Customer Reviews

Zenith ZRY-316 DVD Recorder/VCR Combo with Multi Format capability

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

 

 

This DVD/VHS recorder has a lot of things going for it, like the capability to read and write to DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, and DVD-RW disks. It can dub (unprotected tapes) from VHS to DVD and vice versa, and has menu editing capabilities. If you check around, that's a lot to put into a package that only costs a little more than $200 brand new.

But when you put it through the paces, it doesn't really do a lot of stuff very good. It takes about 7-10 seconds to boot up at which time you see a "Zenith" text on the screen (it would be nice to see TV stations). It's clock doesn't keep good time, forcing you to have to reset it to get accurate recordings. It's DVD record quality is great in the one-hour mode and OK (but nothing spectacular) in 128 min mode, but really unacceptable in anything longer than that. You're better off recording to VHS if you need to go over 2 hrs.

Some of its functions don't work very well at all. For ex, when you use the DUB function, you are supposed to be able to edit out portions of the tape by pausing and FFwding to the new part of the tape and then resuming recording. But it only seems to allow you to do it once; after that, it creates a separate recording (which isn't what you want).

Also, when you start the DUB, it momentarily records from the TV tuner, so you have a split second of TV recording at the beginning of your recording. Also when using DUB, the tape starts rolling but it doesn't immediately start copying and takes about 4-8 seconds to do so. So where it begins is somewhere about 4-8 sec beyond where you wanted to start recording.

When the player doesn't like a DVD (which can happen on a lot of DVD players) instead of just ejecting it it locks up the entire DVD, and there is nothing you can do but do a hard reset by holding the OFF button for 5 seconds (the remote buttons have no effect). It even sometimes freezes the last frame on the TV, even if you switch back to channel mode (the audio sounds fine, but you have a froozen frame on the screen) until you reset the device.

In fairness it does most of the basic things fine. It just doesn't implement some of its functions very well. I'd give it a 2.5 star rating.

The only thing this thing does well is play dvd's and tapes. As for dubbing ,that's a joke. I've owned it for over six months and can't get it to dub anything nor record from tv. Customer service is laughable- after FINALLY getting a rep to answer my call I still didn't get an answer. Basically I paid way too much money for a player. What a piece of junk.

As far as aesthetics -
I'm not big on the design with the DVD drive on the left.
If that is the biggest drawback, then it really is no big deal.
The 316 is in my bedroom, where it is seldom used. It plays
any/every disk I have tried, even region 2 PAL format DVDs.
Nice if you have imported DVDs from europe!
Found that the disks recorded on this unit are not compatible
with my old Emerson combo recorder,but no problem in others.
I just discovered a 'safe' mode: where none of the keys on the
front of the unit will work,yet the remote still works in
safe mode...have to look into turning safe mode off.
Which is funny,I bought this unit as broken,and all that was wrong
was it was set into safe mode.The previous owner returned it as broke.
Maybe it is just me, but after not using the recorder for
maybe a month, I will find the remote batteries dead -
It has happened twice.
The ability to play PAL disks makes this deck a keeper!

I got my Zenith DVD Rec./VCR combo from Radio Shack about 2 years ago.

Cons: Zentih Boot-up screen

Disc tray needs assistance closing

Pros: Records DVDs well.

Programming it to record is easy.

Chapters can be added after recording or during.

Recordings can be edited, cut, etc.

It has been a good piece for me. I would recommend purchasing.