JVC DR-HM20EK DVD Recorder with 80GB Hard Drive Best Buy

Unreliable - 08 Feb 2007

0 out of 0 found this review helpful.

Relatively easy to use and excellent picture quality. PDC operation a bit strange. HOWEVER. 1st machine went bang 3 weeks out of warranty. JVC sent replacement which lasted 6 weeks before expiring. Still waiting to resolve with JVC. Unable to recomend.

DON'T TOUCH!!!!! - 29 Apr 2006

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Complicated editing, poor manual and has the same chip problems as the rest of this JVC range (I went through 3 decks in three weeks!) I consider myself as lucky, the problem may manifest itself when new or a year later, when its out of warranty.

Too much than you need - 05 Nov 2005

8 out of 10 found this review helpful.

Bought this item a week ago and to be honest, I am pleased with the price, however had to mess around for a few hours to get it working with the leads and scarts you need for it, however it is far too sophisticated for the average user. I have a dvd recorder already but not hdd one, so I thought it would be the same except having the hdd, it is far too complicated. I don't think I will use the majority of what this player/recorder can do. Video plus works fine and the quality of playback is superb, so I would recomend this for the price it is unmatchable in my opinion.

A reasonable product if it worked - 02 Sep 2005

16 out of 20 found this review helpful.

I bought one of these in July this year and it worked for all of 2 weeks. A reasonable machine with some good features and for that fortnight I was pleased with it. However, it just stopped working.

I contacted JVC to arrange an exchange and they told me they would send a new one along. When it arrived it turned out to be a reconditioned machine that they hadn't even fixed properly (the DVD drawer wouldn't open). I contacted them and they told me another one would be sent.

However, the day it was due to arrive nothing came. I contacted them the next morning and it turned out they had neglected to inform their courier of the delivery. When eventually the third machine arrived it also turned out not to work. At this stage I got a refund from the company I had purchased it through.

There are plenty of other machines out there at a similar price, buy one of them. If you choose to buy JVC make sure you take a few days off work for all the phone calls and delivery days you will require if something goes wrong.

Excellent Product for the Price - 22 Jun 2005

98 out of 104 found this review helpful.

I got the DVD recorder after looking around for a few months and now I've had some time to play around with it. It is quite good and once I've mastered some of the functions, I'm sure it will be worth the money.

Having the hard drive with it really does help, because with it you can edit and add things like menus, thumbnails, chapters, etc. Although, you can do without all this and simply record to a disk and recordings are like a recording a video tape but with quality picture and sound.

I have managed to backup two videos that needed to be protected. This is the good thing, because with Videos after time, picture and sound quality deteriorate and unless you have several back-ups, you have lost the original recording. I backed up my wedding film, but this is not as good as recording a live TV programme, because recording from VHS to DVD is dependant on the original quality, i.e.. the quality of the video recording. Still worth it, just to preserve whatever quality there is. It takes time to backup a VHS film though if you want to add the chapters, thumbnails, etc. because this can only be done if you copy to HDD and edit before transferring to DVD disk.

The only problem I had was setting up the DVD with all the other devises like Digital box, video and TV. It take a bit of messing around to get the wires (scart/coax) properly connected to ensure you can watch TV, as well as DVD/
Video and then also record to both video or DVD if you want to. Apart from this initial setup, I've had no problems.

The live pause and record is another really good feature. You can watch live football from the beginning whilst it is still being recorded. Great especially when you miss 10 mins at the beginning or whatever you miss. Never have to wait to the end again.

There are other features that I have yet tested but from what I've seen, this is an excellent DVD recorder from a reputable manufacturer, and for a reasonable price.