What's the best place to buy a dvd recorder?

BrokenOne · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Location: United States

What's the best place to buy a dvd recorder? Who has the best deals at reasonable prices?

jameshgross · Member Joined: 26 Aug 2002 Location: cleveland, oh

WALMART

BrokenOne · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Location: United States

Can you give a reason as to why Walmart?

redwudz · Mod Neophyte Joined: 07 Sep 2002 Location: AZ, USA

Probably because it's convenient and they sell cheap DVRs. If you want a better DVR, look to one one of the major manufactures, Panasonic, Pioneer, Toshiba, JVC, and others.

And BrokenOne, in the future please use a more descriptive subject title in your posts to allow others to search for similar topics. I will change yours this time. From our rules:

edDV · Posted: Feb 10, 2008 16:47

Costco and Sam's Club have limited selection at good prices. Walmart is more low end "trendy" in this area with greater selection and newer models. Walmart can move a lot of product with exclusive distribution.

The major retailers (e.g. Best Buy) tend to discount older closeout models. Smaller specialty retailers like Fry's can offer better deals to clear closeout manufacturer inventory.

If you do your research and decide on a short list of models, then use Google and shop online.
_________________
Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
http://www.kiva.org/about

BrokenOne · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Location: United States

Well, I am looking for something in the price range of
100 to 175 bucks. I have had only one DVD recorder that
crapped out on me a few months ago. It was a refurbished
JVC DR-M10S. It lasted me 2 years and had great pq. I
want something close to that. Maybe a Panasonic. I don't
need a tuner or hd since I'll mostly will be recording from
my recently bought DirecTV DVR. So that's really what I am
asking for or/and want to know.

Sorry Red. I will remember that from now on. My bad.

Epicurus8a · Posted: Feb 10, 2008 17:08

If you have a conscience, don't buy anything at Wal-Mart, PERIOD.
Read these Pulitzer Prize winning articles to find out why:
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2004/national-reporting/works

Best Buy, Circuit City, and Costco have better stuff anyway. Costco has a great return policy and includes an extended warranty. They also treat their workers better.

edDV · Posted: Feb 10, 2008 17:21

Epicurus8a · Posted: Feb 10, 2008 19:07

lordsmurf · Posted: Feb 10, 2008 19:09

How did the JVC "crap out", by chance?
I recently had a Panasonic ES10 repaired local. He's going to do a friend's JVC next. I might try and convince him to repair these machines online. It takes him minutes, and the part was pennies. I gave him notes from this site plus others on the topic.

Walmart has a 90-day no-hassle return policy. Fine by me. It's nice to preach against Walmart, but let's face it: too many of us are too poor to buy elsewhere, and for many of us, it's either shop there or drive many miles to the next town.
_________________
digitalFAQ.com -- Help with VHS to DVD, DVD recorders, other video/photo issues.
NoMoreCoasters.com -- How to avoid bad burns, how to find the best blank DVDs.

wabjxo · Member Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Location: United States

LCSHG · Member Joined: 25 Jan 2005

I would give WalMart a try. Most stores have a good selection of reasonably priced units. There return policy is hard to beat.
I have found that they do go the extra mile when a issue or dispute comes up.
The other stores would be Costco or Sams Club.

I’ve seen and heard much of the bad mouth about WalMart
I wanted a tool box for just general use A local store that pays its employees the same as WalMart, had one, it was $22;95. Plastic and made in China
I went to WalMart and they also had one in fact, while a different name, it was IDENTICAL in every way including made in China. It was $8.95 [Now $6.95}

So who’s the rip off store

RKelly · Member Joined: 23 Aug 2003 Location: United States

Costco in the Chicago area is selling a Toshiba upconverting dvd recorder (plays DIVX, HDMI cable included) for $99.00. I bought one but took it back because I didn't really need a recorder. They were really surprised I hadn't even opened the box. I asked him about the return policy. Although vague, he said they would take it back if opened/used/etc, as long as it wasn't "2 years old" or something of the like. I suppose that's a perk of paying for membership!

In either event if you're a Costco member I would check that deal out.

JohnnyBob · Roadrunner Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United States

Like many others I use Walmart (mostly), Kmart, and Sears, looking for lower-priced bargains. Sometimes I find them. Their 90 day return policy is hard to beat, and I use it a lot! In fact I expect to take most electronic items back for a refund or exchange because about 2/3rds of them are defective in my experience. To wit, you might want something higher end, but I picked up a Magnavox MWR-10D6 at Walmart recently for 50 bucks that serves my purposes. It was 100 bucks not long ago but they've cut the price in half. As can be expected for Walmart electronics, the first one didn't work right so I had to exchange it. I used it to transfer about 25 VHS tapes to DVD and it worked OK although the quality wasn't great. I really have no further use for it as a recorder but am using it as a DVD player. It has lots of S-video inputs which I need.

oldandinthe way · Posted: Feb 10, 2008 22:00

The $50 Magnavox does a good job for 2 hr or under modes. It or the Funai SV2000 (also $50 at some Walmarts) only gets panned from people who make heavy use of timer recording who find the lack of a front panel display extremely disturbing.

I wouldn't consider spending more unless I had a strong requirement for a Digital Tuner.

Walmart saves its average customer $2,000 per year. That doesn't matter to some people but it matters to a great number of others. Its opponents are principally people who are influenced by the union who Walmart has successfully kept at bay. Its opponents refuse to give Walmart credit for anything positive. When Walmart introduced its $4.00 prescription program, its critics said "Big Deal - they were already selling that cheaply". $4.00 is less than the copay on my medical insurance for generic drugs.

Its not the only place I shop, but it certainly is a store where I find pleasant and helpful employees, good prices on the items they stock and management and policies which are oriented toward providing the customer with accomodation, respect and courtesy.

BrokenOne · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Location: United States

Thanks guys for all the info.

I couldn't find the 50 dollar Magnavox or the Funai on their site. Maybe it's an in store only thing. But I did find a combo Magnavox BZV420MW8 model. Anyone has any experiences with that model?

Epicurus8a · Posted: Feb 11, 2008 05:37

oldandinthe way · Posted: Feb 11, 2008 10:41

The pulitzer prize is named for one of the famed "yellow journalists" who helped start the Spanish American War and had little respect for governments, individuals or the truth. Its amazng how it has returned to its namesakes standards.

KeepItSimple · Posted: Feb 11, 2008 11:15

Yeah.

wtsinnc · Member Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Location: United States

It's listed price is slightly over your stated budget, but you might look into the Magnavox H2080MW8 DVD recorder with an 80GB hard drive. Walmart lists the item on their website at a price of $198.84 and they may have it in a store near you. I have no idea about it's performance, but here is a link to the page.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8054241

Epicurus8a · Posted: Feb 11, 2008 18:51

@ oldandintheway: Please click the link below for my response.
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic341407-30.html#1812071

@BrokenOne: Target is another good source for the item you're looking for.

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

Like it or not, Wal*Mart is the best or only choice for a lot of people due to (oddly enough) technical reasons: not only are they the cheapest, for most USA shoppers currently looking for a DVD recorder with HDD they are the ONLY retailer anywhere that sells these things anymore. Granted they are the bottom-feeder Funai/Magnavox/Polaroid models and the 2nd-tier Phillips 3575, but no one else is carrying this type of recorder AT ALL aside from a few scattered Best Buy locations. Since the US market is now indefinitely limited to only the lowest-end DVD/HDD recorders, you will need Wal*Marts generous return policy to guarantee any chance of obtaining a correctly-working unit.

If you can live without the HDD and want a slightly more upscale brand, you can still get current-model Panasonics and Toshibas at all the usual TV/Electronics dealers. But even those have had huge teething pains because of the complex new ATSC tuners they are required to have this year- and they are wicked expensive with more restrictive return policies compared to what's at Wal*Mart. Until the US "Digital TV Transition" wraps up next winter I would be leery of putting more than $100 into any new US-model DVD recorder: they're still too buggy, and now that DVD recorders in general have completely tanked as a retail product category in the US there's a much smaller consumer base of guinea pigs to help identify and work out those bugs.

I'm not thrilled that Wal*Mart has become the most sensible place to buy these things: I usually avoid shopping there if at all possible simply because of the trainwreck they've caused in the entire mfr-retailer-consumer chain. One can argue endlessly that their low prices benefit people with lower budgets but those bargains come at a cost: ever-cheaper prices can only be sustained by ever-cheapened merchandise. Wal*Marts dominance has lowered the quality spectrum and range of choices on many consumer products, and indirectly helped wipe out such categories as DVD recorders themselves because good ones were "too pricey". Absolutely, steep sustained discounts have an immediate impact on everyone's wallet, one can't argue against that, but there is a larger context we blind ourselves to. What Wal*Mart gives with one hand, it takes away with the other. I would rather pay an average $20 more for a DVD recorder and still have Pioneer and JVC in the game at multiple retailers, than have a half dozen Wal*Mart rebadge models from Funai at $50. (Yeah, I know, Funai would probably be making the JVCs and Pioneers anyway, but there would likely be a few more differences by brand than we see now.) It would be nice to have the "good-better-best-deluxe" concept return for most product lines, but I doubt we'll see this again anytime soon. Seems we're stuck with the extremes: $50 or $500.

BrokenOne · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Location: United States

Epicurus8a · Posted: Feb 15, 2008 16:14

They did the last time I was there. Unfortunately I didn't think to write down the brand names.

BrokenOne · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Location: United States

I will have to check on that. Thanks for the heads up, Epicurus.

jjeff · Posted: Feb 15, 2008 20:22

The one near me sells the Panasonic EZ-17, along with some other Philips units, not the 3575 w/hdd though.

BrokenOne · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Location: United States

I have a question whats the limitations/return policy for buying online from Wal-Mart? Can you return in-store?

Webster · Member Joined: 01 Oct 2001 Location: United States

classfour · Member Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Location: United States

I've picked up two off ebay (Panasonic) over the past few years. I usually lurk about until the last minute and snipe one. If I know that I won't be watching at the last minute, I'll bid a set price (bottom dollar) and see if I win the thing. The last one that I bought that way was a Panny DMR-ES15S, and I ended up selling it to a co-worker. I just wasn't thrilled with it - loading speeds were too long, made in China, recording quality was fine. Went ahead and kept the DMR-E55 that I bought a couple of years back - just liked it better. The used ones on amazon go for about double what I've paid on ebay (just don't forget the risk - and you can't get a return like Wally World).
_________________
;/ l ,[____], Its a Jeep thing,
l---L---o||||||o- you wouldn't understand.
(.)_) (.)_)-----)_) "Only In A Jeep"

zoobie · Posted: Feb 19, 2008 22:50