The Samsung DVD-VR357 DVD Recorder/ VCR Combo is, simply put, a general purpose recording center for use with a cable converter box. No more, and no less. In support of this role, Samsung has done a good job of making a complex machine relatively simple to set up, and flexible enough to make it work. It doesn't have its own tuner; either you record from the cable box, or you record from a monitor output on the TV. It does have both DVD recording and VCR recording, and has the ability to automatically record between the two. The unit up-converts its output to support HD monitors, so it is essentially as good as the state of the art is going to get for non-HD DVD machines while the Blue-Ray and HD DVD folks are busy burning each other's fields.

Description and Usage

Here we are in the early 21st century, a time when my boyhood self imagined recording would be markedly easier than the old days. Instead, the VCR is passing into history, while for reasons which defy ready comprehension, we have been saddled with a recording industry paranoid people will show interest in their products in ways they haven't foreseen and specifically marketed. It seems TiVo and everyone else wants a monthly allowance to do the simple functions we took for granted just a few years ago.

But not to despair; there are still some options, and they are capable and useful. The Samsung DVD-VR357 DVD Recorder /VCR Combo is a return to the simple concept behind the VCR: You can record something and watch it later. This machine has two recording devices on board: A VCR and a DVD recorder. The resulting unit is still around the size of a VCR, though, with a gloss black front with a data display at the bottom.

The unit is built to be simple to operate with a cable system. In fact, since it has no tuner, it must use an outside tuner for its signal. The largest complication it has is a physical one in the form of the remote control. Although a few basic functions can be run from the front of the machine, it lives on its remote control, which is a new form factor black-faced remote covered from top to bottom with tiny buttons which are somewhat difficult to search through even in bright light.

Once past this hurdle, though, the recorder has some very useful features:

(1) All outputs are hot all the time. Unlike the Samsung DVD-HD745, you don't have to select an output to make it active, and since even regular cable is up-converted to 720p or 1080i as it is routed through this recorder, you can tell if what you are doing is working while up are setting it up. And you have the option of using Coax, 3-wire RCA, 5-wire RCA progressive scan, Super VHS, or HDMI outputs.

(2) Full authority cable box control- the unit lets you program it to a channel to record, and all you have to do is remember to leave the cable box on. Note, the recording menu lets you select whether it records to DVD or to the VCR.

(3) Dual record and playback: You can watch something while recording on the other drive, and it can record from drive to drive (if you still have a VHS-C camcorder this might be useful).

(4) Wide range of supported DVD formats. You can pick what you want to record in. However, formats such as DVD-RAM seem to be difficult to find compatible machines for this unit's output. DVD-RW appears to be a good general-purpose choice.

Thankfully, the cult of all-blue-lighting is dying down, so the VR357 recorder has an easy to read display with colors the eye can recognize, such as green and red. A lot of thought has gone into making this machine useful, so for example, the display indicator for DVD mode is on the top left of the display next to the DVD recorder tray, while the red VCR active display is in the opposite corner, next to the VCR tape slot, so while you need to be within a couple of feet to read the letters DVD or VCR, it is still obvious which mode the machine is in from 20 feet away. For recording, an obvious red circle of light surrounds the record button, so again it is obvious what the machine is doing from far away.

The recorder uses a menu system to set up recordings which, along with selecting a recording device, a recording channel, and the date and time, also lets you select from a wide range of recording resolutions, or let it select automatically. The display tells how much recording time the selected mode results in. What is very unusual is what selecting extended modes causes to happen on the DVD versus the VCR. The unit has a small IR LED on a cord with a black double-stick tape label to attach it to the cable box, at which point all you have to do is put in the code for your brand. For ours, there were eight codes given, but the first one has the unit give it the correct commands. With this hookup in place, the recorder acts very much as if it did have an onboard tuner. The main thing to remember is it is only going to record what the cable box sends to it, so what you are viewing and what is on cable are permanently linked, unless you want to watch something from one drive while it is recording with the other.

For the VCR, the longer the play duration, the grainier the image, as everyone has probably seen over the years. Playback with up-conversion can't solve the lack of data, though it does produce a bit of a soft focus look. Given the limits of the recording medium, this is to be expected, but it also means you can't expect anything new and improved from this unit; it's just a VCR.

On the DVD side, there is a wide range of playback results possible. If using a commercially recorded DVD, the playback is ostensibly perfect with very crisp images, though to be critical, there is a bit of the edge-shadow caused by unsharp masking in the up-conversion process. This is similar to what the unit produces if it records to DVD in 2 hour mode. When it is set for longer record times, some unusual things happen. The most obvious is the blocky pixelation of fast moving scenes. A rapidly moving camera or changing image will deteriorate and become blocky. When the action slows, the image obviously improves, and when motion is nearly stopped in the image, the quality quickly approaches that of a standard DVD. The general impression is similar to a computer webcam's image stream. The longer the DVD recording time selected, the more severe the effect is. So, unless you are setting the unit to record for a week at a time, shorter recording times are definitely preferred. On the other hand, if you are recording a simple scene with little change in it, the long duration recording may be just fine.

The DVD-RW disks written by the Samsung VR357 are compatible with the Sony DVPFX810 Portable DVD Player at all speeds. Interestingly, even the 6 hour compressed recording does not show pixelation artifacts on the small portable DVD player. In this mode, it has proven to be a fantastic road-trip DVD recorder, which can put 6 hours of kids' programming on one disk. Note, each start and stop of a recording program ends up as one program on the final disk.

Problems

The single largest problem I have had with this unit is converting its HDMI output to DVI. Ordinarily, this is supposed to be just a question of an adapter. In my case, the DVI output worked for broadcast video routed through the player, and also for VCR output. DVD output resulted in a image for a few seconds or a fraction of a second, then a loss of video and sound for a few seconds with a sudden return. I ended up cabling the unit with progressive scan 5-RCA cables, and the television accepts a 1080i signal in this mode. Samsung has responded to my complaint by sending a firmware upgrade disk, which apparently will update the software on the unit. I will write an addendum to this review if this produces a change in result. However, given the good results withe progressive scan setup, I'm currently reluctant to change it (especially considering the additional cables are worth 80% of the price of the recorder).

The second largest problem is the linear nature of recordings and the random-access capability of the DVD drive: Namely, it seems to have trouble understanding I would like to record at the end of the last recording instead of over it. For the moment, the solution appears to be to program multiple recordings on the timer listing at the same time, and it will automatically make best use of the disk to get them all. The VCR section doesn't have this problem, though it won't instantly move 30 seconds past a commercial when you hit the button.

Conclusion

The Samsung DVD-VR357 DVD Recorder/VCR Combo is a useful recording appliance and DVD up-converting player capable of taking on all of the roles of non-HD formats. This device is specifically made to be used with a cable or satellite system, and only has the ability to command a cable box to a station; it has no tuner of its own. The unit has a few quirks in how it treats its DVD recorder's data and disk starting points, and digitally compressed DVD recordings for long run-times can result in blocky webcam-like images. The unit has a fully functioning VCR, which may be preferable for long recordings since it is still an analog image. All in all, a satisfactory recorder.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 179