Need LG897T dummy instructions on VCR recording

[Astrovel]

I just bought an LG897T from Best Buy Outlet. Supposed to be operating correctly. It may the nut behind the wheel though.

When I tried to record a VHS tape of my grandson's birthday party (not copy protected) by dubbing it from VCR to DVD, it went through the dubbing process but when finished, there was nothing on the DVD disc.

How do you play a VHS tape and record it at the same time on DVD so you can edit out the parts you don't want?
I have read the manual cover to cover and it is not clear what the steps are to do this.

Can somebody walk me through step by step how to do this?

Also: When I tested recording a program with the VCR, it recorded the program but upon playback, the tracking is all screwed up, flipping and shaking and no amount of pressing the tracking button on the remote helped to clear it up.

I am considering returning this unit and purchasing a Toshiba DR560 which has a lot of good customer reviews on Amazon.
Can someone please give me some feedback regarding these two issues?
Thanks a million

[hech54]

When I tried to record a VHS tape of my grandson's birthday party (not copy protected) by dubbing it from VCR to DVD, it went through the dubbing process but when finished, there was nothing on the DVD disc.

Nothing on the disc....when played in what?
If you immediately took it out of the recorder and tried to play
it in something else....did you "finalize" the recorded disc first?

A DVD Recorder is basically no different than a VCR.
Press record and go.
Pressing pause is another story...some you need to press pause again...
other you need to press record again. For that you will need to do some
serious reading or experiment with RW discs.

[Astrovel]

Thanks for the quick reply.
Nothing on the disc...when I tried to play the disc, it said no recorded titles
There was nothing to finalize.

Yeah, you would think you could just press record but it doesn't do it with this recorder. If you are in VCR mode, viewing the tape then press record, nothing happens. If you change it to DVD, you can't view the VHS.

I tested recording a TV program on DVD and I could pause though the commercials and it recorded OK. I just can't figure out how to record the VHS tape on DVD while I am watching it.

[hech54]

Also....check to see if you have the correct "input/source" selected. There are usually several input sources available on recorders. Since most recorders won't record anything until it sees a signal....that may explain nothing being recorded...no signal....wrong input selected(by you).

[Astrovel]

There is only 4 input selections on this model. AV1-AV2-CH#-DV

If you are in VCR mode, you don't see anything on AV2, or DV. Since I don't want to record a TV program...I want to record the VHS tape, I put it on the only input source I got a picture on, AV1. So I don't think it is the input source that is the problem.

I am asking anybody familiar with the LG897T to walk me through how to record the VHS tape to DVD WHILE I am watching it. I can't see anything in the manual that tells me how to do that. I would think the MFR would allow you to do that????

[joecass]

The input has nothing to do with VHS to DVD recording. What does matter is first putting in a blank DVD and formatting it. Second, insert the VHS tape to be recorded. If you notice there are two buttons on the top of the remote lableled DVD and VCR. In order to record from VHS to DVD, you have to push the VCR button. That puts the LG in VCR mode. After formatting the DVD, inserting the VHS tape and hitting the VCR button,
the machine is ready for dubbing. Hitting the Dubbing button on the remote brings up a dialog box to set up the Dubbing Mode... DVD to VCR or VCR to DVD. Select VCR to DVD. Then set the DVD recording quality, XP, SP, LP etc. Choose the speed then hit Enter. Then you should see the Dubbing icon appear. Hit enter on the remote while the dubbing icon is highlighted. The red record light should be on, the machine will start dubbing and you should be able to see the VHS tape playing.
To finish dubbing, hit the stop button. You don't use the Record button while dubbing, it's done automatically.
The only editing you can do while viewing the tape being copied is to hit the Pause button, which pauses both the VCR and DVD. You can fast forward or rewind the VHS tape while in pause mode by hitting the appropriate buttons, then hit the pause button again to resume recording.
After you finish recording, the machine is still in VCR mode, to view the recorded DVD push the DVD button on the remote and hit Play. If the DVD recording was successful, a DVD-R or +R disc has to be finalized. Hit the Home button on the remote and scroll to Disc Manager, enter a title name then hit Finalize. DVD-RW's have to be finalized also, DVD+RW's do not.

I bought this same machine from Best Buy Outlet, and there was a problem with the VHS part. There was some very heavy white lines in the picture the first time I used a VHS tape. I used a VHS head cleaning tape two or three times and the problem seemed to end. Then maybe a week or so later, the same thing happened with VHS tapes, and it didn't track correctly. I think it's a design flaw in this machine or some kind of defect with the tracking mechanism. The LG 897T I have seems to work best with VHS tapes recorded natively on the machine itself. Since I don't really care about the VHS part, I didn't return the machine to the EBay vendor, as I have other VHS machines in my arsenal.
If you see the VHS tape playing and there's nothing on the DVD afterward,
you either did something wrong or the machine is defective and you should return it or buy another brand.