- Dolby Digital Stream Out
- HDMI Output
- 1080p Up Conversion
- Records up to 620hrs onto 500GB HDD
- Provides 4-way dubbing (HDD to DVD, DVD to HDD, DV to HDD, DV to DVD)
I selected this item over the less expensive Magnavox MDR513H because this is a newer model and I figured Magnavox (Funai) addressed any issues they may have had with the MDR513H.
After receiving the item, I set it up, auto programmed the channels, and learned the basic features in little time. This unit works and functions great, and it's fairly easy to use especially if you've owned a DVD burner previously. Basically, it's a DVR with a DVD burner and a 500 gigabyte hard disk drive (records up to 620 hours). In fact, the video quality is comparable to and the audio quality better than the DVR it replaced. NOTE: always use an HDMI cable to get true video quality.
I'm very happy with this unit. Unfortunately, if we (the public) don't buy enough DVD burners, the market may continue to dwindle and we will have squashed the best defense against high cable bills.
Buy Magnavox MDR515H 500GB HDD and DVD-R with Digital Tuner Now
Forget this one. It's discontinued. New models now available, and for a lot less than this offering: MDR533H/F7 (320 GB), MDR535H/F7 (500 GB), MDR537H/f7 (1 TB). Get them at walmart.***
BULLETIN!
Wajo has reported that Funai is introducing 3 new models in the fall of 2012, maybe sooner: 320 GB, 500 GB, and 1 TB. When that happens the ridiculously inflated prices here will drop dramatically as the sellers try to unload them. Wait for the new models.
***
I have a Toshiba HDD recorder and was looking for another one at ebay. After bidding on several of them and losing because the bids went too high I learned of the Magnavox. I originally considered the 513 because it was cheaper and its 320 GB was large enough for me. Then I found out that the 515 is not just a larger hard drive, but has an improved remote and saves your settings for an hour in case of a power failure, unlike the 60 seconds of the 513. Now that I have this one I like it better than my Toshiba. Toshiba has chapter mute which allows you to instantly skip commercials, that the Magnavox does not, but in almost every other way the Magnavox is more convenient to use. Besides that, I made too many mistakes watching football with the instant skip and jump too far ahead when there was no clear mute between commercial and program. If I am recording a program with the Magnavox and want to start watching from the beginning all I have to do is press the play button and it immediately starts playing from the beginning and turns on the TV and receiver at the same time with Fun-link enabled on the Magnavox. (Note: This will only work with a TV that has the CEC function, which also must be enabled. My Samsung TV requires a high speed HDMI cable, minimum 1.4.) With the Toshiba I had to press time slip and reverse search to get to the beginning. This is so much simpler and no more frustrating mistakes like sometimes happened with the Toshiba. If you wanted to stop a timer recording with the Toshiba you had to get up and press stop two times on the the base unit. That prevents you from accidentally stopping a recording. Magnavox does it by pressing stop twice on the remote, much simpler. I needed my reading glasses to find the stop button on the Toshiba. You can program two consecutive programs with just a 2 second gap; a 1 minute gap on the Toshiba. This also has 1.4 HDMI, which is important in connecting to my new 3D TV. It also links to my TV, so if I turn on the recorder it also turns on my TV and selects the correct input and audio source. It also has a digital tuner so I have connected my old antenna to it as well as my fiber optic TV. I can't fine tune the picture like I could with the Toshiba, but my TV lets me adjust the video settings for every input and saves the settings.
I am so glad I wasn't able to buy an old Toshiba at ebay. You would have to pay almost as much for a used Toshiba (and my first one failed after six years) as you do for a new Magnavox. The bonus for me is that the Magnavox suits my needs much better and the black unit looks better in my setup because everything else is black.
There is a more complete review and explanation of functions at AVS Forum (see link in latest comments).
***
I have read a few of the other reviews here. The ones that interested me most were the one star reviews. Most of these are from people who have returned more than one unit. Those reviews plus the similar complaints in the comments on them emphasize that this DVR can be difficult for some to set up. The big problem is that the manual is confusing, and even wrong in places. I am pretty sure there can't be that many bad units, just wrong setups. The best way to set up properly is to visit AVS Forum for Magnavox 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575. You will find it more helpful than the manual. The most common problems are freezing or no power, solved with a soft reset--not in the manual and customer service is seemingly unaware of it. And save yourself more problems by setting auto clock to off. Most people have gotten it to work for them and you probably can too if you are patient. The first problem I had was getting a picture, solved by setting the correct input in the menu. Early on I also had a power problem, but fixed it as soon as I checked the details for soft reset at AVS Forum. I am glad I stayed with it. After using every day for four months I have yet to have a recording failure. I love it.
***
Update: My unit went unresponsive after five months. After trying a couple of things that didn't work I changed the batteries in the remote. That was the problem. I wasn't expecting the batteries to go bad so soon. The batteries would be the first thing to change if your unit is unresponsive. The OEM's don't last very long, so you may as well change them.
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Update 9-14-11
There are some people who give it a negative review. However, there are far more positive reviews than negative, with most of them five stars. That tells me that it is working well for most people. I understand the frustration of the people who have had a bad experience. It won't work if not correctly set up and discovering how to do that is not as easy as it should be. That is why I gave it just four stars. As far as satisfaction goes, consider me five stars. I love it. If you like to time shift and want to to skip commercials this is the unit for you, and no monthly fee. On average skipping commercials will save you 18 minutes out of every hour, an hour and a half for an NFL game. I cannot emphasize enough the value of visiting AVS Forum and using the suggestions there instead of the unhelpful manual.
***
Amazon strips the link to AVS Forum in reviews, but allows it in comments, so I added the link in the latest comments.
***
Judging from the number of Amazon verified purchases in the reviews, many are buying this unit here instead of the big box store where it is easier to return and listed for $50 less (but allow for the sales tax). From that it is apparent that not many are researching it before buying. If people looked it up at AVS Forum, as I suggest, they could learn beforehand if this is the unit for them and where the best prices are. For the Firefox browser I suggest the add-on Invisible Hand, which searches for better prices in the background. Most of the time Amazon has the best price, but not always. I would even consider a refurb. In my opinion there was nothing wrong with those refurbs in the first place. Some users have returned two units, and the odds against getting two consecutive bad ones are high, more likely the same mistake twice. There are some quirks that aren't solved by the manual. For those you need the advice at AVS Forum. Some have returned theirs just because the dvd tray wouldn't open. It won't work until you have set up the menu.
***
This review is already way too long, but I need to add a few words. For over the air it's a no-brainer. Buy it. For cable customers I need to add some caveats. From another recent review it has been pointed out that the tuner can't access all of the cable channels since the Funai's technology is not up to date with the latest cable technology. Also, a big disadvantage for some is the inability to record in high def, which the DVR rented from your cable company will record. The Funai will record them, but it won't be high def. I have to say, however, the recordings I make look a lot like high def to me. I get around the inability to access all of the cable channels by inputting the cable box to L1 of the DVR and using the cable remote to tune. To watch another program while recording or to use PIP I run a line from my second cable box back to my old DVR/VHS player and input that to my TV and tune with an IR relay. I have the relay sender in a position that doesn't affect the tuner in the same room.
Programming does require an extra step, but most of my recordings are repeats, so I only have to set them up once. Program the cable box to autotune and then program the DVR. I have to look at the cable program guide anyway, so it just takes a few more seconds to schedule the program while I am in the program guide. After that I program the DVR. Not as convenient as the cable company's DVR, but not that hard either.
I think the big thing for most to consider is being able to record in high def plus the convenience of the cable DVR. Against that balance the large size of this hard drive against the small size of the cable DVR and how much more closely you'd have to monitor how much was stored, plus being able to archive on dvd with this unit. Also to consider is the cost break even point of buying over renting. If convenience and high def outweigh the large capacity and cost, this probably isn't the DVR for you.
Still not sure? Get it at wal mart and take it back if it doesn't suit you. No questions asked. Their employees don't care; not their money.
***
News flash: a recent Amazon purchaser disclosed that when his unit arrived there was an invoice from walmart inside, for $50 less than he paid Bargain Buddy. You have to figure in the sales tax, but it appears this vendor is merely ordering it for you from walmart.
***
Update 1/5/2012
Currently selling for $410 here. Way too much. A refurb at j&r for $199 looks very good. If you don't trust a refurb, a new MDR513 is a good buy for $198 at walmart. The 513 will do everything this will do, but smaller 320 GB hard drive. My Toshiba dvr has only 160 GB hard drive and it was enough capacity for me.
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Update 1/16/2012
Back in stock online at walmart for $248.
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Update 1/26/2012
Again out of stock at walmart. It seems that retailers are buying up walmart's stock and reselling them here at a greatly inflated price. Funai will stop manufacturing this recorder at the end of the first quarter and do not intend to offer a new model. After that your only other choices besides the exorbitant prices charged here will be refurbs, used ones, or the similar 513 model. Refurbs for the 515 have become increasingly hard to find, and the price is going up on those too. So far the price for the 513 is reasonable, but expect that to go up also when these units become scarcer. The window is closing on the opportunity to buy a recorder with hard drive that lets you burn to dvd and not pay a monthly fee. After March no one will be manufacturing them for the US market.
***
2/9/2012
Currently $199.95 for refurbished at buy.com.
***
2/12/2012
It is amazing how fast things are changing. Speculators are gobbling these up fast, the price is going up, and now the cheapest price I could find is $330.46 at buy.com for a refurb. There are a few refurbs still available for the 513 at reasonable prices, and new 513's are still available at Walmart for $209 + tax. It seems the 513 is the only reasonable choice left. Why am I still looking? If my unit should fail it would drastically change the way I enjoy watching TV and would have a huge impact on the way I have watched pro football, or any sport, for years. What if a new model comes out that is capable of recording HDTV? There are none on the horizon, and the quality of my recordings is so good I find it hard to see the difference. I am seriously considering buying another to have for a backup, but the way the situation is rapidly changing I don't have much longer to dither. Btw, if you are thinking about a Moxi you can dismiss that prospect. The manufacturer has discontinued it and is now only making units for cable companies. The window is closing fast.
***
Update 3/31/2012
For anyone thinking of getting another, you can get a 515 refurb at Amazon (2 left) for $269.95; a new 513 at Walmart for $279.88; refurb 513 for $199.95 at Amazon, a bargain. With the firmware update at AVS Forum the 513 has the same functionality as a 515.
***
Update 4/12/2012
Back in stock at walmart for $299.88. The 513 is in stock for $279.88.
Read Best Reviews of Magnavox MDR515H 500GB HDD and DVD-R with Digital Tuner Here
This recorder fits my needs perfectly and was exactly what I was looking for. I refuse to accept the business models of Tivo or the Satellite/cable company policy of renting these devices and paying a monthly fee. You can't own them outright! The Moxi is simply too expensive. I had this device hooked up in minutes and was recording to both DVD and the HDD in no time. The picture quality to HDD is excellent. It isn't HD but Standard Definition (SD) but I'm not using this machine to archive collectables. Just time record, watch once then erase. There are many options to connecting this device depending on your situation, i.e cable but no cable box, antennea only, satellite/cable box, etc... In my situation I simply had this unit connected to my Elite Pioneer AV receiver via the RCA audio/video input/outputs. I use an HDMI cable for playback to achieve the upconversion to 1080p. My Cox Digital Cable box is connected to my AV receiver. Note there is no HDMI Input. This is not an oversight from Magnavox. No DVD recorder or DVR device sold in the US can have an HDMI input.To those who connect these type of devices to AV Receivers with DTS digital audio decoders, note that for DVD playback this unit will not stream DTS, if the DVD has such encoding. Not an issue for me since also have a blu ray player that can do this. Probably not an issue with most anyone who would read this but I thought I would mention it.
Update 06/28/2011 -
I've been recording extensively on this machine, both to HDD and DVD for over two months now with no problems. I absolutely love it! I just bought a second machine from Amazon before these units become too hard to find.
Sadly, the era of DVD recording (or even HDD) with decks like these is coming to an end soon from my observation. Fewer and fewer manufacturers are making DVD recording decks anymore, though admittedly the HDD variety were always few in number. About the only choices consumers will have soon is TiVo with subscription, renting DVR's from your cable/satellite provider or the very expensive Moxi if it survives.
02/12/2012 As I predicted, the availibilty of these products have just about hit sunset. As for this product, it looks like vendor resellers have started to corner the market and jacked up the price to outrageous levels. The historical option for consummers owning their own devices to do thier own recording to physical media (even if in SD) in the US will end. The only option left will be to "rent" DVR's from your cable/satelite provider or buy a TiVo with subscribtion. Blame the Motion Picture Industry and the cable/satelite providers responsibile for much of this disappearing market. Fewer choices, consummers lose! Don't quite understand the paranoid attitude of this industry since you could only record in standard definition as none of these devices had HDMI or component inputs! See
Want Magnavox MDR515H 500GB HDD and DVD-R with Digital Tuner Discount?
After my cable company went digital, I had my old analog DVR recorder sharing a DTA with my analog TV. The problem with that setup is that we inadvertently kept changing the channel on the DTA causing us to record the wrong show.I decided I wanted a hard drive recording solution with its own digital tuner. Since my cable company, (W.O.W!), doesn't scramble basic cable, I was not limited to the cable company rental DVR. I could buy my own equipment which will be a lot cheaper in the long run, and if I decide to drop cable I can still work with an antenna. WOW allows any equipment with a digital QAM tuner to pick up the entire basic cable package and some additional local channels that are not part of the basic package without needing a cable company DTA. Many other companies decided to scramble everything but the locals.
Not all the digital hard drive recorders can work with cable. Some can only tune in over the air signals. This unit has a lot of tuner options. It can tune in broadcast Digital (ATSC), unscrambled cable digital (clear QAM) and the old Analog (NTSC). Unfortunately there is no cable card option and no IR blaster option, so if your cable company scrambles the channels you receive, you'd be in the same situation as I was where you need a separate box to decode but have no way to control the DTA box from this unit.
When looking at this unit I also considering the 513. At the time I bought this unit, the 515 was only $25 more than the 513. The 515 not only has a bigger hard drive, there are also a lot of the new features like the ability to "pre title" the recordings. I thought the 515 was a much better value than the 513.
I thought buying this unit was a no brainer, but to my dismay the QAM tuner doesn't use the cable company aliases. This unit uses RAW QAM channel numbers! All my other digital equipment uses the cable company aliases. So for example USA is channel 13 with a DTA or with my digital tv, but is channel 60.1 on this unit. You need to memorize memorize the 88 additional digital translation table numbers. There is no relationship to the real numbers and to make matters worse, the numbers change! The tuners that use aliases just need to be rescanned, but for this unit, you need to create a new spreadsheet and rematch the raw numbers to the aliases by hand. This process took me a few hours and 6 weeks later my provider shuffled everything again.
Translating the cable channels to their RAW QAM channel equivalent is too much of a bother for the other family members. So I am the only person in the house that can operate the DVR. I was going to return it, but after having it turned on for an hour while watching TV, I fell in love with the unit. The ability to pause live TV and time-shift programs is too addictive.
I like using this box as a tuner, even though the channel numbers are so difficult to deal with. This way I can pause live TV, and I have instant replay if I miss something. If something was better than I expected, I can even back up and start recording after the show has started. Too Cool!
Setting up a recording is easy. The 515 programs very much like a VCR, but it is better. You can schedule a timer recording for a specific date, or repetitive recordings like a "Daily", "Mon-Fri", "Mon-Sat", "Sat", "Sun", "Mon"..... Now what makes these better than a VCR is that after you set up the timer, you can title your timer with something like "NCIS" or "Days of Our Lives", and then the recordings from these timers will carry that title. Also if there is something special that you want to record and there is a conflict with a show you regularly record, there is a SKIP feature so that it will skip the next scheduled recording and then start up again without having to reprogram your repetitive recordings. Of course the hard drive, eliminates the need to prepare a tape or DVD for each recording, so you are good to go with a moments notice. It is not quite as easy as a subscription DVR, but definately better than an old VCR.
This is a standard definition recorder. If you record from a HD source, the picture will be dumbed down to standard definition so some of the clarity will be lost if you are using this with a 16:9 HD TV. I'm still dealing with 4:3 TVs so the 480p resolution makes no difference to me, but it might matter to you if you have an HD TV and are recording from an HD source.
I've been editing some of my recordings, and found that the scene delete feature is not very accurate. No matter how precisely I place my cuts, I still get flashes of the commercials. Apparently this unit is only accurate within 15 frames of where you place the cut. So if the TV station doesn't have a long fade to black, the scene deletes to remove the commercials are not always clean.
I'm still trying to figure out how to transfer a recording to a DVD. I have read the manual numerous times, but it is still a mystery to me. I'm sure that once I just do it, it will be pretty easy, but the user manual leaves me scratching my head.
There is a lot of room for improvement in the 515, but since there is no real competition I doubt we'll see anything better any time soon.
Pros
No monthly fee!
Easy to program
QAM/ASTC/NTSC tuner allows this unit to work in a wide variety of situations.
Ability to "pre title" a recording. (new feature of the 515)
Abitlity to "skip" a regularly scheduled recording. (new feature of the 515)
Lets you pause and rewind live TV
Large hard drive
Excellent AVSForum support for this unit more than makes up for the poor manual
Cons
Requires you to translate all your cable company channel numbers into the RAW QAM channel numbers
Poor scene delete frame accuracy
Really poor manual for some of the features.
Our family is moving in the direction of cutting cable TV (it's just too expensive) and this unit is helping us do it.
We get good "on demand" type service through inexpensive monthly Netflix via the Wii we already own.
With an antenna in the attic we get 20 digital broadcast stations.
With a DVR we can "time-shift" broadcast television.
The MDR515H picks up all of the broadcast television that our LG television does. Since the MDR515H amplifies the signal it receives from the antenna before passing it through to the LG, the television still gets all 20 stations.
Recorded content is of lesser quality than the 1080p broadcast we receive, but we knew that before we bought the unit. If it recorded in 1080p I'd rate it five stars (though it would likely need a bigger hard drive) but as is it's good enough for us. (The Wii we use with Netflix is also limited in its resolution but again, it's good enough for us.)
With the old Panasonic DVR (analog only) that we still own we were able to program recordings via an over-the-cable TV Guide. (That gradually stopped being an option as our cable provider reduced content broadcast in along.) Back in the day were able to "point and click" to set recordings. From what I read online, those days are gone no matter whose DVR you buy. This is the sole province of Tivo and cable and satellite providers. Without paying a monthly fee, you have to find the listing yourself. There's a free app I use on my iPhone ("What's On?" by Zap2it) that helps bridge the gap, allowing us to search for favorite television shows from the couch and entering record times / channels into the DVR. (A website by the same name allows for a similar experience from your computer.) And there's always the listings in the newspaper.
There's no way our setup will equate with our excellent experience of cable (high def, dvr, cable only content) but all that stuff is running us $83.38 / month, even without any premium channels. The setup we're moving to will cost $7.99 / month (Netflix) so it won't take long to pay off the equipment expense (antenna, cabling, this unit) and we can start putting the saved dollars into savings for college for our kids. The MDR515H is a great piece of the puzzle.
500GB is a good size for the HDD. 100 hours at the highest resolution is all we need. I like that the unit has an input (on the front) for a DV cable, nice for transferring stuff digitally to DVD-R from our digital cassette camcorder. (I need to buy a cable to try that out.) In fact, I haven't yet recorded anything to DVD on this unit (I've only had it three days), but it does play the various media written by our old Panasonic as well as our purchased DVD's just fine. The unit has a good mix of inputs and outputs.
Incidentally, we saved a few bucks by purchasing this unit as refurb through an Amazon partner. My experience with purchasing refurbished electronics has been good.
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