I picked this up a cpl weeks ago at wal mart for like $170 I think. Anyhow...It's decent from what I can tell, tho I am having an audio sync problem every now and then- I hit record, and the video starts after the audio, so I have ruined records that have out of sync audio. I unplugged the system the first time I had the problem, then put a diff disc in, and it fixed the audio problem...the second time I had the problem, unplugging it all didn't work...only after I unplugged it 2 or 3 times, tried different dvds (a dvd+r and then a dvd+rw), and it finally worked right...no idea what the deal is, tho i read somewhere that a firmware upgrade would fix this. problem is- i followed the sanyo directions and downloaded the firmware update and burned it to a cd-r...put it in the player, and all i see is the folder i created labeled "DRW 500-US", no file in it...the sanyo instructions say to click on the folder and hit enter and wait a min for it to reboot itself...nothing happens when i click the drw us-500 folder...i see no file, just the open "0" folder to take me back to the root folder listing. any ideas on how to get the firmware upgrade to work, and maybe thatll fix the annoying audio sync problem? i checked the cd-r i burned the file to, and it was in all the settings sanyo lists (tho, i dont think i saw a box to check 2X/A mode which sanyo says you need to check when you burn the firmware cd). read that other people had problems installing the FW upgrade as well. anyone have any suggestions?
Don't know if this is the same out-of-sync problem you're having, but when I'm ready to record off the TV, the audio is out-of-sync with the video. But when I play it back, everything's in sync. So what seems like a problem to begin with, works itself out in the end.
come to think about it...im not sure if i checked any of the records to see if it was screwed up on playback. im thinking i did, but i need to check when i get home... it didnt happen when i first started using it...started about a week in and then it was fine for the most part, then last night it did it and i couldnt get it to stop...finally did after about a half hr of unplugging, changing discs, changing to dvd+rw, back to dvd+r, etc. weird thing is- i thought it was my cable box, because i had the problem the first time so i taped the program from the cable box to VHS, then recorded from VHS to DVD, and the problem wasnt there. im guessing i just got lucky tho with the sync problem not being there.
ah. i checked a few of the records that i had the audio sync problem with, and it turns out- the playback is fine...still an annoyance tho, because i usually record a number of diff TV shows and watch them while i record them...hopefully i can figure out why i cant get the firmware upgrade to work and solve that problem...then hopefully the upgrade will take care of the problem all together. thanks for passing along this info tho. now i know its not an issue during playback at least.
You're welcome. Isn't this forum great? I've learned so much here. It's the Sima Video Enchancer I've discovered in this forum that I'm most happy about. Didn't know such a thing existed. It's gold to me.
I'm responding to the author who had trouble performing the hardware upgrade. If I remember from when I did it, the file that you download is a zipped file. I think you have to unzip it BEFORE burning it to the CDR - that's probably why the DVR can't see the file. I did the upgrade with no problems... however, I haven't noticed anything new or different after the upgrade.
Purchased this unit for $113.oo at Walmart. The quality of manufacture is very good and seems updated from its initial release. The menus ARE simple but pretty much straight forward; if, you read the manual as you go through. I have used only Memorex +RW and have yet to have a problem. The movies are clean and crystal clear. They were finalized in the edit section and play on my Toshiba, Panasonic, and Symphonic dvd players. It is connected to a dvr from my cable company, but I cannot get it to scan channels. I hooked it up quickly, so I probably need to move the rack out and correct a simple reroute somewhere. Having been in the passive components industry for years I can tell you this much. Manufacturers have become like software companies, products are released SOONER than they SHOULD BE. As long as we keep buying them, they'll keep it up. No matter where you look, everyone has a complaint no matter who you buy or how much you spend.
Hey waar,i've been saying that for years,that they release their products too early,ever since the first DVD recorder came out.Its like they get the public to beta-test the damn things and use us as guinea pigs to try and sort out their problems which they should have made sure were working before they sold the item.But instead they wait for something to go wrong and then try to have US fix it with some stupid patch or upgrade that dosent work half the time.I have owned 5 DVD recorders,and they have all gone wrong.Stuff like this is not made like it used to be.Stuff i bought in the late 80's/early 90's still works.Stuff i bought in the last couple of years is dead and buried already. Maybe it has made me cynical,but thats how i see it anyway !!
oh yeah...i unzipped the file before i burned it onto the cd. i see the folder when i put it in the dvd recorder, but the folder is empty. which is weird, because with other cd's and such, if it doesnt recognize the file format, itll show it but it shows it with a question mark on it and wont play it. in this case, it doesnt show the file at all...
In response to the last question from jboze3131 concerning the firmware update. I just did the update last night and had no problem. The only thing I can think of that you might be doing wrong is when you unzip the folder (DRW-500US), it will automatically make another folder with the same name. This is the one you want to burn onto your CDR. Check to see if the one you burned onto CDR has a zipper on it. If so, it is the wrong folder. I am not sure what exactly this firmware update does since they do not explain it on their website, but I was trying to record from another DVD player yesterday and about 1 hour or so into it, it would just stop. After ruining 2 DVD+R's and one DVD+RW, I gave up and went on their website looking for information. I did the update and then erased the DVD+RW that I had used before and tried it again and it recorded the whole thing with no problems. So I am assuming the update fixed something that corrected the problem. Hope this helps!
i unzipped the file and put it into the folder they say to create yourself "500-DRWUS" or whatever it is exactly. i see the folder when i put it in the sanyo recorder, but it shows just a regular folder with no zipper as if its zipped...when i click the folder, its empty. i checked it on my computer and the file IS in there. its a file with a .san extension. i tried to call sanyo's support line today for hours, but it was busy everytime i called. i notice that if i put a dvd rw in and record from my VCR, and THEN record from a dvd+r from the cable box, it hasnt had the audio glitch. then again, maybe i just got lucky the times i tried this. i only get the audio problem from the cable box, never ran into it when recording from my vcr tho, which is odd. tried burning the firmware upgrade cd again, but no luck. im using a free program called "burn 4 free". anyone know of a better cd burning software i can use for free or trial ware just long enough to do this? no money right now to go out and buy software for burning.
Hey jboze! The only thing that I can think of is that your CD burning software may not be finalizing the disk at the end of the burning process??? If it doesn't, you will still see the information on your computer because it has the original drive that burned the CD, but other machines cannot read the info. OR maybe try another brand of CD media - maybe the Sanyo has problems with certain brands. I use Imation and Office Depot CDRs. Also, I use Roxio EZ CD Creator 7 which came with my new drive. Hope this info helps. BTW, the .san extension is the correct format of the file. Another possibility is that the Sanyo may be defective. How long ago did you buy it? Maybe you can take it back to the store for an exchange. I bought a brand-new Pioneer DVD/RW drive for my PC and got it home and just about went crazy because it would read and write DVDs but would NOT read CDRs. I bought 3 different brands before I realized that the laser for the CD writer could be bad (DVD drives usually have 2 lasers). I took it back to Best Buy and exchanged it. The new drive worked like a charm. Hope this helps. Jeff
thanks for the suggestions. according to the software i used...it shows that it finalized the disc, so i dont think thats it. on the sanyo site it says to make sure you burn the cd in 2X/A mode- not sure what that is, and didnt see that option anywhere in the software i used...wonder if that might be the problem? any idea what that mode is and would it maybe screw up the upgrade cd ultimately? i got the recorder about 3 weeks ago...so i could take it back to wal mart and exchange it, but i doubt that the recorder is the problem- it shows the folder, as i mentioned...so im thinking its the free software i used to burn the cd itself. had software with my PC installed to burn cd's (cant remember the name), but chose to reinstall the win xp OS with a fresh cd, which meant i lost the preinstalled software.
Jboze - just thought of something else. Maybe it's a glitch with your cable box that your television doesn't have a problem with. Try recording a program on cable, but run the cable box thru the VCR and daisy chain it to the DVR. I have THAT setup from my satellite receiver - it goes digitally to my home theatre setup BUT I have the coax side go to the VCR and then to the TV. Maybe this is a workaround.
JBoze: If you have the recovery CD set from your PC, it is possible that you could extract some of the original software (most manufacturers leave that ability). It is likely that you got Roxio or Nero with your original PC. However, with XP you will need to make sure that it's AT LEAST version 6 of the Roxio software. Previous versions have problems with WinXP. Also, there ARE options for burning and my Roxio software shows a lot of options in the burning process. The default was NOT what Sanyo required for the CD so I had to tweak some settings. This may be the problem also. Maybe you can have a friend who has Roxio or Nero burn the CD for you.... that would definitely prove or eliminate this problem in the upgrade.
Good news! I checked NERO's website and they have a trial version for download. Maybe you can download that and try a CD burn. That would definitely rule out your software.
ah. didnt think of running the cable thru to the vcr. im actually not sure how i hooked it up. i believe i might have cable running into the audio video jacks and the VCR running thru via the coaxial input. need to look at that, because i did notice with the vcr it always paused the video and no sync problem started...whereas with the cable into the dvd recorder, the audio sync problem happens when the video pauses as i hit record, but the audio starts ahead of it. not a huge problem, as someone here pointed out that in playback the problem isnt there...but, what i do is i tape shows and watch them as i record them so i can pause for commercials to be taken out. will see how i have the cable/vcr running thru to the recorder tho. and duh- the cd took only a min to burn, i could ask someone else who has good software to burn me a disc. as for my recovery cd's- the pc i got had the recovery files on a partition, a partition that was deleted when i reformatted the drive a few months ago using the CD standalone. didnt come with any cd's unfortunately- then again, it was a refurbished model from tiger direct, so i think thats common with them.
just checked it out...and i do have the cable box running thry via an RF cable to the vcr, then the vcr is running thru to the dvd recorder via rca audio and video cables. i notice that if i put a dvd in and start recording...and i get the sync problem. if i hit pause on the recorder and play a video from the vcr, and record to a dvd a second of the vhs, then go back to recording from the cable box, the sync problem is fixed. annoying that i have a second of vhs in there in the middle of a record, but until i can get the firmware upgrade to work, i guess i can deal with it.
jboze, I think that the problem lies in your VCR. I'm not quite sure why, but I think that there's some sort of processing "lag" that occurs in your VCR thru the RCA jacks. I have satellite, but it's probably similar. I originally tried to hook up the satellite receiver to the home theatre system BOTH thru the RCA and RF jacks and it caused problems. I called Dish Network and they said that the receivers are designed to use one or the other - that a sync problem is caused when you try to use both. SO, I would try this: connect your cable box EITHER via RF OR RCA connectors to your VCR and then use the SAME connection type from the VCR to the Sanyo. Then from the Sanyo to your television. I bet that the sync problem disappears altogether. NOW, depending on how your VCR processes signals, you may not get a stereo signal if you use RF. Just remember that if you decide to use RCA all the way, that you'll have to leave your VCR and DVD recorder turned on to watch TV because usually the line parts of these devices don't have a "pass thru" when they're turned off like the RF lines do. Hope this makes sense.
One more thing.... I am a teacher and recently used the Sanyo to transfer our morning call to colors and school alma mater song from VHS to DVD. This is how I did it: I recorded the tapes from VCR to the Sanyo. After closing the disk, I used a program called "Dvd2Avi" to convert the information into a format that my Pinnacle Studio software could work with (I wanted to add other things to the DVD). I noticed that when the DVD2AVI program saved the files, it noted that the audio portion had a 60ms delay. Now, I don't know if this is normal for all .vob files. If I have time this weekend, I'll try to deprocess a commercial video and see if it does the same thing.
