DVD recorder/DivX player €99 in Dunnes

Doodlebug

For €99, Dunnes are stocking a Plustron DVD recorder - says on the box it plays MP4 (usually a good sign with the Plustrons I've owned before that it'll play anything!).

Thinking about picking one up.

The model number is BDR1300. Haven't found anything on the net about it. It also has a USB-B socket on the front of it and uses DVD+/-R disks.

Looks like a bargain! Plustron are usually good (crappy remote, but easy to use).

Anyone here got one or know anyone who has? Interested in seeing what it can do!

flogen

Would this be region free by any chance? Have been meaning to pick up a region free player but would pay the bit extra to get one that records too if I could!

Doodlebug

I don't know for sure, but Plustrons are often region-free out of the box. This model is probably re-badged (Maybe Amstrad?).

I know the system in Smyth's Toys (€50) is definitely multi region - as were the previous DivX players from Dunnes (Amstrad DX3092).

ch750536

Found the DR1300 on a foreign interweb, kinda translates fine.

here
However, this looks a pile of tosh TBH, wait for something else.

Cheap, but then you are getting crap.

Doodlebug

Thanks for the link ch750536 - its about all the info thats out there I'm afraid!

Just out of interest - why do you think its a pile of tosh/crap? Is it the brand or the specs?

I know Plustron aren't exactly in the same market as Sony , but the oul Plustrons are cheap n cheerful and usually are more tolerant of different disk formats (DVD-R, DVD+R/RW, etc.) for the price.

I've never gone much over €50 for any DivX player and they've never given a problem. So €99 for one that can also replace a VCR for recording of TV sounds good.

Thats why I'm wondering if anyone has one?

patrickmcgirr

The daewoo factory in belfast used to make vcrs and dvd players etc, the same chasis was used for every dvd player, the only difference was the facia used and the controller, therefore if you had the right controller you had the functionallity of the most expensive dvd player made there, even though they were all exactly the same underneath, so with everything now being mass produced in china, how much difference is there really between all the brands of dvd players.

ch750536

Doodlebug wrote:

Thanks for the link ch750536 - its about all the info thats out there I'm afraid!

Just out of interest - why do you think its a pile of tosh/crap? Is it the brand or the specs?

It records on to DVD, problematic for starters. (Well, not as good as a HDD)
No gossip about the unit, either new to the market or not released in UK\IRE previously, support issue.
No details on chipset etc, cant do the homework before you buy.

Basically the above reasons, however, point 1 is the crucial one for me, buying old technology essentially.

Doodlebug

I see what you mean ch750536, and those are good points to consider when purchasing anything like this.

I suppose I'm just in the market for a cheap n cheerful player to replace the aging family VCR under the TV - doubling up as a DivX player. Cheap being the important word! Eventualy I will invest in a good HDD solution/DivX/Sat receiver solution.

But for now I am really interested in seeing if anyone here has any info on how it actuall operates/menus/etc. In my house, its the one VHS tape that is left in there and taped over again and again - quality is hardly ever a worry for 'What Not to Wear', etc.!

So has no boardsie/bargain-alerter seen one of these in action?

GrumPy

It's a POS €99, unbranded dvd recorder with divx playback. Worst case senario it dies and you bring it back, nothing lost, nothing gained.

gizzymo

ok, i just bought one. First, its NOT the same as the DR1300, its totally different.

Second, its a rebadged "beond bdr1300" (lack of the letter y intended). Definitly not made by plustron, they have stuck plustron sticker over the beond logo on the manual, remote and the player!
I think this is plustrons attempt to improve their name.....

Third, the build quality is BETTER than any DVD player i have thus far owned, including sony, philips and pioneer, the sheer weight of the box surprised me, due to the solid metal construction. Also the remote is NOT cheap or flimsy, its buttons are firm and well laid out, and tough too.

Right now I am sitting in a hotel in limerick and have not tried it yet, it will be saturday before I can.

However I can confirm that it can record straight from a dv camcorder via the dv(firewire essentially) input, or record wma,mp3 and possibly mp4 off a usb disk onto dvd in mpeg2 format. Note that all recording is in mpg2 format.

The manual indicates, though does not confirm that it writes dual layer disks, but at the very least it reads them. It also supports prograssive scan playback and component video output, as well as scart and RF (built in tuner and presetting etc btw).

It also states that the firmware can be upgraded, though it does not say where, for all I know there may be a large modding scene behind this, I'll let you know if I find one.
Finally it has support for the divx video on demand service, and the unit will provide you with a registration code for the site on http://vod.divx.com/

Please fire any questions at me (pneill[at]gmail[dot]com), but please be aware it will be saturday evening before I can fiddle with this and answer your questions.

I work in video editing and pc building etc, so feel free to fire your more technical questions about the unit too at me,


Cheers

Pete

gizzymo

some footnotes......

it plays vcds, svcds and cds too. It can also do the standard jpg slideshows.....

Editing of chapters, and other basic editing functions of recorded material is available if you have recorded to a DVDRW.


Once you finalize a disk, you can play it on a regular player.

Finally, the manual APPEARS to hint at it been multiregion.....I'll confirm on saturday if I can get my hands on a non-region 2 disk, if you want to donate some crappy movie for that purpose, email me , address in previous post...

vasch_ro

whats the picture quality like from disc and usb ? and have you tried any xvid files. Thanks .

gizzymo

i'll let you know saturday evening, as i said, I wont be able to try it out until then....
p

Doodlebug

Thanks for sharing that very useful and detailed info, gizzymo! Let us know how it goes when you get back to base and get time to put it though it's paces.

Sounds good to me so far!

kinkstr

When you say USB do you just mean memory stick or will it play files from an external harddrive?

gizzymo

kinkstr wrote:

When you say USB do you just mean memory stick or will it play files from an external harddrive?

I'm not sure myself, I'll know on saturday evening....

ekevosu

I've taken the plunge there a while ago, hopefully it'll work out okay

kinkstr

gizzymo wrote:

I'm not sure myself, I'll know on saturday evening....

Please post on here when you find out.

ekevosu

Found this thread all the way on page 4. I finally got a tv tonight so i was able to test the dvd player.

First off, its multi-region, I tried a dvd from the US as well as here and a "region-free" dvd.

I also hookd up my external hard drive to it via the usb socket an it picked it up easily and let you go through the files. It played everything bar the .bin files, xvid, avi and dvx all worked. I tried on the latest tv shows and movies I'd downloaded and they all worked.

Pictue quality is excellent.

I haven't tried the recorder part yet.

Doodlebug

Jeez - that sounds very promising! What size hard drive are you playing from?

Did you get to watch a full episode of an avi file? Some players stutter after 1st few mins due to poor data transfer speeds, etc.

Gizzymo, did you get to put yours through its paces?

Thanks for the info guys!

oleras

I got one of these €99 dvd recorders last year from dunnes also, played fine, but with the record function, anything over 60 mins would freeze up on me, tried lots of diff blank disks, brought it back in the end and got my money back.

ekevosu

I was playing from a 300GB iomega and I didn't watch a full episode but I watched the start of one and then fast forwarded to the last five minutes which played fine. I'll try a full one tonight but to be honest it seemed fine. I'll test the recording function if I get a chance tonight but for the usb alone its worth it to save me having to buy a hard drive media player.

long_b

Anyone else have one of these before I go off and buy a couple tomorrow as pressies ?

long_b

Has anyone had any joy getting this yoke to see NTSC external drives ?

It'll see my FAT32 drive, and a FAT drive ...

Doodlebug

These players sometimes will only see HDDs formatted a certain way - not sure about this particular one, but this came up before here.

Does it play everything ok from a FAT or FAT32 formatted HDD?

ekevosu

I left ye a message there lads about the usb and episode playback.

For the usb, select the dv/usb option by pressing source on the control. Then select navigation on the control and select usb and the menu will pop up. I've only tried it off my iomega HD so not sure whether thats fat or ntfs. Too lazy to google it.

Episodes, films from usb play perfectly on it as well, no glitches, very smooth.

Doodlebug

Thanks for the info, ekevosu!

This looks like good value I think.

And Dunnes are usually fairly straightforward to return this to if it doesn't do what you want!

TVDX

Does it have RGB in and out?.

fergie13

bought the plustron last week. done automatic scan but will only pick up 4 stations channel 4, E4,living and discovery, will find all channels on manual search but cannot store them as automatic scan only found 4 slots, tried auto scan from another house in case signal was bad still the same. tried everything i could think of but no joy, brought plustron back got a new one exact same problem. any help very much appreciated

_Whimsical_

Doodlebug wrote:

And Dunnes are usually fairly straightforward to return this to if it doesn't do what you want!

This is slightly off topic but it's still relevant. I read last week in the Independent that Dunnes are changing their policy as regards returns .They are going to give a store credit note as exchange in future and if you return things later than 1 month after purchase you will have to pick something there and then in store for the same value. It's already started in some Dublin stores and will be nationwide soon.
I bought a recorder for E99 from Dunnes last year and I wish I had returned it because it's now useless. If anyone plans to return their recorder sooner rather than later might be the wiser option in light of the new returns policy.

fergie13

gizzymo wrote:

ok, i just bought one. First, its NOT the same as the DR1300, its totally different.

Second, its a rebadged "beond bdr1300" (lack of the letter y intended). Definitly not made by plustron, they have stuck plustron sticker over the beond logo on the manual, remote and the player!
I think this is plustrons attempt to improve their name.....

Third, the build quality is BETTER than any DVD player i have thus far owned, including sony, philips and pioneer, the sheer weight of the box surprised me, due to the solid metal construction. Also the remote is NOT cheap or flimsy, its buttons are firm and well laid out, and tough too.

Right now I am sitting in a hotel in limerick and have not tried it yet, it will be saturday before I can.

However I can confirm that it can record straight from a dv camcorder via the dv(firewire essentially) input, or record wma,mp3 and possibly mp4 off a usb disk onto dvd in mpeg2 format. Note that all recording is in mpg2 format.

The manual indicates, though does not confirm that it writes dual layer disks, but at the very least it reads them. It also supports prograssive scan playback and component video output, as well as scart and RF (built in tuner and presetting etc btw).

It also states that the firmware can be upgraded, though it does not say where, for all I know there may be a large modding scene behind this, I'll let you know if I find one.
Finally it has support for the divx video on demand service, and the unit will provide you with a registration code for the site on http://vod.divx.com/

Please fire any questions at me (pneill[at]gmail[dot]com), but please be aware it will be saturday evening before I can fiddle with this and answer your questions.

I work in video editing and pc building etc, so feel free to fire your more technical questions about the unit too at me,


Cheers

Pete

hi,
bought the plustron last week. done automatic scan but will only pick up 4 stations channel 4, E4,living and discovery, will find all channels on manual search but cannot store them as automatic scan only found 4 slots, tried auto scan from another house in case signal was bad still the same. tried everything i could think of but no joy, brought plustron back got a new one exact same problem. any help very much appreciated