Samsung DVD-VR375 1080p Up-Converting VHS Combo DVD Recorder

I have had the recorder about 3 weeks and so far have been very pleased. I have connected it to a Samsung DLP LED widescreen TV with an HDMI cable. Resolution of upconverted DVD movies is terrific. The AnyNet+ feature allows control of both Samsung devices with a single remote. But I was naive to think I would be able to copy movies to DVD from premium satellite channels for later viewing; it will not duplicate 'copy protected' movies; but it is possible to record them using the VHS function of the recorder(obviously resolution suffers). I assume recording standard TV programs to rewritable DVD's for later viewing will not be a problem. Although it does not have a tuner, the TV picture has defintely improved (I am not yet receiving HD broadcasts). I'm not sure of the reason, but it is an undeniable and unexpected bonus. Finally, dubbing old VHS home movies to DVD is extremely easy and the results are good. All in all, I am very happy with this purchase.

Compared to the balky panasonic that died just one month after the warranty expired, this SAMSUNG stands head and shoulders above it and all others I have owned. So far I have transferred 300 hours of video tape to DVD and this Samsung has never refused or garbled my instructions. The buttons on the remote were probably designed for smaller fingers than mine but it is a minor inconvenience compared to what it delivers. Four stars today and five if it lasts 3 years.

The recorder would record no more than about 10 minutes of programming before the picture would freeze, or the sound would cut out, or both. This would then be followed about 30 to 90 seconds later by a cryptic error message (which disappeared after only about 5 seconds) and the disk being ejected. Sometimes the machine would even hang, requiring me to actually unplug it in order to get it to respond again.

I tried both the internal and my own external VCR as dubbing sources. I also tried no less than 15 different disks, from 3 different media manufacturers, in 3 different media formats (DVD-RW, DVD-R, and DVD+R). I also tried different recording speeds and formats. I even tried several different source VHS tapes. Nothing seemed to make any difference. I am sending it back for a refund, and will have to hire a local media transfer company to convert my old VHS tapes to DVD for me instead (at much higher cost).

I bought this primarily to preserve home movies I have of my family, mainly my brother who passed away last year. I spent most of my time this past weekend copying VHS to DVD for myself, mom and my younger brother. I have watched one of the DVD's and the quality is much better than the video it came from. It was also so easy I could not believe it. Just a few steps and I was on my way to copying a large video library. If you have home movies you want to preserve this is perfect and was so easy. Even for someone who usually cannot work the electronics without help. I would recommend this for any parent who does not want to lose those precious memories of their children.

I read reviews of several different styles of DVD-Rs before trying this one. It seemed to do everything I wanted it to. After getting my first unit I hooked it up that afternoon and was very disappointed. There was no picture. It just blinked "loading" on the front display. When I finally got the DVD drawer to open it held onto my DVD for two days. I talked to Samsung during which the drawer opened for a second time and I retrieved my DVD. Samsung did take the unit back for "repairs" and kept it for one week before I was notified that there was a delay in recieving the parts. After two weeks of waiting, I called and they said that they would send me a new unit. I called two days later to talk to the exchange dept.(as instructed by the repair dept.)and was then told that it would be 7-10 days before my new unit was even shipped. The good thing about the whole story is that I was happily suprised by a new unit arriving two days later. I installed it last night and so far it has done everything it is supposed to.

The only other thing is that our TV is a Sylvania and the remote will not control the TV and it has been very difficult in trying to get the remote to control our cable box. There is an IR cable for the remote that I guess I haven't figured out how to hook up correctly.