Hard-Disk DVD Recorders

Easiest to use DVD recorders

Hard-drive DVD recorders are a preferred choice of both users and reviewers. That's why it is so disappointing that virtually every manufacturer has stopped offering them in the U.S. What's available now in this category still has great advantages over other DVD recorders but falls short of the best products once offered by Panasonic, Pioneer and others.

Funai is the only maker still supplying hard disk DVD recorders to the U.S., selling two models under its Magnavox brand. The good news is that while experts have been slow to report in, there's more than enough user feedback that says both HDD DVRs are capable performers.

The less expensive Magnavox MDR513H/F7 (*Est. $200) has a 320 GB hard drive that can store 387 hours of programming at the lowest-quality setting and 64 hours at the highest-quality setting. Unlike the better recorders of the past, the Magnavox MDR513H/F7 lacks its own programming guide, but it can use the one sent by over-the-air digital stations as part of the digital broadcasting standard. Unfortunately, the recorder can't use that guide for programming; users have to resort to the old-fashioned system of entering channels and recording times manually, much like a VCR. While the Magnavox MDR513H/F7 can't really replace a digital video recorder, it does include some DVR features, such as the ability to pause and resume live TV. DVD recording is generally much easier than with a more basic machine, plus you have the advantage of having your program archived on the hard disk should something go wrong.

No experts have weighed in on the Magnavox MDR513H/F7, but user reviews are positive and plentiful, with more than 300 reporting in at Walmart.com and more feedback available at AVSForum.com, Amazon.com and elsewhere.

Funai's latest HDD DVD recorder is the Magnavox MDR515H/F7 (*Est. $250). It includes a number of upgrades over the MDR513H/F7, including a bigger 500 GB hard disk drive. That gives you enough capacity for 620 hours of video in the lowest-quality mode or 103 hours of the highest-quality video. Several of that HDD DVD player's other new features also draw raves at AVSForum.com. For example, the remote control is called much improved over the one included with the MDR513H/F7 and earlier Magnavox hard disk DVD players thanks to its better layout and larger keys. Other pluses of the MDR515H/F7 include a one-hour power back up for timers in case of a power failure, improved titling flexibility for timer recordings and more. A full list of the new features can be found in a handy table at AVSForum.com (see Our Sources).

Otherwise, features and functions are similar to the Magnavox MDR513H/F7. That means that while the Magnavox MDR515H/F7 can't really replace a DVR, some DVR-like usability -- the ability to pause, fast-forward and reverse live video -- is available. User reviews at Walmart.com are generally positive.