Customer Reviews

Gateway AR230 Progressive-Scan DVD Player / Recorder

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

This is Gateway's entry into the DVD Recorder arena, and is a clone of the LiteOn LVW-5001. The user interface is very intuitive and much easier to figure out than the Philips models, but the instruction manual is a bit vague on the meaning of various functions. Most of the functions can be figured out with a little bit of experimentation, but it would be better if the manual just gave a full explanation.

For example, if you delete a recording that is in between two others, and then you start recording a new program, the unit will not automatically overwrite the deleted area. Instead, it will simply add on after the last program. If you want it to reuse empty space, you must enable the overwrite function for the deleted program, and then record. Be careful, because, if record a program that is longer than the one you deleted, you will overwrite the next program. This all seems sensible once you figure it out, but it would be nice if the manual explained it.

The best thing about this DVD Recorder is that it can be made region free and it will convert PAL encoded DVD's (which are sold in Europe on www.amazon.co.uk) to NTSC, so you can watch DVDs that are not sold here (like the excellent British television show "Cold Feet" and "Black Books") on your TV in the U.S.

Just turn on the DVD player without a disc in it, press the right arrow, push 800, and then push the enter button. From that point on, the unit is region free.

This is an interesting product. It's a cross between a VHS VCR and a fully functioning digital DVD recorder.

The higher priced digital recorders have hard drives built in to give them Tivo features like the ability to record temporarily for many hours, watch a program from the beginning while the unit is still recording the end, instant replay, pause live TV, etc. The fully loaded recorders also have some sort of Tivo-like program guide.

The AR-230 has none of these things, but it costs a lot less as well. It's an interesting mix of high and low end VCR features plus an adequate DVD+R/RW recorder. The high end is reflected by the number of different inputs and outputs: Composite, S-Video, Component, Firewire, Coax and Optical audio. The low end is reflected by the timer: Only 5 programs, no Mon-Fri mode, no VCR+.

As a simple DVD replacement for a VCR, it fulfills it's function very well. The remote is easy to use. The quality of the DVD image is equal to the quality of the video input. It won't allow you to create you're own chapters, but you can set it to automatically create chapters every 1 - 12 minutes.

There are 4 program modes: 1hr, 2hrs, 4hrs & 6hrs. I've tried the 2 and 4 hour modes and both are fine. Choosing from titles on the disc is much easier than scanning a VCR tape for the start of a new program. Also scanning by chapter and fast forward/reverse work very well - a big improvement over tape.

The AR-230 records only on "Plus" media, but reads/plays just about everything. BEWARE: The DVD recordable industry is borderline insane. They're locked in a betamax/vhs type war of competing incompatible formats called "Plus" and "Minus". Not only are there different recorders that record each format, but the blank media are different for each format. A "Minus" disc won't work in a "Plus" recorder.

If you've got a set top DVD player you may want to check which format it supports. If your DVD player only plays "Minus" discs it won't be able to play DVD's you produce from the AR-230.

The Gateway AR-230's release in late 2003 ushered in a significant drop in prices for DVD+R/RW recorders. Since that initial release, Gateway has twice released firmware updates that correct various problems that users encountered. To apply a firmware update, one must burn the file to a CD-R on a personal computer and allow the AR-230 to read that special data disc. As of this writing, though, no update has been issued since December 2003 which is beginning to leave some growing problems unaddressed.

The device has the basic features one might expect including support for cable or over-the-air broadcast tuning, S-Video and RCA inputs, S-Video and RCA outputs, timer recording capabilities, 3 time/quality levels from 2 to 6 hours per 4.7GB disc, and a remote control. In addition, the unit has some nice extras such as a front panel IEEE-1384 input for direct playback control and DVD recording of a DV source and component video outputs.

The AR-230 only supports DVD+R (for record once) and DVD+RW (for multiple record/erase) media and this is where the major problems emerge.

Without any clues in the simplistic product manual or on the Gateway support site, the unit is very sensitive to the media used. Many vendor's DVD+R media do not work in the unit although the problems do not become apparent until after recording is completed: the created disc is completely unreadable by the AR-230 and all other playback devices.

Most recently, with the rapid proliferation of 4x and 8x DVD+R media, media which works in the AR-230 is getting very difficult to find. It will only record correctly to media rated as 1x-2.4x (sometimes listed as "Upto 2x") and not even to all such media.

Over the course of 9 months, my successful recording rate is about 60%. All of the failed discs were worthless and had to be discarded. Possibly a firmware release may address the 4x and 8x media issue, but there is no indication from Gateway that such a fix is forthcoming.

Other problems encountered include the device's inability to play DVD-R media recorded on other equipment, it's quirky requirement for always needing an RCA video output to work when the device is reset (as a complex set of menu selections must be made to direct video output to S-Video or Component outputs), and its destruction of all discs that are recorded to the end and not manually stopped with recording time available.

I would never buy this device today, but it has helped shift the marketplace and it does a nice job of recording when all of the (many) obstacles are avoided.

pros:
+ low cost.
+ auto menus and chapter marks work well.
+ has IEEE-1384 input for direct-from-DV recording.

cons:
+ can not use 4x or 8x media.
+ destroys recordings if not manually stopped.
+ can not play dvd-r discs.
+ will not include closed captioning data on programs recorded from any source.

The AR-230 uses DVD+R/+RW discs to record. A coaxial pass-through and integrated TV tuner lets the AR-230 record directly from an analog broadcast. Use any one of five timed recording presets that cover all the AR-230's inputs. Speaking of inputs, the AR-230 sports a bunch. Component video/stereo audio (front)
4-pin FireWire (front)Component video/stereo audio (back)
S-Video (back) Four recording modes lets you fit one to six hours of content on each recordable DVD. The AR-230 auto-inserts chapter markers -- a nice touch. Adjustable between two minutes and 15 minutes, the chapter marks make navigating long stretches of recorded content a breeze. With progressive-scan output, the AR-230 did a fine job of playing our disc collection. High-bitrate DVDs and our own SVCD creations played equally nicely. You can forget playing high-quality audio formats such as SACD and DVD Audio, but you have to expect that with a product as cheap as this. Summary: Gateway made the AR-230 simple to set up and use. Although you can't create custom menus with the AR-230, and it only supports writing to DVD+R/+RW formats, it represents a great value in set-top DVD burners. Pros: Ease of use; price

My AR230 was purchased as a replacement for a Panasonic DVD recorder that died on me. I use it mostly for time shifting TV programs. Quality is very good on the 1 and 2 hour settings good on the 4 hour setting and just slightly better than good VCR on the 6 hour setting. It's got a simple menu system that even got my wife recording some of her soaps. I've only recorded camcorder to DVD-R using the firewire port twice but the quality was good and it was easy to do. Be sure to finalize DVD-R's so they will play on other DVD players. I use brand name media and have not had a bad disc yet. This unit doesn't have a hard drive or the bells and whistles of some of the high-end units but at less than $300 it's a way better value than the others I considered. If you need a good replacement for your old VCR this is it.

I found it easy to get started using, and had few problems with basic recording to DVD+R or DVD+RW disks. There are some technical challenges if you want to copy the disks made with the AR-230 - it can be done, but takes some learning. The recorded disks played in 9 out of 10 DVD players I tried them in. In this price range, it has nice features like firewire input, PAL to NTSC playback conversion, built-in TV tuner, and component output.
But the big plus on this player is that it can bypass copy protection on DVD's and VHS movies.(Firmware 1139, Dec 2003) This earns it an extra star from me. Amazon probably won't let me tell how here, but those interested can easily find the info on the internet.

So far this dvd recorder has been great. We have purchased two of these. One from Amazon and one from Gateway. The one we purchased from Amazon does have the feature to turn off the macrovision and you can legally make back up copies of all the copyrighted dvds & vhs tapes that you own. The same unit we bought from Gateway.com for $100 less does not have the macrovision on/off feature but it did have the region free option. To see if your unit has the "Macrovision On/Off" feature on your remote press "Setup" then highlight "exit", while "exit" is highlighted enter "2960" and press enter. Another menu should open with the option to select your region code or make it region free and another option to turn macrovision on or off.

I bought mine in Jan '04, it would not finalize DVD+R's, so I upgraded the firmware per their tech support instructions, still wouldn't work, returned and switched for a new one, that one worked fine until June, then it stopped recognizing it had a disc in it (no matter what one you put in, commercial or homemade, it still said "no disc"). Mailed that one to Gateway's tech support (Alorica Global Services)at my expense, they replaced it and sent a new one, but no remote was in the box of the replacement. Finally after numerous calls and emails to tech support, I got one in July, but the remote doesn't work. It's October and I'm STILL trying to get them to replace the dead remote. I've sent 30+ emails and over 20 phone calls for a lousy $30 remote. By the way, I've learned that Gateway doesn't even make this unit, they are actually made by LiteOn corporation, and the LW-5001 is the same model as the AR230 (Make sure to never buy a LiteOn either!). I will never buy another Gateway product and will try to make sure no one else does either! I've heard of a lot of similar problems with this player (fails to finalize discs, won't recognize discs, very particular about what discs you use).

For the price you can't beat it. The unit is very basic but works well, similar to a VCR recorder. The recorded disk is as good or better than the original broadcast and much better than a VCR recording. If you are using a DVD+R disk and when you completely fill your disk with the programs you recorded don't forget to finalize (in disk tools) so you can play the disk in other players. Selecting auto chapters is also helpful to jump/skip quicker to the other parts of your recorded program.

This is an update of my review of Apr 1, 2004. I now have two of the same recorders, one for my wife to record her programs and one for me to record my favorites. Knock on wood, so far the recorders have performed well with no problems what so ever. We record programs almost every day, using Memorex 4X brand, +R's and +RW also purchased from Amazon. As stated before this recorder is just a basic recorder and does not have the additional features found in some of the other recorders, but it does the job and in my opinion are as reliable and still way better than a VCR recording. I use the pause button to stop the recording when the commercials come on and have had no problems with this feature. Don't forget to repress the pause button when the program comes back on after the commercials. I have also used the timer recording capability with no problems, you just need to have a little patience in programming the date, time and channel you want to record. I use the +RW disks as a removeable hard drive(HD) and record in the 4hr mode which is about the best alternative to a real HD and still maintain a quality recording. You can erase the disk after you watch your recorded programs and reuse the disk again. I have reuse the same +RW disk about 10 times so far with no problems. I am still amazed at how clear the recording is when played back. The recorder is a little slow initially in reading any disk so you need to take that into consideration and not rush activating any commands until the display stops blinking. When you initially put in a new disk, you don't need to manually format the +RW or +R disks, the recorder will do it it autmatically. I still have not figured out how to make this recorder an all region playback. Prices have gone down quite a bit compared to when I first bought this recorder so as stated before for price you still can't beat it. Panasonic and Sony are also good quality brands, but Sony recorders are way more expensive and the Panasonic recorders uses DVD-RAM disk to re-record and is more expensive to purchase rather than the common +RW's. For now, as long as this recorder works I'll keep using it until the other brands get cheaper with build-in HD's and more feature for the price.

There is not much for me to add to the already well written mixed reviews here. Yes, the recorder is easy to set up, and yes the instructions are not very useful -- some details are left out. But electronically, the Gateway AR230 is pretty good for the MONEY. What do you expect to get for about 125 bucks? It does make good DVDs -- and for my purposes that is good enough.

For some reason, the unit which I purchased did not ALWAYS begin recording when I punched the red Record button on the controler. Be that as it may, after futzing with it for awhile (with operating manual in hand and much head scratching) I got it to burn a good DVD. That's the "bottom line."

But here is a bonus that no one mentioned. Unlike many other expensive recorders, the ultra light weight Gateway AR230 operates just as well on European 220 volt/50 Hz house current. That's right. I packed up my recorder and brought it to my apartment in Budapest. With great trepidation, at first, I put an adapter on the plug and plugged it into a 220 volt/50 Hz, hit the power button and waited for it to get fried. But no, it simply lit up. Here's the other part. I hooked the output up to a late model Grundig TV. This requires a little adaptation for hooking up the three (yellow-video, red-audio, white-audio) RCA cable to the European TV input (that's a multi pin plug which somewhat resembles the old computer SCSI cable plug). For some $10-15US in Hungary, it was no big deal to buy the adapter and European cable for hooking the Gateway AR230.

I also had a concern of whether or not the Gateway AR230 which in the U.S. plays nicely on a typical NTSC television set will also work on a PAL/SECAM television set. No problem. So then, I left the now Budapest Gateway AR230 hooked up to the Grundig TV set, and now have to buy a second one for my home in the U.S. But at about $125 a pop, that's not such a big outlay for DVD recorder which makes decent DVDs -- although it can take some tweaking to do so.

I almost rated this at 3-stars (beacuse of the poor user manual and quirky problems of the unit which I wound up with the first time). But considering its versatility, I have to in good conscience click on four stars. After receiving my second Gateway AR230 and testing it out, I'll come back here to write Part II of the review to complete the story (if Amazon.com lets me post it).