JVC DR-MV5S DVD Recorder/VCR

So far so good.

Strengths: Ease of use, fair price, good connection options.

Weaknesses: Instructions are incomplete and confusing.

Summary: I shopped for a while for this thing. I finally jumped a couple of weeks ago. Brought it home, connected it, (lots of connections on the back). While I was reading the manual, (a tough thing to do), my son started transferring our first tape to dvd. Just hold down the button for 3 seconds and away it goes. Have transferred 3 home video VHS tapes to DVD so far. The only thing I'd like to see improved is the manual. I would like to insert chapters before finalizing the dvd. I think it's possible, not sure how.

Even so, I give it a thumbs up.

100% of People (6/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?

  Report this as inappropriate.

 There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.

JVC DR-M5 DVD VHS recorder

Strengths: Worked well recording to the DVD Ram or to VHS

Weaknesses: Quit working

Summary: The clock time would be fine for a couple of days and then would be off by several hours. So, I manually reset the time through the menu functions. Then, I was not able to record to the DVD or to the VHS. Finally, I found that by unplugging the unit and then plugging it back in, it would automatically reset and reprogram itself, and everything would work fine. At least for a couple of days and then the problem would re-occur. Now, a couple of months later, the unit appears to have stabilized, and keeps time. But, now I can't record anything anymore. I am very disappointed and will not buy another JVC unit.

100% of People (3/3) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?

  Report this as inappropriate.

 There are 1 comment for this review. Read all comments. Post a comment.

Potential to be great ..........but not.

Strengths: Instant recording to DVD and VCR playability.

Weaknesses: Not dependable. Different things all of a sudden don't work.

Summary: Before buying one of these I did lots of research and I picked what I read to be a better unit than most. Obviously it had not been out long enought for the bugs to show up. Copying from home VCR to DVD is easy and effective. Instant DVD recording is easy and works pretty well. However it's very picky about the media. Some of my DVDR's work great but some have awful quality. Now the simplest of things doesn't work .......it won't even play normal rented or bought DVD's a lot of times. The unit is nowhere near the quaility that I thought it would be. I knew ahead of time that the manual was bad but I knew I could figure the system out. I really thought the unit would be more dependable. Now a year after buying it I'm looking for something else. From reading the other reviews sending it off for repair seems like a nightmare and I hate to put it on ebay to sell because in order to get it sold I'd have to lie about it. I'm very disappointed with JVC and will most likely never go that direction again. Until this I had been a Sony only .....and now I regret going against my norm.

100% of People (2/2) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?

  Report this as inappropriate.

 There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.

Do not Buy this Machine

Strengths: When it worked; it copied tapes fine.

Weaknesses: It is not dependable when connected to a coax. You couldn't dub from the remote alone. You had to get up and walk over to the unit.

Summary: (Received July 13)I used it for about 100 days as a copy machine only. It worked fine. I had cable professionally connected and about a week later it stopped playing or recording. Authorized service in my town picked it up (at my substantial cost) and continued to give me excuses for a month at which time I called JVC. I authorized shipment of the unit to Factory Service because the authorized service told JVC he couldn't repair it. It was quickly sent back to me (from the factory). None of my three televisions connected to three separate cable connections would recognize it.(One is on my computer). The Cable Technician said I had a Lemon. I sent it to the factory again. They say I have to send it three times before I get a replacement. The factory has had it for 15 days and can tell me nothing yet. I used it for just over 3 months and it has been away for 4 months. I have bought JVC TVs, VCRs and a minisystem. I will never buy any product from them again.

100% of People (2/2) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?

  Report this as inappropriate.

 There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.

Do not buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Strengths: NA

Weaknesses: NA

Summary: I have sent this back to the service center twice so far in 10 months. They will not replace the unit, they insist on just "fixing" the problem. The unit will freeze up, all buttons will be non-responsive, and the display will just flash. Due to JVC's customer service response to people who buy their products, I will never buy another JVC product again.

93% of People (25/27) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?

  Report this as inappropriate.

 There are 1 comment for this review. Read all comments. Post a comment.

JVC DR-MV5S DVD Recorder/VCR

Strengths: Very intuitive functions, nice looking, easy to hook up.

Weaknesses: A little higher cost than some similar, some difficult instructions.

Summary: Very nice unit, to hook up correctly, you need 3 sets of audio/video cords, one set comes with it, but is really short. I have not used all the functions yet as I just got it. Some very intuitive recording to DVD functions as it figures out Videotape size and adjusts speed and quality accordingly. Remote is a little confusing and with all types of these electronics you have to read the manual to figure everything out.

93% of People (14/15) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?

  Report this as inappropriate.

 There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.

??? Very Confusing ????

Strengths: So far the weaknesses out weight its strengths but I just had it a week so bare with me...

Weaknesses: The maual is awful!! and it doesnt seem to do what the manual says

Summary: 2005-12-03 15:50:15 My first problem was that the "Manual Dubbing" pg 38 doesnt tell you that you have to "Fianalize" the DVD so I got on the phone with JVC. It is in the maual BUT it should be refered to in that section to us NEW to DVD recording. NOW I am having a problem with the recording (From VHS to DVD) where as the recording just seems to STOP by itself whenever the VHS tape has a bit of snow on it. The techs on the phone didnt seem to know this and I had to figure it out myself. This is still unresolved and not mentioned in the manual that I can see. The latest problem is that when I have been going to "One-Touch Expert Dubbing" pg 37 the DVD fails (very fustrating after waitng for hours). Again I had to figure out myself that if it is over 4 hours of dubbing it just fails? I am still working on this one, since JVC says it will record up to 8 hours. The Techs on the phone run the gammit of poor to very helpful. My first phone call had me screaming when the tech said "The reson you cannot play your DVD's on your 2 other new DVD players is because they are NOT JVC products". She was telling me that I MUST get rid of 2 new DVD players and buy JVC???? I almost hung up BUT a very helpful tech got on and he informed me that I must "Finalized" the DVD. He agreed it is a poorly written manual. I have had numerous phone calls to JVC and twice it seems that if they dont have an answer for you they just say it is broken and you shuld bring it in. Again I have only had this a week but if this problem with "One-Touch Expert " Dubbing" is not sloved I will return it to Sears and demand a full refund!

91% of People (10/11) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?

  Report this as inappropriate.

 There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.

Very poor customer service

Strengths: None

Weaknesses: Terrible customer service, no help, item does not function as designed and advertised!

Summary: DO NOT get involved with JVC. Stick to Sony. Much better designs and service. This is my third try with a JVC product. The hype was good but the products all had many glitches and they would not acknowledge the issues, just offered to attempt to fix again and again until the warranty runs out!!! I am done...

Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?

  Report this as inappropriate.

 There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.