Sony RDR-GX355 DVD Recorder

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Not up to my expectations
Reviewer: Mike from Columbus, OH on Jun 8, 2007
363 out of 389 found this review helpful

First, let me say that I love Sony's products. They're easy to set up, decent quality, and everything from my camcorder to my AV system carries the Sony name. So, when it came time to purchase a DVD recorder there was no question as to which brand I wouldpurchase.

Since this was a new product, I had to order it as it was not yet available in the stores. It arrived and I easily set it up, but I was surprised that the only input in the back was a composite RCA cable, which severely limits the quality of the incoming picture. It may upconvert the picture via HDMI, but if the initial picture quality isn't that great to begin with, why bother?

Also, the copy-protection is at full-force on this recorder. Don't try to record anything from Pay-per-view or HBO-you'll get a nice little blue screen telling you that you cannot. Best to stick to DVRs for recording your missed television programs, since most shows are also available on DVD, it's only a matter of time before they are also copy-protected, renderingthis product useless.

Playing store-bought DVD's looked great, but no better than my other Sony DVD player. Unfortunately, after two weeks, it would pause and skip nearly all my DVDs, sometimes taking several minutes before it would resume again. At thispoint I decided to take it back and exchange it for 2 Sony 5 disc carousel units.

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Best DVD recoreder I have purchased so far.
Reviewer: DJCruise from New York City on Nov 11, 2008
0 out of 0 found this review helpful

Ease of setup, Ease of understanding the operating functions, Onscreen displays, Make this unit the most DVD recorder I have purchased to date. I am very happy with my new recorder so far.

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After only 1 1/2 years it is now useless to me
Reviewer: customer from Watertown, WI on Oct 24, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

We are also big Sony fans. But the RDRGX355 has basically stopped working for me now. I, as a rule, just utilize this unit to offload programs, mostly sporting events for longterm, portable use off of the DVR. Recently, after setting the recording time to3hrs for a NFL football game overnight I find that it only recorded about 35 minutes. Tried it again to no avail. Upon calling the Sony 800#(and, as it turns out given an erroneous ticket number) I reset the unit again and was asked to retry, which I didovernight. Again, no go. It will only record 35 minutes. After sifting through the wrong ticket number I was told I could send it in for a fee of $120. Sorry, but after one and a half years of occassional use that will not happen.
We will strongly reconsider purchasing another brand name of DVD Recorder now.

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