[quote name=\'roadgeek\' date=\'Sep 26 2004, 10:54 PM\'] [quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Sep 26 2004, 08:25 PM\'] however, since most reliable sources advise against recording anything in SLP (6-hr.) mode on DVD, [/quote]
Uh-oh. Do you mean recording in SLP mode directly to DVD, or copying an SLP tape to DVD? [/quote]
DVD recorders have settings just like VHS ones do for how much time you can get on a disc. What Chuck is referring to is the fact that the DVD's six-hour setting gives you results that are just this side of unwatchable, regardless of whether the original VHS source was recorded on SP or SLP. (Naturally, though, the better the original source, the better your end-result DVD is going to be.)
For watchability, I don't go any higher than the three-hour setting, and only then if I absolutely have to in order to fit something that long on a single disc. My recorder has a 2.5 hour setting and I use that if I want to get an entire week's worth of shows on one disc, but even then the quality gets a little iffy.
For those of you who archive tons of shows and just want to refer back to them now and then, you might get away with using the DVD recorder's six-hour setting. I know some people who are doing that. But if quality of the final result is even remotely a factor for you, plan on getting no more than two or at most three hours on a disc. Naturally you'll be able to experiment and determine fairly quickly which setting gives you the quality you're looking for. And as we said before, if quality is the MAIN factor, you're burning these things on your computer anyway.