[bgreen]

Don't know if this is the right forum or not but here goes.A little over 2 months ago I bought a liteon LVW-5005X DVD recorder. It will play dvds that were recorded on the machine fine but last night for the first time I tried to play a dvd movie rental and ran into all kinds of problems.
When I put the disc in the player just sat there whirring and clicking for about 5 minutes and then it finally started to play. It would hang up for a while between the various commercials at the beginning of the disc. Once the movie started it played OK for an hour and then started hanging up a couple of times and then finally just froze on a scene. I tried a couple of other factory recorded dvds from my collection and they wouldn't even load up and play.
Even when I put blank discs in to set up recording or play one I have recorded you can hear the player whirring and shuffling for about 10 seconds before a menu screen comes up or the disc starts to play. Just seems like it doesn't respond as quick as other players I have owned.
I haven't contacted Liteon yet,I just tried to get on their site and it wouldn't even load,I'll try it again tomorrow or try calling them.
Anyone have any ideas?Too much time has passed to return or exchange the unit.

thanx
bgreen

 

[MysticEyes]

You might just be out of luck, the the Lite-on recorders can be very troublesome.

Look in your manual and see if there is some sort of 'reset' procedure.

 

[bgreen]

Nope,couldn't find anything in the manual to 'reset' or 'restore default settings' or any thing like that.Just seems that if it plays discs it created it should be able to play standard format factory recorded dvds that are available for sale or rental. It isn't a connection problem between the unit and tv because it will play the discs it created.

bgreen

 

[MysticEyes]

Well try unplugging it overnight. You could also try a firmware upgrade (there is one).

http://us.liteonit.com/us/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=153

Although many will sing the praises of Lite-on, do not buy another one.

 

[bgreen]

Did the firmware upgrade before I posted,it took because I saw the countdown timer etc,but it didn't change the situation.Anyway,afterwards I read somewhere that the upgrade was for units manufactured before 11/05 and mine was made in 12/05.
Tried unplugging it overnight as suggested,didn't seem to change anything.Tried 4 different discs-Pirates of Carribean movie,The Shield tv series,Kolchak Night Stalker tv series and Oz,HBO series.Oz was the only one that worked normally. Tried a couple of music CDs and a JPEG CD,they worked with no problem.
Emailed LiteOn 2 days ago but haven't heard anything yet and probably won't.There is a tech support phone number on the owner's manual,I'll try calling that next week and see what kind of response I get.They'll probably want me to ship it to them for repair but I don't think I'll bother with that.Cost of purchase was 63 dollars so probably just live with the limited functionality and chalk it up to experience.

bgreen

 

[Raised Grain]

I have a lvw 5005 that i purchased a 2 years ago. Had nothing but problems with it. Lite-on replaced it once. Same problems. These two forums below are very good in trying to correct Lite-on problems. On of the biggest drawbacks is that the cooling fan is not doing it's job. Guys there are installing bigger fans, putting heat sinks on the chip, etc, etc. I paid $250.00 for a piece of [email protected]%.

http://ccgi.mgillespie.plus.com/liteon/smf/
http://club.cdfreaks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=102

 

[bgreen]

Thanx for the links Raised Grain.That one site looks like everything you ever wanted to know about LiteOn but were afraid to ask!! It's gonna take me a while to process all the info in that forum.

bgreen

 

[PCG342]

I've heard nothing good about DVD recorders, from several people. Not just Lite-on, either.
Seems to me you're further ahead either getting yourself a DVR or investing in a few boxed sets..

 

[MysticEyes]

I've heard nothing good about DVD recorders,

Well I'd like like to say they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. :up: I've been pounding mine for almost 3 years and it has met all my expectations. I've transfered hundreds of folks tapes and quite a few rare LaserDiscs. I been using it weekly to record over the air broadcasts. It's an older Pioneer 220S (no HD) and it records in either Video Mode ( which I always use) or VR. It produces DVD compliant files (unlike some of the newer cheaper models like Phillips) that can be easily transfered/copied/edited with the computer. And being a Pioneer it has a great remote, well laid out and solid. Of course I was not tempted to save a couple bucks by buying one of the various cheaper junk brands that were appearing on the market actually made by who knows who.

 

[PCG342]

Everyone I know has had a lot of problems.
And I like Pioneer. They seem reasonably priced - I only paid $20 for my DVD/CD burner. How much was the recorder, out of curiosity?