Customer Reviews

Samsung DVD-VR300 DVD Recorder/VCR Combo

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

 

 

I returned this item (and bought the Panasonic DMR-ES30VS) for primarily two reasons.

The first is the remote control is almost nonresponsive. You have to perfectly aim it at precisely the right spot on the unit for it to work. Hence, buttons tend to get repeatedly pushed at "varying" angles just to get a response. This so VERY annoying and it will drive you nuts!
I thought perhaps the batteries that came with the remote were just bad...? but a replacement set was no better. Then when I saw other reviews of this same experience, I knew it was just a bad remote design. What I find so odd is I have a Samsung DLP TV and its remote (similar shape and design) does not exhibit this phenomena.

Second, there is a lack of INPUT jacks on the unit. It's as if the Samsing engineers decided this unit and a TV would be the only entertainment appliances a consumer would own. It has component and S-video OUTPUT jacks, but the only INPUT jack is a crummy composite. For those people like me who use their one HDMI jack for their cablebox, the lack of good INPUT jacks was a huge disappointment.

The Panasonic I echanged for by contrast at least has
S-video INPUT jacks so I could connect my cablebox more effectively to my DVD recorder. IMO, it is also a superior picture and its user interface more intuitive.

I bought this unit so that I could save stuff from my TiVo and copy some old VHS tapes to DVD. So far, so good! I have made about 20 DVD recordings. The only problem I ran into was when I was trying to copy a movie from VHS to DVD (this movie is not available on DVD yet) and it wouldn't let me copy it because it is copyrighted. I really wanted to make a DVD of it, since it is no longer available.

Another nice thing is the DV input on the front. I have a Canon mini-DV camcorder and was able to easily transfer video directly from the camera to DVD. There is also a full set of AV inputs on the front. Very nice for temporarily hooking up an older camcorder or (gasp!) a Beta VCR! Yes, I have LOTS of Beta tapes that I plan on converting to DVD.

The menus are a lot more user-friendly than the DVD recorder my parents have. I didn't really have to read the manual... but it is worth reading. There are some neat features: Pressing REC once starts recording, pressing it again starts a record timer... adding 30 minutes each time you press REC. That's a nice function for unattended recording. Also, most of the functions are easily accessable by remote without going into menus... including recording speed (quality) and one-touch dubbing from DVD-VHS or VHS-DVD. Another nuce touch is the clock. Most DVD players do not have a clock on the display, but this one does (it needs to know the time for timer recording).

Also, my television is a Samsung. The remote will control the TV as well (and other brands). There is even a dedicated TV Power button. Very nice for reducing the number of remotes needed to power everything up/down.

All of the DVD-Rs I use are Verbatim brand, and I have had no problems with them at all.

I was able to play only one of five DVDs I made on this machine. When recording from an attached video camera, everything looked fine, picture appeared on TV going through the DVD/VCR, Record light is nicely lit, after finishing the DVD it played well on the Samsung. But when trying to play back either on my Sony Vaio or my Apple iMac, all I get is a soundless black picture. When I recorded on DVD-RW from a videotape inserted in the VCR, I could play the result on my Sony. But the next tape I recorded only caused Microsoft to keep asking me to send an error report when I tried to play it on my Sony. My Apple refused to recognize it as a DVD. Unpredictably incompatible. When I called the Samsung helpdesk they told me to call the computer manufacturer. I guess I would have to call both Sony and Apple then? Crutchfield was the seller for this product and they actually have a very helpful helpdesk -by the name of Darren- According to him I should try a different brand DVD disc. I tried Memorex instead of the Office Depot and found that this brand of disc solved the problem. Question for Samsung: Why don't you have this on your troubleshooting page in the manual? Why does the dealer know this, but you don't?

I found this machine to be OK once I understood its little quirks. It is a little touchy, but the issues can be worked around.

First, about discs. I found that my machine likes Memorex DVD-RW 2x, and Fujifilm DVD-R 8x. Once you find a brand of disc that works reliably, stick with it.

Second, about recording. I found that the machine sometimes has trouble reading DVD-RW discs that are 100% full of data. For example, if I recorded 2 hours of video on 2 hr speed (SP), the disc is obviously full. Sometimes when inserting the disc, the machine would not read the disc properly, and give an error message "The disc cannot be played or recorded". Even after reformatting the disc, I would sometimes get this error message. I end up tossing the disc and using a new one. This went on for quite a while until I figured out that if I set up the recording speed so that the disc is not full, the problem never occurred again. So, if I want to record 2 hrs of video, I set the record speed to 4 hr speed (LP). The disc is only half full of data, and the machine boots the disc reliably. If you are recording on timer and using the AUTO speed setting, then set the recording period so the disc is not full. So, if recording a 2 hr video on AUTO speed on the timer, set the machine to record for 2 1/2 hrs. This will force it to use the 4 hr speed (LP) instead of the 2 hr speed (SP), and the disc will not be full.

Next, the remote. I agree that it is a poor design. I have not found any firm solution to this problem. However, I found the remote to work best if I hold it in my lap, and tilt the front of the remote slightly upwards, toward the machine. And I don't sit at too far of an angle from the machine. But I still sometimes have to press a button a couple times before the machine will recognize the command. To me, this is not big problem.

So, after understanding the little idiosyncrasies of this machine, I am pretty happy with it overall.

I wish it had a S-Video output instead of Composite Video, but I found the picture quality to be very good if I enable progressive scan.

The coaxial digital audio output plays very nicely with my 5.1 home theater audio receiver. The standard RCA jack audio outputs are connected to my TV, and work fine.

I also have a large VHS collection that I want to transfer to DVD, so that is why I went for a DVD-VHS combo. There are others out there, but I went for the DVR-300 because it has a coaxial digital audio output instead of optical (the single optical input of my 5.1 receiver is already used by the optical output of my satellite receiver).

I hope this helps. I was frustrated with the machine at first, but now at least I can make reliable recordings.

Roger

This DVD recorder seems to use cheap parts that result in a large % of disc-burnin failures. Even though DVD-R is cheap these days (but not so with DVD-RAM), you'll be much better off and happier with DVD recorders from Panasonic. (The Panasonic DVD recorder/VCR combo is also $200 cheaper!)

We bought this as our first DVD-R, and found it to be touchy and slow. We replaced it with a Panasonic last year and have found that one to work better - but it has had the benefit of updated technology. This one takes for ever to turn on, and the default is the VCR. We mostly use the DVD player, so this was highly annoying. If you are thinking of purchasing one of these, keep looking.

I had previously purchased a Samsung VCR/DVD player and was really impressed with the quality. In fact the VCR player is so good that it plays old VHS tapes that had gotten to where I could no longer watch them using my other VCR players. I have been wanting a DVD recorder to convert my large video collection to DVDs and have bought and returned several DVD Recorders because they turned out to be absolute junk. When Samsung came out with their own combo recorder I took a chance and so far so good. The minute I opened the box and discovered a large-print pictoral quick guide for setting up the recorder I knew I had struck gold. Two hours after setting up I have already converted one VHS tape to DVD. You get what you pay for!

I actually have an earlier model Samsung DVD player, and it, along with other Samsung models at the time, had a horrible skipping problem on many DVDs. Samsung's support was almost non-existant -- I found out there was a firmware upgrade for the player, but not through their website (where I couldn't find any help whatsoever), but through a friend with the same problem. HOWEVER, the firmware upgrade did not resolve the problem, and the last I heard, there was a class action suit filed here in Pennsylvania (which I received an invitiation to be a part of, but could not participate in, I think because I no longer had the receipt). Considering their lackluster customer support, I would advise anyone against buying any DVD player from this company. Players are much cheaper nowadays anyway, and you can get an excellent Sony or Toshiba for a modest price.