Daewoo DVRS04 DVD Recorder/Hi-Fi VCR Combo
Pretty good machine for the value, despite some flaws
This is the first DVD Recorder/VCR Combo I've had a chance to use, which I got for $249 at Fry's. I've used it for a few weeks now and am fairly satisfied with the results, despite a few system flaws.  <br /> <br />It serves its purpose well, recording to DVD from TV or VCR is done with sufficient ease and efficiency. The features and options of this particular brand are practically no different than any other, but the on-screen display menus and GUI are nicely designed. I especially liked the time-bar at the bottom that shows how much recording time remains when burning to DVD, depending on the speed setting. In these areas the DVR-S04 excels indeed. <br /> <br />Here are some of the problems I encountered. The first time I recorded to DVD I used the blank DVD+RW packaged with the machine. In the process of overwriting one of the recordings it froze up and I could no longer use the disc. Fortunately it was just a test recording and didn't lose anything important. Since then I've used plain DVD+R discs and they've all turned out fine. In the process of editing some of the discs though I ran into some system errors and could no longer record to the discs, leaving me no option but to finalize the disc and it'll play fine. This only happened like 3 times maybe, out of 30 successfully burned discs. Also sometimes when the power is turned off and put into standby mode, it'll lockup and I had to unplug and plug it to turn it back on. These may just be defects with my machine only, I'm not sure. <br /> <br />The only permanent problem that I can assess has to do with editing the chapters on DVDs. You can add chapters anywhere into the titles on disc, but once the disc is finalized the chapters I added would mysteriously disappear. Not sure if this is intentional or a glitch, it's kind of inconvenient but not a huge problem. Changing title names and index images are a snap. <br /> <br />There a few other personal nitpicks I could quibble over, but they're really not worth mentioning. VCR functions and playing domestic Region 1 DVDs work fine. Not perfect, but overall it's a solid product for the price tag. If you can find it for the same value I would recommend buying it.