Rating: 
Summary: Easy and Affordable
Review: The AR-230 uses DVD+R/+RW discs to record. A coaxial pass-through and integrated TV tuner lets the AR-230 record directly from an analog broadcast. Use any one of five timed recording presets that cover all the AR-230's inputs. Speaking of inputs, the AR-230 sports a bunch. Component video/stereo audio (front)
4-pin FireWire (front)Component video/stereo audio (back)
S-Video (back) Four recording modes lets you fit one to six hours of content on each recordable DVD. The AR-230 auto-inserts chapter markers -- a nice touch. Adjustable between two minutes and 15 minutes, the chapter marks make navigating long stretches of recorded content a breeze. With progressive-scan output, the AR-230 did a fine job of playing our disc collection. High-bitrate DVDs and our own SVCD creations played equally nicely. You can forget playing high-quality audio formats such as SACD and DVD Audio, but you have to expect that with a product as cheap as this. Summary: Gateway made the AR-230 simple to set up and use. Although you can't create custom menus with the AR-230, and it only supports writing to DVD+R/+RW formats, it represents a great value in set-top DVD burners. Pros: Ease of use; price
Rating: 
Summary: Thrown in the trash
Review: The first recorder gradually lost capabilities over the first two days after delivery. We had to return it at our cost and a used unit was sent out. We could not get the remote to work - critical since that's how setup is accomplished. Our TV did not recognize a signal from the recorder and when we attempted to send the recorder's signal through our VCR to get to the TV it completed wiped out the setup of our VCR. We had to disconnect the VCR from power for an hour and then plug it back in and redo its setup. We tried composite as well as coaxial connections to no avail. Gateway would not take the recorder back because the time limit of 14 days was used up by waiting for the second machine to get to us. We threw the recorder in the trash - an expensive lesson.
Rating:
Summary: Good solid product
Review: This is an interesting product. It's a cross between a VHS VCR and a fully functioning digital DVD recorder. The higher priced digital recorders have hard drives built in to give them Tivo features like the ability to record temporarily for many hours, watch a program from the beginning while the unit is still recording the end, instant replay, pause live TV, etc. The fully loaded recorders also have some sort of Tivo-like program guide. The AR-230 has none of these things, but it costs a lot less as well. It's an interesting mix of high and low end VCR features plus an adequate DVD+R/RW recorder. The high end is reflected by the number of different inputs and outputs: Composite, S-Video, Component, Firewire, Coax and Optical audio. The low end is reflected by the timer: Only 5 programs, no Mon-Fri mode, no VCR+. As a simple DVD replacement for a VCR, it fulfills it's function very well. The remote is easy to use. The quality of the DVD image is equal to the quality of the video input. It won't allow you to create you're own chapters, but you can set it to automatically create chapters every 1 - 12 minutes. There are 4 program modes: 1hr, 2hrs, 4hrs & 6hrs. I've tried the 2 and 4 hour modes and both are fine. Choosing from titles on the disc is much easier than scanning a VCR tape for the start of a new program. Also scanning by chapter and fast forward/reverse work very well - a big improvement over tape. The AR-230 records only on "Plus" media, but reads/plays just about everything. BEWARE: The DVD recordable industry is borderline insane. They're locked in a betamax/vhs type war of competing incompatible formats called "Plus" and "Minus". Not only are there different recorders that record each format, but the blank media are different for each format. A "Minus" disc won't work in a "Plus" recorder. If you've got a set top DVD player you may want to check which format it supports. If your DVD player only plays "Minus" discs it won't be able to play DVD's you produce from the AR-230.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent user interface, inexpensive, and region free
Review: This is Gateway's entry into the DVD Recorder arena, and is a clone of the LiteOn LVW-5001. The user interface is very intuitive and much easier to figure out than the Philips models, but the instruction manual is a bit vague on the meaning of various functions. Most of the functions can be figured out with a little bit of experimentation, but it would be better if the manual just gave a full explanation. For example, if you delete a recording that is in between two others, and then you start recording a new program, the unit will not automatically overwrite the deleted area. Instead, it will simply add on after the last program. If you want it to reuse empty space, you must enable the overwrite function for the deleted program, and then record. Be careful, because, if record a program that is longer than the one you deleted, you will overwrite the next program. This all seems sensible once you figure it out, but it would be nice if the manual explained it. The best thing about this DVD Recorder is that it can be made region free and it will convert PAL encoded DVD's (which are sold in Europe on www.amazon.co.uk) to NTSC, so you can watch DVDs that are not sold here (like the excellent British television show "Cold Feet" and "Black Books") on your TV in the U.S. Just turn on the DVD player without a disc in it, press the right arrow, push 800, and then push the enter button. From that point on, the unit is region free.
Rating:
Summary: Gateway DVD Recorder
Review: This one of the few DVD recorders under $300. It is easy to set-up and maneuver through the menu screen. The only issue I have is the ability to record - the TV must be on the channel to record (no ability to enter TV codes).
Other than that, the Gateway DVD Recorder is perfect for the price, the quality and components. It can't be beat. -Electronics Geek
Rating:
Summary: Unreliable. Bizarre Gateway service.
Review: Usage was delightful in its simplicity. Its logically organized menus were colorful and legible. Would make an excellent and very inexpensive VCR substitute... However, anything multiplied by zero equals zero, and zero is what the AR-230 gets from us. Being limited to a 15-day return window, we tried various DVD+RW recordings on both the included Mitsubishi media and a 5-pack of recommended Imation. Roughly a little over half of the recordings were faulty (random freeze-ups) or totally unplayable. Scrutiny in a PC of one of the unplayable discs showed that data was recorded, but that there were unreadable sectors. After 7 days of trying all kinds of work-arounds, we gave up. We drove up to the Gateway store, hoping to exchange our AR-230 for a non-defective unit. The AR-230 and packaging were intact. Imagine our amazement when we were told that it would not be a simple exchange, and that it would take at least two weeks for our credit card to be credited with a refund.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad user interface; unreliable recording
Review: We bought a Gateway AR-230 in Jan 2004. We found the user
interface to be fairly bad. The timer recording section
is particularly bad (Timer recording allows: Once,
Daily, Weekly, but doesn't have "Weekday", sigh; Timer
recording has 5 or 6 slots, about 3 or 4 fewer than we need.)
Note: if you have one, DEFINITELY get the current firmware
from www.gateway.com! (version 1163 was released 2004-09-01)
The manual is, to be charitable, bad. Aside from leaving
out a *lot* of information, the quality of the English in it
(and in other online documents for the AR-230) is poor.
I saved the worst for last ... it's very unreliable. Of the
last 4 DVD+RWs we tried to timer record, two failed to
properly "stop" (one was in "Stopping" mode for 15 minutes
before it finally stopped!). The result were disks that
were unreadable in the Gateway or in any other of several
DVD drives I tried. (Oh, I could see the VOB, IFO, BUP files,
but they just weren't playable.)
This may be tied to using Memorex media ... opinion on the
web seems to be split on this. We'd been using non-Memory
successfully (95% success rate?) for most of the last year,
and accidentally picked up some Memorex DVD+RWs recently.
I had tried to return it about 1 week after the warranty
expired ... no luck. I should have ranted and raved then,
but an upgrade (10 months ago) to firmware version 1139
improved it from terribly to almost reliable.
IIRC, it has no battery backup for the programming, so we
have ours on a UPS. (Clock must also be set manually :)
All in all, an embarassing product ... a cheap price doesn't
justify that!
Tip for using any DVD recorder ... if you aren't going to save a show forever, record it on DVD+RW and avoid creating a disc
you'll be throwing away!
Rating:
Summary: Breaks Down
Review: We bought a Gateway AR230 a year ago. It worked great for 3 months, then would not format anything, or read anything it had recorded. We called Gateway and sent it back. We were sent a new one, and it worked for 8 months before the same thing happened. Our warranty has now expired, and we will definitely be buying another brand.
Rating:
Summary: Gateway AR230 - A Tech Support Nightmare
Review: When it worked it was okay. I bought my Gateway in Feb 2004 and it worked for about 11 months. One day I put in a DVD and it just spun. I contacted Gateway and they said to send it in, it would take 5-7 days for processing.
I sent in my Gateway in December of 2004. Its Februrary and I'm still waiting. Gateway always replies to my inquiries but has not once said anything other than they are waiting for parts.
Thank you for using Gateway's Online E-mail Support. XXX, as I checked
on the status of your service request 2-1829958384, it stated that your
DVD-R player is on part processing stage. Please be informed that it
may
take 2 to 3 weeks for the completion on this service.
I have documented this correspondence in Service Request Number
XXXXXX in our contact tracking database. Please use this number
in the future if you need to contact us again regarding this issue.
Another response from last month:
I understand you want to inquire shipment of your DVD player. I checked
service request number XXXXX and found item in repair status.
Please contact us for further updates on the repair progress of your
DVD
player. Please be informed to contact us within 48 business hours.
Should you have any further customer service questions, do not hesitate
to contact us.
I have documented this correspondence in Service Request Number
XXXXXXXXX in our contact tracking database. Please use this number
in the future if you need to contact us again regarding this issue.
Please reply to this message if you require further assistance with
this
issue.
Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Crap -Broke in 2 months
Review: Wish I had never bought it. Failed to record on several occasions which I blamed on the DVD+rw media. Which by the way was not compatible with any of my 3 dvd players. Then after 2 months is quit and wouldn't even play a commericial DVD. Tried to get Gateway to honor there 1-year warranty but was spending way too much time on the phone listening to musik and getting nowhere. So this thing goes in the trash after I get rid of some rage on it with a 12lb sledge...
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