I don't think the jerkiness is heat related. There have been other posts that this has been witnessed merely playing a signal through the 5005, not even recording, and this after just turning unit on. However have not witnessed that, but have only encountered with cheaper, no name blank media, and soon after a recording started (little time for heat buildup). My gut feeling is something to do with the encoder/decoder that they use, or just the symptom of a bad write to this cheaper media. Then again have had name brand (Philips 8x) show no jitter, but occasionally "freeze" on playback, but ONLY when played back on the Liteon.
Even their current "approved" disc list are pretty obscure brands (for U.S.), and you are lucky if you even see 4x on (at least for R-).
Still use though for cable recording, and generally still consider a good, flexible unit - although for Liteon to really eliminate the "biggies" (jitter, freeze, green patches) - certainly would have been nice. I also think Liteon's attention to the 5005 has faded, and we already have their latest, and last firmware update......