Sony RDRDC205B 250GB Digital HDD Recorder with Integrated Digital Tuner

Aremess

at 6:13 am

As an HDD recorder:

Pros – Excellent quality copy even at standard level (unless you are after something really special, don’t bother with HQ it just uses up disk space)

Cons – Recording using a satellite box or similar is very time consuming – Why? On most other machines, one can use the internal programme guide to set up the advanced recording requirements then simply review what has been set up and change the source to the satellite box or other source, leaving the programme name etc intact. Using this machine, that is not an option. If using the built in digital/analogue TV as the source, one can use the programme guide. However, if one is using a satellite box it is necessary to set everything up by hand, including naming the programme, day, time etc. which makes it very time consuming. (I live in an area where digital TV signals are poor, so recording is always via a FreeSat box meaning that I spend ages on a Saturday morning, setting up for recording for the week)

As a DVD recorder

Pros – Good quality recordings

Cons – 1. It is only possible to record directly to the HDD. If one wishes to record to a DVD, that has to be done afterwards by recopying (oh, why do they insist on calling it ‘Dubbing’?): in other words, you have to record it twice!!! Copying to a DVD can only be done at standard speed (no high-speed copying) so it’s very time consuming

2. All the re-write DVD’s I had were useless. This machine only allows DVD’s formatted itself (I don’t know if that applies to DVD’s formatted on other Sony products) – Even more stupidly, DVD’s formatted elsewhere cannot be re-formatted as the machine simply will not recognise them.

3. Once a re-write DVD is formatted on this machine, other manufacture’s systems can read them (great) but cannot delete the programmes (very poor) so recording for someone else becomes a chore rather than a pleasure

4. Even poorer than that, even YOU cannot delete the recording (on the re-write DVD) using this machine, you can only reformat the disk which, again, is time consuming but worse still, reduces the life of the disk.

5. The default setting is to finalise the disk whether it be a record once or a re-write DVD. I only found this out after loosing a handful of expensive DVD+RW’s

I am highly disappointed in this machine. I previously had 2 Panasonic HDD/DVD recorders (and still have one in use) and NONE of the above cons apply to those machines. Sony, you need to do much better than this, because I certainly will not buy an HDD/DVD recorder from you again
Rating: 2 / 5

Ms. L. Wilkinson

at 8:49 am

I found the setup easy to follow and quick. It does give you the option of using freeview (which I chose as I find it easier that guideplus+) or guideplus+. Instrution manual is well covered although maybe too much information and basics would be easier to understand.

Its looks stylish and the picture quality is excellent.

Overall, very pleased with this product and its much quieter than previous models.
Rating: 4 / 5

G. Anderson

at 12:08 pm

I bought this to replace a Sony RDR-HXD560 which had decided to stop playing DVDs. Whilst I wasn’t too pleased that the RDR-HXD560 had failed within 3 years of purchase, I was generally pleased with it as a HDD recorder, and hoped that the newer model would share it’s user-friendly interface and features, as well as maybe bringing some new ones along to make life easier.

How wrong could I be.

I wish the more recent reviews had been available prior to my purchase – I wouldn’t have bought it if they had! I’ll try and list all the things I’m not happy with on the machine…

1). Only possible to record direct to the HDD. If you want a copy on DVD you have to then transfer it from the HDD to a DVD afterwards. On the face of it, not too much of a problem as most people would want to edit out the adverts etc, but the real problem is that dubbing is done in real-time and, whilst it’s being done, you can’t use the recorder for anything else. So, realistically, it has to be set to do it as you leave for work in the morning, or overnight (provided you have nothing to record whilst it’s doing so).

2). The electronic programme guide defaults to “guideplus” which is half taken up with adverts. You can choose “freeview+” in the setup, but those less familiar with such things would take an age to find it.

3). As most people are aware, the channel order on freeview is pretty random. I, like I imagine most others, choose to rearrange them into a more convenient order – and to block out the rubbish like QVC, shopping etc. With this unit, as soon as you turn it off, it re-arranges the channels back into their original order! How pointless!

4). When playing DVDs, if you stop part way through a film (to see to the baby, make a cup of tea or whatever) it doesn’t remember the place and “resume”. You have to start again from the beginning, trawl all the way through the trailers and copyright guff, and remember where you were to start again. Rubbish. Even the £14.99 dvd player I bought from the local supermarket has a “resume” feature!

5). I have had problems with the HDD recordings skipping and freezing. A 2 hour film was reduced to an unwatchable 1hr 50mins. The same problem occured when trying to dub onto a dvd – 1 hour of cartoons filled a dvd without finishing due to the freezing and skipping.

6). Fast-forward and rewind functions are hard to control – the rewind particularly, as it has no 1x function (at least it says 1x, but it jumps back 10 or more seconds at a time. This is particularly annoying when editing a recording prior to copying it to a dvd.

7). It’s very slow to power up, and to turn itself off. This is particulary annoying if you turn it off in error – or the baby does – as it takes a lifetime to get going again. Particularly if you’re watching a dvd and have to start again from the beginning.

8). When viewing the recorded titles in the title list it plays a clip of both video and sound of whatever title you have highlighted – what’s wrong with that? I hear you say… Well, as each title has it’s name written down in front of you to read, it seems a bit superfluous. Add to that, most recordings start with a handful of adverts or the tail end of the previous programme, so you just get a snatch of the “go compare” advert or whatever. Highly distracting and, after a while, probably the most annoying feature of the machine. It appears to be impossible to pause or mute this playback and it drove me to distraction.

9). The fan is much noisier than on my earlier sony model.

On the “Plus” side, it gave a good picture – noticeably better with the HDMI cable making use of the 1080p upscaling – but that’s about all I can say that was good about it.

I hope this helps anyone considering purchasing one of these machines. I have now returned mine and will be buying an alternative manufacturer’s product.

Glen.
Rating: 1 / 5