karen, have you finalised the +r discs before playing them on another machine? Very few ,if any,DVD players will play un-finalised discs. If you have finalised them,did you only try playing them in 1 other DVD player,or several? Also,have you only used 1 type of disc,or have you tried more than one?
Nice to hear from you Cultvguy. Thanks so much for all the great help. How did you know that I've been too timid to hook it up. This should build my confidence. Pitiful aren't I? I am going to hook it up. Just to let you know what this looks like I will try to describe it here goes: Small grey box about 4 in. by 2 in. Looking straight at it, on the left is a video input plug and next to that is the yellow plug and then the power transformer plug. Moving to the right side is video ouput plug and another yellow plug and next to that is the selection button for PAL or NTSC. Right on the front of it is the mode select button have no idea what that is. It says Normal (arrow) Enhanced (arrow) Darker (arrow) Black/White. There are no lights next to these so I do not know how to tell what mode I am in unless it might show up on screen on TV. Of course, I wouldn't know this because I haven't plugged it in yet. I am about to and will let you know how it all turns out. Thanks so much, you are great. Suzzie
Hi Suzzie,you can do it,once you have it figured out you'll wonder what all the fuss was about OK,the yellow sickets are for the RCA cable to go in,which should also have a yellow connector at each end of the cable.You need 2 of those cables,one to go from the VCR playing your tape to input on the CT2,and one to go from the output of the CT2 to the input of the Sanyo(either the input on the front or rear,its up to you) The Red and White audio cables do not go through the CT2 ,as sound is not affected my Macrovision,so they should go directly from the VCR output to the Sanyo input. OK now,the mode button is to disable the Macrovision.When in the "Enhanced" position,you will be able to copy from tapes and the Macrovision will be eliminated.With the switch in "Normal" the picture will go all fuzzy if Macrovision is present on the tape being played. The final 2 positions "Darker" and "Black and White" ,you wont need to worry about too much,they just make slight adjustments to the picture.The Black and white one just removed colour from the picture,and the Darker one adjusts the brightness i believe. Once you have it all hooked up,set the sanyo to the input channel that the cables are connected to(AV1 i think is on the back of the unit,and AV2 is on the front.It dosent matter which ones you use,as long as you set the input to the correct one via the menu.) Once that's all done,play a tape in the VCR and you should see the picture come through the Sanyo and onto your screen.If the picture wobbles about like crazy,make sure the CT2 Mode is set to Enhanced,and you should be all set. Let us know if you get any more problems and i will do my best to help
Hi guys,just to let you know that i found a cheaper deal on DVD+R discs. 2 packs of 25 +r discs for $24.99 at tigerdirect http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1080775 plus shipping.To my location it came out to $36,which is a good deal for 50 discs! cheers all ps,Suzzie,did you get that enhancer thing going ?
Forgot to mention that deal is for HP discs 4x speed.But for 8X discs,have a look at this deal !! http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=700486&CatId=406 cheers
Thanks for answering culttvguy. That was my first thought so I called Sanyo, and they said the same thing...the disc isn't finalized. With them on the phone, I went to the machine and put in an R+ that doesn't play in anything else. The menu choice of "finalize", was dimmed so you could not choose it. When I told them that on the phone, they said "then the disc is finalized." I have tried 6 different brands of R+, from cheap to expensive....I've tried new DVD players, old DVD players, even a brand new DVDRW+-R drive in a computer. These R+ work in no other machine except the piece of crap Sanyo that recorded it. I have an APEX that plays everything. I sent my dad's old 8mm movies off to have a DVD made from them. I made copies on a CD burner, not DVD burner, and my APEX plays them. Sanyo pretty much admitted there was a firmware problem, but after finding out there was no update, the lady said there wasn't anything wrong with the unit. I guess all I can do is hope a firmware update comes around. I am surprised no one else has said they have this problem. I'm on my second unit and they both did the same thing.
I bought this unit last night at Walmart. It's kinda quirky, but i think that maybe i'm using dvd+rw's that don't agree with the unit. In this instruction manual it lists some that are known to work with the unit. They play on the unit, but when recording a few VHS movies to them, they locked up the recorder. I had to unplug it, wait 5 seconds, and plug it back in again several times. I do think i'm gonna return it, and try out another brand. I saw a Magnavox at Best Buy for $20 more. Gonna try that one out and see how much better it is. I don't like the fact that when playing mp3's, the song titles aren't completely shown. Plus, i have a Norcent dvd player that i got for less than $100 a year ago, and both units use a couple of the same setup screens when playing dvd's. I am wondering if Norcent is a related company to Sanyo. All in all, i think i can do better.
Hi snafu (30yrs mil taught me what that means..har) To answer one of your questions, I have used Memorex and HP dvd and both work fine. I did find, thanks to culttvguy, that HP is great if you want to play them on your computer as well. Found some good deals at tigerdirect.com too. There are a lot of little things that I don't like but since I am just getting started in the dvd fun and mostly using it to transfer vhs to dvd, the 500 serves the purpose. I plan on going to a better one later on. Good Luck!
I don't know if this has been posted yet, but there is a firmware upgrade for this Sanyo unit at www.sanyo.com. You will need a PC, cd r/rw drive, a zip utility, and a data cd writing program like nero or Write Cd's (this is the one I used). There is a pdf that details the upgrade process.
Warpwood,can you post the exact URL of where the upgrade is located please becasue i could not find it on the site cheers
Morning Cult! Just read about the upgrade. Hope he is monitoring this site and provides URL for the upgrade. Hope your holidays were all you expected. Jerry
Me again Cult...........Go to http://www.sanyo.com/entertainment/dvd_recorders/index.cfm?productID=1076 Look on right-hand side of page under Products... Just found it; gonna check it later today.. Jerry
WOW Cult! "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of ME!" I am lost on para 3 of How To Make An Upgrade CD-ROM. After you look at it, how about a blow-by-blow instructions on making the disk. Appreciate it, thanks........
Hi Fret,let me have a look at it,and i'll let you know my findings !! Should be able to let you know today cheers
OK,i think i got it to work.I'm not sure what CD Burning software you use,but i use Roxio CD Creator Classic.Go to the bit to make a Data CD.And where you would add files to the project,select the DRW500 folder that you downloaded,and add it to the project,not just the upgrade file itself,you have to add the DRW500 folder that you extracted it tnce you have done that,burn the disc at a low speed(I used 4x) and make sure it is set to "Disc at Once" and finalise the disc.Once thats done,just put it in the sanyo as it says on that instruction page.Use your remote to get to the DRW500 folder and press ENTER and it should do what it needs to do.It'll take about a minute,then the screen goes blank.I think that is when you have to unplug it like it says,and plug it back in again. I'm not sure whether it has actually changed anything,i suppose i will have to try recording some discs to see. I'm still annoyed that this thing wont record in PAL format.Even the Cyberhome one recorded PAL !! Anyway,good luck with it,let us know what happens.
Hi, this is a great forum. I learned a lot about DVD recorders by reading through it. I just bought a Sanyo DVR500 at Walmart. I havn't set it up yet but I found the firmware update. FYI, the support phone guy told me that it is for solving two problems: 1)with using Memorex media and 2) "lip sink" problems, where picture doesn't syncronize with voice. He recommended that I not update unless I have one of those problems.
Has anybody used Sony DVD+R media, 4.7GB, 1x-8x with the DVR500? I got a good deal on the media at Sams. But Sony is not listed in the user manual, so I need to decide whether to return it to the store unopened. Any recommendations?
hi, i am new... i just got the drw500 and i am not happy at all... i tried hooking up the input 1 and 2 the s-video... well, black screen... i know it is not the video cable because i then hooked the cable up to something else and i got a picture, then back to the drw500 and nothing!! i tried both s-video inputs, and yes i made sure the channel was set correctly and whatnot... it did work with the regular rca cable, but not the s-video cable... so i exchanged it.. got the new one home... SAME THING... but like i said, i know the cable works as i have tested it on 2 different things that take S-video!! anyone else have this problem?? thanks jeff
Welcome devoted.. This is an excellent site for helping you get started. It has been a life saver for me anyway. When you did your initial setup; under setup menu, there is a place called AV Select. If you are going to use S-Video cable you must be sure you have selected S-Video.. Hope this is what you are asking about.. Let me know if it works..
Hello Shilliard! I guess Sony is the only one I haven't used. I have used several different brands but found that HP works best if you are going to use on a computer also. My advice would be to buy a small amount of the Sony first (before you open the other) and give it a try; if it works, stock up on them. There are a lot of brands not listed in the manual that work just fine. Good Luck! Jerry
