GO VIDEO R6740 DVD Recorder and Player

Rating:
Summary: Great product, but with limitations
Review: I purchased this DVD Recorder about a year ago and have basically been happy with it. It is very easy to set up, set the timer, record. The remote works well. The main problem I have encountered is that often, when you turn it on to record, there is a hissing in the recording. If you turn the recording off, and start the recording again, the hissing is not there. This is ok if you are home and there to correct the hissing sound, but not ok if you are gone and have set the timer to record something that you really want to see on tv and its destroyed by the hissing noise. This functionality of the machine is very disappointing. Its simple to assign titles to what you have recorded. I'm waiting for another generation of the machines to come out and upgrade to a better model.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly excellent!
Review: I wanted to buy DVD recorder for quite some time. I ran out of patience and thought of buying one. I wanted to go for Philips R80 but after reading reviews for R80 I decided to give Govideo R6740 a try since I liked all the features and specifications. I had lot of doubts about it since it just came out in the market and I did not find good reviews on other Govideo DVD recorders. I bought, came home, I opened, I liked the design, I read the manual and started to record a VHS to DVD - no problems! I did not have to call their 1-800 number! It was all easy. I could check all the recording qualities in about 3 hrs - they are all good for the purpose though I would not use 6 hrs one for my home videos. I was really surprised by performance of the product compared to reviews of Philips R80. I have been recording (test) for more than a week now without any issues - I am really happy.

Rating:
Summary: Works great since I downloaded upgrade
Review: Potential buyers of this unit or other brands in the same price range should by knowledgeable of the two competing recordable media formats: DVD+ and DVD-. This unit records only to DVD+R and +RW and the write-once discs (DVD+R) recorded on the R6740 will NOT play on other DVD players, even when finalized. The +RW's WILL play on other players, that is if the machine doesn't give you the "Write Fail" message - this unit is quite particular about the brand of media you use. I recorded successfully with a pack of Memorex blanks, so I bought the same type of blanks again and continually got "Write Fail", so now I've got to try another brand. Two emails to GoVideo have not been replied to so far, regarding this issue. I can also hear a low level whistling sound on playback with discs recorded on the R6740, although not that noticeable unless you turn the volume way up. Otherwise, this machine has great picture quality and is good as a player, or recorder if you can put up with the limitations I've mentioned. UPDATE: Since writing this review I found out there was a downloadable upgrade for this unit that would make DVD+R's (write-once discs) recorded on the machine playable on "third party" DVD players. I downloaded the upgrade, burned it to disc, placed it in the GoVideo and the upgrade process took about 3 minutes and now I CAN play DVD+R's on the other players in my house. Add one star for a 4-star rating, although the company's customer service still haven't replied to my emails but I think I can live with this thing now.