So, about a month ago I picked up the Sanyo DRW-500 at Wal Mart...merely because it was the cheapest above the ilo recorder which I didn't like very much, and I haven't heard good things about them. So, I had a problem with the audio sometimes not in sync with the video during recording...other than that, it was all fine, except for the fact that recording took too long to start, but oh well. So, I started having a problem accessing the titles via the main menu screen on 3 different discs. The title thumbnails sometimes wouldn't come up, and that bugged me. I read a number of bad things about the Sanyo recorder online on various, and it turns out that the player isn't very well made. I tried to do a firmware upgrade, but I couldn't get it to work, so I still had the problems...
I tried calling the Sanyo help line two different days for hours, but it was busy everytime.
Tonight, I finalized a DVD full of Even Stevens' episodes, but after I did this, the title thumbnails wouldn't show up no matter what, then it said "disc error" everytime I tried to access any of the titles on the DVD- a totally wasted DVD and time spent getting these episodes onto the disc, and losing all of them...I tried everything, but it didn't work.
So, I called wal mart and asked if I could bring it back and get another DVD recorder that cost a bit more, add money to my refund and do that. I didn't have the receipt, so she said the manager would have to look at it all and decide...they would surely have taken it back, but I was pissed, because it ruined my 6 hour disc, and it caused so much hassle. I just went and got the Pioneer DVR-220-S model which was $198 (the Sanyo was $168), and kept the Sanyo. Why? Well, for one...I didn't feel like taking the Sanyo back and dealing with it, plus- I didn't want to take the time tonight to finalize 30+ DVD's I already recorded with the Sanyo (various shows on various discs, only 1 DVD was full, most had almost all the space left.)
So, I picked up the Pioneer, and it's so much better than the Sanyo. Really wish I would have bought the Pioneer to begin with. I had some blank DVD's left over from the Sanyo purchases, but they're DVD+R/DVD+RW, and the Pioneer is DVD-R/DVD-RW, so I picked up a 50 pack of the Sony brand DVD-R's, which cost me another $28. Now, I need to go to the Dollar Store and pick up a cheap CD/DVD case to put the new discs in, so they won't get mixed up with the Sanyo discs, plus, the disc folder I already have is nearly full (40 something DVD's.)
Hopefully, I can get the Sanyo to hook up to the Pioneer and record the DVD's I made with the Sanyo onto the new recorder...then I won't have different shows all over the place on all sorts of different DVD's. So, today I will get a new DVD folder, record the stuff from my cable box DVR onto the new discs, and then transfer the shows from the old discs to the new ones (sometime this week.)
Annoying, and now I have $400 worth of DVD recorders, but oh well...Did I mention I wished I would have bought the Pioneer in the first place? I thought so...