No comments about Samsung Upconvert DVD Recorder.

5 comments about Samsung DVD-AR650 DVD Recorder.

1. Overall it's a good dvd recorder and hdtv tuner. If you have a HDTV monitor, this would be a perfect choice. Recording OTA HDTV programs is very easy and high quality. I give it a four star because the picture quality is not as good as my DirecTV receiver, but that's just a matter of opinion.



2. The tuner in my 10 year old 35" TV stopped working about two years ago so I started using it as a monitor for my VCR. The VCR stopped playing and recording tapes so I took a chance and bought a refurbished AR650 online to take its place. There was no audio when in digital mode. Standard broadcast audio and DVD audio were fine. I called Samsung and they went through the off/on and reset stuff but still no audio. Their final suggestion was that I get a new TV and use another audio output. I exchanged the 650. Everything went fine. It only took a week. The new unit worked fine. I have antennas and amplifiers in my attic and get pretty good digital signals from Philadelphia and Baltimore. The freezing of the digital picture is caused by weak signals. An amplifier will help.
   
   I got a scare last week. The digital audio stopped working. I did the off/on and reset and it came back. Two weeks ago I left it in digital mode and I guess the signal was lost for a long time. I leave the TV on when I go out. This caused the digital to stop working. I had to do the off/on and reset and rescan the channels.
   
   When in standard broadcast you can Add and Delete channels but in digital you can Delete only. The only way to add digital channels is to rescan and then delete the ones you never watch.



3. Overall, this unit is pretty good considering the price. I have mine hooked up with HDMI for the video and I'm going optical out for the audio into my Technics Dolby digital 5.1 audio receiver/amp. The sound is spectacular in true Dolby Digital. The video on the ATSC tuner channels is not true HD as it actually increases the size of the picture just a bit bigger than it's native aspect ratio, thus cutting off part of the picture. But, it is a nice picture nonetheless. The DVD recorder is relatively reliable but the player has some quirks. Sometimes it'll just stop playing. Possibly possessed? Who's to say. The digital tuner needs a strong clean signal, otherwise you can expect significant dropouts, to the point that it is unwatchable. The analog tuner works well and is what I use to watch most of my tv. You can record in a couple different formats for playback on your DVD player or PC. You can also transfer the files from a recorded DVD -R or DVD -RW to your your favorite video editing software on your PC. There are still a few of these around and I have no reservations recommending this unit. Just remember, it's not true HD and that's ok because I don't think a consumer HD DVD recorder even exists. But this is pretty close to it. Rob @ robdrew.com



4. I bought this DVD recorder last Aug. When I got it it worked fine. Then lately I tried using some DVD-RW new disc. and when I put it in it has to format it - it goes to about 20% done then says some message of an error & spits it back out. Now it is starting to do the same thing with the DVD-R when I put it in then it says a message of "disc can not be played" and opens the tray back up. If I retry it it then will accept it, but I am afraid that the recording part is about to quit.
   So far it will play a video ok, it is the recording part that is acting up for me. I am trying to use brand new Maxwell DVD-R/RW.



5. Purchased this recorder in September 2007; used on week-ends, infrequently. Stopped playing in March 2008; mailed to Samsung repair in New Jersey; returned after delays due to not having part in stock. After receiving it back, used a couple of times when it stopped playing again. Disappointed in Samsung quality; won't buy another product from them.

5 comments about RCA DRC8335 DVD Recorder & VCR Combo With Built-In Tuner.

1. I purchased this unit at Wal-Mart about 2 months ago for $198.99. Within weeks the price dropped to $148.99. No problem here because I thought a 6-head VCR would provide better picture and sound quality than the standard 4-head so the price was right for me. Within the past week the VCR has been sluggish when it comes to putting in and taking out videos. I didn't think anything of it until I put in a video to copy it to DVD and it wouldn't eject. All I heard was a continual ticking sound whenever I tried to play it, rewind it or press the "Eject" button. The next day without any rhyme or reason, I was able to play and eject the video. I removed it from the unit, put it in to record the following day and the VCR ate it again. The ticking sound started and nothing happened when I tried to play, rewind or press "Eject" (again). Wal-Mart will not accept the unit back. They tell me to call the manufacturer (RCA) - which I did. They want me to incur a pricey shipping cost to send it back and can't guarantee that they can fix the problem. PLUS, they tell me that the video is not returnable when/if they are able to get it out. So, in a nutshell, the video remains stuck in the unit so the VCR is unusable. Thankfully I have a backup that I run through AV2 for recording and playing. Also, on some videos there is a continual humming noise when they are played back. No amount of tracking or adjusting will clear it. It's annoying to hear that all through a film.
   
   Bottom line - don't waste you money on this unit. The VCR portion is notorious for eating tapes and the humming problem is pretty common from what I've read over the past few days.
   
   Buyer beware. :-(
   
   
   ******************************
   
   Well...I'm adding on to my original review of April 2008. Not only did this unit "eat" my video (which I was never able to get out of the VCR), but now the unit "ate" my DVD. I had to dismantle the unit and pry open the DVD holder to get the disc out. This problem came out of the blue. I was recording from TV and could not eject the disc. "Hello" continually scrolled across the display and the unit would not recognize any of the commands from the remote control. I left the unit unplugged for over an hour thinking that would reset the system (according the the user manual) but it did not. I tried this three times. Unable to get the disc to eject, I finally decided to take the unit apart and get it out myself. Still, I could not get either the VCR or the DVD portion to accept or eject anything. So, after having the unit for only about 4 months I finally had to throw it away. It was going to cost more money than it was worth to return it to the manufacturer and there were no guarantees that it would work properly once I got it back. Basically, it was a $200 piece of worthless crap! Never again, RCA. I replaced it with a Magnavox DVD recorder for about half the price. The only disappointment I had with this whole experience is that the RCA was pretty easy to install and use and I became pretty proficient at navigating through the system and could easily copy VHS to DVD in practically no time at all. The new Magnavox is a bit more confusing and requires a bit more time for things like disc labeling and finalzing. I got spoiled with the RCA but not enough so that I'd ever purchase another one. Let's hope I have better luck with my Magnavox.



2. I purchased this DVR at Walmart. At the time, it was the most expensive option in the store, but I paid the extra price because I believed in the RCA brand. The product never worked right. The VCR did not play smoothly and often shut off in the middle of the video. The DVD recording, which was advertised as a "one-touch" process, was extremely complicated. We were able to get it to record three DVDs off of television, but were never able to record from VHS to DVD. Three months after we purchased it, the product quit working completely -- there is not even a clock or counter display on the front panel. There is an 800 number right on the recorder, but when you call for service, you get another company "Alto" which is not helpful and requires $120 + two-way shipping to Buffalo, NY, in order to provide any help.



3. I bought RCA's model before this, which died before the warranty expired. I was sent this model to replace it, and it died within 5 months. RCA only recognizes a 90 day warranty on the refurbished junk it sends you after the original junk dies (or 1 year from original purchase date), so now I'm out of warranty and out of luck. RCA Customer service doesn't seem to care that they sent me two lemons, and is sticking by their policies.



4. I brought this unit less than a year ago. It took quite a bit of time to get it set up. Once I got the unit to work, I was able to to record several dvds . However, the unit is now locked up and only displays "hello" and I am unable to eject my VCR tape. After looking at several reviews, it looks like this is a common problem. Now I have the pleasure of sitting on the phone with customer service and/or having to mail the unit back. Don't waste your time or money on the DVD combo.



5. There should be 'minus' star ratings for this product. I bought this piece of junk and it wouldn't work from the beginning and I'm pretty tech savvy. Paid a repairman $80 and it worked less than one day. Warranty for return to Wal-Mart ran out and I haven't yet returned it to RCA for a replacement. ALL reviews about this product on other sites speak to its defective features. I think everyone that bought one should file a Class Action suit against RCA -- but of course I don't know how to do this.
   
   RCA DRC8335 DVD Recorder & VCR Combo With Built-In Tuner

5 comments about Samsung DVD-R135 DVD Recorder.

1. I had this item for over a year and it stopped working as many have described in previous reviews.
   
   I had it repaired once-paying for labor, Samsung decided to cover the parts since so many bad units out there.
   
   Well, after four months it is having the same problems again that it did before repair-not able to read any DVD's, brand new commercial or recordable. I called Samsung and they offered to cover the parts again, but I would be stuck footing the bill for labor-that would mean in the end I would end up spending over $100 in repairs!
   
   Not to be fooled again by an obviously flawed product, I will take the money and invest in a unit by a different manufacturer, I highly recommend others do the same.
   
   STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT-IT IS FLAWED



2. I've owned the R135 for about 8 months now, it was great for the first 4. Now I'm lucky if I can get it to read a store bought DVD (often times straight out of it's original packaging) after 3 or 4 attempts. I like to image that blowing in the slot is what gets it working again (like the old Super NES days), but I think it's all pretty random and it just makes me feel better to do so while I turn it on and off.
   
   The player is simply put, a sleek looking piece of trash. After 4 months of intermittent operation, it now only works a quarter of the time. This is absolutely unacceptable! I bought a different player more than 6 years ago and it's not feature rich, but the damn thing still flawlessly performs it's primary function. This will be the *last* Samsung product I will ever subject myself to you, do yourself a favor and pass this one up regardless of how low the price goes.



3. I bought this unit back in February or March of last year so I could record my wife's favorite shows and send them to her while she was stuck in Iraq for a year. A little over a month after I bought it, it quit reading disks. Best Buy wouldn't take it back, and Samsung wouldn't send me a replacement, despite the fact that I'd only used the thing for 3 weeks. They insisted on repairing it, and refused to do anything to expedite it after telling them my situation.
   
   I was told they'd at least send a shipping label to have it repaired here on the west coast, but when the label finally arrived over a week and a half later it was for a facility on the east coast. Long story short, by the time I got it back from repair (over two months later) my wife was home from Baghdad. Total waste of my money.
   
   Fast-forward to the present, and I've got another soldier who's stuck over in Iraq who's missing out on all the motorcycle racing going on. Well, I told him I'd try to record and send him some DVDs but, sure enough, I put a disk in today and this same hunk of Samsung trash (which I haven't used for anything but a couple of test recordings when I got it back from repair) won't read ANY discs once again.
   
   I will NEVER buy a Samsung product of ANY kind again. Thanks for supporting the troops, Samsung.



4. Just like everyone else here, my Samsung R135 DVD Recorder stopped recognizing discs after a few months. It started out one day with it taking nearly a minute to load a DVD, annoying but eventually they would load and I'd be able to watch them. However, the loading time continued to increased as the days went by, 1 minute 30 seconds to load then 2 minutes, finally it would no longer load my Jesus DVDs for viewing or blank DVDs for recording Jesus movies. It is now totally non-functioning. I have to go buy a different DVD recorder and it will not be another Samsung product, man.
   
   While I thank God for the time it was working, it was nice to have during the few short months that it was operating in good order, now it's a useless piece of junk, man.



5. This unit has a mind of it's own. Example- I insert a dvd, and it freezes-TOTALLY. So I eject it (after it decides when it wants to eject) and put in another disc. This disc plays OK so I reinsert the original disc. Plays fine. Next time I try this procedure, you guessed it, same thing happens. I noticed that there are none for sale that are NEW. Thanks for your time.

3 comments about Sony RDR-VX521 DVD Recorder Vcr Combo.

1. Simple, easy, nice unit by Sony. Having many video tapes that needed to be transferred, I tried my computer but it was cumbersome to do the transfers. This allows easy transfer to DVD using any format including DVD-RW for recording tv shows. My only complaint is the unit does not allow you to name your DVD so when you pop in into your computer, it comes up with the stock Sony name. Minor complaint because you can still edit and name the video via the unit on screen so when it sees a DVD player, you know what is on the DVD. Let's hope the prices keep coming down!



2. One star only because it is not possible to rate the product lower.
   
   I purchased this model DVD recorder/VCR combo locally on 11/17/2007. I attempted to install the product, but the machine would not display a menu or respond to commands from the remote. It also would not respond to some commands from the command buttons on the face of the recorder. I spent about an hour on the phone with Sony tech support, resulting in an offer to replace the item at no cost if I'd pay shipping to them. I opted to exchange it at the store at no cost to myself.
   
   The second unit also would not display a menu. It responded to more commands at both the remote and on the machine itself, but refused to acknowledge the existence of channel 3. I skipped the middle man, went to a different store location on 11/18/2007, repeated the exchange.
   
   The third unit had the same failure to display a menu and refused to acknowledge the existence of any channel but 127.
   
   At this point, I accept my defeat at the hands of bad tech and will seek another product with the features I want.
   
   Caveat emptor.



3. I purchased this VCR/DVD recorder for it's ability to dub family videos to DVD and to allow my children to watch old movies we have on tape. It began sporadically eating VHS tapes after 6 months of light use. When calling for warranty service (it has a decently long warranty, I will admit-1 year and 180 days P&L-much better than many electronics which offer 90 days), it took over an hour on hold just to get the address of a repair center and a work order number. Seems like they may be sorry for offering that warranty now. Of course you will need to pay to ship your unit in for repair out of your own pocket, not to mention the inconvenience of the shipping and being without a unit you paid good money for. If you purchase it, I highly recommend you keep your receipt and original packaging handy!
   
   Sony isn't the Sony of old. My recent experience has been that their products just don't hold up like they used to. Caveat Emptor.

5 comments about Panasonic DMRE85HS Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with 120 GB Hard Drive Recording.

1. I got mine in summer 2005, since always I found problems. First, when I press the REC button on the box just don't start recording even after few seconds, I try everything, this happens random. Second, when I got recording I'm not able stop recording with the remote, the times I tested pressing remote buttons I ended always with wrong video output to my plasma screen ???? very weird. And some few other issues like menu operation and programs not beeing recorded as previous user instructions trough the program menu.
   
   Now isn't reliable anymore, all the other problems I could live with, but now is impossible, example, I programm any recording for movie or tv show (lets say for 90 minutes) I endup with that 90 minutes movie saved in just 20 (TWENTY) minutes ???? We start watching the saved movie and after 2 minutes of play we get a jump/gap of large pieces of scenes ???
   
   First I tough maybe the Hard Disk Drive need some REFORMAT to clean the FAT (File Allocation Table) due to the extensive use I gave to the recorder as I put it to save one movie/tv show per day.
   
   BUT seems not the case, after clean and reformat the Hard Disk Drive, I tested again with more movies and tv shows and the problem remains randomly, the HD is getting some kind of failure or the recorder is getting himself some software/hardware problem.
   
   Isn't reliable at all. Due to the new models outside I'm leaving Panasonic and looking into Sony's new HDMI models.



2. I've had the DMR E85H for over two years now and it is terrible. It locks up, takes a long time to power up, once you power up about 50% of the time the remote only partially works and I need to power down, and back on (another 2-3 minutes wait), to see if I can set it up to record something now. Many many people on forums all talk about these problems and how Panasonic doesn't back this up, hides the firmware updates. I did return my first unit to the store and got a 2nd one. It does has the exact same problems - it's not my machine, it's all of them. I'll never buy Panasonic again.
   
   The only good thing if I am patient and don't miss the first part of the show because of the problems, it does seem to record and play back nicely. I just can't believe that they would release the recorder with as many problems as it has.



3. I have had this unit for 2 years or more and it was great compared to using a VCR, in many ways, but I find that it isn't very reliable for recording everything I program in. Whether it is programmed by using the TV Guide listings or by putting in the time and dates myself, it will sometimes just skip a program I want recorded. I think that the causes can be that sometimes the TV Guide listing goes out or the tv channels do not match exactly what my channels are. Also, there are times when it thinks I don't get a channel that I do get and I have to go in and turn that channel on. If it would stay on, that wouldn't be so bad, but this thing is always having to be reset to get the channels back for TV Guide.
   
   Why can't some company design a recorder that has a hard drive and dvd but can also use a cable card?



4. This DVR was the biggest waste of money EVER. I wouldn't even give it one star, but I had to in order to save this review.
   
   During the first year we owned it, it was in the repair shop for more than half the year. They repaired it once, we brought it home and it still froze up and wouldn't work. So we had to take it back and they ended up replacing the hard drive (which is what we told them was the problem the FIRST time we took it in). Of course both times it was in the repair shop they kept it for about 3-4 months. They should have given us a new unit since it was obviously defective (it stopped working after about a month the first time). We used it the 2nd year we owned it here and there, but we were afraid to count on it for anything since it still wouldn't tape things consistently (even though we had scheduled it to tape a few shows weekly). We got talked into buying a 2-year extended warranty for another $150 since we had so many problems the first year. That was another huge waste of money, because when did this machine die (yes, die -- it doesn't even turn on any more and we haven't even used it this year because of the TV strike)? It died on a Saturday, the day before the warranty expired but of course Panasonic wasn't open on the weekend so we couldn't report it until AFTER the warranty expired. I would NEVER buy another Panasonic DVR, particularly one with a hard drive, because they DON'T work.



5. I bought my unit over 3 years ago when my vcr died. Did some research and liked what I read about this unit.
   
   The DMR E85H is not as difficult to learn to use as some reviews state, and it's not as troublesome either. Mine has operated nearly flawlessly the entire 3 years I owned it. Earlier this year, I bought a second dvr,and went with the Phillips DVDR 3575H, since more Panasonic DMR E85s were not available at that time. The Phillips is a fine unit, but I definitely like the Panasonic MUCH better.
   
   Last week, the Panasonic went completely dead.... a simple internet search took me to this page: http://vassfamily.net/projects/DMRE85H/dmre85h.html I followed the information on that page, and found the same 3 capacitors leaking on my unit. Easily replaced them myself, and got it back in operation, for less than $10!

5 comments about Humax DRT400 40-Hour TiVo with DVD Recorder.

1. Bought this in October as an early Christmas gift. I activated lifetime Tivo in mid-November. I went to install it and after 5 hours on the phone with tech support (they do get 5 stars for being there 24 hours a day), they finally had me send it back. They wanted me to give them my credit card info so they could send out a new one the next day, or I could send in my defective one and once they got it, they would send out a new one "within 24 hours". I decided to opt for sending back without my credit card info. Sent the unit back and they received it December 1st. On the 10th of December, I called -- what a suprise when they couldn't find any tracking number for my unit. I then called back on the 14th -- and I got some run around story about how the warehouse misplaced my new unit. When they finally did get the tracking number (and yes, I had to call them for it), they had used my street address and the zip code to another city. So, of course that delayed it even more. The new unit finally arrived December 22nd. With the holidays, I never got a chance to install it until the 29th of December...and GUESS what?? You got it! It was a defective unit AGAIN -- the clue for me was that there was a big "REFURBISHED" tag across the box. I didn't buy refurbished -- I bought this NEW. So, here we go again. I have now sent the unit back after a heated discussion with their customer service department. They PROMISED me that I would have a new unit by January 8th.......yes, on January 10th I called AGAIN to ask where the heck my unit was......well, here's a kicker: They shipped it to NASHVILLE (by the way, I live in California). So, a very polite "supervisor" told me I would get a call in a few hours but they needed to track down my unit in Nashville (they were blaming UPS -- and UPS got the info from where??). Well, here I sit -- January 14th with still no unit. And, of course, I am still waiting for a phone call with a valid tracking number for a NEW unit. My recommendation is: Unless you like dealing with Customer Service departments, don't bother. I can't even rate the unit since I have never had one that works......Tivo should yank their contract from them. I would never buy one again.



2. This gets one star because there is no lower ranking. Don't buy a Humax product unless you like paying new prices for used, rebuilt junk. Their new unit comes not working out of the box. The company sends you a rebuilt, used unit to replace your new unit that didn't work. When you object to paying new prices for used equipment, they just blow you off. Too much hassle. This company can't last long.



3. I have had a Sony 3000 Tivo since 2002 and decided to buy this unit because I could burn DVDs on it. After paying 400 for the unit, and 300 for Tivo lifetime service I was happy because things were working great, until I started having problems with the DVD burner. I was pretty happy because I was still under warrenty and after paying 50 dollars for a refurbished unit I was back in business - although it was inconvienent to be without the TIVO for weeks for them to turn it around, but the customer service center was friendly enough. Well now I am a little over 3 months into the refurbished unit and after several phone calls to the service department, this unit is defective.. and they want me to pay $210 dollars for another unit.
   
   Basically, I have paid $750 dollars for a year of Tivo and DVD burning and I don't feel that I should have to pay another penny to Humax to replace the unit.. but I am not in a good position. Basically Humax doesn't care, and TIVO will not transfer the lifetime service over to another unit regardless of Humax's poor equipment. (I was wanting to buy a 99 dollar box from Tivo and transfer service - but they will not do it).
   
   So.. I am out a bunch of money for a few DVDs. I LOVE Tivo, but honestly after this experience I think that leasing a DVR from my cable company is a safer route for me to go and my pride will not allow me to buy another lifetime service contract from TIVO (although I see they don't sell them anymore, so maybe that is not even an option.)
   
   If I had to do this all over again... I WOULD NEVER SPEND ONE PENNY ON A HUMAX PRODUCT and I would recommend that you save your money as well by avoiding this product. It may seem to work great at first, but after going through two units in less than 18 months, I can tell you that you are flushing money down the toilet.



4. Purchased DRT400 in December 2005, within 9 months the unit failed. It was within the warranty period and we went through the same process described by other reviewers, charge to your credit card, returned the defective box, and received a REFURBISHED unit for $50. The refurbished unit failed within the first 2 weeks. Received second refurbished unit and it failed the first day. At this point, we demanded that we receive a NEW unit but Humax sent another refurbished unit. We refused delivery from UPS and it was sent back to Humax. Apparently Humax moved their warehouse during December 2006 so it took about 4 weeks for the new unit to ship. We were going to be out of town for the holidays, so I gave them a time frame of when NOT to ship the unit. They shipped it anyway and it sat on my front porch for 1 week. Thankfully it was still there when we returned. New unit worked for 9 months and failed. Even though the unit was NEW it was also a replacement and it only carries a 90-day warranty. Now they want $290 for a REFURBISHED replacement unit. I have kept a log of all the problems, calls, etc. and I asked to speak with a manager to express my frustration and to understand the lack of quality in their product. Going on 3 weeks of phone calls trying to get the unit replaced or the purchase price refunded and they can have the machine. I'm told that I'll hear from their corporate office within 72 hours--never happened. Called back, I'll hear back in 2 days, didn't happen. On the current issue: 7 phone calls, 3 emails, $400 on the machine and $300 for the lifetime TIVO membership--some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced.



5. When we first got TiVo on the Humax unit I was so excited to be able to ditch my VCR and all that worry about programs rescheduling etc. But my excitement quickly cooled when time and time again, the record to DVD function didn't work. "Internal error" to me meant something was wrong with the unit so I sent it back to Humax (with a $400 hold on my credit card waiting for the replacement). This was three days into my TiVo membership. Same problem occurred with second unit. Returned that one. Finally, frustrated with the fact that I'd enjoy about 10 minutes of my TiVo in the first three weeks of having it, I caromed back and forth between TiVo and Humax customer service (which holds very limited hours btw) and hit my limit when a Humax customer rep told me my DVDs weren't "fresh" enough(!?). Now I realize that that Humax likes some DVD-R brands (Sony, TDK, Verbatim and Imation) and spits out others, I can go on and enjoy my service. But Humax needs to be upfront with people about this limitation on an otherwise fine machine.

No comments about Philips DVDR 80 - DVD recorder.

5 comments about Samsung DVD-R120 Progressive Scan DVD Recorder.

1. I bought this unit in Nov. 2005 and at first I liked it, however, once 2006 came around I noticed that it recorded scheduled weekly shows on the wrong day. The Samsung website did not provide much help and I found on some online forums that there was a bug with the 2006 calendar. Their solution was to change the year to 2007 or 2013, something like that. I kept checking the Samsung website for updated firmware to address the glitch but they never released anything.
   Now we have 2007 and the US will change to DST 3 weeks earlier. Samsung support was pretty clueless about the whole DST change and said there was no updated firmware available and that I had to manually change the time.
   In addition, the recorder will not start up when scheduled about 1/3 of the time. I have not been able to narrow it down or replicate, it seems random.
   It is also very picky with blank media. I have not been able to record any DVD-R media at all, only DVD-RW, which is o.k. since I mostly record over the shows once I have seen them. In order to keep a copy, I have to finalize the DVD-RW disk and then make a copy to a DVD-R. There are also some issues with other DVD players and computers being able to play the finalized DVD-RW discs. My Mac mini with OS X 10.4.x will not play them at all. A Panasonic DVD player about 2 years old will not play them either. My Windows PCs and a Sony DVD player play them o.k.



2. I've had this Samsung DVD recorder over a year and it's been nothing but trouble. The power button on the remote wouldn't work out of the box, it's SUPER SLOW in opening & closing and playback is below VCR quality. TERRIBLE BUY!



3. I have bought two of these. I first bought one for myself and loved it so much I purchased on for my church to record the services. This is an easy burner to use and has a lot of great features and gives a great quality product. A must buy!!



4. We have had this unit for a little over a year - and we have to spend over $100 to have it repaired for its "system error" It has always been a little quirky to use and now it is just useless.
   
   Off I go to purchase another and not a Samsung this time.



5. I bought one of these about 18 months ago. I *think* the first coupla dubs I made were OK, but then I noticed audio and video were out of sync. I thought it was me for the longest time (I'll spare you why) until two weeks ago. Then I did tests that absolutely confirmed it was the product. At that point I did what I should have done a long time ago, which is check user reviews for "Samsung" and "out of sync." Lights up like a Christmas tree.
   This product is worthless and the company ought to have the decency to remove it from the market or at least inform its customers of the problem. Would never recommend to anyone.

5 comments about Philips DVDR3505/37 1080i Upscaling DVD Recorder with Built-In Tuner.

1. I have a 32 inch HDTV, and I do all my TV viewing OTA (no cable or satellite). We enjoy watching PBS, and other broadcast stations. But the VCR could not record any of the digital channels. So I started looking for a DVR. My HDTV does not have a video out port, so I could not use a tunerless DVR.
   
   So I bought this DVR mainly because it has a digital tuner, thinking that the quality would not be so good because it does not record in HD like a Tivo. But I was wrong. The quality of recording is so clear, I can't tell a difference between the original HD broadcast and DVD playback.
   
   You can record at different quality settings. The higher the quality of recording, the less stuff you can fit on the DVD, because the higher quality recording takes up more space. At the highest quality setting, you can fit one hour of shows. At the next highest quality setting, you can fit 2 hours. At the next quality setting, you can fit 2.5 hours. And so on and so on all the way to a 6 hour disc capacity.
   
   I recorded snippets of HD broadcast shows such as "CSI" and "Without a Trace" just to test out the DVR, and I must admit, I was impressed. At first, the screen was too dark, but I just had to go into my HDTV's options and adjust the brightness. With my Sony HDTV you can adjust the brightness of each input channel independently of the others (which, by the way, is a very useful feature).
   
   So after I got the brightness up to normal, the quality of the recordings I made was really good. In fact, I couldn't tell any difference between the original show and the playback. Also, I couldn't tell any difference between the highest (1-hour) and second-highest (2-hour) quality settings. They both looked great to me. So I am really impressed with this DVR.
   
   It is pretty slow executing commands and stuff, but that doesn't bother me. I just really like the fact that I can record shows now with such good picture quality.
   
   I think I am going to get a cheaper upconverting DVD player for daily playback, and just use the Philips for recording only. You can get an upconverting DVD player for only a few dollars now (even a region-free one). My HDTV has 2 HDMI inputs, so I can just have each DVD come in on its own HDMI channel. So that seems like a good way to go.



2. After many different DVD recorders on the low end of the scale and one dissapointment after another I purchased this Philips. I got the firmware update from Philips and everything works great. The tuner is good quality and it is fairly easy to program. If you are looking for a decent priced reliable unit this is the one!



3. I bought this DVD recorder several months ago, but returned it because it had bugs. It is an okay product, essentially the same as a VCR of 20 years ago except with better picture quality and a digital tuner. The bad news: 1) it can not use the best recordable DVD format for time-shifting (DVD-RAM); 2) while the tuner is digital, the tuner will not output a high-definition signal for use with an HD-ready HDTV (Like my 3 year old model. Also, no DVD can record or play back a high-definition picture.); 3) it has no electronic program guide to identify or record upcoming programs.
   
   My advice: Do what I did. After returning this and a highly-rated Samsung DVD recorder, I signed up with Dish Network and got their newest high-definition (hard disk) DVR, the 722-something. The cost was reasonable and the DVR is 20 years more advanced than any DVD recorder I am aware of. Very easy to use and can record a hugh amount of TV. Truly a great product. Direct TV and TIVO make similar products, but I think that Dish Network's is the best and best value.



4. I bought this at Wallie World for $167 and was disappointed immediately. It's VERY slow to operate commands or read a disc. When you first load a disc it takes several minutes to format. When you record a program, it takes a minute or so to complete writing before you can access anything. Even entering the menu to select a recorded show to play takes too long. I've never seen a DVD player so slow to read data.
   
   Worst of all was the time record function. It worked fine for the first couple of weeks and the quality was pretty good - though it certainly was not comparable to the original signal as some have stated. But soon we started getting a "Disc Full" error, even with a new disc in. Or a disc would work a couple times, and then suddenly say the disc was full even though we had one 30-minute recording on it in SLP mode.
   
   I tried calling Philips customer service and was answered by a poorly-qualified customer rep. After about 30 minutes of her trying to give me different advice (much of which contradicted the manual and didn't work), we were either disconnected or she hung up on me (I honestly believe it was the latter). So I returned the device and got a basic DVD player for $47 that responds much, much faster than the Philips recorder/player. Then we picked up a digital recorder from our cable company that records 50 hours of video in HD quality to a hard drive and does SO MUCH MORE than the DVR and so much better. Finally, TV viewing is fun again!



5. No complaints. It plays well, records well, and is easy to use (for me). The tuner works fine. I would buy it again.