Akai DVDRW120 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder
Waiting for the Next One
I am waiting for a replacement from Amazon. The first one I received had a problem with the DVD drive mechanism. It would not even recognize a commercial DVD disk which played on all my different brand of cheap players.Made a horrible grinding noise and sped up and slowed down like it was trying to find the disk. But that aside, this is a good machine. The set up was easy. Be aware that in order to use the \\"S\\" video output , you must first hook it up to the RCA video output to get a menu on the TV screen, so that you can then tell it to use the \\"S\\" video output. After that is done, the \\"S\\" video output works fine. Oh, and by the way, the secret menu for macrovision and region free is on this machine manufactured in February 2004. And it has a fan in back.<br /><br />Amazon is 2 day shipping me a replacement unit and has provided a free shipping UPS return label. I think this is good service from Amazon. Better than other on line stores where you are stuck with the return shipping. I also like Amazon's 30 day return policy. When you are buying electronics, you need this flexibility.<br /><br />Update 13 August 2004:<br />Amazon sent the replacement unit in on time. This one works and all functions appear to be normal. Picture is great even in extended play (4 hour) mode. I am using Ritek 2.4 x and 4.0 x DVD+R disks. Also Ritek DVD +RW disks. This recorder recognizes them with no problem. Able to access secret menu and record commercial VHS tapes with no picture scrambling. Note that every time you insert a new disk, the player automatically formats them. You do need to finalize DVD+R disks to play in other players. You do not have to finalize DVD +RW disks. This appears to be a LITEON clone. The volume label under Windows Explorer displays LITEON. Will see how long this player lasts.