RJTech PVR1100 MPEG4 Mini Video Recorder Review

Recording Impressions

Without a doubt, the crowning achievement of this product is its ability to record video files onto your recording medium from a DVD, Camcorder, VCR or from your cable TV. While this brings up some serious copyright questions (and I mean SERIOUS), it gives the user an option to record programs or watch your DVDs on a portable media payer. We are only going to skim the surface of some of the recording options and we will leave it to you to puzzle out other uses for the PVR1100.


TV Recording

Recording a TV program onto an SD card was as simple as can be but there were some small issues which mostly stem from the fact that the PVR1100 does not have its own built-in tuner. Due to its lack of a tuner, this recorder has to rely on a TV, DVD recorder or VCR to decode an incoming signal. This is all fine and dandy but there is a real problem when it comes to using one TV without a VCR to decode the signal. To do this RJTech provided us with this little gem of information:


Basically, what this asks you to do is plug in the AV cable into the TV’s AV-In connector, complete your recording setup and then unplug the connection. Finally you will have to plug in the PVR1100’s AV-In connector to the TV’s AV-Out connector in order for the unit to record the show you are watching. Confused yet? This setup means you will not be able to see the menus of your PVR since the TV won’t accept video out and video in at the same time.

Another issue we ran into is the fact that your tuner needs to be turned on in order for it to produce a signal for the PVR1100. If you have your timer record set to begin recording at 3:00 in the morning, you better be sure your TV, VCR or DVD recorder (depending on which you plugged the PVR into) is on at that time as well. In addition, to change the channel you are recording, you need to do so via the VCR or DVD player. That’s what happens when a PVR doesn’t have a tuner folks.

Now that we have those few small setbacks cleared out, I really must say that I was impressed with the versatility of the PVR1100’s TV recording capabilities throughout the month or so I used it. I even left it at my parents’ house for the better part of a week to compliment their dilapidated VCR and I almost had to beat them off with a stick when I took it back. Trying to convince someone who has been using a VCR for the last 15 years that there is something else on the market is next to impossible. Yet, with its user-friendly interface and straightforward recording menu the PVR1100 won many a fan in my immediate family.


DVD / Tape Recording

Welcome to the slippery slope of possible copyright infringement, I hope you enjoy your stay. The RJTech PVR1100 has absolutely no issue recording your DVDs for future use on your portable device or to use on another TV in your household. Even if your video player doesn’t support the MPEG4 format, there are plenty of free video converters bumping around the internet so you can change the MPEG4 file into something more to your liking.

The same can be done with your age-old VHS tapes: just pop one into your VCR, press play and start recording on the PVR1100. Many of us are in the process of loosing precious family videos and what better way to back them up than on a few compact flash cards?


Here we have to hookups needed and this time there are thankfully no confusing steps to follow.

The only downfall to this is the fact that you have to play back the media you are recording at regular speed. This means that if you are backing up 4 hours of home movies, it will take 4 hours to copy them onto the media inserted into the RJTech unit. If you are impatient, this isn’t a process you are going to love but it is definitely handy for many situations.

In our testing, the PVR1100 worked absolutely flawlessly while transferring various DVDs for use on my Cowon D2 in preparation for a long trip to Eastern Canada. I was a bit apprehensive at first (and watching movies on a 320x240 screen isn’t exactly a walk in the park) but I was stunned by how well the quality of the movies was preserved.