Sony RDR-HX725 DVD Recorder with 160GB Hard Drive

 

 

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The recorder was fairly simple to set up, although the manual is a bit unclear in places, particularly in showing how you should connect the recorder with your other equipment. It's important to note that (like a lot of recorders these days) a scart cable (or any cable to connect it) isn't included. So i had to go out and buy 2 scart cables (one to connect the recorder to my Sky box, the other to the TV). Also worth noting is that the recorder does NOT have a freeview tuner built in. Sony recorders with a D in the model number (e.g. RDR-HXD710) do have freeview built in. Lastly, the item description on Amazon says that it has a HDMI output but this is NOT true.

The interface of the machine is fairly simple, although this is the first recorder i have used so i have nothing to compare it with. I do think that moving between menus is a bit sluggish. The recorder offers a variety of recording options of varying quality. Given the ample space of the hard drive, i usually go for one of the higher quality record modes, and the picture from these is very impressive.
I have recorded onto DVD-RW's and DVD+RW's and have experienced no problems whatsoever as of yet. The editing facilities of the recorder are very useful, say for removing ad breaks, and the function is easy to use.
One concern i would raise is that the fan of the recorder is quite loud, and it turns on periodically. This isnt noticeable while watching films, but I have the recorder in my bedroom, and it's particularly noticeable when i'm trying to get to sleep!
However the main disappointment for me was to find that the recorder (despite what Sony say) does not record in RGB, which I would much prefer to record in, as it delivers a much better picture quality.
The recorder incorporates Guide + and after some initial trouble setting it up (the host channel needs to be Eurosport if you just have a Sky connection or ITV if you have a terrestrial connection as well) i have found it to be quite useful as an EPG, although its weaknesses are exposed when there is a change in the viewing schedule, particularly now with Wimbledon and the World Cup on.
The pause live TV and chasing playback function work reasonably well, although anyone that has seen how well these features have been incorporated in Sky + will probably be disappointed.

In conclusion this is a well equipped player, and is good value for money given the size of the hard drive and the recorders features, but the lack of RGB recording is a major issue for me, and one that led me to the conclusion that i probably should have paid a bit extra for one of the new Panasonic or Pioneer models, especially the Panasonic models which seem to incorporate just about every feature that one could possibly need. But on the whole i am pleased with the general functions of the player - it's easy to use and has a lot of useful features. I think i would probably give this recorder 3.5/5 overall but you can only rate items in whole integers, so i've rounded it up to 4/5.

I bought this in Jan 07 and after setting it up, started to test it and was happy with it, however three weeks in a HDD error message appeared on the display. Looked in the manual and followed the advice, but still HDD error appeared. Only way i coudl get it to go was to turn the unit off at the mains and leave it for a few hours and turn it back on. Then it worked occassionally for a while only for the HDD error to flash back up again.
Have searched the net for help but to no avail, although other people are having the same problem with this recorder and Sony offer no help at all except what is says in the book.
Bought an identical Hard drive and fit that but still HDD error appears. Having paid £200+ for it, its the one thing that really annoys me, as I was hoping to start transfering my old VHS onto DVD's, as well as recording programmes etc.
Its a shame as I had read all the reviews before hand and was impressed. If you can offer any help to this HDD error let me know!

I bought 2 of these to replace a 250GB Liteon which Amazon very nicely took back after it failed within 10 months. The Liteon would regularly reject perfectly good blank discs and render them useless, the Sony's have burned around 50 without 1 error. The Liteon would also have hard disc "error" which meant it would stop editing the footage on the hard drive, but both Sony's have never had 1 error at all. (I think this is the reason it is so slow to respond to button presses from the remote, because it is managing the hard drive better).

If recording from RGB is the ultimate then this machine isn't for you, but I can't fault the picture quality recording via Scart, and given that HD recording can't be too far away, I'll stick with this for this price.

Being a Sony, it even has an option to change remote frequency so you can put the two machines side by side and operate each with it's own remote without affecting the other machine.

I would buy this again before going anywhere near a cheaper rival.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I withheld getting a HD Recorder for a long while and felt I'd done my research well. After 15 months or less than heavy usage, the Hard Disk has given up and died "HDD Error"... Read more

Published on 22 April 2008 by R. Cross

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst dvd recorder I have owned
I bought this to replace a Medion (Tevion) recorder bought from Aldi. I assumed wrongly that the Sony would be of higher quality. Read more

Published on 26 Nov 2007 by George Formby

5.0 out of 5 stars A BRILLIANT PIECE OF KIT!!!
This is one brilliant recorder, a perfect compliment to the Freeview set-top-box.

The Review:
Excellent quality HDD recording, offering an array of different... Read more

Published on 14 Nov 2007 by Mr. M. Parmar

1.0 out of 5 stars Sluggish, poorly thought-out and unreliable
I got my first one of these as a replacement for the Sony RDR-HX510, which broke down after a short time.
I have to say I didn't really like this model. Read more

Published on 14 Nov 2007 by Rachael Rowan

3.0 out of 5 stars Suspect Quality Issues
I have now had 2 of these. The first one failed to accept any pre-recorded discs and was tempremental. Read more

Published on 8 Aug 2007 by C. Gilbert

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent machine
I've had it for less than 10 days but so far I'm delighted. Getting around the handbook took a couple of days. Read more

Published on 2 July 2007 by M. Gabriel

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent machine
after trying two recorders at the cheap end of the market I have finally cracked it hopefully.

There is no end to what this machine will do and the only problem is... Read more

Published on 25 Jun 2007 by A. J. Scoffin

5.0 out of 5 stars FOR THIS MONEY YOU JUST CANNOT GO WRONG
What a FANTASTIC machine!!! Ive had this about 2 month now.. I dont know why I didnt buy one before - well yes I do, they WERE 700 quid mark !! Albeit that with freeview... Read more

Published on 6 Jun 2007 by M. Goodwin

4.0 out of 5 stars Who wrote the instructions?!?!
After much internet surfing and asking mates, I finally invested in this smart piece of gadgetry. Six weeks later and I am still wading through the instruction manual, which was... Read more

Published on 4 May 2007 by DJ Dolly

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but testing of patience
I have had this device now for about 6 weeks, purchased mainly for moving all my old videos and DV tapes onto DVD. Read more

Published on 22 April 2007 by Jag Tatla

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