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The HUMAX DRT-800 is one of two TiVo Series2 PVR/DVD burners in this roundup and both are quite similar. But Humax has brushed up their feature set enough to make it a top choice for most folks.
The DRT-800 will record up to 80 hours of content and record to DVD-R and –RW discs. In our testing, burning a disc couldn’t have been easier, but editing control is essentially non-existent. The disc-creation screens feel just like any other TiVo menu, which helps keep things simple. An animated DVD disc in the top right corner of the screen helps you keep track of how much space is left on the disc as you select more content for burning. Once you are ready, burning a one-hour disc at acceptable broadcast quality will take around 10 minutes.
Unlike the Pioneer, which had pixilation quality issues in burning DVDs, the Humax burned good quality programs that played well on my two-year-old DVD player. Interestingly, the burned TiVo disc uses the TiVo interface as its DVD menu in playback on other DVD players.
Once you pay the (really getting old) $12.95 TiVo monthly service fee, you can download TiVo’s Home Media Option, track shows you want with the truly useful SeasonPass feature, and intelligently search through a two-week content guide.
Humax also integrated a FireWire port on the front of the DRT-800 which lets you to dump your digital video camera content directly to a DVD with one cable. A nice feature that I used often regardless of the fact that I couldn’t easily edit any of the content.
Other features include:
* Component video output
* Optical audio output
* Playback of music, pictures and in home TiVo to TiVo show transfers with HMO
* Improved remote layout
Pros: Simple to use and burn, direct FireWire input on the front bezel, multi-angle DVD playback.
Cons: $12.95 TiVo monthly service fee required, will not burn DVD+R or +RW discs
Go here to read the full review of the other units:
