Consumers warned on DVD recorders
High Street sales of DVDs are booming
People thinking
of buying a DVD recorder this Christmas are being urged to take
care over which one they choose. Experts are warning that what
may seem like a dream Christmas gift may become obsolete in double-quick
time.
The problem
stems from major manufacturers producing machines that use different
formatting systems for disks that can record TV shows or hold
PC data. However, the retailers say shoppers have nothing to worry
about.
Remember
Betamax?
Experts say
consumers could become an unwitting victim if they buy a recorder
which uses a formatting system that falls out of favour with the
industry as a whole.
Know your
DVDs
- This Christmas consumers have to decide between DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM formats which record data in different ways.
- 'Hybrid' DVDs will record in either DVD+RW or DVD-RW, the most popular two formats in the US and Europe.
In time consumers
could own DVD recorders that are incompatible with the industry
standard and as a result they may find it difficult to obtain
re-useable DVDs for home recording.
The question
of which one to back is complicated by the fact that DVDs are
expected to take over from recordable CDs and floppy disks as
a storage medium for computers.
A similar
format problem occurred when video recorders first came to the
UK, when consumers had a choice of VHS or Betamax machines.
Eventually
VHS proved to be the format that won through and Betamax owners
were left with a redundant product.
Expensive
gamble
Companies
such as NEC and Sony have already released 'hybrid' DVD players
which are capable of playing films recorded onto disks in different
formats - eliminating the risk of buying the wrong type of device.
With such
'hybrid' DVDs on the way to the UK, experts have suggested consumers
should delay their purchase.
"What
we would suggest is that consumers wait a while and see how things
shake out," said Chris Jenkins, editor of Total DVD magazine.
"The
time is not yet right. The manufacturers have not quite got their
act together."
In response
electrical retailers say that consumers ought not to be worried
as a recorder bought now is likely to have a technological shelf
life no shorter than any other product.
It could prove
an expensive gamble though as DVD recorders can cost between £450
and £1,000.
Article from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/