Entered CNET Catalog: 05/10/2006
SKU: 0036725603325
Manufacturer: Samsung
Manufacturer description
Play and record on both VHS tapes and DVDs with the Samsung DVD-VR330 VCR Combined DVD Recorder. In addition to providing a 4-head Hi-Fi VCR, this far- from-basic model offers the flexibility of Full Multi Format Recording (R A M / + / - RW/+/-R); the response of "1sec." Quick Recording; and the practicality of Dual Layer Recording on +R or -R only DVD discs.User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19out of 19 user reviews
What a waste of money
Pros: It worked fine for awhile.
Cons: After a year of regular use it stops reading dvd's that it read just the week before. I have a clean house, don't smoke, don't own pets. How a $300 unit stops working after a year is beyond me.
out of 19 user reviews
Poor product quality, customer service even worse
Pros: None that I can think of.
Cons: Poor quality for the dollar. No response from customer service despite obvious product quality issues. Everyone that is writing reviews about the unit not reading their DVDs purchased the unit around the same time I did.
out of 19 user reviews
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out of 19 user reviews
Incredibly Poor Quality Control
Pros: Looks okay
Cons: Rejects just about all media: Frequently doesn't read discs that were burned on the same machine.
out of 19 user reviews
Works great for a few months but then doesn't read new discs...
Pros: Records well from TV or VCR in different formats -R +R etc
Cons: After while you go throw away many discs because of formating error.
Had this recorder for about a year to empty my DVR and eliminate VHS tapes. Worked very well for about 6 months but then increasing started having trouble formating new discs for recording. Each time I started to record it would stop after 30 seconds and give a disc error; refusing to record any more shows and refusing to read the disc. After that I have to throw lot of them away. There is a work around that I found after working with it for a day: Start with a fresh disc and insert it in the machine. Record anything for about 4-7 seconds wih no chapters. The idea here is to lay down a good title and end it before the error occurs. After 4-7 seconds stop the recording and allow it to update. After that you can record anything like before with no problems. There is a firmware update but it's for Europe. The issue seems related to a copy protection software to prevent piracy. After all this time it seems Samsung isn't going to fix this very serious error. Love every Samsung product but this one isn't ready for prime time.
out of 19 user reviews
Waste of money. DVDs burnt in this recorder won't play on any computer or other DVD player.
Pros: Plays well old tapes and commercial DVDs. Can play mp3 and divx videos.
Cons: Most of your emty discs won't work. Even if you record something, you can only play it in this recorder. Doesn't play .flv and many common video types.
It's a good VHS/DVD player but a very bad recorder.
out of 19 user reviews
Broke within a few months
Pros: Worked OK initially
Cons: Things slowly went bad
out of 19 user reviews
Samsung should be sued for this junk.
Pros: Copied about 25 disc. (wow!!!!!!)
Cons: JUNK, CRAP, Paper Weight, Waste of Space.
out of 19 user reviews
unreliable, stops reading new discs, poor audio sync.
Pros: good video quality, good feature set
Cons: audio not synched, stops reading new discs
First one was (reluctantly) repaired by Samsung under its 90-day warranty, second one failed after 96 days. I had bought a $35 2-year extended replacement policy. (But they don't replace it... they give you the purchase price in a "gift" certificate.)
Both Samsung and Tiger Direct deny knowing about any problems with these decks, although many web resources contain similar stories to mine.
I thought Samsung was better than that.
out of 19 user reviews
Very pleased
Pros: Features, operation, price
Cons: Limited instructions
Samsung is NOT known for their easy-to-follow instructions, so it takes some time to interpret them and you may need to experiment for a while to figure out exactly how to work all the features, but all in all, this is a very nice unit.
out of 19 user reviews
Proprietary Recording Format - No Workie on Any Other Player
Pros: Dual Layer + or - , high level of controllability, reliable recording to disk, no tuner copy protection problems.
Cons: Finalized discs cannot be used on any other machine
Not smart !!
out of 19 user reviews
Very weak VHS tray, on button record didnt work, Save you self the cancer
Pros: Good paper weight
Cons: Where do i start, nothing much worked
out of 19 user reviews
So much potential, but so disappointing
Pros: Quality build, nice appearance, good controls & menus
Cons: Audio and video do not sync on recorded discs
Not sure what others are talking about regarding disc compatibility and slow load times for discs and so forth. No problems there.
The only problem, and sadly the deal-breaking one, is that on the discs it produces, regardless of the source, the audio and video are often not synced up. It's close, but during dialogue, it becomes painfully obvious. I say painfully because I really wanted to keep this machine - I changed all the outputs, hoping one would have the audio and video playing together correctly, but no good. I then played it on my laptop and saw the same problem, so I knew it was with the disc itself. Drat.
I returned this one and went with a Panasonic DMR-ES35VS, which is actually pretty good, though the build quality and some other features are nicer on this Samsung.
Everything just right except for the outputted discs. So frustrating
I noticed someone on Circuit City's site had the same problem with audio and video syncing up, so it's not an isolated incident, or I would've tried another one...
out of 19 user reviews
Recorded discs Can't be played on other DVDs
Pros: Manual is ok to understand and looks nice
Cons: Doesn't do what I want ie enable me to create DVDs for use on any other machine (tried Computer and TV lounge equipment) and no luck so far .. just doesn't recognise whatever format the files are ???
out of 19 user reviews
I love this recorder
Pros: Great recording quality, fast startup, easy to work with, has progressive scan
Cons: No HTMI output, some macroblocking issues.
I have played back many of my pre-recorded movies i bought and it works great with them too.I first tried recording with this one using SP.[Standard Play]. The movie played back just like the original I just watched. Then i tried it on LP[4hrs]. Hey i was suprised how clear this was!Hardly any difference between the two.The only program i havent recorded clear yet was a football game, Which was a macroblocking problem. This is a common problem now days with DVD recorders.
Overall this unit does about everything i could expect.
This has been a great recorder for me,however i like some others have experienced some problem with sound and video not in sync,BUT only on a few. At that time I was using fujifilm I went to samsung websight,and found that I WASN'T even using compatible disk! So I bought a Maxell 50 pack,poped one in and WOW! I DONT EVEN HAVE TO INITIALIZE THE DISK! When I recorded it ask me DO YOU WANT TO CREATE THE CHAPTER MENU AFTER THIS RECORDING? All of them I used so far worked perfect! [It also updates the disk much faster when I hit stop :within 10 seconds or so]. It also Finalizes in about a minute. I noticed about any brand of dvd recorder has some disk compatibility issues so it pays to read directions,or go to there websight. Here are the compatible disk listed on Samsungs websight for the Samsung VR330.For myself I'll stick with Maxell disks.
DVD_R:
TDK 4x
Beall 4x
Sony 4x
That's 4x
Mitsubishi 4x
Maxell 4x
Panasonic 4x
DVD-RW;
TDK 2x
Maxell 2x
Optodisc 2x
JVC 2x
Mitsubishi 2x
Radius 2x
Verbatim 2x
DVD-RAM:
Maxell 2x, 3x
Fujifilm 3x
Panasonic 2x, 3x
Panasonic Gold 3x
TDK 2x
out of 19 user reviews
Perfectly made product. Stylish and easy to operate.
Pros: Vey Easy to use high quality image
Cons: This is an ideal system for me. So none yet!!
out of 19 user reviews
This machine is not worth the natural resources used to make it.
Pros: It's black.
Cons: Too many to mention
On the latest go round, they returned it with a new problem that prevents the disk from being played on anything other than the Samsung player.
This is a horrible product. Samsung should be ashamed of themselves (yeah right...like that's going to happen) for putting this thing on the market. Their no refund policy means that you're stuck with returning this peice of s**t until the warranty (or your patience) runs out.
If you've already copied your treasured VCR tapes, don't throw them away. Check them on another player to make sure the copy is playable.
out of 19 user reviews
Don't waste your money.
Pros: The record quality is nice, if you can manage to successfully burn a disc that is.
Cons: Slow to load disc. Has major issues when copying from VHS to DVD. Stops responding occasionally and when this happens it ruins the dics you were burning on, leaving all that data inaccessible.
It is the worst product for transferring from VHS to DVD, there is just no easy way of doing it without the piece of junk having problems. That was the main reason I wanted it and it has NOT served that purpose AT ALL! I HATE THIS PRODUCT! I would NEVER recommend it to ANYONE!
It would not stop recording once and I had to unplug it and that caused the disc to become ruined. I just can't say enough bad things about it... the bad absolutely out weigh the good, that I know for sure.
Please don't bother with this, buy something else.
out of 19 user reviews
Perfect for my use.
Pros: Plays my dual layer PC made DVDs, controls my Sony Camcorder with DV input, controls my Samsung TV.
Cons: None that I have found yet. for my use.
