Gateway AR230 Progressive-Scan DVD Player / Recorder
Junk Junk Junk
I bought mine in Jan '04, it would not finalize DVD+R's, so I upgraded the firmware per their tech support instructions, still wouldn't work, returned and switched for a new one, that one worked fine until June, then it stopped recognizing it had a disc in it (no matter what one you put in, commercial or homemade, it still said \\"no disc\\").  Mailed that one to Gateway's tech support (Alorica Global Services)at my expense, they replaced it and sent a new one, but no remote was in the box of the replacement.  Finally after numerous calls and emails to tech support, I got one in July, but the remote doesn't work.  It's October and I'm STILL trying to get them to replace the dead remote.  I've sent 30+ emails and over 20 phone calls for a lousy $30 remote.  By the way, I've learned that Gateway doesn't even make this unit, they are actually made by LiteOn corporation, and the LW-5001 is the same model as the AR230 (Make sure to never buy a LiteOn either!).  I will never buy another Gateway product and will try to make sure no one else does either!  I've heard of a lot of similar problems with this player (fails to finalize discs, won't recognize discs, very particular about what discs you use).