Ken, Alex, Christian and Eduard,
I could see the points you have raised coming from the day we first saw the release of the DVD2.
The DVD2 is an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) product meaning it has been designed to be re-badged and menus etc changed to suit the acquiring company’s requirements. The OEM manufacturer provides special software and will do hardware modifications where required provided volumes make it worth-while.
For a long time B&O dealers had been in the difficult position of not having a DVD writer and in my view had pushed B&O into providing the DVD2 quickly (well certainly quicker than B&O would normally develop a product). They had the HDR2 in the pipeline which was designed and developed by B&O and is a fully integrated product, but under pressure needed a DVD writer to be released at a similar time the the HDR2. Clearly compromises were needed to meet this objective and by using a OEM product the biggest compromise was one of total integration into a B&O system.
The two biggest compromises it was forced to make were:-
Ø Not having a STB controller built into the DVD2 as it is in the HDR2
Ø Not having a Digital Tuner
As many members have noted the DVD2 is a complexed product and this is fundimentally born out of the fact that it is an OEM product meaning it is trying to be “all things to all men” wherever possible.
Now, first turning to Ken’s points:-
Ø If you are just going to compare the spec’s of the HDR2 to the DVD2 you are not comparing like for like. Yes they both record and play back video from hard disk, the HDR2 does not have a DVD writer and the DVD2 is not a fully integrated product.
Ø The DVD2 is a little cheaper, but if it does not fit your needs, then price does not come into the equation.
Ø Having more menu functions does not make it a better product and many people would say the benefit of B&O products is that they are easy to use because they do not have lots of functions that are never used.
I think the core question you need to ask yourself is “Do I really need/want a DVD writer or would recording to hard drive only be enough”
Now, to the core technical questions raised:-
The DVD2 is fundentially controlled by the AVL signal on pin 8 of the SCART in the same way as the DVD1. This is a one way signal to the DVD2 meaning it has no means of providing feedback to the controlling Beovision. From a recording viewpoint this means you can record from the following source:-
Ø Internal analogue Tuner
Ø SCART input EXT1 or EXT2
Ø CAM1 input
What this means is you can do a manual record from any source input, but you can only do a multiple timer setup using the internal analogue tuner. A single timed record can be achieved only by setting up the externally connected source seperately as Jazz has highlighted.
So, this is why a DVD2 is NOT a fully integrated product because it would require two way data transmission between the Beovision and DVD2 to achieve that objective.
So, if like me, you want to have a fully integrated B&O system which is easy to use and creating DVD’s is not a priority, then the HDR2 is the product to purchase. If you want fully integrated system and the ability to write DVD’s then perhaps you will need both products which is overkill, but perhaps that is what B&O were hoping users would do !!