LG DR275 DVD recorder
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With 1080p technology. By combining intelligent i/p Conversion and 1080p___ Up-Conversion technologies, DIGA’s 1080p technology renders high-resolution 1080p images from DVD movies and TV broadcasts. Also they are equipped with a new digital tuner that achieves stable signal reception even under poor signal conditions, such as when signals are reflected by surrounding buildings.
Amazon Price: ?299.99
Used Price: ?239.99
Customer Review: Must have perfect signal
I’ve had this recorder for three months and like it except for a design fault. If a station’s signal is not perfect, even though this doesn’t effect picture quality, the machine puts a large banner across the bottom of the screen saying ‘Bad Signal’. It is impossible to get rid of this banner even though it obscures subtitles, sports statistics, and the sign language person. I’ve been in contact with Panasonic about this fault and they don’t see it as important. It isn’t a problem if you have a perfect signal (don’t assume just because your picture is perfect the recorder will see it that way) or you don’t mind a large banner covering a signifcant portion of the screen.
Customer Review: Fantastic Machine, Buy One!
I’ve owned the 160Gb version of this machine (EX77), and sold it to upgrade to the 250GB EX87. It’s fantastic. It has great functionality, is very easy to use, plenty of hard disc space and great picture quality in all but the lowest quality mode. I don’t see how a previous reviewer can criticise it for not being multi-region. NO, i repeat, NO DVD players or recorders are multi-region from the factory, so it’s unfair to point it out as a negative for this one. Those bought ready-modified have been made so by the retailer, and in the process has voided the 1 year Manufacturer’s Guarantee, so keep that in mind when buying one. If it stops working or completely dies as a result of being modified, you can’t complain to the manufacturer, but it is the responsibility of the retailer to repair or replace it for you. As long as you have a good aerial and live in a good area regarding digital broadcasting, the freeview reception is superb, with a very easy to use EPG (it has none of the glitches present in the equivalent Sony models or the absolutely shocking Samsung 853/855 recorders). Please be aware, this machine has a Time Slip function, but this IS NOT the same as a Pause Live TV function. Time Slip is just a name Panasonic have given for the ability to skip through a recording in 10-minute increments (or however many you want), instead of sitting there fast-forwarding through it to find where you want to watch it from. It is NOT like Sky+ which automatically records whatever channel you are watching. You can simulate Sky+ by recording the programme yourself, then you can pause or rewind it while it continues to record so you don’t miss the programme (useful for sporting events so you can go back and watch something again immediately). This is called Chase Playback. If you know these things before buying, you won’t be upset when you find out it doesn’t have “true” Pause Live TV, so a little research before buying can be very useful. And before anyone complains that it doesn’t have twin digital tuners (which would allow you to record one freeview channel while watching another), don’t. No DVD recorders outside Japan have more than 1 digital tuner, so again, don’t criticise the Panasonic, none of its competitors have them either. And if they are advertised as having “twin tuners”, only 1 of them is digital, the other is analogue, which will become redundant when the analogue signal is switched off over the next couple of years anyway, so is not necessarily worth having. If you want twin digital tuners, then buy a PVR instead, or buy this type of machine, and also buy a separate ?20 Set-Top Box, so you can record one channel from the recorder’s own freeview tuner, and watch something else on the STB. Overall I can’t fault it and would recommend it to anyone (as long as you don’t need to play divx material (avi files), as the UK-spec machines have had this feature removed due to licensing issues. European machines can be imported because they do play divx, but the digital tuner might not work properly in the UK, so it’s a risk you have to weigh up).
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Customer Review: Buy one, without doubt!
I have had one of these for about 6 months now, and I’m hard-pushed to fault it. The picture quality of the recordings to both DVD and the Hard Disk are excellent, I really can’t tell the difference between the recorded and the original. The timeslip function is excellent; if you’re watching something you just don’t want to miss and say for instance the phone goes, simply press the timeslip button and it starts recording from the moment you press the button. You can effectively pause the TV, and resume it as you wish, or you can rewind back to the start, as it will continue to record until you press the timeslip button again. I have yet to fill the hard drive, and so far there are hours upon hours of video on it, with more than enough room left. It only takes a few minutes to burn a title to DVD. When I bought this unit, it was a lot more expensive than it is now, but even at the old price (well over ?300) it is, in my mind worth every penny. It’s dead easy to use with virtually everything being menu driven, and if you have an external Dolby Digital Amp, invest in a digital lead, you’ll notice a big difference with the sound. If you haven’t got one of these and want to save space, upgrade your DVD player, dump the old VHS, you must have one. I wouldn’t be without one, not now.
Customer Review: very pleased
bought it a few weeks back, very pleased so far. currently recording my old videos onto dvd,excellent picture, havent used the timeslip yet. only moan is that it is too functional(150 page manual) but it will probably cook the tea as well!
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Amazon Price: ?143.40
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DVD+R/+RW, +R double layer disc recording.
Used Price: ?54.99
Customer Review: No problems so far
I ordered this product with much trepidation bearing in mind some of the negative earlier reviews. However, I wanted a cheap DVD recorder to archive material from my Sky+ hard disk, and this model was recommended to me elsewhere (and does have some good reviews elsewhere on the web). I’m pleased that so far the machine does exactly what I want. It’s easy to set up (I just connected SCARTs to my TV and Sky+ box; I didn’t bother with the aerial), the manual is OK, and I was surprised by how easy it is to use - as soon as I figured out that: (i) the correct set-up for the outputs is video/video-RGB/video (thanks for another review on Amazon for this), and (ii) you have to select the input (as Line 3 - otherwise if you switch the TV off the recording will stop! The quality of the recording is fine, even on the lower standards, and the discs play back just fine on my Mac. The sound recording level is a bit on the low side, though. The recorder looks OK, too, although the remote feels a bit cheap. I haven’t noticed any particular noise, and formatting is acceptably fast to me. As I say, my needs are rather specific, and if I wanted to do more I might find some of the problems others report. Also I’ve only had it a week, so there’s still time for the other problems to manifest themselves!
Customer Review: Disgusting waste of money
For starters we nearly didn’t get this dvd recorder because the 3rd party company that amazon jipped us into buying from didn’t leave a second ‘failed delivery’ slip so they nearly got away with our money and no product. As for the recorder? Well its aweful. I own a panasonic 5.1 surround sound with dvd recorder. Its awesome, quick recording and so many brilliant functions. My parents used it and decided to get one instead of sky plus. I looked on here and recommended this one as it had great reviews and it sony. You’d think that would be enough? Turns out this recorder is one of the worst i’ve ever come across. When you turn it on it takes forever to load the disks. The remote is aweful and navigating the menus becomes a drawn out affair. It takes about 2 mins to write to disk if you record for more than half an hour and decided it doesn’t like recording on the timer and sometimes skips record times. It doesn’t even support JPEGS!!! It doesn’t support all disks so i really can’t see why you would pay ?119.99 for it. Its quite horrific so just stay clear.
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