Customer Reviews

Sylvania DVR90DE Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It's a shame because the unit works quite well with my older 2x dvd-rw media, but after buying some 4x -rw and 8x -r neither would work. Talking to customer support (on sunday morning, with an 800 number, after a 20 minute wait) they claim this unit will not work with the newer media, and so I asked what happens in a year or two when there are no more 2x -rw discs for sale, or 4x -r. The rep suggested I return it.

One other point: the manual appears to be a translation and the translator clearly does not understand English grammar. On the box it states: "this unit cannot record on any copyright protected dvd". This even stumped the support rep. Apparently it should have said "from" instead of "on". The manual is forever making these sorts of errors and it is often difficult to know exactly what are the correct procedures or restrictions.

Oh, my first attempt to play a recorded dvd (2x -rw which works) in my sony dvd player did not work until I put it back into the recorder and did a finalize operation. This could explain the difficulty another reviewer mentioned.

Sadly, I had to return the unit.

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Here is an email I got from cust support:

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Thank you for your inquiry:


Please check the list provided below, the problem is most likely a compatibility issue.


Below is a list of disc that should or should not be used with the recorders.


DVD-R
4x can be used
8x will result in a disc error.


DVD-RW
2x can be used
4x will result in a disc error.


QUALITY ASSURANCE
DVD DISCS

The following discs have been tested and are proven to be compatible with our DVD recorders.


MEMOREX DVD-R
FUJIFILM DVD-R
FUJIFILM DVD-RW
IMATION DVD-RW
IMATION DVD-R 2.0
TDK DVD-RW 2X
TDK DVD-R 2X


Funai Corporation
Customer Support

I bought this product, took it out of the box, read the manual and started recording within hours. I get 10 hrs on one disc and find this plays on my DVD dual deck in the living room and on my computer DVD drive. I was suprised to see the review that says it is not compatable with other DVD players /recorders. It is DVD-R recordings, that when you make them, are compatable with more formats than Panasonics Ram format, which is only compatable with Panasonic. I can pl;ay on Hitachi, dvd player,Phillips, and Go Video which I and my kids all own, so I think the other reviewer has a Ram format DVD or he has a software problewm. Mine works great and is easy to use , with an idiot proof On Screen Icon menu.

Good Value, good sound and picture quality and easy to program.

I bought this player recently instead of a 'standalone' cd recorder which btw doesn't have these extra features. I hooked up my turntable (the one with the built-in pre-amp, so I didn't need a amp or reciever to go thru) set the recording mode in my case 6 hours (or how many hours you want) and connected the red and white audio wires from the audio (leave off the 'yellow' or video wire for an all blank screen). I recorded and then pressed 'stop' when the song was over to create a title or chapter, you can then edit the name the track title (as you would with a movie or something) . You can hold up to 10 hours of audio on one dvd-r media with this dvd recorder.

BUT the only thing is it holds up to 80 chapters (or titles?) because I already tried this if you go over 80 titles then you cannot finalize the disc or record passed 80 as it says 'disc error' you cannot record on this disc. One way to bypass this is when you reach say track (or title/chapter) 75 use the pause button instead (of stop), though when you reach track 75 you would have to manually fast forward on your remote to play the other songs recorded, so you can fill up the entire disc with 10 hours of music.

The music recorded off the turntable played back in dolby digital format even in the 10 hour mode

Right now I'm playing one of my dvd-rs that I filled with 6 hours of music with while typing this in dvd-rom, I can say goodbye to the ancient cd player which only holds 80 minutes of music. Oh I can also play my Audio/music dvd-r on most other dvd players including my panasonic!

This DVD Recorder accepts the DVD-R / -RW format (does not accept DVD+R/+RW). So far its pretty damn good, even better than the $299 magnavox model that was out last year which didn't have as much features and was $100 more. This DVD Recorder has up to 8 program recording up to a year in advance, daily or weekly recordings are also avail, just like your old vcr. One touch timer recordings, as well as other nice features. Comes with a full functional remote control as well as buttons on the unit itself. The recorder has 6 recording speeds they are XP 60MIN, SP 120MIN,LP 240MIN, EP 360MIN, SLP 480MIN, SEP 600MIN in other words from 1 to 10 hours, the 10 hr recording mode (SEP) looks sort of like vcd quality but just a bit less and I do not recommend it very much. EP mode looks like Vhs quality, XP, SP & LP modes are very good quality to record with. You can even preview it before making the disc how the picture would look like in that particular mode. The manual is very handy and tells you everything in complete detail step by step.

The unit has your basic audio/video inputs and outputs as well as component and RF input and output. It also plays CDs & CDRs. The discs recorded on this player also played on my Panasonic a120 dvd player which is more than a few years old.

The only possible bad thing about this recorder is the 'CPRM' (copy protection system) which ofcourse means you cannot make copies of copy protected broadcast materials, unless its made once on dvd-rw media, and then you cannot make a copy of that recording on the dvd-rw media and all of this is dependent on wether the programmer wants to copy protect its material or not, they may opt to do so (or not do so) in the future. But so far I've recorded many programs off the tv without any problems on regular dvd-r media, but I suspect many other newer dvd recorder nowadays have this feature. The older recorders that I know of didn't have this feature, which is good you might want to stock up on those discontinued dvd recorders since newer dvd recorders will have this feature. But all in all a good player/recorder seems like its worth more than $199 but since it didn't have progressive scanning (not that i needed it since I use it only for recording) it fits the price.

I have been using this DVR for about a month now. The record quality is great using the S Video input and I cannot tell the differance in quality between 2 hour and 4 hour modes. I have had media problems. I bought some Imation DVD-R's at Sams Club and everything was working fine but when I went back to Sams Club to buy more they didn't work. I noticed that the old ones I had purchased were DVD-R 2X and the new ones were DVD-R 1-8X you would think 1-8X means it would work at 1-2X "wrong". Then I went to Costco and bought some TDK 1-4X and I was back in business again until I ran out of TDK media. So back to Costco for some more TDK 1-4X, when I bought the new DVD-R's I noticed the packaging was different but the speed was the same. When I put it in the DVR90DE it came up with an error. I then inspected the media looking for a difference, the first TDK 1-4X had a red circle about a 1/4" from the center hub the newer DVD-R media had the same red circle but it was only about 1/8" from the center hub. I started inspecting other media I had tried without success and noticed what they had in common. It was a red circle very close the the inner hub. I will be going on a quest for media tomorrow. I hope they never discontinue the slower media because this thing won't work without it. The good news is it records great video.

I purchased this unit for Christmas 2004 and have yet to find a disc that will work for recording from VHS to DVD. This has been a nightmare. I would return the unit had the box not been accidently thrown out with the rest of the Christmas trash. Save yourself a headache and try another unit.

I picked this up after returning the Akai recorder I'd purchased because to get my vhs tape transferred on it required a setting which had horrible quality. This recorder is much easier to use with its onscreen menus, and the option to record at so many different speeds is great as well, allowing me to transfer my tapes without having horrible quality video. I haven't tried out programming it for the tv yet, but overall it is much easier to use. It's not a progressive scan player, but I already have one of those and am just using this as a recorder, so it does everything I want it to do and has a great price. I'm very glad I got it. Now I have to spend the next six months transferring vhs tapes, and I can't wait for football season to see how well it records tv!

The icon driven menu makes this product easy to use and extremely user friendly. The other great feature is the 10 hours of record time. I previously owned a similar product by cyeberhome and was dissapointed with the quality and difficulty of use. I highly recommend this product for its ease of use.

Ok,first i wasn't sure i wanted to get this.I usually buy JVC products,but the price is too high for their recorder.This is mostly a good product.The manual is great(explains everything).The menu is easy to use,& has separate jacks for tv,vcr,receiver.Ok,now for the not so good stuff...first the zoom funtion requires a little more button pushing than it should.Recording VHS to DVD is not as good quality as i expected.As soon as you press record,the tape quality is diminished slightly.The 10 hours of recording time was not needed.Overall though,i do like it.It's worth the price.

I was lucky! I got this Labor Day weekend on special at K-mart for only $99 for the sole purpose of recording my extensive VHS to DVD. Especially those videos not even available on DVD.
I ruined only two blank DVD's before I realized the DVD HAD to be connected directly to the TV and could not be used as a "stand alone" to record directly from video to DVD.
Also, I had to return blank DVD's twice because, as other buyers have said, it doesn't recognize all types or brands. It has to be 4X. I finally found two types from BIG LOTS that work fine. {RCA and Memorex DVD-R 4X; FUJI didn't work and from other bad experiences with this brand, including their blank CD's...you should consider something else!}
It also does not copy from videos with copy-guards which was very disappointing as certain studios have guards on even the unpopular movies.
I still cannot get the "CHAPTERs" selection to work, which separates in 15 minute to 30 minute intervals in a movie etc.. But I rarely use that feature anyway. BUT if you stop recording and start again then it DOES start a new chapter/ selection which is fine for recording TV series and having different chapters per episode. {You can always use the pause feature for commercials and not have to start a new chapter"
The edit feature of putting on "TITLES" takes a little getting used to but works fine. And after you "FINALIZE" the DVD it seems to work in all kinds of players.
I am pleased because it does what I want it to. The only downfalls are the purchasing of blanks and the chapter selection not working. So if you find one at my price, get it, stock u[p on blanks and look for a descrambler..if even available anymore!