very good, sound is good enough.