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In an aim to make the DVD Recorder as fool proof as possible, Lite-On has included a step by step Wizard to allow pretty much anyone to perform tasks such as recording, creating a recoding schedule, copying stuff from disc to HDD and vice versa.   

When the 'Guider' button is pressed on the remote, the following screen is presented:

The four common tasks are presented.  Most of the tasks within the Easy Guider can be performed directly from the remote such as playing back a DVD, however for a new user, the guider seems to provide almost a fool proof method to performing most tasks.

Playing using the Easy Guider

At first, it may seem odd to have a Playback guide, however it can be useful for playing back discs with mixed content.  The following screen shows the screen that appears after selecting 'Playback' from the first menu:

If there is a standard Audio CD, Video CD or Movie DVD present in the drive, the player will automatically start playing the disc as if the user simply pressed play without using the Easy Guider.  However, for data discs containing MP3/WMA/WAV music files, MPG video clips or BMP/JPG photos, the drive will bring up the following menu:

When the 'HDD' option is chosen, there is also an option to play the last recorded track by selecting 'Last Record':

Each option displays a different type of content.  The first one displays what MPG files are present, the 2^nd option shows MP3, WAV and WMA files, the 3^rd option shows JPEG and BMP images and the 4^th option allows the user to play music while showing photos.  On the HDD option, the 4^th option shows the last recorded content. 

The following screen shows the screen we get when we go into the Video option:

The '001' and '002' on the bottom of the above screen allows the user to navigate between the two pages.  The following screen shows what the 'Text View' looks like:

The following screen shows the 'Music' option:

Next, the following screen shows the 'Pictures' option:

Finally, the last option allows the user to listen to music whilst showing photos.  When the 'Pictures with Music' option is selected, the Recorder first asks to select a picture:

Once we select the picture, it asks for a track to play (as shown in the 'Music' option).  Finally the photo is displayed along with the track playing in the background.  While the photo is shown, the tracks can be changed using the 'Next Track' and 'Previous Track' buttons, much like the music only option.  The track info can be toggled on / off:

Recording using the Easy Guider

Probably the simplest method to start a recording worry without about forgetting to set certain options is through the Easy Guider.  On the first screen, select 'Record' and press 'Enter'':

Then select the desired source to record from.  If the TV option is chosen, the following screen will appear:

If the TV option was not chosen from the previous screen, the screen shot below will show, otherwise it will show after the channel is chosen.  Unfortunately it does not show the names of the channels, however this is not an issue unless one is not familiar with what channels are on which numbers.

We are quite surprised that they don't give any indication on the above screen that the DVD option is not just limited to DVD.  Even a line of text showing 'Note that the DVD option will also guide you through Video and Audio CDs"

If the DVD option is chosen, the following screen will show:

While most users know what a Video CD and Super Video CD is, unfortunately they don't give any hint about these options above, unlike the info that is given when a blank CD-R is loaded without going into the Easy Guider.

If the 'DVD VR' or 'HDD' option is chosen on an earlier screen, the Easy Guider will also ask to choose a recording quality:

The above screen gives a choice of recording modes ranging from high quality to super long play.  For a recording to HDD that will only be watched once, either HQ or SP will work fine.  However if the recording is to DVD or may need to be transferred to DVD at a later stage, the hours shown to the right indicate how many hours with this recording mode will fit onto a blank DVD. 

If TV was chosen as the source of the recording, the following screen will appear next:

The above screen gives a selection of audio recording choices,  Unfortunately, like the screen with the media choices, some users will not know what the 'Main' or 'SAP' choices stand for, especially if they have never encountered multilingual channels before.  The audio choices are as follows:

Finally, the following screen will appear if the destination is HDD or to disc with the correct disc type loaded:

If no disc is loaded, the following screen will appear:

Finally, if an unsuitable disc is already present in the drive, the following screen will appear asking the user to change the disc.  A few examples include having a finalised disc or wrong disc type such as trying to record using super video CD, but a disc prepared with standard video CD is loaded.

Setting up a timer using the Easy Guider

The one common complaint we hear about the VCR is the difficulty in setting up a timer for a recording.  What happens is that the user sees this 'Timer' button and presses it only to be put off by the large number of entry fields that appear on screen.  So, what Lite-On has done in this case is presented the user with step by step screens using the Easy Guider.  When the user goes into the 'Timer' section into the Easy Guider, the following screen appears:

The above screen basically gives the user the choice of setting up a timer manually or by entering a Video Plus+ code such as the string of digits shown next to each programme in many TV guides. 

First we will start off with manually setting up a scheduled recording, such as in the case where a Video Plus+ code is not available:

Select the input source as with the 'Record' guider.  If the 'TV' choice is chosen, the following screen will appear.  For the 'Front AV' and 'SCART' options, there is no option to select a channel, i.e. the following screen should just show the 'PDC' choice.  Finally, if 'DV' is chosen, the following screen is skipped:

Users who have used a fairly modern VCR would at least have an idea what PDC is, however unfortunately in the guider it does not give even a simple hint, at least should a new user start setting up a timer.  To them, they could possibly think of it as 'Perfect Digital Control" something alike!

Programme Delivery Control (PDC) works by checking the recording start time against the Programme Identification Label (PIL), which contains the start time & date and channel.  If this matches up with a VCR's schedule, the VCR starts the recording.  As the VCR checks the channel's PIL instead of its clock, this means that if the programme is running late or is rescheduled, the VCR will still record the full programme since the programme will still embed the same PIL.  If the VCR cannot detect the PDC on the channel, it will go its internal clock.

The next screen gives the user the choice of running the recording once, on a daily bases or each week:

Once the recording period is chosen, it then asks for the date, time and recording duration:

After the date, it also asks for the Time and Length as shown in the two following partial screenshots:

After the Length has been entered, the following screen will appear, like the 2nd screen in the 'Record' guider.

From this point on, the selection screens are identical to the Easy Guider's 'Record' guide, apart from the final screen which gives a summary:

Setting up a Video Plus+ Timer using the Easy Guider

This guide is pretty much identical to other timer guide with the exception that a Video Plus+ code is asked instead of the channel number, start time & date and length.  Unlike the other timer guide, Video Plus+ can only be used for recording shows from TV, which means that those who wish to record from cable or satellite will need to use the manual approach.

Video Plus+ codes are generally available in most TV guides such as in the snippet shown to the right taken from our Sunday newspaper.  The codes can be as long as 9 digits and when entered on the Recorder, it will decode it to find out the channel, start and end times.   Video Plus can also be used with PDC, which not only ensures the correct time and dates are entered, but also ensures the Recorder starts at the right time should the programme run early or late or longer than expected.

When the Video Plus+ option is chosen on the initial Easy Guider's 'Timer' screen, it will skip the input source and channel choice screens and asks for the choice of recording period, i.e. once, daily or weekly.  Once the desired option is chosen, the following screen will appear:

If this is the first time a Video Plus+ code is entered for a given channel, the Recorder will then ask the user to select which channel this is on as shown on the following screen.  As people all tend to have different channel ordering, the Recorder cannot automatically determine which the correct channel is for the first time.  Some VCRs actually require the user to set up the GCN to channel mappings manually before they can enter a Video Plus+ code, however in this case, the Recorder asks when ever a Video Plus+ code is entered for the first time on a given channel.  The following screen will not appear again if the user enters a Video Plus+ code for the same channel in future:

In this case, we entered a Video Plus+ code from BBC2, which is tuned to the preset channel number 2, so we enter 2 for the preset channel.  After this screen, or following the previous screen in the case where the GCN mapping is set up, the next screen asks for the destination choice of HDD or DVD and from this point on is the same as with a user defined timer recording using the 'TV' mode.  The final screen shows the summary:

Copying content using the Easy Guider

One nice feature with this Recorder is the ability to record directly to its HDD in the event of not having any media handy, but what about if one wants to copy to DVD at a later stage?  Well, this guider makes copying a very simple process and certainly a lot simpler for a novice user than recording content from hard disc to DVD on a PC, at least without the use of specialised software.

This Recorder supports the copying of content in either direction, excluding the copying of content from protected discs or pressed DVDs:

If the disc is a (Super) Video CD or standard Audio CD, then the Recorder will only copy the entire disc in one go to its internal HDD through the Easy Guider.  In this case, individual tracks can only be copied using the 'Browser' menu.   For example,  an Audio CD or (Super) video CD will bring up the following screen, in which selecting 'Go!' copies the entire disc to HDD:

Unfortunately, it looks like Lite-On has put a 2x speed restriction when it comes to copying content to or from CDs, regardless of the disc.  For example it takes roughly 45 minutes to copy a full audio CD on to its internal HDD!

If the 'HDD To DVD' option is chosen, the following menu will appear.  The same applies for the 'DVD To HDD' option if the disc has mixed content on it such as music, photos and video clips:

Note that the Recorder will only allow audio and pictures to be copied to a CD prepared as a Data CD or audio to an audio CD (excluding MP3's).  However, despite this limitation, the above screen will appear for the 'HDD To DVD' choice, regardless of what disc type is inserted. 

Copying Video Content

For the Video option, the following screen will appear, assuming a suitable DVD is inserted:

To copy a title, simply highlight it and press 'Enter'.  A progress meter shows during the copying process along with the percentage on the Recorder's display.  This is handy, especially for copying a large recording to or from CD since this takes around 45 minutes for a ~70 minute Video CD recording due to the speed restriction. 

Note that this Recorder will not allow content to be copied off pressed DVDs, whether or not they have copy-protection on them.  For example, the following screen appears if we try copying content from a comedy DVD that came free with a news paper and which does not contain Macrovision or copy-protection:

Copying Audio Content

The following screen shows the Audio track / folder selection:

If a song from an album is highlighted (originally sourced from an audio CD), the player will also give an option to copy just the highlighted song or the entire album:

Copying Pictures

Finally, the following screen shows the picture selection:

Like with copying music, the Recorder will give an option to copy just the highlighted picture or the whole folder (album).