Sharp DV-SR45U DVD Recorder with MP3 Playback
Excellent machine!
This DVD recorder does everything I want a DVD recorder to do, and it is incredibly easy to use. I had to check the manual a few times, but for the most part it is easy to navigate through the menus and features. The finished disc was playable in my older machine, and the picture and sound quality are perfect. It's great for transferring old home movies, and also copying old tapes I recorded from the TV. <br /> <br />I did, however, have a few problems, but they weren't because the machine was of poor quality: <br /> <br />1. I found that the DVD recorder won't connect to a TV that doesn't have audio/video connections in the back. I happened to connect it to an older TV that doesn't have these, but I solved the problem by connecting it directly to my VCR/DVD player using the audio/video connections on that. It's true that the manual doesn't recommend doing this, but it seems to work just fine. I am able to play DVDs through the recorder provided both VCRs are on either \\"video 1\\" or \\"video 2\\" and I can record onto the DVD recorder as long as both VCRs are tuned to channel 3. It's a little inconvenient, but works just fine. <br /> <br />2. Also, I bought DVD-RW discs with a speed of 4X by accident, when the machine will only record onto -RWs with a speed of 2X. This was in the booklet, but not very prominent. Once I got the right discs, I was in business. I actually called the Sharp helpline and they were very nice and quick in diagnosing the problem. <br /> <br />Other than those small things, I am extremely satisfied with this machine. When you try to copy videos or DVDs that are copy protected, the recorder automatically stops recording. It only records one second of copy protected material onto the disc, so you not only know right away that they're copy protected, but you can delete that title without using up more than a second of disc space on a DVD-R. I was so happy to see such a reasonably-priced machine that works so well.