warm: refurbished DVD recorder w digital tuner ~$95.30 (give or take)

[hurtstotalktoyou]

$84.99 Philips DVDR3505/37 refurbished DVD recorder with ATSC and NTSC tuners
$10.31 shipping to 61103 (shipping to your zip code may vary)
TOTAL: $95.30
Google checkout may (or may not) take $5 off, bringing the total to $90.30

Like many folks, I'm wary of refurbished products. But considering that DVD recorders with tuners usually cost over $200, this seems like a very warm deal. So I ordered one, and it is due to arrive on Monday. I'll post back here to verify that the deal is indeed worthy of this forum.

Now, I also have a couple of questions regarding bing cashback, google checkout and jr.com:

1. I actually got the above refurbished DVD recorder for $90.30 using the -$5 deal with Google checkout. But now that I have done so, Google checkout is no longer taking $5 off jr.com orders, as it claims to do for orders over $30. Is that $5 off deal only good for a single purchase per account?

2. None of my bing.com/search.live.com cashback rewards have worked in the past several months, despite using Internet Explorer 8 to make the purchases. Any idea what the deal with that is? It was working perfectly when I used it a dozen times in January and February, but now I get nothing.

3. Several products from jr.com are only viewable through bing.com/cashback. For example, the Sherwood RX-4105 is not listed if you go to the home page on jr.com, but if you go to bing.com/cashback, you'll find it listed there. What gives?

 

[mikeford]

Pretty sure google checkout discount is a one time thing. Maybe cookie, etc. issues on the rest. I don't do the transaction if I don't have something showing re live.com etc.

 

[mpheadley]

I'd love to find one of these that records anamorphic widescreen. It'll record a widescreen TV signal and you can play it back in a normal dvd player and a 4:3 older TV in letterboxed widescreen or on a 16:9 widescreen TV without black bars. I know I've seen at least one model with this capability. Almost every dvd recorder ONLY records in 4:3.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Well, it arrived today, and I have mostly positive first impressions.

Pros:
1. Quick channel response. On my old DVD recorder, and on my TV, changing the channel has a delay of 0.5 to 2.0 seconds. This new DVD recorder is a lot more snappy, with hardly any delay at all.
2. Quiet operation.
3. Nice look. I like the old 1980s-style grey metal.
4. Quick shipping (ordered Wed, arrived Mon)

Cons:
1. No batteries for the remote. It takes two AAA size.
2. Instead of an original user manual, they gave me some photocopied manual which I can't read. So I had to download the manual from philips.com.
3. It lacks the shine and gleam of a brand new unit. Clearly it has been used before.
4. No volume control on the remote. (There are volume buttons, but they only work for Philips-brand TVs.)
5. The remote isn't terrible, but it isn't particularly well-thought-out, either. Some of the buttons are counter-intuitive, and will require getting used to them.

As you can see, even though the cons are numerous, none of them are substantial. The unit seems to work very well so far, and I hope it will continue to do so. At $90.30 (or $95.30 without Google Checkout), I'm very pleased with my purchase! This is indeed a warm deal.

 

[ibex333]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou
Well, it arrived today, and I have mostly positive first impressions.

Pros:
1. Quick channel response. On my old DVD recorder, and on my TV, changing the channel has a delay of 0.5 to 2.0 seconds. This new DVD recorder is a lot more snappy, with hardly any delay at all.
2. Quiet operation.
3. Nice look. I like the old 1980s-style grey metal.
4. Quick shipping (ordered Wed, arrived Mon)

Cons:
1. No batteries for the remote. It takes two AAA size.
2. Instead of an original user manual, they gave me some photocopied manual which I can't read. So I had to download the manual from philips.com.
3. It lacks the shine and gleam of a brand new unit. Clearly it has been used before.
4. No volume control on the remote. (There are volume buttons, but they only work for Philips-brand TVs.)
5. The remote isn't terrible, but it isn't particularly well-thought-out, either. Some of the buttons are counter-intuitive, and will require getting used to them.

As you can see, even though the cons are numerous, none of them are substantial. The unit seems to work very well so far, and I hope it will continue to do so. At $90.30 (or $95.30 without Google Checkout), I'm very pleased with my purchase! This is indeed a warm deal.

Well, that's all good and well, but HOW WELL DOES IT RECORD?