Presidian Product Reviews and Ratings - Other - Presidian DVD Recorder from Radio Shack

Buy the Presidian DVD Recorder on http://www.radioshack.com

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(based on 28 ratings)

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Brand:Presidian

Located in:Oth

Discover the quality and convenience of DVD recording.

More information for the Presidian DVD Recorder

Product Reviews Summary

Avg. Customer Rating:

3.6 stars

(based on 28 reviews)

90% of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Customers most agreed on the following attributes:

Pros:

Attractive design(10), Fast recording(14), Fast setup(10), Good features(3), Good value(3)

Cons:

Confusing set up(3), Discs load slowly(4)

Best Uses:

Archiving TV shows(14), Home(12), Movies(11), Storage(6)

Describe Yourself:

Gearhead(3), Practical(5), Tech savvy(12)

good recorder except for one tiny flaw

By Rome from Pittsburgh on 1/18/2008

How long have you owned it:

Three-to-six months

Pros:

Fast Recording, Simple Controls

Cons:

Discs Load Slowly

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

can't play back discs made on this machine on another company's machine otherwise great for off air recording!

Nice n Easy!

By Justice70

from Wisconsin on 1/1/2008

How long have you owned it:

Three-to-six months

Pros:

Attractive Design, Fast Recording, Fast Setup, Simple Controls

Cons:

Slow loading some dvds

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Home, Movies

Describe Yourself:

Pc builder, Practical, Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I had a recorder that cost alot more and was far worse! this is crazy cheap priced! and works great!
also is light as a feather! and even if it only lasts a year or two?! who cares---its dirt cheap!

[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

excellent product

By DVD Dude

from Philadelphia, PA on 11/27/2007

How long have you owned it:

More than six months

Pros:

Beautiful clear picture, Can use 2x or 4x disks, Easy to use, Fast Setup, Simple Controls, Works exactly like a VCR

Best Uses:

Home, Make discs from VCR tapes, Movies, Tape favorite TV shows

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

This is a really nice machine. It is very easy to transfer your old home videos onto a disc. Just hook up the vcr or camcorder to one of the line-ins and press record on the DVD recorder. If you format a blank disc in the "video" mode and then finalize it when you're done, it will play in any DVD player. If you are recording just for yourself, use the "VR" format for easy editing and quick loading. To get best picture quality do not rely on the coax cable but get the S-video and the audio cables; you will be glad you did.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

I thought I was buying a throwaway but..

By MoosePort

from New Orleans, LA on 11/15/2007

How long have you owned it:

A month or less

Pros:

Fast Recording, Really quiet burns

Cons:

Clock and manual suck, Confusing Set Up

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Home, Movies, Storage

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

The clock can't be adjusted properly for daylight savings time despite the manual saying otherwise. A lot of the functions aren't intuitive and unfortunately the manual sucks. Having said the above stuff, the thing works great. I bought it for a third of what other makes cost and thought it could be a throwaway but the dvd's it makes are fine. They work in all my computers and dvd players. Also, I bought it on sale and then RS put it again on sale---they refunded the difference!!! I also don't know who makes the burner in the thing and I can't find any firmware . If anybody knows for sure please post it. I saw that some people on the web were saying that it did not have inputs on the front of the machine only on the back--WRONG,WRONG WRONG-they are in a small hatch on the right side. It would be nice if it also used dvd+r/w and was HD etc etc but for the price simply buy the thing if you can find it.

dolly

By pinkflashlight from bridgeview on 11/4/2007

How long have you owned it:

One-to-three months

Pros:

Good for the price

Best Uses:

Home, Movies

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

easy to hook up. if you have comcast. would buy another one. wish it would take + and - dics. good for the buck.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Best recorder Ever

By Austin the braniac from louisville, ky on 10/13/2007

How long have you owned it:

One-to-three months

Pros:

Attractive Design, Fast Recording, Fast Setup, Good picture, Simple Controls

Cons:

NONE

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Home, Movies, Office, Professional, Storage

Describe Yourself:

Computer wiz

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I had a magnovox just like it for three months and it messed up and when i bought this product it was the best thing i had ever did. It has way better picture and it has a more sleek design.

only accepts DVD-R discs

By Jimmy from Austin, Texas on 10/1/2007

How long have you owned it:

A month or less

Pros:

Simple Controls

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Home

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

It seems to be just like the Magnavox that I purchased for twice the price. However, the Magnavox supports all types of DVDs, whereas this one only supports DVD-R.

[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Great product

By Kelly, the transcriber

from Tarpon Springs, FL on 9/30/2007

How long have you owned it:

More than six months

Pros:

Attractive Design, Fast Recording, Fast Setup

Cons:

Some features not explain

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Home, Movies, Storage

Describe Yourself:

Practical

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

There are features either not explained or not clearly explained, but, overall, for the price, you can't beat it.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Great Value!

By Mel from Philly on 9/27/2007

How long have you owned it:

More than six months

Pros:

Fast Setup, Simple Controls

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I bought this system at [@] more than two years ago and the recorder still works! Great for recording TV shows 4 or 6 hours. Great performance for the money even back then when it was [$]. Now for [$] bucks! I'd probably get another one.It'll be nice if it supports dual layer DVDs now.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Great unit ... great quality recordings

By goodharbor from Gloucester, Massachusetts on 9/9/2007

Pros:

Attractive Design, Fast Recording, Fast Setup, Simple Controls

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Great quality for the price ... recording at Standard Definition (SD) (2 hours on a standard DVD-R)are fine in quality ... no digital artifacts, no macroblocking. I am successfully using off-branded DVD-R ...

I'm recommending this unit to friends.

[1 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

Disappointed with Quality

By Spring from West Virginia on 9/8/2007

Pros:

Attractive Design, Compact Size

Cons:

Discs Load Slowly

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows

Describe Yourself:

Practical

Bottom Line:

No, I would not recommend this to a friend

When I first purchased the Presidian DVD recorder, I was extremely pleased because it seemed simple to use and was compact in size. However, without warning, the recorder stopped working. After cleaning with a DVD cleaner disc, it will now read DVDs, but will not record. It recognizes and begins preparing the DVD, but stops at 27% and ejects the disc. Probably will look for a more recognized brand for my next purchase.

[0 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

Great

By David36

from Alabama on 9/4/2007

Pros:

Attractive Design, Fast Recording, Fast Setup, Simple Controls

Cons:

Poor Chapter Publishing

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Home, Storage

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Works great for the money i paid for it.

[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Pretty Good Unit. Simple to use

By Squibbs from Chicago on 8/26/2007

Pros:

Attractive Design, Fast Recording, Fast Setup, Simple Controls

Cons:

Discs Load Slowly

Best Uses:

Movies

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

This is a pretty easy to use unit for the money.

[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

You get what you pay for.

By Chuck from New York on 8/10/2007

Pros:

Fast Setup, Simple Controls

Cons:

Discs Load Slowly, Durability

Best Uses:

Movies

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Overall, you get what you paid for. I bought one to change over my movie collection to DVD. It has worked flawlessly for the first 250 disks (4 months)at 6hrs of recording per disk. Now it is having problems reading disks, and copying onto them. After using a lens cleaner, it will work for a couple of more disks and then go back to not reading the disks again.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Like Me, a B+

By Hey, You over there

from Deerfield Beach, FL on 8/4/2007

Pros:

Attractive Design, Fast Recording, Fast Setup, It works, Simple Controls

Cons:

Instructions

Best Uses:

Home

Describe Yourself:

Couch Potato, Professional

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I like this unit. So far, it works. It does what it is supposed to do. Miracle. It could do things quicker, but it works. I am tired of those bar graphs left-to-right on the "progress" but since it is so slow, the graph tells us how long we have to wait.

[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]

Basic but durable

By Steve. from Lexington, NC on 8/4/2007

Pros:

Dependable, Fast Recording, Simple Controls

Cons:

No dv input

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Home, Movies, Storage

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

This model is very simular to two Emerson dvd recorders that I still use.(I've had two of those units and they have recorded 100's of dvds The manuals are identical as well as the remotes.) I paid over $100 a piece for the Emersons so [...] seems like a bargain for these Presidian dvd recorders.I don't do anything fancy with my recorders- just burn movies off satellite as I watch them. I never fool with the timer/programming mumbo jumbo. If you are looking for that sort of stuff then get a tivo and use it with a burner.I only wish this unit had a dv input, but for the money it is still a good deal.

[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

Not bad for the price!

By Dave R from OKC, OK on 7/28/2007

Pros:

Fast Recording, Simple Controls

Cons:

Poorly Written Manual

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Movies

Describe Yourself:

Gearhead, Practical, Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

You can't beat it for the price! I bought it on clearance for [$]. You'd pay that just for a DVD player alone. I've used it a couple of months now and have a few comments.1. The "component out" video looks really good for playback of store bought DVD movies. 2. Recordings look best on 2 hr mode, yes you can put 12 hours of stuff on 1 DVD R but it'll look aweful.Timer works great, Good remote, I'm actually pleased with the recordings on 2 hr mode off of satellite input. If somethings longer than 2 hours long you'd do better to use a VCR. I'd but it again.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Good Cheap DVD Recorder

By Hotfingers from WI on 7/23/2007

Pros:

Fast Recording

Cons:

Confusing Set Up

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Storage

Describe Yourself:

Tech Savvy

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Ok I purchased this cheaply and wanted to test it out after reading your reviews. I have now burned over 100 hours from my VHS collection and various recording channels. I find it wonderful. One person said dvd would not play on other devices, please finalze dvd as you do with any other dvd recording. Directions need serious improvement. But overall 4-5 stars.............

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

You Get What You Pay For

By Porpose from Santa Rosa, CA on 7/14/2007

Pros:

Attractive Design, Simple Controls

Cons:

Confusing Set Up

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows

Describe Yourself:

Practical, Technically Challenged

Bottom Line:

No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Told by store personnel I would be able to record music CD's from cassette tape and phono deck. Not so. Able to record DVD's only and those only from antenna/cable box or units playing non-read protected material. Once recorded, DVD's are not compatable (dissimilar format) with other players in household. But, as bargain unit for downloading from ethers, a good deal.

[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

Bang for the Buck

By Old School Shacker

from Tucson, AZ on 7/12/2007

Pros:

Fast Recording, Simple Controls

Best Uses:

Home

Describe Yourself:

Gearhead

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

This is really a bargain for the money. No bells and whistles but quite functional for the price. And it will start recording very quick compared to other brands I have tried.Just tell it that you want it to read S-video instead of the RCA plug when you hook up your old camcorder and you're ready to go. You can only use -R disks for recording but check into other brand's comments on the internet and you'll find they have varying success with different disks that they supposedly handle. I happen to prefer the most stable -r disks that I can find anyways, so no loss to me and you're told up front.I have an old walmart purchased dvd/tv combo machine next to it which does not have an eject button on the remote-- but the remote from my new Radio shack machine works with it and will eject it, too. How's that for an unadvertised bonus! Your mileage may vary, but this is my favorite Radio Shack purchase since the old TRS-80 days. Will it last? Who knows, but I only paid [$] for it and it works better than most budget models by companies that no longer exist that I paid more for.

[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

at [$] you cant complain

By okeefe58 from chicago on 7/4/2007

Pros:

Attractive Design, Fast Recording

Cons:

no rf modulator

Best Uses:

Archiving TV Shows, Home, Movies

Describe Yourself:

Gearhead

Bottom Line:

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

when i saw this [$] i snatched one up with a pack of the recommended maxell dvdrws-set it up like you would a vcr -cable in-out to channel 3 -lo and behold, no dvd signal no matter what i try, only cable3 telemundo -mmmm -wheres the little tv/vcr button?(in this case it would be tv/dvd)-there isnt one-you can only have a signal thru the other connections-no rf modulator-wierd--who ever heard of such a thing? [$] not to much of a problem for me though,since i was gonna chain it with a vcr anyway-so its rca cables to vcr-vcr coax to chennel 3- so far the recordings have amazed me- even 10hour mode looks pretty good? really amazing [...] plan on doing some reading--this is really quit a bit more complicated than a vcr, but otherwise i'm very satisfied with it so far-

[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Internal clock runs fast. ...

By Terry R from Keokuk, IA on 6/7/2007

Internal clock runs fast. I have to reset the time about once per month.

Ouch - note that it does ...

By Pete D from Hillsboro on 4/1/2007

Ouch - note that it does not handle the new U.S. dates for time changes for Daylight Savings.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

It hasn't missed any ...

By Pete D from Oregon on 2/1/2007

Pros:

Good capacity, Good features, Good Value

It hasn't missed any recordings - note that it has to be turned off for the timed recording feature to work, just like on VCR's. DVD-RW's seem to be harder to find than the DVD+RW's. I'm using both RW's and R's depending on if I think I want to keep the show just watch once. It seems to record in widescreen if the signal is available, that's cool. Shows play widescreen on my laptop, and regular on the tube TV.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Cool item to replace VHS ...

By Lita H from Louisiana on 12/12/2006

Pros:

Good capacity, Good features, Good Value

Cool item to replace VHS taping daily. It was very affordable and serves the purpose of what was needed. Be prepared for a lot of reading, but if you page to the back of the manual there is a quick start to operating the recorder. If you want something high-tech spend more money. If you want what you pay for this is it!!!

[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

GARBAGE!!!!!! Pure trash! ...

By Sonia G from Ohio on 12/6/2006

GARBAGE!!!!!! Pure trash! I recorded a few shows, then could not finalize them BECAUSE THE PLAYER WOULD NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE A DISC IN THE MACHINE!! DO NOT BUY THIS!!!!!

I absolutely love it!!! I ...

By Melissa O from Loma Rica Ca on 10/7/2006

Pros:

Easy to use, Good capacity, Good features, Good Value

I absolutely love it!!! I loved the ease of use. I have used it to dub from my vcr and actually went and bought one for family members for christmas!!

What good is a recorder ...

By Bill F from Minneapolis on 9/21/2006

Pros:

Good capacity

What good is a recorder that decides to not record things without warning you? It sometimes decides (not sure why but have suspicions) that a regularly scheduled recording is not valid even though it shows up on the list of events. Opening up the event and accepting it again (no changes made) will turn it on again. The quality of the recordings is good. There is no option to break a recording into two parts. There is a serious lack of front panel controls. To do even the most minimal useful items, you need to use the remote.

Customer Reviews about the Presidian DVD Recorder at Radio Shack