Samsung DVD-VR325 DVD/VCR Recorder

by Samsung

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 17 x 12.6 x 3.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0009X47O8
• Item model number: DVD-VR325
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,510 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Enjoy the latest DVD movies as well as your VHS library with the Samsung DVD-VR325 DVD player/recorder with integrated VCR, which also enables you to record your favorite TV programming and home movies to DVD disc. Additionally, this unit uses a lossless HDMI connection to upconvert your DVD and VHS playback to high definition 720p/768p/1080i video formats for your HD-compatible television. The DVD-VR325 records onto DVD-R/RW discs as well as reusable DVD-RAM media. You can record up to about 16 hours with a double side 9.4 GB DVD-RAM disc, and up to about 8 hours with a 4.7 GB DVD-RAM, DVD-RW or DVD-R disc, depending on the recording mode. In addition to DVD-Video, this unit plays DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, CD audio, CD-R/RW discs, as well as MP3 and JPEG CDs.

With the DV input (also known as Firewire, i.Link, or IEEE 1394), you can transfer and record video clips directly from your digital video camcorder directly onto DVD discs. With Auto Chaptering, chapters are created when you record your favorite TV show or video clips from a cammcorder onto a DVD disc. The Auto Fit Recording function automatically detects the remaining disc space and sets up the best recording mode. For instance, if you record a 90 minute length program on a single sided disc, the recorder sets the recording mode from XP to EP.

An HDMI compatible input with HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) offers an uncompressed solution to the transmission and display of high definition video and audio content. Other connection options include:

• Composite AV In/Out: 2 in (1 front)/1 out
• S-Video In/Out: 1 in/1 out
• Component video (YPbPr) In/Out: 1 in/1 out
• HDMI: 1
• Firewire: 1
• RF In/Out: 1 in/1 out
• Analog audio In/Out: 2 in/2 out
• Digital coaxial audio In/Out: 0 in/1 out
• Digital optical audio In/Out: 0 in/1 out

What's in the Box
DVD (player/recorder)/VCR combo, remote control (with batteries), AV cable, HDMI cable, RF cable, printed operating instructions

Product Description

Save your favorite TV shows and home movies to recordable DVDs or VHS tapes with Samsung's DVD-VR325. Its built-in DVD recorder and VCR give you convenient recording options. Camcorder owners will appreciate the front-panel analog and digital inputs, for easy copying of valuable footage. And High-Def TV owners can take advantage of its advanced video processing and digital video connections to get vivid, detailed DVD playback. The DVD-VR3235 is Samsung's first DVD recorder that improves standard DVD video signals to near-HD quality. Better yet, the DVDVR325 sends both DVD and VHS video to your TV via a single "HDMI" (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cable. This type of connection keeps the video signal digital until it's displayed on your TV screen for the cleanest possible picture. Samsung even includes the cable, so you're ready to go right out of the box.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Combo Player - but a couple of minor irritants..., July 28, 2005

By 

Brion Sohn - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung DVD-VR325 DVD/VCR Recorder (Electronics)

I Decided to get this Combo player for two reasons initially. #1 the upconversion of both the DVD AND VCR and #2 It matches my Samsung LCD TV.

Performance of this ubit so far has been exceptional, Great upconversion through the DVI output. It showed significant inprovement over the TV's built in upconversion for the VDD and incredible improvement over my exixting 6 head toshiba VCR.

One thing that was nice that they don't mention in the literature is that the VCR is SVHS compatible so you can take advantage of the higher image quality. Basically this unit exceds my performance standards that I was looking for picture and sound wise.

Now for the issues:

#1 - You cant really stack anything on top of it or it fouls the loading mechanism of the VCR. I placed my LCD TV (23" Samsung 21lbs) on top of it and the top bowed enough so that the loading mechanism would get caught on the case. I fixed this myself with a little inginuity but it could cause others issue.

#2 - The Second issue which is a little more irritating is with the recorder. If you wish to record from VCR-DVD or visa-versa you MUST turn off the Progressive scanning. This is not an issue if you use the normal component video out however, if you use the DVI you cannot get a picture on your monitor (I had to connect a second line to my TV to get recording to work). The other issue is that no where n the directions do they tell you this, I had to figure it out on my own. The DVD recording quality is very good though once you get it figured out.

Other than that this unit is worth the money to me.. Though the manual could be much better and of course the stacking issue, but that is a minor thing.

85 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does everything with one exception, October 28, 2005

By 

Stephen L. Noe "Stephen L. Noe" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung DVD-VR325 DVD/VCR Recorder (Electronics)

It is a terrific player/recorder. The VCR's quality outmatches just about any VCR. The VCR to DVD works without a hitch and without heat buildup on the case. It's just terrific.

My one complaint is that it won't play VCD's or SVCD's. This is probably unimportant to most people but before there were DVD's there were VCD's and alot of my children's video's are on VCD.

Samsung has a convenient port on the front of the device to hook up an external device to record from. So I have to hook up my old DVD player (that supported VCD) and transfer everything over to DVD-R.

You'll not be dissappointed by either the functionality or the picture quality. It is worth it if you have DVD's and a high def TV or you need to tranfer your VCR tapes and old home movies to DVD.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great, December 12, 2005

By 

James W. Picht (Louisiana, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Samsung DVD-VR325 DVD/VCR Recorder (Electronics)

I bought the VR325 because my old VCR was no longer working well, I wanted to copy some videocassettes to DVD, and I wanted a DVD player capable of playing CDs and displaying photo JPGs on my TV. This machine satisfies me on all counts, though not without some minor annoyance.

DVD movies look even better with this machine than they did with my old DVD player. I notice no difference between the HDMI interface and S-video; both produce gorgeous results for movies. There is a difference when I look at photo JPGs: When I used the HDMI interface, I had to adjust the aspect ratio on my TV to 4:3 so that the pictures wouldn't be cropped; with S-video they display properly at 4:3 or 16:9. Since photo quality is the same, I've opted to stick with S-video. The machine comes with an HDMI cable, and I'm sure I'll find a use for it someday.

It's very easy to record to DVD from VHS, though as a previous reviewer noted, you need to turn off the progressive scan feature and there's nothing in the manual about that. VHS output is excellent; our videocassettes look much better than they did on our old VCR.

What don't I like about this machine? First, it takes it several seconds to load a DVD; my Sony loaded DVDs almost immediately. It also takes it several seconds to load a CD. I assume part of the delay is due to the machine deciding what kind of disc is loaded, but it seems rather long anyway.

Second, the remote isn't very responsive (and I've used a couple of sets of new batteries to make sure it isn't due to low batteries). I have to hit the open/close button a couple of times to get the DVD tray to come out (it works right away when I hit the button on the machine), and I have to aim the remote much more accurately than I did with my old machine.

Third, the menus illustrated in the manual don't look much like the menus I get on my TV screen. I haven't been able to find a couple of things in the manual at all, and some things discussed in the manual don't seem to correspond to anything I can find on the machine or on the menus. The manual is definitely a one-star item; it's incomplete and misleading. It's pathetic.

Overall I think Samsung has come up with a pretty good product in this machine. For the basic tasks of playing DVDs, CDs, and VHS cassettes it's superb. It's nicely styled. It makes recording from VHS to DVD easy. Startup is slow, the remote is annoying, and the manual is crummy. Those are things that should be easily and cheaply fixed. If they are, this will be a five-star product.