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View both old, new formats for movies

By Deborah Porterfield
Gannett News Service

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Want to gently wade into the future? RCA's combination DVD recorder and VCR lets you take advantage of the latest recording technology as well as the traditional technology most people are familiar with.

Not only can you burn shiny DVDs on the RCA DRC8300N (www.rca.com), but you also can record onto videotapes for friends who haven't yet switched to DVD players.

More important, because the unit's VCR and DVD recorder work seamlessly together, you can easily transfer favorite videotapes to modern DVDs. If you're in a rush, you can press the Copy button, and the machine will automatically copy the footage — as is — onto a DVD. You also can easily copy material from a disc onto a tape.

If you'd rather take the time to tighten the original footage or add titles, this model offers plenty of editing options. When recording from a tape onto a disc, for instance, you can create your own chapters, or let the recorder automatically create a new chapter every five minutes. Using an on-screen keyboard, you can also quickly create titles and subtitles for your homemade DVD.

The unit costs $400, which is a decent price when you take into account the many things it can do. In addition to recording from a tape to a disc, and vice versa, you can program the unit to automatically record specific TV shows to a videotape, a DVD+R or a DVD+RW. When connected to a camcorder, it also can play and record information from that device as well.

As with similar machines, this unit can play DVD movies, audio CDs, picture CDs and videotapes. Plus, you can set the unit to record one show while you view another, or record a show onto a videotape while you watch a DVD.

Forgetful types will appreciate the unit's Disc Library, which automatically assigns each disc a number and keeps track of its name, the number of titles on the disc, the recording space available and the name and date of any shows it records.

Even though RCA's recorder handles a bunch of functions, its controls are fairly simple to master. And thanks to an easy-to-follow instruction manual with helpful diagrams, setting up the unit to work with the television is a snap.

The included universal remote is particularly handy because it can be programmed to control other devices, such as your television and audio system. The result? Instead of having to keep track of two or three remotes, you only have to remember where you put one.

Unfortunately, the text on RCA's remote is very small, which makes it difficult to decipher which buttons do what. Likewise, the text on the unit's control buttons is also difficult to read, which can be frustrating when you're trying to record a show but miss the opening because you can't see which buttons to press.
 
Eventually, you'll be able to operate the controls without actually looking at them, but until then, you may want to keep a magnifying glass handy.

MobiTV

Idetic www.mobitv.com, 510-981-1303

$9.95 a month

Television on a cellular telephone is not something most people are clamoring to have. But that doesn't mean that it isn't awe-inspiring.

Sprint is offering Idetic's MobiTV, the first global network for watching television on cellular telephones, making it easy to catch up on the news or watch a little television when you have a moment or two.

You don't want to watch "I Love Lucy" or "Alias" reruns on the MobiTV, not that they're available. Much of what is available, once you download the service into your cellphone, are news channels and educational channels, such as Discovery, TLC, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC News, FOX Sports and CNET.

You'll have to tweak your telephone a bit to get this to work well. For example, you'll want the back light to always be on — set up easily enough — so that you can see the image. And I liked turning the volume up as high as it would go so I could hear everything.

But despite the tweaks, you'll not find MobiTV to be difficult to use. There are no confusing menus to navigate. Once you know to go to downloads and then applications, you're pretty much watching television. All you need to do is get into a menu with the channel and volume.

It should be said that while MobiTV bills itself as television, it is more like a slide show or the film-strip projectors we had when I was a kid. You're not getting the regular digital video of 30 frames per second, but one frame per second. So don't get too excited about the highlights on Fox Sports.

On the other hand, if you wanted to be updated routinely about the Democratic National Convention with a few images to go along with the audio, MobiTV couldn't really be beat if you were in airports, at bus stops or in the backs of cabs.

PCS Vision subscribers can get credit toward MobiTV depending on the Sprint plan they've signed up for. A host of telephones support the video mode for MobiTV, including Sanyo 5300, Nokia PM-6225 and Samsung VM-A680.

— Kevin Washington

The Baltimore Sun