Sony RDR-GX330 Single Tray DVD Recorder, Silver

If you have experience burning dvds on your computer, this will be a cinch. I've read previous reviews and I can definitely understand any frustration when it comes to electronics. The reason this DVD player will not "PAUSE" during recording is because you need to press "stop record" so that it can write what you've recorded to the disc. Once you hit "record" again, it will continue to record where you left off as long as it is NOT a re-writable disc. If you purchase dvd-rw discs then you can reformat the disc over and over to use. This dvd is a GREAT device if you know what you're doing. If you don't, there's always a son, nephew, grandson that can help. If they love being on the computer, they can help you with this. My husband and I work and play a lot on our PCs so we have just enough experience to enjoy this recorder. It truly is a lot easier to use than I thought. Not to mention you can skip chapters and view the title of the show simply by hitting "display" on the remote. I hope this review helps. Enjoy it!

I bought this DVD recorder mainly because it supported the double-layer discs, which enable you to record for over two hours at highest quality. It's a good companion product to my Tivo S3 hi-def unit. I can archive shows and movies I want to save directly to the Sony. Granted, everything is through the analog ports, but the quality is good 'nuf. Like most of these machines, you do have to read the owner's manual to figure out all the ins and outs, but that's a small price to pay. The only nitpick I have about this machine is the interface to title discs is rather cumbersome, but no biggie. The other concern is just how durable this machine will be. I've read other reviews that said it stopped functioning after several months. So we'll see. Update: This unit fully failed after about a year of use. I feel that Sony quality has really gone downhill.

Whether you buy this is determined on the features you want, but for how much you pay, it will be very hard to find any competition. The most similar competitor is the Panasonic ES15S. What you get: - Ability to dub your home movies to DVD - If you have a Sony camcorder, you can do 1-touch dubbing and receive additional features due to the iLink interface (I purchased the additional 6ft iLink/4-pin Firewire cable for $2 at an online retailer). - Support of most DVD formats - Chasing playback (rewind-pause-fast forward, while recording), when using the DVD-RW (vr formatted by the recorder). - Analog cable input - Component video input, so you can output from your digital cable box and record those digital channels. - Digital audio (coaxial) output, for dolby digital (incl DTS) output. - The on-screen displays and some menus are translucent (see-through black), and extend on the bottom or right edge. All of this for around $100 is a steal, and is slightly less than the Panasonic ES15S. If you purchase, view your available buying options (retailers), and choose one with a price and review rating that satisfies you. Notes on the chasing playback: - While recording, you click Options, a menu extends from the right - You hit Enter to select the default highlighted item, which is chasing playback. Other notes: - The slow load times (60 seconds) occur when you have a disc in the drive, but you can watch TV and do other functions while your disc is being read. It isn't like you have to wait for a frozen device. - Those who want to finalize the disc and make it playable in other devices... you probably are recording to take the disc with you, thus won't care about chasing playback, so you won't be using the VR formatted DVD-RW discs anyway. - For me, unless I'm recording my home movies to DVD-R, I plan to keep my DVD-RW disc in the drive all the time and use the device like a Tivo. - Note that if you want to use a dual layer disc, only the +R format is supported, not -R, -RW or +RW. This isn't much of an issue, but be aware of what media you like to use, and if you need to buy additional storage media. - Lack of a rec pause button is a little annoying, but I don't care much, because I can edit out commercials afterwards or simply buy a cheap replacement remote for the GX300 (the predecessor to this model) and program the button into my universal remote.

Buyer beware if you order this item be prepared that you will not be able to have a remote for it. I had remote shipped from China and it does not work.

This is my first DVD recorder purchase, prompted by the croaking of a VCR. I looked hard at the other manufacturers' options but was turned off by reports of low quality and machines dying while still young. Over the years, I have found that Sony components tend to have the quality of lasting which makes up for their higher ticket price. I concur with other reviewers that the picture quality is excellent (indistinguishable from source at SD) but this machine is remarkably slow- a whole minute just to power up and usually more than a minute to log onto a disc that it has already recorded (DVD+RW). Another function that seems overly cumbersome is programming a recording. I use this machine largely for time-shifting and setting it to record a show involves A LOT of button pushing. There also is a lag between pushing the button and the resulting screen change. The remote has a full number keypad but it is useless for entering the times, instead you scroll up or down, waiting one second for each minute on the clock to click by. The remote is not overly hand-friendly and unlit. Unfortunately, my aftermarket Sony universal remote doesn't cover all the functions of this machine. Don't get me wrong, this is a quality machine for the price. If Sony could clean up the processing time and produce a decent remote, it would be a "5"

I bought this item as a replacement for the GX300, which lost the ability to format discs (a common problem for this model). I was told by the Sony Rep. that the GX330 was identical to the GX300 except for some improvements. WRONG. Everything about the newer model is different, as in "worse." Even the menus were different. Several features that I liked on the older model were left out, such as a 3rd line input. But the real shocker - are you ready for this - THERE IS NO WAY TO PAUSE LIVE RECORDING. Unbelievable - but true. I'll be sending this one back.

This was a great DVD recorder for a year. After 1 year the "welcome" message came on and never went back off. Even after unplugging it for days it still wouldn't go off after I plugged it back in. No buttons worked even the power button didn't work. I called Sony and they told me it would need to be repaired by shipping it to a service center thousands of miles away. On my dime of course. Funny thing is this unit died just months after the warranty expired. It's junk. Don't buy it.

Great DVD player/recorder. With such machines having become a dying breed replaced by player/recorder drives in computers nowadays, I was happy to have one as part of my A/V system, which is not hooked up to a computer. This unit was used and had scratches, as was disclosed. I had the identical model but it stopped working, so this one was a perfect replacement, compatible with the same remote and cables. I just swapped the covers and voila! I'm back in the game.

Très bon achat