Daewoo DVRS04 DVD Recorder/Hi-Fi VCR Combo
Utilitarian, ineligant, buggy, annoying.
I bought this unit last year because Fry's had it at a smoking price and I wanted a way to convert all our family videos to DVD before they died a heat and dust death. This was my first DVD recorder.  <br /> <br />Its operation for basic tasks is simple and straightforward, but from time to time I come up against the lack of a feature I naturally expect to find, but which isn't there or doesn't work. Examples:  <br /> <br />When recording from the air, this unit apparently does not record closed captioning information to either tape or DVD, a substantial negative for viewers needing \\"hearing assistance.\\" All of my other VCRs record it.  <br /> <br />I was ready to return my unit because every time I shut it off, it \\"hung\\" with the message \\"WAIT\\", would not respond to any controls, and eventually had to be unplugged and replugged. I called their service number, was advised this was a known problem with the \\"automatic clock setting\\" feature, and was told my only option was to turn that feature off and set the clock by hand.  (ATTENTION other reviewers who reported hangs on shutoff: this is probably your problem.) <br /> <br />With the automatic clock setting feature off, the unit apparently does you the \\"favor\\" of adjusting itself for standard and daylight savings time on the proper day (this is totally undocumented). Unfortunately, my state doesn't do daylight time, so the unit recorded all the wrong programs for a week or so until I figured out that it had changed its own clock. There is no way to disable this \\"feature.\\"  <br /> <br />If you are playing a tape or DVD at a time when the unit is scheduled to record, you are given no notice that a scheduled operation needs the unit (even my cheap VCRs will do this). When you turn the unit off, you will get a message that the unit will switch into auto record mode instead, whereupon it will record the remainder of the show you wanted, at which point you typically kick yourself because it's too late to recover from yourmistake. Now, the manual says \\"while the VCR is recording, DVD playback is possible,\\" but that's only if the VCR is already recording -- if you're playing a DVD at the time the VCR wants to start recording, it won't start.  <br /> <br />On the other side of automatic operation, if you find yourself recording the wrong show to DVD (e.g., due to a schedule change or sports delay) you can't override the program and stop it. The manual says that holding the stop button down for three seconds will stop it, but I have not found this to work.  <br /> <br />My occasional attempts to use the unit to play \\"interactive game features\\" on some DVDs have all resulted in system freezes or hangs, requiring unplugging of the power cord to reset the unit.  <br /> <br />There is an annoying bug in the unit such that if you are searching a DVD in fast reverse for a particular scene, and then hit PLAY when you find it, it will play with no audio. You have to hit STOP and then PLAY again to regain audio.  <br /> <br />Finally, I was disappointed with the results when I tried to copy my VCR tapes to DVD, the task for which I primarily bought the deck. It's probably not the fault of this particular unit, but I discovered that although the quality of a VCR tape recorded at the 6-hour speed is very reasonable, a DVD recorded at the 6-hour speed is unwatchable -- super-pixelated and full of ugly artifacts. So I can't just plug in the media and let the machine do the job unattended, I have to be present to perform active editing. As I mentioned, this was my first experience with making DVDs, so learning about their limitations was part of the process. However, I have to wonder how many other potential purchasers have home videos recorded at this speed and are also going to discover this limitation after buying this machine.