Customer Reviews: Read 88 more reviews...
 Samsung combo vcr/dvd (refurbished) September 24, 2008
The product worked as it should, however there were parts missing and broken, not a good image for Samsung.
 I had to return the product August 21, 2008
It may be a good product, I'll never know. When we opened the box, there was no user manual. Now, I know I can download and print it out, but it was 88 pages of printing. When I phoned Samsung to ask them to send us a manual, the lady said it's Samsung's policy not to send out manuals. So, we were left with either buying a manual or returning the recorder, so we returned the recorder to the store. Don't think we will be buying a Samsung product again.
 S-L-O-W and Unreliable August 13, 2008
I've never cursed more than when I drive in New York City traffic, but using this machine is very much a close runner up in my list of things-that-most-annoy-me. Holy sweet mother of Jesus! This machine takes 3 whole minutes just stop a recording, and write the table information to disc. If you are in the middle of recording a live show and had to switch discs, good luck - you're not going to make it. Commercial time is usually 3 to 3.5 minutes. After agonizing over how slow it's taking to stop the first disc, you'll have to wait for the machine to "initialize" the new disc (not long in this case, just a few seconds), wait for it to then "load" the newly initialized disc before continuing with your record process. The whole process can take 5 minutes! Regardless of what you are recording, if you're like me, you wouldn't want to wait 5 minutes for this thing to do something other machines do in mere seconds. These minutes add up over time. This is just one of the machines that I currently have, and I've had plenty over the years. But this one is by far the slowest.
There is one plus this machine has going for it, it extends the high quality (XP) record time to 1 hour and 12 minutes. Other DVD recorders will do 1 hour plus 2 to 3 minutes. And yes, I have experience difficulties playing discs recorded on this machine, when using a DVD player of a different brand. But all my computers can read these discs just fine.
BTW, some brand of discs simply does not go down well with this thing, it doesn't like the TDK brand for instance. It does seem to like Sony discs. Also, the DVD-R format seems to be preferred over DVD+R's. Although Sony brand DVD+R's works fine, go figure.
If you are looking for a DVD Recorder, I recommend buying another brand. But if you are looking to get a machine just to transfer your video tapes to DVD, then go for it. May Allah and the Force Be With You, not to mention the Leprechauns.
Just so you know, I have yet to find the perfect machine. They all crap out in a year or so. I recommend using a lens cleaner (a disc with a tiny brush attached to it) from time to time, it helped extend the life of one of my machines, when I thought that it was about to be a candidate for the scrap heap.
Luckily I purchased an extended warranty when I bought this machine; so I'll be swapping it for a Sony when this Samsung finally kicks the bucket. I expect it to be soon.
Does what I need August 9, 2008
This recorder does what I need it to do, but isn't really compatible with my TV. I wanted this to copy home video to DVD. I find I need to use another VCR as an intermediate step. Perhaps when I become more familiar with this recorder, I will be able to cut out this step, but right now it is a problem. This recorder is not the easiest to use. The recorder I had to do this job was much easier to use before it declined to work at all.
 Excellent Combo player July 9, 2008
This is a fantastic solution for a combo player. I am very happy with the refurbished product, for less than half of what it would cost new. Wharehouse deals has the same return policy as Amazon, so it's a very safe purchase.
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