Customer Reviews

JVC DR-MX1S DVD Player/Recorder, Hi-Fi VCR, and Hard Disk Recorder

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

 

 

I came from a simple VCR. This is a whole new world! I did extensive on-line research before determining this would do what I needed: Record movies to watch anytime; make temporary recordings for viewing later; transfer some taped material to DVD. It does it all, but it's like getting a new computer. There are so many functions and options, that I read much of the 100-page manual, then just started experimenting with various things. I'm still learning as I go what works best for me. Example: "Chapter Marks" are put in every 5 minutes or so on a DVD disk, but not on the hard disk ... but you can put them in yourself wherever you want. Then, if I play a disk on my computer, I can choose a scene from the pictures selected as Chapter Marks, but I can't seem to do it when playing on the JVC -- maybe it's one of numerous functions I haven't figured out yet!

On the other hand, I can start hard-disk recording with the push of a couple of buttons ... let's say the phone rings while I'm watching The West Wing.

Then there are the disks to buy: DVD-R are the lowest price, but you can't do most editing. DVD-RW can be re-used, but cost more. DVD-RAM are even more costly, but will allow "Live Memory Playback" (as will the hard disk), i.e., watching an earlier part of a program as it's still being recorded (or a different program).

One function necessary from the beginning: learning to change an "Index", i.e., a small picture which identifies a "title" (one recording, such as a movie). Otherwise, it's easy to have several titles on the hard disk that all show the MGM lion!

"Dubbing" (copying) can go in all 6 directions: tape to DVD, DVD to hard disk, etc.

If I didn't need the VCR, I'd probably get a recorder with the biggest hard disk I could find.

A caution: My unit has started to act up about 3 times in 6 weeks. I shut down my computer regularly, and seem to need to do the same with the JVC. However, "off" isn't enough; it has to be unplugged briefly. So far, it's worked!

I purchased this product thinking that it would provide complete flexibility for recording television programs and transferring them between media. What I found was that the recorder was difficult to set up properly, hard to use and poorly engineered.

The set-up of the equipment is made more complex than should be required because the manual only includes one diagram for basic set up which is supposed to cover all possible circumstances. It was necessary to call JVC in order to determine which of the connections was appropriate to my system and then, because of the extremely limited supply of parts provided, purchase a number of items needed to complete the set-up. For eequipment costing over $600, I think that a reasonable length coax cable and an antenna splitter could have been included. (The cable provided was less than two feet long - practically useless.)

Programming the recorder was also more complex than necessary since the VCR unit uses a different format from the DVD and HDD drives. In addition, it is not until page 41 of the manual that recording begins to be discussed and it is not until page 57 that we reach manual recording functions.

It should also be noted that although the manual (page 41) indicates that you should format a DVD disc before recording, the instruction to accomplish this do not appear until page 87. This is extremely poorly organized documentation.

Finally, the engineering of the unit includes a useless door which impedes access to the DVD and VHS media. It also complicates the ability to easily see the display panel. It must also be noted that the lights on the front of the unit designed to let the user know which of the functions is operational are so excessivly bright that it easily lights up a portion of the surrounding area. This also makes the display more difficlult to read and could definitely be a problem for light sleepers should the unit begin to operate during the night.

In summary - if you purchase this recorder, expect to spend a lot of time on the learning curve and in contact with JVC to answer questions.

I agree with the other reviewer regarding the documentation/manual. Having purchased JVC in the past, I knew I would have to dedicate an hour to learn the unit because of the poor manual. Once that is done, the recorder itself is fabulously versatile and easy to use. The menus are accessed from the remote quite simply and are easy to follow. Remember, this is more than just a VCR, or just a DVD player or just an HDD. It incorporates MANY units. You can expect it to be a little more challenging to learn. Sure, for the money I wish they provided more cables/etc. The front panel does not have any functional purpose but I like the streamlined look of the unit especially since these multi units have a lot going on on their faces. Overall, I would recommend this unit. I have only owned it a few days so I can't speak to reliability.

I had read the reviews here on Amazon, and then went to the JVC web site. JVC claimed that only "a few" of these decks had the "LOADING" malfunction, and that repairs were "simple." I decided that, since JVC is (was?) a reputable company, they must have had some problems with the early run of these decks, and that I could trust them to have caught and repaired the malfunction on their later decks.

The first deck I bought failed within 15 days, so I could exchange it. This entailed a lot of hassle with UPS deliveries, and I've never been reimbursed for my cost of returning the defective deck.

The second deck took a month to malfunction. So I had to send it to JVC repair services to correct the problem. More UPS, more hassles. The deck was returned after almost a month. The second DVD I played in it caused the malfunction again.

By this time I was within a week of JVC's measly 90-day warranty (for labor-parts are usually a negligible part of the bill). So I gave up. Now I have a sometimes-functioning machine that I really resent. $600 for this??!!?

You'll want a bigger hard drive (80Gb = only 16 hours recording time at DVD speed) and probably should wait until the second generation of these machines makes its appearance. Would I buy from JVC? Hah.

If you're looking for a unit that does it all, this is it. I wanted a dvr, and something that I could use to burn my old VHS tapes onto discs with. I have had this unit for approximately 7 months and have been very happy with it. Unlike TiVo, no phone line is required for digital recordings. Yes, there's no TV guide function, but that's really not important. Some customers have said the manual is confusing, but I don't agree. Yes, it does take some time to master all of the functions of this unit, but the rewards are well worth it. It has been all I expected and more. Grab this now that the price is lower!

Quick Summary: Excellent performance; sub-average user interface and manual resulting in steep learning curve; questions about future viability.

I have used this unit for about 5 months now, so feel competent to comment on its strengths and weaknesses. This unit does what it sets out to do very well. It combines record and play capabilities for VHS tape, DVD, and Hard disk in one compact stylish unit. It also has very flexible dubbing capability: VHS / HD / DVD in any to / from combination. Pretty impressive - 5 stars here. Video and audio are very good to excellent. I have no problems with the quality of the results - 5 stars here, too.

The problems come with the on-screen user interface and the user manual, which combine to produce a steep learning curve. I have owned many JVC components in the past, and unfortunately these areas have not improved over the years. Navigation through the multilevel menus is cumbersome and not only non-intuitive, but in places counterintuitive. For example, when you finally figure out how to get to the menu where you can stop an in-progress recording, "Cancel" means Yes, stop the recording. But in most other cases "Cancel" means No, don't do the action in question. Another example: After dubbing material from hard disk to DVD you need to "finalize" the DVD disk to make it playable. You would think that this action would be accessible from the "Dubbing" menu. It's not. Each time, you have to go to the "Setup" menu, which is normally used for the initial setup of the video tuners and default values of record/playback preferences. Another thing I find cumbersome is the "action priority" organization of the menus. You cannot choose an item, then choose what you wish to do with it. For example, If you choose the "Navigation" button on the remote to view a list of what you have recorded on HD and you see that several of them are no longer of interest and can be deleted, you have to back out step by step from the "Navigation" set of menus, then press the "Edit" button to first choose an action (delete) then get the same list of programs to choose the ones to delete. Two stars for the on-screen interface.

The user manual also gets 2 stars. The table of contents (buried 5 pages in) is marginally adequate for locating major topics. For finding details the one-page index in the back is just plain pitiful, especially given how easy it is to generate a comprehensive one with index-generating software that I first used 20 years ago and is undoubtedly much more powerful today. Once you find the right topic the instructions themselves in the user manual are very (sometimes overly) detailed. For example, every key press of the up/down/right/left arrow keys to navigate to a selection on the screen is commonly given. On the other hand, you are often required to flip back and forth to steps referred to in other sections of the manual to complete a simple action. Some sections are just plain poorly written and confusing. I still don't know what they are talking about in the section on "Live Memory Playback" (watching the beginning of a program while later portions of it are still being recorded) although I figured out how to do it on my own.

Another consideration is the future viability of this relatively expensive device. Although it has separate tuners for VHS and Hard Disc/DVD modes, neither tuner can receive HD-TV signals or even digital cable signals. You are restricted to recording analog channels or digital channels fed from a separate digital tuner. A relatively minor related limitation is that the "Universal" remote control provided does not control many of the functions (most importantly aspect ratio) of my Panasonic HD TV.

I love this product. It does everything that I need it to do. However, when I went to finalize my the first DVD-R that I had recorded, the machine froze up. The display went blank, HDD and DVD-R parts of the component stopped working. VCR kinda worked but sound was terrible. I had it exchanged and its replacement has been working flawlessly.

It has great functionality. I use it to copy VHS tapes I have of old movies I taped off of TCM and sports events I want to save. I copy the tapes to the hard drive, create a play list that consists of the show minus the commercials, then copy the playlist to the DVD-R. I also use the HDD instead of VHS tapes to record shows from now on. The manual is a little harder to understand than it needs to be, but the menus are easy to use and easy to remember.

Got it for the wife for Christmas. Overall its cool, but does have some funky requirements. Love the dual tuners and HD! Record both channels (HD and VCR) simultateuosly. Being a techno geek, JVC you need to fix the following: 1. Fix your manual, its not in a logical order. 2. Make dvd record fuction faster. Its almost a one to one time for recording from HD to DVD. 3. For the weekly program recording function, DONT erase last weeks program automatically without operator interation! What if your on vacation for 3 weeks and want to record your daily/weekly show. It will auto erase/overwrite last weeks shows unless you tell it not too. But wait your not home to tell it not too!
Other than those annoyances it pretty cool for being a totally 'dumb' machine. I will get a new one when this one breaks down. Hopefully they fix the interface or better yet a fireware upgradable version!

I got this dvr as a gift in 12/2005 and it is now 5/2006 and I LOVE it.

I have been transferring my old vhs tapes (about 200+) to the hard drive, deleted commericals, created a playlist and put them on dvds practically every weekend since I got it. Then I go onto a movie database website (imdb.com), search out the movie and copy the description onto a dvd labelmaker for each dvd. I even bought this fantastic dvd binder holder from Walmart that hold 24 dvds in what looks like a book the size of a dvd - 3 "books" in a case, which is a total of 72 dvds. I bought 4 of them so in total I can have 288 dvds in such a SMALL amount of space.

The manual is difficult to understand, so I've basically learned how to use it by going on various websites (Amazon is one) to really learn how to use it.

The playlist is my all time fav thing, although my beginning dvds aren't as good as my current ones. I also love the idea that if I had 3 playlists on a dvd, if I wanted to see the 2nd I could go directly to it instead of rewinding on a vhs. Another great feature is the "Resume" - if I start to watch a show and I have to stop, if I go back to the same show I have the option of either going to the beginning or to resume where I left off. When you finalize the dvd (which you need to do if you want to play the dvd on ANOTHER machine) the different backgrounds you can choose from is a neat feature also.

I tape my daytime soaps on the hard drive instead of vhs which is fantastic and unlike on a vhs tape, I can tape the shows separately and just delete one without touching the other shows - unlike a vhs tape where you have to rewind and either use another tape or tape over.

PROBLEM - The only problem I'm having is being able to tape and watch different shows at the same time - manual is confusing in this regard. The machine froze a couple of times, but all I needed to do was unplug it and it fixed whatever caused the freezing.

Hubby couldn't understand why I wanted the machine, he thinks I'm nuts for even having all my vhs tapes of movies/shows of the past. He even asked me if I indeed have 200 vhs tape, does that mean I'm going to have 200 dvds. I told him probably not, in the sense that with the dvds I can categorize the various movies/shows which you really can't do with the vhs tapes.

The main thing I wanted it for was as a spacesaver, which is something vhs tapes is not. I'm a big Elvis Presley fan, so I showed him my 9 vhs tapes (3 movies on each tape) of his movies right next to the 7 dvds of the movies; no comparison in spacesaving in my opinion - which is what I really wanted.

I highly recommend this machine to anybody who would listen. The cost on the JVC website is absolutely disgusting ($1,000, please), but hubby went onto another site and got it for a whole lot less.

A great unit with many fine features, this unit is a must for the videophile who loves his vcr collection and his dvd collection at the same time. I have never seen a unit with so many features in 1 unit at the same time. It is a must have for the videophile like I said. There is a problem and A MAJOR one at that with this unit is that it keeps shutting down. The problem is that the multitasked onboard memory is to small. In laymans terms--it will shutdown after 20 minutes or so when playing a store bought or rental dvd. TURN OFF THE LIVE MEMORY SETTING in the setup screen and you will end your shutdown problem. It's all in all a great unit but it should have been field tested more before it came onto the market.