Pioneer DVR 520H
 

Hi,

I apologize in advance as I am not active on this forum but am over at AK.

I was recently given a a Pioneer DVR. Its the Canadian model Elite DVR 65H which I understand is just a minorly different from the US model 520H.

The manual is 121 pages so forgive me asking rather than searching through the whole manual.

I know it will play CDs. Can anyone tell me if it is actually any good as an audio CD player?

Second question. It seems to have a 'one touch copy' button. Does anyone know if that is for DVD only or will it burn a CD?

Thanks

Also, I just found some more info in summary form

Cons:

Cannot record PAL show and play NTSC DVD simultaneously.
Cannot rip audio CD to Mp3 Meaning maybe one can rip original CDs into FLAC format?
Cannot rip audio CD at high speed
Can not play DVD-MP3
No File Explorer feature to browse files in DVD / Thumb Drive
Cannot copy DVDs to HDD @ high speed (realtime is possible) for later viewing
Cannot write CD-R/CD-RW when it technically can Not sure what this means...
Can not see non-JPG files in attached USB device
No zoom feature
Can not join together 2 videos recorded in the same mode
Can not record damaged VHS tapes/RF Signals properly (out-of-sync sounds, frozen frames)
No shuffle mode for MP3 CDs
Can not play DVD-MP3
USB Mass Storage devices are read-only.
Can not choose DVD burning speed when it technically can
Re-encoding recordings are done in realtime

Look at our Hollywood friends for the reasoning with anti copy coding with this machines..Remember the Betamax case 30 plus years ago.

Can't comment on yours, but I have a Pioneer DVD-V5000 that plays CD's quite nicely!

I believe most DVD players, at least older ones, can play audio CDs. The DVD players I've owned (I still have one, had to junk the other when it quit :no:, and now have an LG player that has lasted at least four years; it works very well with my entertainment system :yes:) work very well with audio discs.

BTW, the Sony case, which dealt with the legality (or the lack of it) of taping television programs off the air, was settled in 1975. It is all but impossible, however, to copy DVDs, due to the use of the Macrovision copy-guard system. All DVDs made today are encoded with Macrovision, almost certainly by federal law. The motion-picture industry cannot afford to be losing money because people try to copy DVDs to VHS, hence the need for the copy-guard protection system.

Because VHS videotape is almost a dead format these days (except for viewing older VHS tapes; I still have a Panasonic VCR I use exclusively for this purpose), however, I don't believe DVD-to-VHS dubbing is done much anymore, if at all, thanks almost entirely to Macrovision. I think this is a copy-protection system which cannot be easily defeated, which is a good thing since, as I said, Hollywood cannot afford to lose money because of folks who try to copy DVDs to VHS or other formats. The TV and motion picture industries protect their programming very fiercely for just this reason. That little disclaimer at the end of every TV program (copyright xxxx by [production company], all rights reserved) is there to thwart such copying, or at least to make the viewing public aware that the programs are copyrighted.

Also, many years ago (long before VHS, DVD and streaming video), TV stations used to make an announcement as part of their sign-on and sign-off routines to the effect that no monetary or other charges may be made for viewing of their programming, and that such programming may not be exhibited (shown) in public places such as bars, taverns, restaurants, etc. if any cover or other charges are made.

These announcements are not made any longer, thanks (!) to the move to 24-hour TV programming, but the laws prohibiting public exhibition of television shows for profit still exist. Until 1975, this also applied to taping of TV programs if the intent was to sell the tapes. Sony won the case; however, it is still illegal to sell such tapes, and I believe it may even be illegal to give away copies of television programs taped off the air.

VHS recording is still legal for home use, e. g. for time shifting, but is not done much these days because of DVDs and other video formats, such as video on demand. Some folks still have a VCR and a DVD player in their entertainment systems, but the former, as I said, has become obsolete except for viewing of old VHS videocassettes. I rarely use my VCR, preferring instead to watch my favorite '60s-'70s TV shows on DVD or on the DTV retro channels MeTV and Antenna TV, but I do use the VCR every now and then, just to keep the machine in shape and to watch old shows I taped in the '80s and early '90s (NTSC video format, of course) that are no longer shown on broadcast or cable TV.

The times are changing, as the old song says; there is no turning back. Stand-alone VCRs are no longer available, except on the used market (they are still plentiful on eBay and Craigslist). The wave of the future is DVD and streaming video, both of which have all but killed VHS as a home entertainment medium. You may not like it, but, as the late CBS-TV newscaster Walter Cronkite used to end the "CBS Evening News", that's the way it is.