Sony RDRDC100B DVD Recorder with 160GB Hard Disk Drive
Posted by Notcot on Apr 7, 2010 in Home Cinema & Video |
Product Description
Hard Disc Drive DVD player/recorder 160GB capacit
- DVD Recorder
- 160GB HDD
- 8 Day Electronic Programme Guide
- 1080p HDMI Upscaling
- DVD-R/RW/+R/RW Record & Playback
I bought this as our old DVD recorder was on the blink, and I wanted something that would also play back my MP3 collection.
On the plus side the unit is stylish and worked first time – no tricky set-up. It plays DVDs and CDs containing MP3s without any problems. I’ve not yet tried connecting a portable hard-disk or flashdrive with MP3s or JPEGs to the USB port, so can’t yet comment on those.
No problems with fan noise at all.
Two minor niggles – (1) I’ve noticed that as the hard disk becomes more used, some playback of recorded TV suffers a little from pixellation. Not sure if this is related to disk fragmentation (presumably sorted by re-formatting the disk) or just a lousy digital signal. (2) We still haven’t got to grips with using the single HDD remote to control the player and our Bravia TV. It’s not idiot-proof and we keep seeming to switch the HDD player off (and then having to wait half a minute to switch it back on) by mistake. Also if you use the HDD as your main unit (i.e. watch live TV through the HDD tuner) be aware that if you have set one channel to record while you watch another on the TV, the picture will suddenly switch to the channel you want to record when the recording starts – so you miss the first 30 seconds of the programme you were going to watch while you fiddle around trying to change the channel on the TV rather than the HDD. I’m sure these are just problems in getting used to new kit, but the use of a single control for both TV and HDD – something I’d expected from buying 2 compatible products from Sony – hasn’t yet got all the bugs ironed out. So 4 stars only.
Rating: 4 / 5
We bought this recorder to replace an earlier (80gb) Sony that had gone on the blink due to the digi switchover in our area, which confused the Freeview channels and thereby recorded The Open University when it should have got the scrumptious Nigella Lawson. The item was delivered within 5 working days as indicated and, as it was almost identical to the old machine, was a doddle to set up. It automatically chose all the available channels in no time at all, the comprehensive manual is clear and fairly concise and it is easy to find the various actions such as dubbing to and from the recorder – on that subject, it won’t allow me to dub from a disk which had been finalised on the old machine, which is a shame, nor will it dub straight to DVD, which to me however, is not a problem as if I do want to save a programme to disk, I prefer to edit out the ads etc beforehand. All in all a satisfying purchase and comes heartily recommended. I’m now off to watch Nigella.
Rating: 5 / 5
Am extremely disappointed in this machine largely for 2 reasons. The first I think is the most crucial for general buyers – it is not possible to dub in High Speed from the HDD to DVD. I thought that all HDD recorders could do this nowadays.
The second reason is that the true multi-system capability featured in many of Sony’s older HDD recorders is sadly missing from this machine. i.e. our excellent Sony HDD 870 can record from any NTSC source (i.e. video tapes played on a multi-system VCR) in additon to PAL and Secam.
Sadly both the above functions, present on older Sony HDDs seem to be missing from their latest range. Surely this is a backward step for Sony.
Rating: 2 / 5
Very disappointed with this purchase.
I’ve used 2 Sony machines before, so I thought I knew what to expect. My mistake. This machine is way inferior to the Sony DVD RDR-HXD860 or the Sony DVD RDR-HXD890B that I have used before.
It takes a long time to power on. It takes a long time to power off. Also choose your startup options carefully. One option means that if you have coax going into this machine and then out to another device eg TV, then the signal path through this machine is switched off when this machine is in Standby – which could stop your other device(or TV) getting a coax signal.
If you want to edit-out the adverts of anything you record, dont even try with this machine. It has such a flaky play, FF, RWD, slow play edit functionality that you will pull your hair out going back and forth tying to find the right edit point – and even if you can find it, it will remove the sound on the recording for the last few seconds before the edit point.
I really dont understand why Sony released this model … when they have other DVD machines with really good “operating systems” – why not re-use their software instead of issuing this disappointment.
Rating: 1 / 5
The main selling point of the new series seems to be significantly reduced power consumption. It’s reasonably quiet in operation. I don’t find the interface very intuitive and the instruction manual rates low on clarity.
I have a Sony RDR-HXD860 (whose manual was also hard to decipher) which is about three years old. The old model edits much more accurately. The new model will not “step” one frame at a time. It has more connection sockets but beware! The USB port cannot be used to export video.
In some ways it’s not an improvement on previous models but it’s about half the price I paid three years ago.
Rating: 4 / 5