The Magnavox MDR513H/F7 HDD and DVD recorder with digital tuner, is a cool gadget that can help you keep your VCR collection. It will convert your VCRs to DVD format and at the same time record TV shows in the hard drive.
It's best to use this unit on digital TVs rather than old analogue TV monitors though. If you need to replace your old VCR anyway, you might as well get this one.
Pros
It has a large 320 gig hard drive that can store about 400 hours of recording. Even if you record all your favorite TV shows, you will still have a lot of space left for more. Another advantage is you can record TV shows and delete commercials from the recording.
You can plug it into your unit and be able to figure out how it works in no time. The manual can be a bit difficult to understand so you may be better off just diving in and exploring the Magnavox MDR513H/F7 HDD and DVD recorder with digital tuner as soon as you get it out of the box.
The unit has a one touch button for recording and a one button dubbing feature. It pretty much works like an old VCR so it won't be complicated to use. The difference is it can record TV shows and produce good quality digital pictures. It definitely has better picture quality than a VCR.
Having one of these is like having a Tivo without paying monthly fees. It's a great replacement to an old VCR considering it has more features and records with better picture quality.
Cons
There are a few quirks to the Magnavox, like the remote control which isn't exactly user friendly or easy to use.
It also can't record a double layer DVD.
Another disadvantage is the lack of USB outlets at the back of the unit. So, you can only connect a limited number of devices to it.
Another quirk is the difficulty of editing titles and burning them into the DVD. It can be done but the procedure isn't easy.
The interface is also not that appealing and it take a long time for the unit to write the disk or copy the disk. These may be reason enough for some people not to buy them if they knew about it.
One more thing that drags the Magnavox unit down down is the way it records movies or programs in wide screen format. The recorded picture look distorted after it converts wide screen formats to a 3 x 4 image. You can resolve this problem by manually tweaking the picture on your TV by switching it to wide screen mode.
If you need to replace your old VCR, you might as well get this unit. It's ability to convert your old VCRs to digital format and other features and its huge memory makes it worth the price. If you think about it, your VCR collection won't have to go to waste, thanks to the Magnavox MDR513H/F7 HDD.
