Go Video! VR3845 Has Me Dancing With Fred&Ginger
Written: Aug 19 '05 (Updated Jan 21 '06)
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Pros: Copies VHS to DVD, corrects flaws in the process, easy to use, handsome, affordable.
Cons: The impatient will fret over the warm up time and shut down time.
The Bottom Line: Affordable, enjoyable way to enjoy DVDs, VHS, copy both, and record from TV or a camcorder.
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| adonna's Full Review: Soyo VR3845 DVD Recorder / VCR Combo |
I just purchased the Go Video VR3845, their new for 2005 DVD recorder and VHS unit. I'm a dubbing newbie, so if there were pitfalls in the learning curve, I'd fall in. But with their well written instructions, I was able to burn a DVD from one of my home videos in hours.
The unit comes well packed, with a starter's guide and a full manual, a sturdy and handsome unit, easy to understand but complete remote control that can be used as a universal remote, a DVD-RW disk that you can use over and over to record things, and batteries and cords. Following the getting started guide makes it easy to set up. The wealth of options for setting it up also make it easy. If you have SVideo, you can use SVideo, if you have connections via the RCA inputs, you can use them. If you've got an old TV with just coaxial cable input, you can hook up with those. No matter where your television is on the evolutionary scale, there's a way to connect it and enjoy the VR3845.
Of course, the first thing I did was pull out a video tape and try to dub it to a DVD using their one touch recording. I read that portion of the manual, and learned that I could put in the recordable DVD (You don't have to worry about it being a - or format recordable, the set takes both) and the VHS tape, select VHS as the playing option, then cue the VHS tape forward to where I wanted to start, push pause, then start the process by hitting the copy button either on the unit or on the remote. Hit copy and the magic starts. I had my misgivings, because the videotape had a few places where it had imperfections. I hadn't read about the part where the unit has some kind of technology that cleans that up yet. When I finally finished and watched the movie on DVD I was amazed. I can best describe the difference by reference to a digital camera and some of the things you do to make the images look better. If you've ever done this, you'll know what I mean. It was like the unit knew which filters to apply to sharpen the image and reduce noise. True, it's not going to take all the imperfections out of an old movie, but it did improve it over the image I was copying from.
I've learned a bit since the first time. First, if you want to watch the video on other units, you ought to finalize it. That's a very simple step that you get to from the start-up menu. If you don't finalize, you can still watch it on this VR3845, and you can go back and finalize it if you want to later on. Second, it plays other DVDs really well too, so it could be your only unit if you wanted to use it that way. And this, I want to try: You can stop the dubbing by hitting pause, then step forward, it will remain paused while you go past a part you don't want to record, then go back to the action seamlessly. As soon as I've taped Timecop on the SciFi channel I'll try this, as the SciFi channel has lots of commercials I'll want to trim out.
I've barely scratched the surface so far, but see that I can learn how to edit on the DVD as well, so that I can program it to skip over those unwanted portions of a movie in that way too. You can record up to four hours on a DVD, but be aware that the more you put on the disk, the lower the resolution.
Some may find the initialization processes annoying, but remember, this little unit is acting as would a computer. There is a slight amount of time in which it does internal operations on starting up and on shutting down. So, if you're planning on taping something on the fly, give the unit enough time to warm up before your program starts.
It's affordable, easy to use, pretty enough to be in the front room, and does promise to deliver video pleasure. I'd say if you've got a collection of video tapes that you'd like to see on DVD, this unit could be for you. Just be aware that it won't copy macrovision protected tapes.
UPDATE: January 21, 2006
I remain impressed with this unit. Programming it is simple, using it is simple, it continues to play all the DVDs I throw at it, and records TV onto DVDs for me too. I've found that I can attach my digital camera to it and transfer those videos I've made with the camera (in its video mode) onto DVD. While a video episode from the camera is very brief, due to the limitation of my memory card, it's exciting to have this enlarged capability. So here it is, months later and I'm still enjoying and still learning.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
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Epinions.com ID:
adonna
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Donna Hall
Location: Humboldt County, California
Reviews written: 164
Trusted by: 100 members
About Me:
When I'm not here, I'm birding. (Or working, or gardening, or playing with power tools.)
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