Sony RDR-GX7 DVD Recorder
Superior
The main purpose of my review is to provide the reader with information that will save him/her the trouble of enduring the ridiculous ordeal I have been through trying to find a good DVD recorder. Even if only one person is spared, it will have been worth it. <br />The formerly reputable European company 'Philips' has produced several DVD recorders which, as far as brand names go, are competitively priced. The first DVD recorder I bought was the Philips DVDR985. It died after 30 days of fairly heavy use and I had to return it. Amazon very promptly sent me a new one. It died after 2 weeks of moderate use and I returned it. I then purchased the Apex DVD recorder. Apex is a reasonably reliable low-end brand and they were selling the only other DVD+R recorder available at the time. (I had 150 unused DVD+R discs and needed a compatible recorder.) Its design flaws are too numerous to mention and I returned it the next day. At this point, I was forced to go back to Philips and buy the next generation model, the DVDR75. While an improvement over the DVDR985, it was still horrendous compared to the kind of products that brand name companies are usually committed to producing. It stopped recording +Rs after a couple of months, and I was forced to use the more expensive +RWs. I used it for about 8 months, got fed up and sold it. Never again will I consider buying any Philips product under any circumstances. I was now ready to shell out the money and switch to the Sony DVD-R format. The Sony has performed flawlessly under heavy use for several months. FLAWLESSLY! It is the simplest, most user-friendly DVD recorder I have ever used. Although there is nothing wrong with the DVD+R format, no one is offering a usable DVD+R recorder. If you are trying to decide what kind of DVD recordable format to purchase, forget about DVD+R. Stick with DVD-R. <br />I cannot emphasize enough that if you are serious about finding an acceptably reliable DVD recorder, this is your only choice at thispoint! Do not make the same mistakes I did! Now that the price has dropped to $499 on Amazon, there is absolutely no reason to purchase any other brand. A few months ago, I reluctantly paid $799 for it, and I would gladly do so again.