No comments about Merit Li-Lin PDR-400.

1 comments about Sony RDR-GX255 Single Tray HDMI DVD Recorder.

1. I thought I would be getting a Sony DVD recorder similar to the ones I have purchased in the past. First, you cannot record from a premium movie channel because these are blocked---hackers can easily bypass this feature. Ridiculous. Also, there is no record equalizer on this unit. This is a feature I liked on Sony's older models. I would not recommend this unit and will probably return it. I have four other Sony recorders that are wonderful. This one is a total lemon.

5 comments about Sungale DVD2026 High Clarity Progressive Scan DVD Player.

1. OK, this won't allow me to rate less than 1 star, but I'd give it a "0"..at the most. Well,I just wrote a review and I don't see it, so here it goes again. This company absolutely sucks and their products are junk..you'll be throwing your money away. My DVD player stopped working after 3 months. Visit the forum at their web site (sungale.com) and you'll see what I'm talking about. Don't be swindled out of your money because the product is cheap..CHEAP GARBAGE INDEED!!!



2. This player is unreliable at best. Often, When you close the disc tray it doesn't slide all the way back in so the player can't read the disc. I actually have to open the tray door and push the tray into place. Also, It will play a disc just fine one day, and the next the same disc skips, freezes, loses audio, etc. Maybe it has overheating issues but I don't really care. Any player that takes away from your viewing enjoyment isn't worth the money at any price.



3. It can play Asian DVDs! I just bought the Seven Swords from ebay and my friends and my own dvd players all can not play the disc. I bought this so called code free dvd player from a local merchant. Wow, it is good! Plays fine! For $40, I really couldn't find another one. Simple and easy to use. Very stylish. Slim and small!



4. Well, I don't like this dvd player as much as the previous reviewer does. It's certainly not as good as the brand name sony, panasonic, and JVC. But as for the price, it's really a good deal. I think it can play DVDs with any region code except for region 2? I am not sure, I haven't tried region 2 dvds yet. But for $40, it's either Daewoo or Sungale. I think Sungale is a bit better.



5. This is one sunny DVD player to attest to the name Sungale, it provides the picture quality I need, without any synchronization problems with video and sound, and can play all of my regional movies. And I can carry it to my friend's houses easily.
   
   I use a Sony HD DVD Player for my main and this one for my secondary.

No comments about LG LGDVDR313 Ultra-Slim DVD Recorder.

No comments about NUVICO NVJV-4.

No comments about Lg LHY-518 Home Theater System w/ VCR and DVD Recorder.

5 comments about Philips DVDR80 Progressive Scan DVD Player / Recorder.

1. I am not one generally to anthropomorphize electronics, but after more than a year with this recorder I am left with the notion it has serious problems. I have spent more than 16 hours waiting for and talking to Philips customer service...they can read you the manual, but since you're reading this I assume that will be as much help to you as it has been to me. At this stage I know more than customer service about their machine. The interface is difficult and cumbersome I recommend avoiding the system. It periodically will not recognize DVD-R disks, although it always recognizes DVD-RW media. It randomly changes channels, stops recording in the middle of a program, etc.
   Try Sony I hear their system is easier to use.
   This is a shame because when it works it makes beautiful quality images.



2. I wish I had seen some of the other reviews here before I bought mine! While it was under warranty, I had several minor issues that their useless customer service department could not help me resolve. In hind sight, I should have just returned it for a refund then. But I was at least able to record DVDs successfully. Many pre-recorded, i.e. purchased, movies would not play at all. Now that the warranty has expired, it will act as if it is recording, with no error messages, but when finished, that disk is recognized as "empty". Total piece of crap! I'll never buy another Philips product.



3. I purchased Philips DVDR80 in October 2003. It worked fine for about 15 months, then stopped functioning properly. Would get "disc error" message, discs wouldn't finalize and became unreadable coasters. Was using Memorex dvd+r and +rw discs with no problem until this time. After the errors started, tried other disc brands (Maxell, Imation), and dvd lens cleaner.
   Ended up contacting Philip's "Customer Care", went thru all their suggestions, firmware updates, etc. Authorized repair center said they were unable to fix it. I called Philips back, told them I didn't think paying $500 for a product that lasts just 3 months past the warranty was fair. I suggested they give me a partial refund for this obviously defective product, but representative basically told me to get lost. To be fair, his supervisor was more polite, but wasn't anymore helpful.
   I've had good luck with Philips/Magnavox vcr's, so thought their dvd recorders would be comparable. Am writing this review few years after giving up on this product as it been sitting on my shelf as an expensive clock. However, Its going in garbage soon as have recently purchased a Panasonic recorder (hopefully it will last longer). Am not purchasing anymore Philips products until get over my anger, which may be awhile.



4. All the lameness of this product has been well documented here. I just wanted to add one more negative star to the voting, and to Philips as a whole. Boooo!



5. Like most people submitting reviews about the DVDR-80 from Philips on this site, I was a sucker and bought this lemon a few years ago. Also like everyone else, my recorder failed and I spent hours dealing with Philips (and getting nowhere). I downloaded the Firmware revisions and installed them according to the instructions, and even tried using the rest procedure to get back to the "Factory" status.... all failed.
   
   After letting the recorder "rest" in it's original packaging for a full year, I tried to use it again last night. It was a "Hail, Mary" plan with the hope that it would forget all the bad words I said to it, and might start working properly again. HA !
   
   This morning I figured out how to resolve the problems I've experienced over the past 4 or 5 years with this device, and managed to reduce my stress levels in the process. I packaged the recorder in it's original box, taking the time to coil up the power cord and wrap everything up in the protective foam and wrappers, then chucked the whole damn thing into a dumpster.
   
   It wasn't a GREAT bargain, but I did get a nifty set of RCA plug A/V cables for $500.00. Thank you Philips, for all of your advanced technology and outstanding customer support... I hope you enjoy my money, because that's the last you'll EVER get from me. My $125.00 Panasonic DVD recorder has been running for 4 years now without a single glitch. Maybe the folks at Philips should invest in a Panasonic DVDR, just to see what a quality product is suppose to look and act like after the warranty expires.

1 comments about Refurbished Sharp DVRW340U DVD Recorder and VHS Combo.

1. This product was something that Amazon should not have on there web site. The front was falling off and you could not press the buttons because of this. Amazon did handle my return very well. They paid the return and refunded my money.

5 comments about Pioneer DVR-810HS DVD Recorder with TiVo Basic Service.

1. Pros:
   1. Good user interface
   2. You can pause live TV
   Cons:
   1. There is PIXELIZATION problem with this unit unless you record in fine setting. So, you have 13 hours of recording, not 80. BTW, the worst recording setting is crap !!
   Tivo SUCKS !! TIVO basic will not allow to
   1. Record different programs at different modes UNLESS you change the setting after the first recording and before the second one starts.
   2. No TIVO promotions are applicable for TIVO basic. TIVO has a $100 rebate for all models but only if you upgrade to TIVO plus (costs $300 lifetime)
   3. TIVO online scheduling is not for TIVO basic.
   Even if you upgrade, you still have
   1. Unreadable channel guide - TIVO tries to show as many channels and hours of programming as possible. If you do not have a 40" TV or bigger, forget trying to read the channel guide
   2. You cannot edit out commercials, you can only forward through them. So your DVDs will have commercials.
   3. You have to fast forward through commercials - no minute skip button.
   4. TIVO will not transfer subscription (unlike Replay TV) from one box to another (in the event this unit goes bad). So even if your unit covered by warranty, you get the unit replaced but pay TIVO another $300 for lifetime service
   Recommendation: Add $300 to the cost while comparing with other units. Definitely not worth $820. If you do not want DVD burning feature, suggest you go with Replay TV. If you want DVD burning (with editing), stay away from anything that is TIVO. I got a Panasonic DMR E85H - no problems so far (~ 8 days)



2. Was very pleased with the spec for this product and had always felt that Pioneer products were a reliable bet. Boy was I wrong !
   
   Being new to TiVo type services I was a little surprised at how complex and how LONG it takes to set the thing up, plus you have to have a telephone line available for setup even if you don't subsequently want to use the TiVo service
   
   Everything worked fine for a few weeks, then the audio vanished. Tried resetting and checking signals and amp circuits, everything fine except no signal from the Pioneer RCA jack. Called Pioneer's service rep, who was quite helpful, but could only suggest I ship the unit back to them ... when did it become the buyers responsibility to ship defective goods back to the manufacturer at the customers costs (some $100 in this case)
   
   The unit was very prompty returned - fully reset (ie another setup required) but still without RCA output from Output#1. Pioneer suggested I should use Output#2 or the Optical circuit instead i.e. they hadn't repaired it at all
   
   All was fine on Output#2 for a few weeks, then that too failed. Am now using the Optical output and wondering how long that might work for
   
   Oh, and the machine refuses to recognize any wireless network - there is not even the option on the menu to configure this option that the manual claims should be there
   
   Maybe there should be a lemon law for electronics !



3. The folks who write negatively about this unit obviously did not understand how to work it, what they were buying, or understand what TiVo basic was and that it is a limited bare bones hook to get you to buy the plus version. I have had it for a year, it works perfectly, and is an absolute joy.



4. I bought this unit in August 2004, and had been using it with both TiVo Basic and TiVo Plus, until it conked out in February 2006. Eighteen months is not an acceptable product life for any video component in my book, and now I have a friend trying to hack a repair by swapping out what is apparently a dead HDD with a $40 Seagate 160GB HDD. If he succeeds, the unit will go to 160 hours of available recording time. That will make up for the downtime.
   
   In short, however, I must warn any prospective buyers that these kind of hard disks are not really meant to run non-stop for years on end. Perhaps the best plan is periodically to have a tech friend create a mirror/backup of your season passes/preferences/etc, and to use "TiVo to Go" regularly to send your favourite recordings to your home PC. The system inside is Linux, not Windows, so that's why a techie is needed for the hack.
   
   Finally, if you don't care to do more than use this as a modern VCR with time-shifting, stick with the free TiVo Basic. In retrospect, paying for the lifetime service doesn't make sense when not six months later the unit dies...



5. It's obvious that a lot of the folks that have purchased these units are not too familiar with electronic products. These are the best Tivos ever produced since they allow you to archive your favorite videos from the hard drive seemlessly to DVD as well as convert your movies to DVD and then edit both on a PC. An added bonus is the free TIVO basic service. Why would you ever want to edit video on the player itself with all the fine editing tools on the PC? People complaining about the video quality just don't know what they are talking about. The quality problem was fixed a few years ago after a class action law suit and is better than any other DVR with the exception of the newer High Def units but they don't allow you to record directly from the hard drive to an included DVD. I use the component output directly into my 40 in LCD and the video looks great. You can also pop the DVD into a $50 upconverting DVD player and get even better quality without the horrendous wait time of an HD or Blu Ray player.

No comments about Samsung Upconvert DVD Recorder.