Customer Reviews

Samsung DVD-R145 DVD Recorder

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I don't normally write reviews on products but in this case I feel I must share the value and features of this product. You can't go wrong in selecting this player/recorder for your DVD needs. The quick start guide is just that "quick" and well planned. The people at Samsung know how to write manuals and this manual is the best I have seen well documented with pictures (in full color) and just that step-by-step for the novice. The setup diagram is excellent. The features are numerous you can throw any discs you have left over from other recording machines and through it in takes three seconds to intialize (any disc) and away you go. One touch record starts immediately. The quality is superb especially in High Definition. I couldn't wait to get it after reading the reviews from the last Electronics Trade Show so I was able to get it from back East about three weeks ago. Finalizing discs is a snap and easy I have had difficulty formatting on other machines but the Samsung is so easy the on-screen menu is good and the remote is easy to navigate even with my big fingers! It will play mp3s, CDs, computer made DivX movies, Region 1 DVDs, Picture discs from your computer and you can make your own movies from your camcorder or video camera and burn on the fly. You can also program your other electronics into the remote but you must know the manufacturer's codes which they list in a handy guide. If you are shopping for a multi recorder/player search no more get this one you won't be disappointed.

This is an update to my previous review from 10/19/06. I'm returning the second one now. The picture freezes completely during regular playback of DVD-RAM discs. You press fast forward and it just freezes. You stop and play again and the picture is jagged. Very disappointing because the features are excellent. The previous unit froze during chase playback.

I am on my second Samsung DVD-R145 in two months. First, the things I like: great picture quality, excellent user interface, and I especially like the MP3 playback (specifically, the ability to create a playlist and to play tracks in random order, not all DVD recorders provide those functions). Second, the minor annoyances that may just become major: during "chase playback" (using DVD-RAM discs, watching the program currently being recorded), after fast-forwarding and then pressing play, the picture jitters consistently. You have to press STOP and then press PLAY again in order to stop the jittering. Then there's the bigger issue of synchronization of sound and picture. Many programs that I've recorded, when played back, do not have the picture and sound synchronized - and they can be off pretty badly, too, not just milliseconds. The first unit did that and I ignored it most of the time but now that the second unit does it, I am losing my patience. Add to that the fact that when I contacted Samsung about it, after finally getting a response to my e-mail (8 days), the recommendation was to record at "a better speed." I record at LP. Not the end of the world, and I've never had this synchronization problem with any other DVD recorder (Panasonic, Toshiba). So that's not helping. I will wait and see but I suspect I'll return this one too and go with yet another brand (I can't seem to find the right combination of quality and features).

Am very disappointed with both the unit and Samsung service. The unit started rejecting all discs...no matter what format...after only two weeks. Samsung service insisted that I try a cleaning disc before they do anything. They couldn't understand that the unit was rejecting ALL discs.

After another two calls it took a full week to get authorization to send it out for repair. The unit has been sitting at their designated repair facility for two weeks now "waiting for parts". No one can tell me what is specifically wrong and Samsung will not just replace the unit.

I can only say this is a very bad Samsung experience.

Was a decent machine, and was good for the price. Worked well for 3 months, and then death... Will load less than 10% of the Discs you put in the unit. Yes, the very same Discs that were working a few weeks earlier. Blasted with air and tried again, so dust wasn't the issue. Sending back for Warranty service, but of course Shipping is MY cost, and god knows how long that will take.

I bought this unit with high hopes. Its produces great picture, but thats where it all goes bad. Lipsync issues, constant freezeups, pause goes into stop after 5 mins, HDMI issues (directly w/ a samsung TV, so its not a compatibility issue). The customer support for this product is even worse. You can explain all your problems, and they will say "thats the way it is," "Contact DivX for DivX issues," and "please call us." If you insist on the customer calling, why even have a web form? copies of my support corespondence are available to those who ask.

Stay away from thsi unit, and this is coming from an videophile/geek.

I bought this unit shortly after it was released. I had the original unit replaced after about 2 weeks because it wasn't playing back some DVD+R's that I had recorded AND finalized from that same recorder. It was also occasionally having difficulty with some commercial DVD's. It was necessary to eject and insert a few times to get them to play. The 2nd unit arrived and worked for 3 months and began to exhibit the same problems including scratchy CD playback that was not heard in my other standard DVD player. I called Samsung about replacement and they told me I would have to pay shipping to a repair facility where they may determine it could not be a warranty repair. I decided to tolerate the eject, re-eject issue and after 9 months it wouldn't recognize ANY commercial DVD's and only a few DVD+R's. I called Samsung back and, in short, they put me off over and over until the 1 year warranty had expired. It is now worthless and I am shopping for another, different manufacturer. I am reasonable but Samsung's customer service was rude and ineffective. I will never buy another of their products. I can't comment about other Samsung models but with this experience, I don't care to. Check reviews on the Web, you'll find that these units have a BAD history.

I have lately been disappointed with Samsung products and the 145 is another example. I bought the 145 a year ago and played a few disks and recoreded 1 time. About 2 weeks after the warrenty expired it no longer recognizes any disk. In other words, you can trash the player. I would think twice before buying a Samsung product.

I purchased this unit in October and have not had much opportunity to use it, but my daughter has complained from day one about the unit crashing during recording. Since then I have tried to tape 3 programs, only one successfully. While taping the other two programs, the unit froze halfway through recording and displayed the message, "updating disc information, please wait". I had to unplug the unit to reset it. I did not do anything different while attempting to tape the three programs. The discs were new, clean, and formatted.

The other problem is that the unit will not play certain discs through.(Seems to be those with multiple titles) The playback freezes, then says there is no disc. Some of these discs are commercial, brand new, and clean discs. The same discs play on an inexpensive portable player with no problem.

Customer support told us "to clean the unit with a laser cleaner, because it's probably been in the factory too long and is dirty. (A brand new recorder!) If that doesn't work, send the unit for repairs, if MULTIPLE repairs don't work, then they will replace it, not before!

I am very disappointed in this recorder. I had a Panasonic recorder previously and was happy with that one. I decided on a Samsung because all the other Samsung equipment we own, including our television, has been reliable. What a shame!

I bought this player sometime around AUG 06. If I had written a review back then I would be given a glowing review. Now however I must say it is probably best to stay away from this player.

Cons

1. No firmware update. What I mean is Samsung has stated they will not be updating the firmware for this device. Sooner or later it will need a update to play the latest divix files no matter how good it is now. If playing AVIs on your player doesn't matter to you then this is not an issue, but there are probably a bunch of things that could be easily fix by updating the firmware.

2. Disk sometimes do not finalize after recording more than 6 hours. Every week I record about 6 hours and 2 minutes of shows. My disk can hold 6 hours and 8 minutes so this shouldn't be a problem. However, every now and then the disk will not finalize after recording the last show. The player will then get stuck on the Finalizing screen forever. The only way to get out of the screen is to unplug the player. This should never happen and could be fixed with a firmware update or at least they could put some code in that says if finalizing takes for than 10 minutes cancel finalization.

3. Fast forward speed is slow. The player only has 6 speeds and the first 3 are barely above normal speed and the last speed is disappointment. On saturday I like to record the entire block of adult swim on cartoon network. Fast forwarding through stuff I already seen was a pain so I just recorded smaller blocks. So instead of recording 1 six hour block I recorded 3 two hour blocks of time. Wouldn't have to do this is speed was better.

4. I do get sound sync errors from time to time but not that much. Maybe only 3 times since I had it.

5. Picture sometimes freezes up for awhile. It will freeze for a few minutes and then continue playing. This doesn't happen a lot.

Pros

1. Plays dvd without a problem.

2. Played all the AVI files I had tried.

3. Picture quality is great when it works.

4. I like the menu

5. I like the preview window

6. Basically I like everything about this player that doesn't do with recording or playing back a recording. Which would be great if I didn't buy this for recording ability.

I chose this model primarily because I loved my previous Samsung product, but I would definitely not recommend this recorder. It worked "okay" for about the first 8 months - a little bit of flakiness that occasionally ruined a blank DVD, but nothing I couldn't live with. Then suddenly, without reason, a major malfunction occurred, and it would not read any discs at all. It ejected everything and said it couldn't read it. It was still under warranty, but to get it repaired I had to ship it to New Jersey and pay for the labor. Once returned, I was able to insert discs, but it was even flakier than before. Recording a disc is completely hit or miss now, with more miss than hit. Now begins the search for a replacement, and I won't be buying another Samsung.