Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 19
 Very, very disappointing... March 7, 2010
G. Anderson (Canterbury, UK)
I bought this to replace a Sony RDR-HXD560 which had decided to stop playing DVDs. Whilst I wasn't too pleased that the RDR-HXD560 had failed within 3 years of purchase, I was generally pleased with it as a HDD recorder, and hoped that the newer model would share it's user-friendly interface and features, as well as maybe bringing some new ones along to make life easier.
How wrong could I be.
I wish the more recent reviews had been available prior to my purchase - I wouldn't have bought it if they had! I'll try and list all the things I'm not happy with on the machine...
1). Only possible to record direct to the HDD. If you want a copy on DVD you have to then transfer it from the HDD to a DVD afterwards. On the face of it, not too much of a problem as most people would want to edit out the adverts etc, but the real problem is that dubbing is done in real-time and, whilst it's being done, you can't use the recorder for anything else. So, realistically, it has to be set to do it as you leave for work in the morning, or overnight (provided you have nothing to record whilst it's doing so).
2). The electronic programme guide defaults to "guideplus" which is half taken up with adverts. You can choose "freeview+" in the setup, but those less familiar with such things would take an age to find it.
3). As most people are aware, the channel order on freeview is pretty random. I, like I imagine most others, choose to rearrange them into a more convenient order - and to block out the rubbish like QVC, shopping etc. With this unit, as soon as you turn it off, it re-arranges the channels back into their original order! How pointless!
4). When playing DVDs, if you stop part way through a film (to see to the baby, make a cup of tea or whatever) it doesn't remember the place and "resume". You have to start again from the beginning, trawl all the way through the trailers and copyright guff, and remember where you were to start again. Rubbish. Even the £14.99 dvd player I bought from the local supermarket has a "resume" feature!
5). I have had problems with the HDD recordings skipping and freezing. A 2 hour film was reduced to an unwatchable 1hr 50mins. The same problem occured when trying to dub onto a dvd - 1 hour of cartoons filled a dvd without finishing due to the freezing and skipping.
6). Fast-forward and rewind functions are hard to control - the rewind particularly, as it has no 1x function (at least it says 1x, but it jumps back 10 or more seconds at a time. This is particularly annoying when editing a recording prior to copying it to a dvd.
7). It's very slow to power up, and to turn itself off. This is particulary annoying if you turn it off in error - or the baby does - as it takes a lifetime to get going again. Particularly if you're watching a dvd and have to start again from the beginning.
8). When viewing the recorded titles in the title list it plays a clip of both video and sound of whatever title you have highlighted - what's wrong with that? I hear you say... Well, as each title has it's name written down in front of you to read, it seems a bit superfluous. Add to that, most recordings start with a handful of adverts or the tail end of the previous programme, so you just get a snatch of the "go compare" advert or whatever. Highly distracting and, after a while, probably the most annoying feature of the machine. It appears to be impossible to pause or mute this playback and it drove me to distraction.
9). The fan is much noisier than on my earlier sony model.
On the "Plus" side, it gave a good picture - noticeably better with the HDMI cable making use of the 1080p upscaling - but that's about all I can say that was good about it.
I hope this helps anyone considering purchasing one of these machines. I have now returned mine and will be buying an alternative manufacturer's product.
Glen.
 Sony DVD recorder/ HDD February 21, 2010
Nix (England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This product has a good picture but I was disappointed that you cannot dub in high speed mode, like I can with my other Sony HDD/DVD recorder. The controls are not very intuitive and I keep having to refer to the manual to work out to do things. I also cannot find out how to record in series mode (it is dead easy with my other Sony one)
Extremely disappointing, returned for refund February 13, 2010
N. Beagley (Camberley, Engand)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This would be a superb product but for one simple fault! When replaying HDD recordings and time delayed recordings they freeze, skip and jump sometimes as much as 5 to 6 times an hour. Tried retuning, reset, the works live TV is a beautiful upscaled picture and so is playing back DVD's, but all the recordings we have are unwatchable. Returned the first device for a replacement, but that had the same problem from the outset, returning that for a refund. Contacted Sony support, only got an automated reply, no further response. The Sony website wants you to download new fimware to your PC, burn a CD and reflash the product. But the disclaimer agreement you have to agree to prior to doing this absolves them of any responsibility if an additional fault develops. In a product less than a week old this is simply not acceptable. We expected better of Sony.
 Great when it works! February 6, 2010
Mrs. Patricia A. Ovens (UK)
I am having to return it, but will have it replaced with the same model, as it stops working every two or three times you use it. Then it will only work when the power is totaally switched off and then you lose all the programme timers that have been set - very annoying!
Disappointing Product February 5, 2010
R. A. Peel (London)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This device never worked properly. It kept turning itself off just a few seconds after being turned on. Functions were disabled for no good reason. Programmes were not recorded and just disappeared from the timer list. Responses to commands were very sluggish. There were often large gaps in the electronic programme guide. This was intended as a replacement for an early Sony hard disk recorder (the first they produced) and proved to be a backward step. So after ringing Sony who confirmed a faulty machine we sent it back for a refund.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 19
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