Sony RDRVX515 DVD Recorder

• 4 Head (19 Micron Heads) VHS VCR with Stereo
• S-VHS Quasi Playback
• Easy to Use Graphic User Interface
• VCR-Plus+ Timer Recording
• One Push Dubbing - DVD to VHS or VHS to DVD

This is my second dvd/vcr combo and I primarily wanted the ability to convert VHS tapes to DVD but also was looking for a better DVD player. I found just about everything I was looking for. Recording to DVD is very easy, and you have every conceivable format (-+R,RW). I've tested whether the recorded DVDs work on other, older players and they do. The DVD player is a little slow to load, but picture, sound, and controls are outstanding. VCR is fine, though we don't use it much other than for transferring home movies to DVD. Caution I have not found the remote for this system to be compatible with "universal remotes" even for my Sony surround sound system! But overall, a great spacesaver that doesn't make you sacrifice quality for the various components.

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We bought this model for the ease of dubbing VHS tapes to DVD. Dubbing was very intuitive. Despite some other reviews that said the color was washed-out, we didn't have any problems with color issues. However, the audio function was terrible. While playing DVDs (which is most of the mileage we would put on the machine) the audio sounded hollow and tinny -like an echo chamber. Neither my wife or I are audiophiles -this just sounded bad. We tweaked every setting, and triple-checked all the connections, but nothing helped. Finally, we just hooked our old player back up and the sound was fine. Ultimately, we returned the unit.

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This unit is so full of features that I eagerly purchased it, but I returned it due to two fatal flaws. First, the VCR performs poorly. When playing older tapes, they look noisy, not nearly as good as several other VCR's I have. Since a prime use for this unit is dubbing VHS to DVD, I was very disappointed. Second, you can't select the thumbnail picture for the titles menu. I couldn't believe this! The titles screen would be better with just text titles, rather than include the first frame that the machine automatically selects, which is usually not a good choice! (But allowing selecting a title thumbnail, is such an obvious feature to include, I just can't believe they didn't include this option.) Otherwise, this machine has more features (many DVD recording speeds, many editing options, support for + and R disks and new double-layer disks, etc) than any other machine I am aware of. Nice layout and functionality (except the two dubbing buttons are dangerously close to the two eject buttons, I see mistakes happening here all the time! I returned my unit and am waiting for someone to come out with a unit with this many features (or maybe the next Sony version!).

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I have never been disappointed in a Sony product until trying the RDRVX515 DVD/VCR recorder. I currently own and use two other Sony DVD recorders. The RDRVX515 is totally inferior to the other two. The signal and recording quality are frankly not acceptable the definition is just not there. Also, when I tried to record a movie on several of the cable premium channels, it recorded for a few seconds and then stopped and a message came up saying that "you cannot record copy protected movies". This makes the recorder totally useless to me.

Well, I impulse spent and bought this from the J&R Music World website and phoned in my order for a HP Pavilion Widescreen Flat Panel and this DVD Recorder/VCR Player by SONY. I RARELY impulse purchase by the way. However, when I saw this thing on J&R's website I was like wow and the price was great too! After I purchased it I searched for reviews on my new TV and this Player. The HP TV got excellent reviews while this got nearly horrible reviews by almost everyone that's reviewed it here at Amazon.com. Well, now that I have unpacked it, set it up and actually have used it and dubbed a few DVDs from VHS Tapes I have to say that I must be one of the few people who are actually having a great experience with this player thus far. Every negative thing I have read on this site regarding the player are understandable. But only because you REALLY need to sit down and UNDERSTAND how this thing works! I have successfully dubbed 9 episodes of a TV Series I recorded onto VHS in 1997. The quality of the (SP) recorded DVD-R was just as it is on the VHS. And speaking of the VHS playback...it is not as bad as some people are saying. I compared it to my Sharp VCR WITH the fine tuning mechanisms turned on. This Sony VCR plays back that 9 year old VHS tape with ease and the quality is the same. The playback of the finalized DVD-R on other DVD Players (and PC DVD DRIVES) looks just as good as it does in this Sony player. I don't know but maybe some people just need to actually sit down and just work with the features and settings and options a little more. The manual was a but confusing with how to work some of this Players primary features. But once I figured it all out it was a breeze. I don't really care much about the fact that you can't record from TV if the signal will not allow you to. My main concern is just getting rid of all these freaking VHS TAPES! And so far I think that it will be a wonderful experience as it has already been. I will be chucking ALOT of old VHS tapes in the very near future. :)