AWA DR711 Specifications Power Supply: AC 100V-240V/50Hz-60Hz, 35W. Signal Modulation: PAL/NTSC. Radium Laser: Wavelength 650nm, 780nm. Frequency Response: DVD audio: 4Hz-22kHz (48kHz sample frequency).                                                 4Hz-44kHz (96kHz sample frequency).                           CD audio:   4Hz-20kHz. S/N: >90dB. Dynamic Range: >90dB. Operating temperature: 0-40° C. Video out: 1.0V (P-P), S-Video out: (Y) 1.0V (P-P) 75; (C) 0.286V (P-P), 75 Audio output: 2.0V (RMS maximum). Receiving Modulation: PAL I, PAL D/K, PAL B/G, SECAM, L SECAM D/K SECAM B/G.

It was very much due to our Prime Minister’s urging to ‘spend, spend, spend’ that I fell upon the ALDI catalog with gusto: a DVD recorder for $99!

Zipping down to the local ALDI on Easter Saturday, I laid down the plastic and helped the economies of three countries in one swoop: China as the makers, Germany (who own the retailer ALDI) and hopefully, a band of Australian staffers working for the latter.

Before getting on to the main topic, I’ve noticed that something funny has been going on in the retailing of disc recorders: there are heaps of DVD recorders with 80/160/250 Gigabyte hard drives as their primary storage and selling for $400-500, with a solitary model at $299.

Parallel to this you can get your hands on a couple of Blu-Ray recorders from Panasonic, with prices starting at around $1600. So I felt the arrival of the low-cost Tevion DD1018 was a significant event.

Looks and Feel

The unit is a neat package in black with external controls placed on the upper edge. A drop-down front panel gives access to composite audio and video inputs, along with a camcorder DV input.