|1-VIDEO RECORDER


|1-REVIEW


|2-ORION: D1097







                                   By
                          BootBlock/TerraForm

 MANUFACTURER: Orion
 PRICE       : 12999 or 14999 for VideoPlus+ and
               On-screen programming (model D2097)
 BOUGHT FROM : Index "The Catalogue Shop"

 FEATURES:
  21-pin Scart socket               One-Touch Recording upto 4hrs (OTR)
 Digital auto tracking             Auto power on
 80 channel programme memories     Remote control
 Quick start/playback system       Twin-speed
 Auto head cleaning                Long play (doubles tape length)
 HQ circuitry                      1 month/8-event programmable
 Speed rewind/fast forward        A fitted plug!  Wahey!


|1-WHAT YER GET


Main Video Unit
 Remote Control + Batteries
 RF cable
 Instruction Book
 QuickStart Guide


|1-SETTING IT UP


After taking it out of the box and putting the batteries into the remote
control  (I  call  it a "Zapper" or a "Clicky Thing"), it was as easy as
setting  up  any other video.  The video weighs a measly 4.0kg (whatever
that  it!   But  it  is very light!) and it is small and compact.  To be
honest,  I  was  shocked  at the compact-ness of it!  My mum wasn't very
happy,  130  for  something  this  size.   But  generally,  the smaller
something is, the more it costs (telly's, videos, etc).

After  putting it under the desk my Amiga and telly was on, I unravelled
the  RF cable and put one end into the video and connected the other end
into the empty socket on my (Megadrive) splitter box.  Then I plugged it
into  the  electric  socket  and braced myself (incase it exploded!) and
turned it on.


|1-PREPARING IT


Apparently  it  won't  record  if  the clock isn't set.  Wasn't bothered
anyway,  as  I didn't want to record anything at the time.  I layed down
on  me belly and opened the instructions out next to me and began trying
to  set  the  clock.  Unlike the 2 videos I've had before, this one also
needs  the  date of the month and the year setting.  There wasn't really
any  point  in  being  reet  in-front  of  the  video,  as I was setting
everything  by  the  remote controller (I was following the steps in the
instruction book).

Next  up was tuning the channels in.  Pretty the same as my telly:  just
select the channel you wish to choon in, press "Preset" and either press
up  or  down  on  the  Set  button  (also used for setting various other
things)  and  the video will automatically look in the entered direction
for a TV station frequency.  A sort of "cycling" thing happens when it's
searching  for  a station, and it also lets you know which direction, as
it either cycles diagonal-left or diagonal-right.

The video also has Auto Fine-Tuning (AFT).


|1-USING TAPES


After  setting all 5 channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV (or Channel 3 as it's now
calling  itself),  Channel  4 and Channel 5) I grabbed me Teenage Mutant
Ninja  Turtles  film  and  put it into the slot thing and then the video
loaded it in and began playing it (if you insert a write-protected tape,
it'll  immediately  start playing).  Hmmmm...  the quality is as good as
any other video.

The  video  also  has  Instant  Picture (IP), which means when you press
PLAY,  the  picture  will  INSTANTLY appear.  The video achieves this by
(I'm  guessing here!) starting the motor and moving the video heads into
position   whenever   you   do   something  that  requires  head  moving
(rewinding/fast forwarding/pausing and then stopping, etc).  So when you
press PLAY, the head will already be in place and the motor will already
be  on,  so  the  picture  appears extrememly quickly.  If you leave the
video  for  a  couple of minutes, the motor will stop and the heads will
move back into the normal not-playing-a-tape position, so when you press
PLAY again, it'll take a second or two for the picture to appear.

Press the REPEAT button on the remote control to put the video into Loop
mode  (the  tape  will  be played over & over again).  Press it again to
turn off Loop mode.

You can eject tapes by using the remote control.


|1-REWINDING/F. FOWARDING


When  a tape is playing and you press rewind/fast forward, the tape will
start  rewinding/forwarding and you'll get a visual of it happening, but
it'll  be  muted.   If you press rewind/f.  forward again, the tape will
nearly  double the speed in which it's rewinding/forwarding while you've
still got a visual of whats going on.

If  you  press  STOP  and  then  rewind/f.  forward, the tape will start
rewind/f.  forward, after about 5 seconds, the video will go into mental
overload and startd power rewinding/forwarding the tape!  The video gets
quite  a bit louder and the first time this happens, ya think it's gonna
explode !

If  the  tape gets to the beginning/end of the tape, it'll start slowing
down  -  presumably  so  the  tape  doesn't  combust when it reaches the
beginning/end of the tape!

If   you  press  rewind/f.   forward  while  it's  already  rewinding/f.
forward,  it'll  go into visual mode - which takes a lot longer, but you
do get to see what's going on.


|1-RECORDING


Press  the  OTR  (One-Touch  Record) button on the front of the video or
press  the  two  buttons on the remote to start it recording the channel
you're  currently  viewing  through  the video.  Select either Shortplay
(default)  or  Longplay  mode.   Shortplay  is  the  speed  *ALL* videos
play/record  at,  which  is  23.39  mm/s  (milimeters a second?) and for
Longplay, it is 11.69 mm/s.


|1-PREFORMACE


Brilliant.   This  is  the first time I've ever had a brand-spankin'-new
video  before,  and  indeed  the  best.  Although, there is one problem.
Sometimes  the  video  plays  back  Longplay recorded tapes at Shortplay
speed,  which  is  very  bloody  annoying  (I  don't know if this is the
video's fault, or a fault of the tape).



|2-SCORES







FEATURES    : 8/10   Quite a lot! There is quite a lot which I
                     haven't written about!
EASE OF USE : 7/10   At first,  I  couldn't tell
                     what the hell was going on!
VALUE       : 10/10  Very cheap for a Shortplay video, but this is
                     Longplay video with loads of features!!

OVERALL     : 9 / 10  Brilliant!  For an extra 20, you can get
                       VideoPlus+ and on-screen programming!
                       I had the extra 20, but my sister talked me
                       out of getting the other one, which I'm
                       now very pissed off about!


$fe0                                 Signed
$fb0                          BootBlock/TerraForm


[I've  never  thought  of  reviewing a video before.  I usually get them
second  hand  anyway.   I have 2 panasonics and they mainly get used for
recording  off  TV  or  satellite.   Here's  a tip for those of you with
satellite  and  a  VCR  but you don't have access to the movie channels.
Set your satellite to a movie channel and tape the film you want to see.
You'll  get  the sound but no picture.  Then take the tape to your mates
house  (if he has a card with movies switched on) and rewire the VCR and
satellite  so  the VCRs output goes into the satellite system.  His card
will now decode the film!  Kei]

