Many standalone recorders being brought back @ Best Buy

[tommyoz]

Just noticed that the Best Buy in my area has an actual big section for open items. 2 shelves at least 30 to 40ft. across with nothing but DVD recorders. The most returned unit was the JVC DRMV1S and the Philips DVDR 75. There was at least one of every kind including Panasonics, Sony and Toshiba. I just thought this was interesting.

[pepegot1]

One senario could go like this: Technically ignorant people buy the DVD Recorder thinking it is as simple as a VCR. When they hear terms like formatting, firmware updates, PVR's, etc., etc., they decide they made a mistake and will stick with their VCRs instead of making the effort to learn the new technology. To the knowledgeable people in this form that may sound absurd, but I have seen evidence of this, especially in retirement communities where new things learned come hard. I wonder where these DVD Recorders were seen at Best Buy-Florida, Arizona?

[BJ_M]

i suspect some are also bought to back up all the family video's or thinking they could easy back up old vhs tapes or dvd's (and are supprised they cant) .. and then returned when finished ..

(like contractors buying compressors at sears for one job and then returning them after the job is done)

[Muppet Meat]

Not surprised at all. My father bought one of those to transfer vhs to dvd+r. I told him good luck with that one. I told him to get a good capture card and he felt it was not needed. He trusts those salesboys that read the sides of the box and tell him "yes, it should do the trick sir"

[JSquare]

Just noticed that the Best Buy in my area has an actual big section for open items. 2 shelves at least 30 to 40ft. across with nothing but DVD recorders. The most returned unit was the JVC DRMV1S and the Philips DVDR 75. There was at least one of every kind including Panasonics, Sony and Toshiba. I just thought this was interesting.

The JVC DRMV1S is a troublesome unit, I returned 2 in a row to BestBuy and finally decided to purchase the DRM10. The first one will shut down after a while and the second wouldn't recognize any type of media, very bad Quality Control.

Combo units with shared power supply and components are always a bad idea, this JVC is no exception but I think is even worst than those low end units like Zenith and GoVideo.

[jaxxboss]

Of course they all could have been returned because they were defective and had nothing to do with people not understanding the technology.

Maybe they didnt work because someone from this website snuck into their home and rammed a pb&j sandwhich inside it and messed it up.

Maybe a bumblebee got caught inside it and started to build its hive in there and the componets got all honeyed up.

Maybe I walked by those units and farted and... well u know the rest.

[hech54]

Not surprised at all. My father bought one of those to transfer vhs to dvd+r. I told him good luck with that one. I told him to get a good capture card and he felt it was not needed. He trusts those salesboys that read the sides of the box and tell him "yes, it should do the trick sir"

So you are saying that a person "my father's age" would have better luck creating a DVD from a capture card than a DVD Recorder?
That's pretty freaking funny....OK....I'm lying.

[Muppet Meat]

Well, put it this way. He got the recorder at christmas 2003 and he still hasnt produced anything because he gave up and would rather be playing golf and or the recorder's instructions are over his head. Or the recorder is just a box of junk thats only good for recording tv.
I gave him the link to this site and told him those recorders are not popular here yet to this date. He said "ahhh, dont listen to what others say" But Im speaking of a man who would be lucky if he figured out how to use AOL.

[maxxcorp]

I would have to agree with all of the above... In some cases, it's a bad unit or people not in the know, contractor concept, etc... We do most of our shopping at Wal-Mart and while my wife shops, I go to the electronics department scouring thru the DVD's to catch the latest that has been added to the $5.50 (2 for $11) bin... I get to overhear some of the question being posed to the people who work there... Most that I have heard are very basic and coming from older people... The comment heard most often is, I just want to be able to push a button and make it work or I want the same unit that I have in Florida because I don't want to have to learn a whole new remote control... It doesn't suprise me because my parents barely know how to use their DVD player... Not because they are stupid or lazy, it's mainly because they don't want to learn... They would rather pay for HBO or showtime because all they have to do is push a button and it works... I have an aunt who is in her early sixties who doesn't drive a car, never learned, never wanted to learn... Could it all be fear of new technology, or just the fact that they don't feel it applies or the "need" isn't great enough? On the other hand, I have a five year old grand daughter who knows how to operate her computer and XBOX and can figure out any new remote control that I put in front of her... I get her browser going and she can navigate all over cartoon network, to her it applies and the need is great!! hahah

Maxx

[gshelley61]

Well, put it this way. He got the recorder at christmas 2003 and he still hasnt produced anything because he gave up and would rather be playing golf and or the recorder's instructions are over his head. Or the recorder is just a box of junk thats only good for recording tv.
I gave him the link to this site and told him those recorders are not popular here yet to this date. He said "ahhh, dont listen to what others say" But Im speaking of a man who would be lucky if he figured out how to use AOL.

Nothing hard at all about recording a vhs tape with a dvd recorder... and the results are generally very good. Far easier than the computer method of transfer to DVD, that's for sure. Maybe go over and show your pops how to use the machine... ? You may be surprised at how good they actually work.

[Muppet Meat]

Good idea I should give it a try since I bought him the latest S-VHS which has S-video port. I might as well give it a try. I will try to find a .pdf version of the instruction manual on the web before I make the trip.
Even if this method works out well with a Philips DVD+R recorder console. I still thinks its a shame to not take advantage of the blessings that DVD authoring has to offer as produced on a pc. With a pc you can always edit, and author menus with chapters and so on.

[gshelley61]

These days I am capturing all my good quality sources (decent VHS, laserdisc, home video 8mm and MiniDV) directly to MPEG2 on DVD-RW's with my JVC DR-M10SL DVD recorder. I trim/join/edit and author the finished DVD-R's with my computer. I used to do a lot of capturing with the computer, but the DVD recorder method (at least for video sources that are in good shape) is so much faster and easier. Plus, to be honest, the final result is as good as just about anything I was able to do with computer captures.

Of course, for incorporating advanced editing techniques with lots of slick transitions, restoring poor quality sources, and for maximum possible encoding quality... the computer is the best way.

[handyguy]

As long as your source dvd player is macro free a dvd recorder should be able to copy it just fine. I did it for a long time when dvds were expensive. Got 4 hours on a dvd with menus & chapters in no time at all.

[tommyoz]

I've actually returned 3 units back to BB and bought one of the open items a while back (when it was the only one). I think that BB workers are partly to blame because they sell this stuff without any real knowledge. The customer goes home and feels like they've been had when things don't turn out right. I cringe when I hear them trying to sell these recorders. I for one never accept their help. Many of the reasons mentioned above are correct as well.

[samijubal]

I bought a JVC DR-M10 that had been returned. The only thing that had been opened was the owners manual, everything else was still sealed and had not been opened. So some people must just be overwhelmed. Saved me $100 and it had never even been used.