Customer Reviews

Samsung DVD-VR320 DVD Recorder

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I purchased this dvd/vcr combination recorder because it was reasonably priced and had a fire wire port (I paid around $250). It's definitely a little tougher to use than an ordinary vcr but the quality of the output is infinitely better. I recommend this player for anyone who wants to transfer family videos to a dvd format or to anyone who's not quite sure but afraid to shell out the big bucks.

This is a terrific machine, but familiarize yourself with your tech. I've got some information that is going to help you out sooooo much:

1 - It is extremely important that you know exactly what type of DVD's that are used with this product (like any other product). It lists very, very specific DVD's that the unit accepts for recording (It takes Sony DVD-R, but it won't necessarily accept a Sony DVD-RW!) And... It only accepts 2x DVD-RW's! I made four trips back and forth to Staples just to find out they didn't have the specific brand name that I needed & I eventually found the Maxell DVD-RW 2x @ a not so local Sears Electronic store. Read your directions VERY closely (as I should have). To help facilitate, I shall give you a head start - 2x DVD-RW's that it accepts: TDK, Maxell, JVC, Mitsubishi, Optodisc, Verbatim & Radius. I didn't find these brand names at Staples OR Best Buy.

2 - Be very aware of HOW you're formatting your DVD's and familiarize yourself with the difference between the modes. After hunting down the DVD-RW's that are required, I have found myself sticking with the DVD-R's. Formatting the RW's in "VR" mode as opposed to "V" mode, won't play on other DVD players. This isn't to say that newer model DVD Players won't play them, but older model DVD players probably won't. The whole reason I thought this DVD creating process was so cool, was the advanced editing features that were offered by formatting in "VR" mode. If you intend on creating permanent DVD's too play back on other DVD players, you should stick with "DVD-R" (which automatically format in "V" mode); if you're making temporary DVD's and plan on recording over them, use "DVD-RW" in "V" mode -- but really, what's the point in using the "VR" mode, with advanced menu editing, if you're just going to record over it?

3 - I've also discovered a manufacturer flaw in this particular model and after speaking with Samsung, found out it is related to in models manufactured before/after July 2005 (yeah, that's not at all helpful, but I honestly don't remember what he said about July 2005). Either way, the system error will appear on your screen like this: [EC:0507] - System error is found. Please try it again after turning off the power." At Samsung.com, under the support tab, you can download a memory update for your DVD burner (which I just think is really cool) - it gives you directions on how to do this.

(...)

I hope this helps you to avoid the mistakes that I've made.

This unit was purchased to transfer home videos to DVD. Once I got the hang of it, it was great! Yes, the door opened slowly but I thought it was just that it took time for the disc to get started and stop. The simple chapter and title features were just what I wanted to break up the DVD for searching around. The transfer of VHS video to DVD went well for a while, maybe eight times, but then it would stop recording after 30 seconds. That became frustrating so I tried running my original 8mm canon camcorder tapes through the camera's out plugs to the DVD. That worked well for about six more DVD's, then after about a week, it started to display the ERROR signal that another reviewer mentioned. That never went away. It also said signal not detected. So it was detecting neither the camera, the cable box, the tv nor it's own built in VHS tape input.
When it worked, I could record on DVD-RW but those would not play in any other medium. The DVD-R seemed to work well (following the manufacturer's suggested brands) but some failed which was a big waste of time and DVDs. Perhaps every third one failed. I returned this unit after about a month because it just didn't work anymore. May be mine was just a lemon but, what a disappointment.

You will regret this purchase. I jumped into buying it on impulse, primarily based on the lower price ($169.00 when I bought it compared to about $250 for the next cheapest model). Learn about DVD formats before buying a DVD recorder--this one only records onto DVD-R or DVD-RW disks, which means it will not be compatible with disk players that only take DVD+R disks, such as my computer. Also, despite trying every recording format, I cannot get it to play on my older DVD player. If you are content on building a library that can only be played on this DVD player, then buy it. Otherwise, look for MULTI-FORMAT DVD recorders that record on and play all DVD formats. Furthermore, the recorder cannot seem to record on long play, which allows for four hours of recordings on one disk, versus the standard two hours. I was never able to finalize a disk on which I attempted to record four hours of shows, and I wasted hours and hours of time trying to do so. Ugh. Completely disappointed with the product and aggravated with myself for rushing into the purchase!!

I bought this through Amazon from J&R. It was $189. I had it for few days, created one disc, and returned it because it does not supoort recording of the closed caption (CC) in the analog input. This is a bummer.
I checked Samsung's web-site and found out that this is by design, on any Samsung DVD recorders. If you want to record any of your analog source; external input, combo VHS, or tuner, and keep the closed caption, you should avoid buying Samsung.
Closed captoning in US is so ubiquitous, it seems to be a big flaw in product design not to support it. The support of this feature should almost be mandated like how all the televisions support showing it. But most of the manufacturers don't even describe whether they support this in their product web-sites.
I am looking for a similar model from other manufacturer that does support this, but due to the lack of information, I am having difficulty slecting a model or manufacturer.
Otherwise, the picture quality of the disc I created was pretty impressive for EP (6 hr in a DVD-R) recording, and the user interface was easy to navigate through. If you don't care about closed captions, this is a good product.

BTW. I understand DVD technology do not adhere very good to analog closed captioning. Analog closed captioning is done by inserting character codes in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) line (21). MPEG2 video encoding used in DVD do not cover this area of the video signal. The captioning system, aka subtitles, that was designed for DVD is image based. Although DVDs can carry closed captions to be output in the analog format (and some titles actually do), recording it from analog input is not very straght forward. This is a flaw in how te DVD standards were defined. They had no idea that recordable DVD would be used to replace the VHS tapes.

Like in many other reveiews here, my player will play a dvd for a bit over an hour then starts pixelating, stuttering and eventually freezes. I called Samsung and they made me add firmware which busted the whole player, then I had to return it to a repair shop in New Jersey. After waiting a few weeks I finally received the dvd player and began to watch a movie with my family. At the climax of the film (Meryl Streep dying in One Fine Thing) the movie started pixelating and eventually froze. My family looked at me like they were in shock!!

I hate this player!!!!!

I almost paid a lot more for this model. You see they had it at SAM's, and I hadn't seen what the costs of these combo units were, so I thought it was a good deal. Thank goodness for the web when comparison shopping. Now Samsung makes a more expensive model at near twice the price, and it does have features that are supposed to support those high def. sets. It took a bit of deciding, but ultimately why pay for something that's not really set yet.

It's kind of interesting all the schemes you get for devices that tell you they are ready for the future, but really are not. I had a Sony big screen (two piece projection model) TV I won in a contest back in 1981. Stereo TV was just in its infancy then, and this model was listed as "stereo ready". It's not unlike all the companies that sell people HDTV ready which really means: "we neglected to include the HDTV tuner to save cost." The TV I had accomplished its Stereo ready, not by having some special magic that would receive and play stereo when it was broadcast. What it had was separate monaural amplifiers so you could play the right, and left side from some other stereo device. It really wasn't stereo ready, it just couldn't afford to market itself as mono, being an expensive big screen and all.

It seems Sony along with the other companies, are still arguing over the standards they will ultimately release to the public for High Definition DVD. I'm guessing recording, playback and compatibility issues will be the order of the day when its finally announced. Plus with Sony now a major player in the property rights theater, I expect copy protections to be quite stringent. What this means to you and I is that a High Def recorder bought today will be fairly useless when the standard comes out. Most current DVDs play at about 480P on progressive scan, so they're not bad. The higher definitions will come later down the line, so there is no reason to spend the money now.

As for the model here at hand, I complement it for the nice display they have on the front. It has reasonably simple operation, you are gonna get some complexity with a device of this type. Perhaps it was simpler for me since the remote looks like a near clone of the Sony WEGA remote. I think remote control companies must be making for several manufacturers these days, I doubt Sony and Samsung have that much of a connection. This unit does a nice job of direct copying of VHS cassettes to DVDs. I bought it for that primary task, as I have a lot of home movies and other stuff to shrink down from tape.

The process is not well suited for DVD copies off TIVO or some other digital recorder. I recommend using your computer to perform those tasks. Computers have much more memory, and likely a faster DVD recorder than these stand alone models, at least at this price. I believe it will take much less time that way. Still for a stand alone slave, this is a decent unit. The VCR is a four head model, and of fairly high quality, so the copies come out fine if the source is up to par.

This device is nothing really especially innovative so it can't get that last star from me, but for what it is I couldn't expect too much better for the price. One more thing that shouldn't escape your attention. The price on this is lower than many player combos have been the past few years. It's play quality is quite good, so even if you rarely take advantage of the recording capability, you're buying a darn fine combo player too.

Bought this to copy some old tapes to DVD and it seemed to do ok at that although the interface is a bit clunky. However, it (like another Samsung DVD player I own from a couple years ago) won't play all comercial DVDs. I tested it with Matrix and it pixilated frequently during action scenes and hung up for several seconds at the layer change. Then it froze frequently until the end. Put the DVD in my old Hitachi player and no problems so it wasn't the DVD. I took it back and will try another I guess. Maybe the Toshiba.

We have had this over 2 months now and it does great transfering VHS to DVD and recording onto DVD. It even plays DVD-R's great, but rentals-FORGET IT. Skips, pixels and stalls. Also gets wiggy reception through the antenna connection.

I bought this at the end of January and everything was fine at first. It was easy to operate and the quality of the recordings was good. After 2 1/2 months, however, the VCR developed a problem.

If I set the timer, all I get is sound and a gray screen with flickers of the program I recorded. I get the same thing with my already recorded tapes. It appears to have a tracking problem. It went back to Samsung for repairs, but it still doesn't work properly. Only the 'automatic' recording feature wll produce a viewable tape, and I still can't watch any of my previously recorded.

I purchased this unit so I could convert my tapes to DVD and feel as though I've wasted my money on this unit. It will go back to Samsung again tomorrow.

The DVD portion works fine but if you want a VCR, too, buy something that works.