Samsung DVD-VR357 Tunerless DVD Recorder and VCR Combo
from: Samsung
Average Rating: 
Sales Rank: 1152
Sales Rank: 1152
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Electronics : Samsung DVD-VR357 Tunerless DVD Recorder and VCR Combo |
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Rating:  - * Unit does not work/Samsung Service AWFUL ... In November I purchased the unit described above. It worked fine for about three months. Starting in March and April, it began not burning DVDs consistently and properly. It would burn awhile, then I would get an "updating" message and it would stop and then start back and burn for 4 seconds, and then I would get another "updating" message and it would start back again, creating an interrupted recording and DVD that would not play consistently. At times, it froze up completely and just stopped recording altogether. I called 1-800-Samsung once and was given a remedy to try. It didn't work. I called again, was given another remedy, it didn't work. I tried a third time, was given a remedy involving downloading updates to the unit from online. I tried that, it didn't work. I finally talked with Executive Customer Relations (ECR) and they agreed to repair my unit. They provided me with a UPS shipping label and I returned it promptly, along with one of the improperly burned DVDs so the technician could see what the unit was doing. According to e-mails I received from them, it stayed at their repair facility one day and was then shipped back. I tried it and it still did not work. I called ECR again and repeated the entire process. This time, the ECR rep ASSURED me she would include detailed notes for the technician, stating this was the second return. In addition, I included more improperly burned DVDs and my own note describing the problem. I shipped it promptly and, once again according to their correspondence to me, it was received and shipped out by them within one day. When it arrived at my house, I checked the packing slip and found it had been repaired for something I never even complained about - a malfunctioning eject. And when I tried to burn a DVD, it still did not work. I immediately called and was told because it was the weekend, ECR was not working. I called ECR this past Monday and was told that they would exchange the unit, but had to get confirmation before doing so. I was told I should receive an e-mail with the confirmation and another UPS label within 24 to 48 hours. I was told the exchange process would then take 7-10 days. It has been 48 hours and I just called ECR again. This time the rep told me it takes 3-5 days to get exchange authorization and that I should call back on Friday. She also told me the exchange period would be 14 to 21 days. When I told her that I was told something completely different, she held firm to the 3-5 days for authorization, and changed the exchange time to 7-14 days. I am at my wit's end. This is taking up a substantial amount of my time and I have probably wasted $50 worth of DVDs testing this unit to see if it will work. If I could rate Samsung's service, I would give them zero stars. Rating: - * BEWARE ... This is the first review I have written for Amazon in ages because I have spent ages reading reviews on here over the past year or so of DVD recorders, and I wanted to pass on my experience to help other people out who, like me, are just looking for a decent, quality one to record new shows from TV and transfer old videos to DVD. As a disclaimer, I am not certain if this unit *in general* sucks, or if I just got a lemon unit in particular, but based on my experience...AVOID THIS ONE! After ages and ages of reading reviews of tons of models on here and everywhere else, it seemed like this was the best value for the price and would give me just what I was looking for, so I ordered it from here in June 2007. For the first few months, everything seemed great and I was happily recording shows and transferring old videos right and left. Eventually I hit on the notion of DVD-RWs...if I was recording a show from my DVR box, they were great because I could just let it record while I was at work or doing something else, and then edit the commercials out of the finished product. Awesome! I started using these for almost all my TV show recordings. Around September 2007, just 3 months in, the unit started losing its ability to read first blank DVD-RWs, and then eventually all blank discs of any format. It was under the original Samsung warranty, so I sent it in for repair and it came back working as good as new. OK, fine. Things happen, and now everything was back to normal. The same problem started happening again in May 2008, just 8 months later...started losing its ability to read blank discs of various brands and formats, although it would still PLAY recorded discs, both storebought prerecorded ones and ones recorded on it in any format. This time I had to call NEW as I had purchased their extended warranty through here. They were very nice, said it was ridiculous I would have to deal with this again so soon, and gave me the directions to send it back so they could give me a refund of the purchase price. Something told me to get the replacement first and make sure all was well before sending it in, and man, am I glad I decided to do that, because I had a series of misadventures before hitting on the right solution that made me want to pull my hair out! First, again, based on reviews on here, I decided to get the Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK. Brought it home from Circuit City only to discover that it did not record to DVD-RWs in VR format, which meant you couldn't edit out commercials and have them permanently delete, which...then what's the point? I also discovered that my DVD-RWs recorded on this model did not play on that, nor on my Philips DVD player. So I did some more investigating, decided to return the Panasonic, and get the new model of this, the Samsung DVD-VR375, along with a Sony DVD player capable of playing discs recorded in VR format. Back I trudged from Circuit City. Keep in mind that I live in NYC without a car, so all this is either involving lugging these boxes on the subway or paying for taxis, to add to my joy. These two machines would at least read the DVD-RWs to a point, but eventually they both had the same problem...they would freeze and start stuttering about halfway in with any disc I tried. Furthermore, while I forget exactly what the problem was, the DVD-VR375 I had just bought couldn't even make ONE decent new recording. So, here was my dilemma. I now had about a hundred discs I had recorded over the past year on DVD-RWs in DVD-VR format that would ONLY PLAY ON THIS MACHINE THAT WAS BREAKING DOWN. Wonderful. Returned the 2 new units I had gotten to Circuit City AGAIN and rethought my options. Finally, I hit upon the idea to get a DVD Recorder with a hard drive. This way, not only could I just transfer these discs right away, but in the future, I could record programs to the new unit's hard drive, do any editing on there, and then burn them to regular old DVD-R discs in DVD-V format so they could play on any player so I would avoid this possibility in the future. So I ordered the Philips DVDR3575H/37 off here and have never been happier! It is way easier to edit on a hard drive than on a rewritable disc. I am currently playing beat the clock hoping this unit does not conk out completely before I have transferred all the old DVD-RWs, but when it finally does, I can just replace it with any old DVD/VCR combo...doesn't even have to be a recorder. So anyway, that's my advice. Avoid this unit as it broke down twice within a year, and discs recorded in VR format are useless on any other machine. Instead, get the Philips DVDR3575H/37...or in general, any unit with a hard drive rather than a DVD/VCR combo. Honestly, there is really nothing THAT special a DVD/VCR combo will do for you in terms of transferring tapes, and a hard drive model (at least the aforementioned Philips) will give you more flexibility because you can record the entire tape onto the hard drive, then subdivide it however and wherever you want to download to DVDs (because unfortunately while you CAN make a 6-8 hour DVD, the picture quality sucks too much to be watchable, so you will have to split up any of your old EP tapes to multiple DVDs). Plus again, it is far easier to edit out commercials, etc., on a hard drive and then download to a regular DVD-R...not only is it cheaper, but then you are assured your discs will play on virtually anything. Hope this helped and wasn't too confusing! Rating:  - * Works as advertised ... I connect this to a computer monitor via hdmi-dvi cable. I like it bevcause it has play all my divx videos. I have only burned one VHS to DVD and it worked fine, IT did use a cd-R just because of all the reviews about +R's not working. I have yet to try to burn a DVD from my camcorder, but I think it will be just fine. I did need to get a DV-DV cable in order to try when I get the time. I got the cable from monoprice for $3.70 shipped. Rating:  - * The Real Deal ... This product is great and the refurbed unit purchased was perfect. No cosmetic problems, worked 100%. Seller was outstanding as well. $100 delivered is an outstanding deal. Up-convert and optical sound connections to a 1080P plasma and 7.1 sound system make SD DVDs work very very well. I purchased this unit to archive old camcorder VHS and 8mm tapes. This process is flawless and simple. Insert media, push one button, finalize disk and do the next one. Use DVD-R disks for the easiest approach. Some reviewers have left negative comments regarding the title creation capabilities of this machine. They need to be reminded that this is not a full-up editing program for a Mac or PC. It has no keyboard! IF you want to do serious editing, buy an analog converter ($150), a burner and the right software for your computer. If you want to save those old camcorder tapes to DVD for your grand kids, this is your choice. It will also do dual layer DVDs as a bonus. Others have commented on the remote. Give me a break. It's the same remote that comes with Samsung's high end Plasmas. If you want a great up-convert DVD player/burner with every known interface that also plays and records VHS tapes and dubs tape to DVD (or the DVD to Tape) with a single button push, buy this unit now - before the referbed units are all gone. Rating: - * EZ DVD Transfers!!! Here's How You Do It... ... Here's how you copy a VCR tape to DVD -R. 1. Put the VCR tape in and get it (stopped) at your starting position. 2. Put a blank DVD in the machine. 3. Press the "View DVD" button (at top of remote) 4. Select "Rec Speed" button at bottom of remote (1hr, 2hrs, 4hrs or 6hrs) 5. IMPORTANT: Press "View VCR" button (at top of remote) 6. Press the red "To DVD" button 7. VCR starts to play and DVD recording begins - (Note: You will not see any record light). 8. When you get to ending point Press STOP 9. Wait a few seconds for processing to end (see on screen Wait message) 10. Press the "View DVD" button (at top of remote) 11. Press Remote's "MENU" button 12. Select DISC MANAGER Press ENTER 13. Select DISC FINALIZE Press ENTER That's it - you're done! S - VIDEO INPUT The S Video Input must be set in the settings menu if you want to use it. AUTO CHAPTER Contrary to other reports here, the Auto Chapter option DOES work - it creates "Chapters" every 5 minutes. However, it does not create any kind of Chapter Menu - the DVD simply responds to the Next/Previous Chapter buttons on any DVD player's remote. RECONDITIONED UNITS I bought one of the Reconditioned units here on Amazon for less than 85 bucks and it looked brand new. EXCELLENT QUALITY... DVD results look even better than the original tape - don't ask me how they do it(!) Highly recommended! |
