Customer Reviews

Akai DVDRW120 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is the only DVD recorder I have ever used so I have no frame of reference. However, I have used four regular DVD players and read the specs on many DVD recorders so I can kind of compare functionality.

First, it works fine. I was able to record to DVD+RW's no problem right out of the box. You can control how often it places scene/track markers. I think default is every 5 minutes. It records each session as a separate file and places the scene/track markers within those sessions. The menu for replay of the sessions is convenient as it's a graphical user interface showing time, date, and a representative picture from the session.

It does take longer than a regular DVD player to recognize the type of disc it has in... up to 20 seconds or so (even with regular store-bought movie DVDs). Sometimes (rarely) it will not recognize the type of disc. You can remedy this by powering off and on and it always recognizes the disc when the disc is in when it powers on.

Maybe I am expecting too much, but this unit does not have the ability to edit the sessions. I would like to edit out commercials but you can't do that with this model. I think you *can* do that on many other models.

You also cannot "slipstream," i.e, where you go back and watch a part of the recorded movie while you are still recording. I think some Panasonics offer this feature. It also does not have "commercial skipping."

Anyway, like I said, it has good basic functionality but is missing some of the bells and whistles I would want.

I am waiting for a replacement from Amazon. The first one I received had a problem with the DVD drive mechanism. It would not even recognize a commercial DVD disk which played on all my different brand of cheap players.Made a horrible grinding noise and sped up and slowed down like it was trying to find the disk. But that aside, this is a good machine. The set up was easy. Be aware that in order to use the "S" video output , you must first hook it up to the RCA video output to get a menu on the TV screen, so that you can then tell it to use the "S" video output. After that is done, the "S" video output works fine. Oh, and by the way, the secret menu for macrovision and region free is on this machine manufactured in February 2004. And it has a fan in back.

Amazon is 2 day shipping me a replacement unit and has provided a free shipping UPS return label. I think this is good service from Amazon. Better than other on line stores where you are stuck with the return shipping. I also like Amazon's 30 day return policy. When you are buying electronics, you need this flexibility.

Update 13 August 2004:
Amazon sent the replacement unit in on time. This one works and all functions appear to be normal. Picture is great even in extended play (4 hour) mode. I am using Ritek 2.4 x and 4.0 x DVD+R disks. Also Ritek DVD +RW disks. This recorder recognizes them with no problem. Able to access secret menu and record commercial VHS tapes with no picture scrambling. Note that every time you insert a new disk, the player automatically formats them. You do need to finalize DVD+R disks to play in other players. You do not have to finalize DVD +RW disks. This appears to be a LITEON clone. The volume label under Windows Explorer displays LITEON. Will see how long this player lasts.

As a long time satisfied repeat buyer of Akai, it's good to see their products back on the market.

I've been waiting to buy a DVD-Recorder until the prices came down and now after getting and using the actual unit, i wish i would have bought it earlier.

The picture quality of the recordings and the ease of use are top flight, this is a great product!

I Can Only Speak For The Daytek Version Of This Unit. Good Basic Machine. Slim Lines, Fairly Elegant. Blue Light At Top Can Be Toned Down With A Dark Felt Tip Pen. Have Used Memorex+R,Fuji+R,Verbatim+RW. All Successful And Play In My Two Year Old Toshiba Player.Seldom Use RF For Recording, AV And S Vid
Appear Somewhat Better. Good Results At EP Mode. On The DVRP30 There Is A Hidden Menu.On Setup Highlight Exit But Do Not Press Enter.On Remote Key In 2960 Then Press Enter.A Menu Comes Up Which Makes The Unit Region Free And Macrovision Free.This Is Worth Another Star At Least.

After reading the reviews of some other bug-ridden DVD+R/W recorders I decided to wait until something better came along. Am I glad I did! This recorder at just under $200 is the least expensive on the market.

Akai is a well known quality brand who exited the US market in the late 1980s or early 1990s. I owned both a reel-to-reel tape recorder and cassette tape deck from them, and both were well built and reliable.

This DVD recorder is easy to use. The manual is very simple. It has a few translation errors (overwrited instead of overwritten) but the instructions are clear and I was up and running in no time.

My first endeavor was to copy 8mm home video tapes. These transferred easily and there are simple steps to create multiple selection entries per DVD. It also automatically inserts chapter markers everyone 5 minutes which is very convenient for quick scanning. You can title each selection as well, and the selection picture shows the image from the start of the selection recording.

Picture quality was excellent, though I admit my 8mm tapes don't strain the limit of the 2 hour recording mode.

After burning some Maxell DVD+Rs, I tried them on several DVD decks. The only one that didn't work was a new auto Panasonic DVD Player. I suspect it was the player as Panasonic supports DVD-R. The disks played fine in a newer Samsung and Toshiba DVD players as well as a 5 year old Panasonic DVD Player.

Overall, Akai has come through with a great product at a great price. Akai distribution is spotty so I think Amazon may be the only source for this great buy.

This is very nice. At this price I was worried it would be lacking features. But to my suprise it is loaded with everything I needed. It has the direct input for my digital camcorder and my digital camera. Home movies on DVD at this price is very cool. This is the deal of the year.

Easy setup. Crystal clear playback with Pre-Recorded DVD'S. Will not re-create HDTV broadcasts from cable - that is not to say you cannot copy them, they will simply play back in standard digital quality. Is that so bad? So far, I haven't heard of any DVD Recorder capable of HDTV playback.

Here's The Beauty part: Thanks to John S in Toronto (Check out his review) You can utilize a secret menu to kill the Macrovision Copy Guard on all your Pre-Recorded VHS's and copy them to DVD...In the same clear quality. I don't think the Mainstream Name Brand Copiers can do that.

I have recorded many broadcasts and VCR copies on DVD+R and DVD+RW and passed them around to friends with different brand DVD players. They all played back beautifully.

Thank you Akai. Again I say: I hope it lasts.

I am very pleased with this purchase. The manual is well spelled out making the set up and ease of use quite easy. I thought the unit was going to be cheap looking due to the low cost but, to my surprise, the unit is very nice looking. All in all, this is nice piece of gear.

I bought this unit from Amazon for $189.99 when it was on sale for couple of days for Labour day, It is a nice product so far here are the pros and Cons

Pros:
1. Good price $189 {better than buying a PC and Capture cards to Capture Video and Burning VCD's or DVDs}.
2. Nice Recording image Quality (Even at EP mode 4hrs) (SP recommended for better image quality)
3. Good build of the machine, feels solid, Small Fan included for extended periods of use, this unit remains cool inspite of running 16+ hours of continuous use.
4. Nice array of inputs and outputs, Firewire is an added bonus
5. Remote control is well laid out, Easy Guide menus provided for people with less knowledge to Burn DVDs.
6. AC 110/240v capable works everywhere in the world, PAL /NTSC capable.
7. DVD Component Output is great (Must have HDTV Capable TV), SVideo and RCA outputs also available for Non HDTVs
8. Progressive Scan Output is also available.
9. Accepts virtually any cheap DVD+R media, and DVD+RW media, tried with Cheap GQ DVD+R and Memorex DVD+RW works great.
10. Plays commercial DVDs okay, But do not expect it to play all badly scratched Rental DVDs, Plays cheap VCD 2.0 (PBC ON/OFF), 1.1 and 1.0 Flawlessly
UPDATE !! -- Converts and plays cheap PAL VCD/SVCD to NTSC TV output easily and displays on NTSC HDTV capable TV without change in Aspect Ratios or color mangling.

Cons:
1. It is very basic DVD recorder, No fancy Editing is possible, Even the Title name does not go beyond 8 characters!!!
2. Does not play WMA media. No ID tag display for MP3s, No menu structure for MP3 playback selection like Panasonics DVD players.
3. JPEG image viewing produces little darker pictures no aspect ratio is maintained if the image size is small (It streches picture to fit the screen)
4. Included TV tuner induces noise on TV channels when connected to CableTV on certain channels when the unit is on, I had to connect the unit seperately rather than the pass thru' option to avoid this interference, Looks that the powersupply in this unit is producing noise which interferes with TV tuner.
5. As most of the reviewers on this site have observed, the unit takes sweet time to obey commands, do not expect it to be fast when you press buttons, It does it's job, But you will have to be patient.. and wait..
6. Limited editing capablities once recording is done, the only option is to delete and or edit the title name and or finialize the VR to DVD video.
7. Do not attempt to fill the disk to the brim, It will surely confuse the player, It might hang on you if you do not enable chapter markings, If you enable Chapters (5-15 mins) it does not hang but the last chapter is lost, Remember, After the DVD recorder fills the DVD, It must have atleast some space left to write the Index mark, Lead-in Lead-out, hence plan ahead to avoid Coasters.

For the price, I would say it is good product, It is too early to comment on the reliability of the unit, However, the unit looks well built, Hope it lasts long. I do recommend it for people who looks for cheap and decent unit.

.... thanks for the info about the hidden/secret menu. What you said about the Daytek version also applies to the Akai DVDRW 120 version. Just did it with the unit I've had for almost 2 weeks. Maybe future products will not have this secret menu but mine does. Thanks again.... really good tip.