iLO DVDR05 Personal DVD Recorder
Somebody was having a bad day . . .
. . . when they \\"designed\\" this piece of garbage.  I tried my dead-level best for a solid MONTH to like this machine.  The happiest day for me was two nights ago when I discovered that I still had the receipt, and could take this worthless thing back to the store!<br /><br />The first problem I encountered was the DVD brand issue.  I had gotten a really good deal on a certain brand of DVD+R discs, and was going to use them with this unit.  Unfortunately, the recorder didn't like the DVDs (well, it would work with I think two of them, but not the rest).  \\"What brand of blank DVD+R did you try?\\" you ask.  The brand name was (drum roll, please) ILO.  Hello?  The ILO DVD recorder won't work with ILO DVD+R discs?<br /><br />Well, then I discovered that the TV tuner had a high-pitched tone whenever I tried to watch a TV signal from the coaxial cable connector on the back of the machine.  To solve this problem and the problem with the unit not wanting to take my discs, I did my online research and downloaded the firmware upgrade.  Yes, not having the proper CD burning software was a problem, but I solved it.<br /><br />The firmware upgrade did NOTHING!!!  The discs were still unusable and the unit still whistled at me (and I'm really not all that nice-looking).<br /><br />The very first time I tried to record, I used the timer and one of the discs that would work.  I had formatted the disc and set the timer to tape something I was going to have to miss.  When time came for recording to begin, the recorder ejected the disc and gave my wife the message that a more acceptable disc needed to be inserted.  I missed the first 20 minutes of what I wanted to record.<br /><br />The last straw was two nights ago when I tried to record the final episode of M*A*S*H.  I missed the first five minutes because the unit not only refused to format the disc, but took forever to give me the \\"Unknown disc\\" error message.  I unplugged and plugged the unit back in, as I had done so many times in the past, and then, the next day, told the machine, \\"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,\\" and took it back to the store.<br /><br />I'm now using the RCA DVD+R recorder and VCR combo unit, and LOVING it!  It uses all of the discs I bought to try in the ILO recorder (two different brands).  It was about $120.00 more than the ILO, but you get what you pay for.  The reviewer who wrote that the reason all of these units are malfunctioning is because we're not reading the manuals must have gotten one of the few machines that doesn't have problems.  I read both the English and Spanish versions of the manual, and still nada.<br /><br />Save your money.  You'll have to pay a little more, but there are much better DVD recorders out there.  To be fair, this ILO DVD recorder really doesn't deserve a rating of 1 star, but I couldn't figure out how to give it no stars.any times in the past, and then, the next day, told the machine, \\"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,\\" and took it back to the store. <br /> <br />I'm now using the RCA DVD+R recorder and VCR combo unit, and LOVING it!  It uses all of the discs I bought to try in the ILO recorder (two different brands).  It was about $120.00 more than the ILO, but you get what you pay for.  The reviewer who wrote that the reason all of these units are malfunctioning is because we're not reading the manuals must have gotten one of the few machines that doesn't have problems.  I read both the English and Spanish versions of the manual, and still nada. <br /> <br />Save your money.  You'll have to pay a little more, but there are much better DVD recorders out there.  To be fair, this ILO DVD recorder really doesn't deserve a rating of 1 star, but I couldn't figure out how to give it no stars.