Zenith DVR413 Multi-Format DVD Recorder

by Zenith

Product Details

Data Sheet [1.38mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 14.8 x 2.8 x 16.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 16 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: B00023CFAS
• Item model number: DVR413
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,080 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Treat yourself and your living room to the attractive DVR413, which will give you the power to time shift your TV viewing and share your home videos with friends and family. Zenith's silver, second-generation DVD recorder lets you archive VHS or camcorder footage to long-life recordable DVDs or record your favorite TV shows directly to disc. It records to DVD-R/-RW and DVD+R/+RW discs, encoding audio in 2- or 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound, and it offers a variety of video editing functions. Its progressive-scan DVD playback abilities include compatibility with DVDs, CDs, CD-R and CD-RW discs, and CDs loaded with MP3 music files.

The DVR413's handy, front-panel audio/video jacks simplify connections with camcorders, VCRs, DVRs, and other devices, so you'll always be ready to create a new masterpiece. Inputs include composite-video (with accompanying stereo analog RCA inputs), RF coaxial (accommodating antennas and older VCRs), and a front-panel digital-video input. The recorder digitizes your video sources in high-quality MPEG-2 (the same format used for commercial DVDs), with either 2- or 5.1-channel Dolby Digital encoding for the audio.

Recording features like disc project creation, title delete, A-B delete, program move, chapter/program combine, auto/manual chapter creation, and file naming make it simple and convenient to configure your projects.

Playback features include 4x and 6x moveable zoom, variable high-speed scan (2x, 4x, 16x, and 100x), parental locks, bookmarking, 20-track CD programming, and repeat and resume play. The DVR413 is also equipped to deliver the full potential of your commercial and recordable DVDs when viewing on a high-definition or HD-ready TV. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts. Interlaced composite- and S-video outputs bring compatibility with nearly any television.

For the simplest hookup with your TV, you can use a single RCA composite-video connection to handle both DVD and VCR outputs. If you want a higher-quality connection from the DVD player, you can use a component- or S-video cable to an additional input on your TV. You can choose between an optical and a coaxial digital-audio output to feed a surround-sound signal to your Dolby Digital- or DTS-decoding audio/video receiver.

If you don't have a surround receiver or 6-channel speaker setup, you can still make every movie night the ultimate experience: the unit simulates surround sound through 2 speakers (even the stereo speakers on your TV).

What's in the Box
DVD recorder, remote control, 2 AAA batteries, a user's manual, a stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable, an S-video cable, an RF coaxial AV cable, a registration card, and warranty info.

Product Description

Multi-Format DVD Recorder; Record Disc Format: -RW; Easy Editing; Multi-Format Playback includes DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, CD, CD-r, CD-RW, JPEG, Kodak Picture CD, MP3; Easy editing (delete, merge, rename, move, etc), Picture in Picture to watch DVD & TV program at the same time

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It worked for a while, then got it fixed, January 8, 2005

By 

K. Gittins (CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Zenith DVR413 Multi-Format DVD Recorder (Electronics)

The unit seems to do all it says it will, though I have not delved into every feature, particularly the (expensive) RAM disk and its multitude of editing capabilites.

It plays commercial DVDs nicely, and I've transferred several 6-hour home-made VHS tapes to DVD (more to follow) - which was the main feature I bought the unit for.

A few minor nitpicks:
1. Takes about 10 seconds to "check everything" after the power is turned on.
2. Pressing the "Open" (door) button does not turn on the unit - OK, I'm spoiled by my $60 Mintek...
3. The flip down cover should have separate sections rather than the full width. There is access on the left side for a 5-inch section of composite, S-Video or DVI inputs and channel up/down, the 3-inch wide display (that will be brighter when uncovered) is in the center, then only 2 directional arrows on the right side that are an inch apart...
4. The remote is the longest of five I have (lots of functions, some under a sliding cover) though it is well-laid out and not very heavy for the size.

Very minor quibbles for a very nice unit.

Note: I've subsequently had a problem with the unit freezing up in the middle of recording, requiring a full power off (and losing the recording) - three times in a row. This was on the 7th DVD I was burning, and all the previous ones went without a hitch. Called CS (open 24/7) and they said to unplug it for an hour or so to reset it. I will post if a problem is encountered again.

OK, it happened again. 60 days old, froze twice. At least Zenith is paying shipping on this trip.

Got it back 21 days later. Fresh out of the box, the unit does not format a disk, and the disk formatting portion of the menu is inaccessible (grayed out). <snip> Now, I get to take it to a local service center as the repair policy has changed. Arg. More updates as they happen.

Update: Turns out they are paying to ship it back to Alabama, as apparently the local service option was not correct.

Update2: Turns out "problem" is that "-R" disks come formatted (did not know that), therefore that particular menu item is disabled. Funny that 2 techs did not "catch" that on the phone, particularly when one of them specifically asked about the type of disk. Also, manual says that the "disk will be intialized" (which is not the same as "formatted" as the case for "+R"s I had used previously).

So, I'm recording a friend's cartoons. All seems well at the 3-1/2 hour mark :-)

Edit: Well, it finally started dying and I pulled the plug in early '08.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to Lemon Ville, March 29, 2005

By 

Mary R. Brown "Videophile" (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zenith DVR413 Multi-Format DVD Recorder (Electronics)

I don't know if I have a lemon or not, but it has been in the shop more than I have had it. It is now on its 3rd repair. Last time, they replaced the mother board and some other components. The first time, they replaced the DVD recorder drive (with a rebuilt one). IThe machine was purchased in July, did not use it until end of August and worked for only a month. I have no small children and I am a videophile who has been recording since the very first betamax. Here are the problems I have:

The timer recording works only about 50% of the time, but if you turn the machine on manually, the timer kicks in. Sometimes when I record DVD's for just a few minutes and change my mind, the recorder reads the DVD as full and will not record further on it. This last time, it started something new (after all the new parts), I hit record, the counter goes to 00 00 00 and it stalls right there. It will not shut off, open or anything; it is literally frozen. Unplugging renews it!

Basically, it is not a machine I can count on. The only saving grace I can see is that I can transfer my vhs tapes to dvd without worrying about the copyguard and even that can get temperamental.

Zenith is absolutely no help. Every time I call, regardless of the day or time, I get a message to leave a phone number and someone will call me back. So far, I've left phone numbers three times and no one bothers to call. So much for tech support!

Hedda

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent, but with fatal flaw, February 1, 2005

By 

Isaiah520 (Cherry Hill, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zenith DVR413 Multi-Format DVD Recorder (Electronics)

How can you ruin an otherwise fine player/recorder by not giving it an S-video in (except in the front input)? In that case, there is no digital sound besides the eye sore of wires in front- not a good trade off. What were they thinking providing 2 digital sound outputs (coaxial and optical) when one or the other would suffice in a trade off for the S-video in? I tried the composite vs. the front S-video and the picture quality difference was stark. All of this being said, if you simply want to record shows that you'll dub over anyway, it's not the biggest deal. But for highest quality VHS archiving to disc, you may be disappointed. For less picky dubbers, it would be hard to find a quality multi-format recorder at this price point