Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
 Disappointing October 30, 2009
Billybob
I have had two of these models over the last four years. Both packed up under an extended warranty and were replaced, but have now given up on the Sony! In its favour (and really only appreciated recently due to the trialing of a Samsung 360GB model and a Panasonic 250GB) the ease of use was brilliant {accepting the frustration of slow start ups and shut downs and the inability to set timer recording long in advance since the unit would simply delete them for no apparebt reason!} - if you don't deleive me try the Samsung which will only record timer recordings if the unit is switched off!!!! So no watching a DVD or previously recoded programme (what century are we in!). The Pansonic is good but still prefer the Sony. So why give up on them, well one bad lemon may be acceptable but two? Lost confidence in them and the fact that Currys is disconting them in clearance sales perhaps sends a clear message. Pity since my house is full of Sony products.
 Does what it says November 26, 2008
plesbit (Norwich, UK)
Previously we purchased a similar Samsung unit which, whilst slow to start up and at times fiddly to use was a whole different ballgame from the old world of VHS! Encouraged by this, and lacking Sky or a Freeview box in our bedroom I bought one of these and wow! This is as big a step up from Samsung HDD recorder as the Samsung was from VHS.
The main advantage for us was that it had built in Freeview so we could record on digital stations whilst watching Sky channels downstairs. Not having Freeview on the Samsung everything has to be set manually like in the old days but with the Sony and its built-in Freeview you just pull up the TV schedules, select the program you want and it will automatically record it. In fact it will even record the entire series if you want and it will adjust the day and/or time if the program gets moved in the schedule. I read other reviews here saying that this feature is unreliable or fails altogether. Well, six months on I've used this as a set and forget machine many times over. Even if we forget something is on that we want to see it doesn't and when we remember, there it is waiting for us. Indeed only last night it had noticed that the transmission day of a new series had moved - we hadn't but it had and recorded it for us anyway.
It is superior to the Samsung in countless other ways too. The start up time is far faster, the ability to mark and edit programs is far superior (and far quicker), high speed dubbing dumps 2hrs worth of HDD footage onto DVD in 8 mins (the Samsung takes 1hr). If you want to get 3hrs of footage onto a DVD it simply adjusts the compression to fit - unlike the Samsung which physically cannot do it, the recording just fails. If the Samsung stops, or you stop it, without manually setting a marker point you have to start the program all over again and visual search through to find your place but the Sony auto-remembers the place so as soon as you hit play again it goes straight back to where you left off. And it remembers it individually for everything on your title list.
The Samsung allows a maximum of 8 chapter markers, manually set and you can only set them in order - in other words you cannot set a new marker between existing ones, you first have to delete all the ones which follow, go back and set the first one and then mark all the subsequent ones again in order. The Sony sets them up automatically as it records and then you can add to them or move them around.
The only reason I cannot give it a perfect 5 star is because when you are not using the digital EPG recording system and try to do it the old fashioned, manual way it is a complete pig! Fiddly and frustrating. If you can avoid that do because in all other respects the machine is excellent.
Final word on the HDD size - there are bigger HDD units available but to be honest at standard quality (which is basically equal to the transmission of normal TV) it has nearly 70hrs of recording time, that's nearly 3 days of solid TV. I have yet to put even the tiniest dent in available space and simply don't see see the need. If you can run up a backlog of that much TV then you should probably take a long hard look at your life!
NICE MACHINE SHAME ABOUT THE INSTRUCTION BOOKLET July 4, 2008
N. Mackenzie (BLACKBURN,LANCS)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having read all the reviews and seeing that this seemed to be a handy piece of kit I plunged in to purchase this DVD recorder. Having bought other Sony products I am usually very satisfied and their ease of use and set-up have been a plus factor for someone like me who is not as genned up as some of the other tech bods who do their reviews on here.
Well, when I tried to decipher the many tentacled illustrations regarding set-up with analogue/digital/freeview/ it left me scratching my head. I bravely attempted to sort it out but alas I was geting some signals on digital but none for freeview and so it went on in different variations. In the end I had to get someone in to help me with it and even they had difficulty deciphering the illustrations and instructions.
Now that it is set up it's a lovely machine and does all sorts recording/playing/pausing etc as described. But what a kerfuffle to start with. Please make an easier- to- understand booklet Sony because it will be a major consideration when I make another electrical purchase
 Wonderful Sony! May 31, 2008
Mr. Patrick Mountford (Powys, UK)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I've bought a few peices of kit recently, and like most people I do the homework and then still wonder if I'll end-up buying a lemon! Well I'm glad (and relieved!) to report that this machine is as smooth as silk and a wonderful purchase. If you do buy this you won't need anything else to read for a while because the instruction manual will need plenty of deciphering...but once up and running this machine is just fabulous! The onboard EPG is easy and reliable and all the pros of HDD are there for the taking....pause live TV, catch-up TV, watch an HDD recording while it records something else, watch DVD while the HDD records another prog...and all the time done without the slightest fuss. Most importantly, picture quality is incredible...and I only play it through a
Pana CRT! To conclude...well done Sony; 5-stars thoroughly deserved, an extremely high-quality piece of tech that is a pleasure to own and use! Excellent value through Amazon too!
Easy to use May 2, 2008
Emanuela Arvati (London)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
We bought this dvd a few weeks ago and I think it's great; it was easy to set up, use and you can watch a program at the same time you are recording. It is good value for money as it has a large memory.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
|
