Are DVD Recorders CR*P?

Paulee

I need some help please. My inlaws are approaching their 80's & have just been sold a very nice Sony TV & DVD Recorder from a smart salesman in our local Comet store. Despite paying £60 for a Comet techy to come to their house & set it up, they have absolutely no idea how to use the DVD. It is model number RDR-HXD870 OB.

I have a cheap DVD recorder & all of my friends have similar machines, but I can find NO ONE who understands how to use them. I personally think that DVD recorders are one of the most user unfriendly products ever invented & I can't believe that VCR's have been superseded by equipment that is a HUGE step back in ease of use terms.

As the user manuals for these products are probably responsible for most of the difficulties in operating them, does anyone know of a simple user guide for DVD recorders, something in plain english that people of all ages & no technical ability can use?

Thanks very much for any help.

missile

I suggest you go back to Comet or your local Sony dealer and ask for a demo.

You may like to look at Panasonic TV and DVDR combo. They have a facility which displays the TV programme guide on the TV, select any program from the guide and press record = job done.

Similarly Sky+ is very easy to use.

GaryS

"smart salesman in our local Comet store" - does not make sense !!!

Agree with aardvarkuk and missile, should be easy to use.

My Panasonic DMREX77 is the business.

lolarentt

I've had a Panasonic HD DVD recorder for about 4 years and reckon it probably the best entertainment aid I've ever bought. It has revolutionised our viewing, and even made it possible to watch the odd programme on ITV now we can cut out the ads first.
It took some getting used to as regards dubbing discs, copying, and other capabilities but the instructions cover most things and the basics are pretty easy to master.

tanith

I am an 'over the hill' idiot when it comes to things electric:rotfl: but we bought a DVD recorder which I thought I would never use in a million years , it is actually the easiest piece of technical equipment I have ever used... two clicks and it records whatever I want , and I can even find it again to watch it...:rotfl:

dawnydee73

Agree with the above, I find them easier to use than vcr, no more searching for the start of a progam, easy to delete a programme once you've watch it

buglawton

I have a Samsung DVD recorder and it is definitely as easy to use as the old VCR. Put a DVD-RW in so you can wipe out any wrong recordings and re-use the disk. Use the Getting Started part of the manual to get familiar.

Tomthumb

I bought a cheap liteon one but I didn't use it much to be honest, then It wouldn't work so I recently bought a PVR http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136083 from Ebuyer and It's brilliant - very easy to use and I have recorded a lot more with it, no dvd's to mess around with. I think if they just need something to record progs then this would be ideal.

Merlot

I have a sony dvd recorder, its really to use, and its not c*ap in my opinion, although paying £60 for someone to "fit/demo" is, I'm in the wrong job.

You can record to hard-drive, no need to find a disk before the programme starts, and you can even pause live tv with it, thats posh, I don't have a sky box and I know some of those do that as well!

Marty999

I have a cheapish LiteOn HD/DVD and I think it's just about the best gadget I have ever bought. I couldn't go back to a VCR now...

Paulee

A big thank you to everyone who took the trouble to reply to my posting today, I do appreciate it. I'm sorry, I really didn't really intend to offend lovers of DVD's by using a title including "CR*P, but I did think that it would bring me a pretty swift response & this certainly worked!

I do consider myself to be pretty good at finding my way around computers, mobiles etc, but I'm afraid that when it comes to DVD recorders I am absolutely hopeless, and so are all of my friends, I guess that I must be dyslexic when it comes to this piece of equipment. However, armed with your advice and particularly with Paul_R's encouragement, I will make a big effort to try to sort my inlaws DVD out for them. I still believe that instruction manuals for this type of equipment leave a lot to be desired though!