Magnavox MDR537H/F7 HDD/DVD Recorder (Black)

If you subscribe to cable, satellite, or use an external antenna, and/or receive digital programming, this DVR will record all of these broadcasts without having to pay a monthly fee.This DVR will work with newer digital or older analog TVs.This unit does everything VCRs did and more, and is very similar to a VCR to use. The only difference is the extra wire if you have an HDMI TV, and the need to make a few extra settings.This DVR records to a hard drive, like the hard disk in your computer, allowing TV programs to be recorded and watched on your own timetable, then erased. If you only care about that capability, you never need to deal with the DVD features of this machine, such as buying discs and so on.If you do not use a cable box, you will be able to watch one channel while the DVR is recording another channel. Note if you do have a cable box you may not have this option.This review will perhaps be of best assistance to those who subscribe to cable TV, and do not use a cable box, your cable wire goes from wall to TV.PRELIMINARY NOTE ABOUT DIGITAL CHANNELS:The newer so-called off the air (or called “ATSC” or “OTA”) digital channels do require some sort of an antenna or active cable or satellite hookup. Your DVR has only one coaxial input. If you have cable or satellite service, it will occupy the input and that means no antenna. Or vice-versa, if your antenna occupies the input, no cable or satellite.My cable service is only limited basic, I subscribe to no digital channels, but with this DVR, as with my HDTV, numerous digital channels come in, when and only when, the cable service is hooked up and active. They come in via the cable. Most of these are digital broadcasts of the same cable channels I get, but a few are in addition. This may or may not work with your cableco. I suspect that some cable systems, such as Time Warner, which have gone all-digital, are now scrambling even basic channels. I don’t know about any free digital channels with satellite services.If you get no digital channels via your usual service, other options include subscribing to digital cable or satellite or purchasing an indoor or outdoor antenna. But again, you must decide on one reception source.If you are thinking of discontinuing cable or satellite, I advise first trying an antenna to see if you would get enough digital channels. I live in a metropolitan area, and the online services say I should be able to get numerous channels with an antenna, but with an indoor antenna, the results were disappointing, and I had to have my disconnected cable service reconnected. If you are able to get the right antenna, and especially an outdoor one, and are close enough to stations you like, you should do fine, and will not have those monthly fees.GETTING WIRED:You will find a quick setup guide and a thick manual which reads like it was written by people who learned English as a second language. Don’t despair.Unplug your TV. See quick setup guide; take your cable wire, called a RF COAXIAL CABLE, unhook from TV, and hook to DVR IN. Take your (included) second RF cable which looks the same, and hook from DVR OUT to TV.With the old VCRs, this was all the connection needed, but now you need extra connections.If you have a newer TV with an HDMI port, purchase an HDMI cable. The ones sold on Amazon work fine, I use the Mediabridge one. Hook it to the DVR HDMI OUT and to the TV HDMI IN.Of 3 HDMI ports on my TV, HDMI 1 was the one I had to use.If your TV has no HDMI port, included with the DVR are AV audio visual cables. Connect these between the ports on the DVR and your TV.Wiring for Reception of Closed Captions:Transmitting CC from DVR to TV works differently for digital and analog. For cable, you probably have an analog signal, which means that, even if you have the HDMI connection, you will also need the AV cable hookup mentioned above. HDMI is for digital only, it will handle only closed captioning of digital signals.Also, see manual to set the DVR for recording CC.INITIAL SETUP:Put batteries in remote; plug in and turn on TV and DVR. Go to your TV channel that says “HDMI” or “Line In” or whichever channel the DVR is coming through to the TV.You should then see initial DVR setup screen and get started from there. If you see no setup, press the MENU button and from there, set the language, the time, and do the channel scan, which is all setup is.”Device Control Inactive”This is one message you may see right away. It does not mean your remote control is not working. This message refers to the DVR being able to control the TV, if you have the HDMI wire and also set the DVR’s “Fun Link” to “on.”Then, if you hold the DVR’s power button on the remote an extra 2 seconds, it turns on both DVR and TV and tunes the TV to the DVR channel. Hold the power button an extra 2 seconds to turn off both the DVR and TV. To just operate the DVR, and not the TV, press the DVR’s power button normally.Time setting:Your time must always be correct in order to correctly record programs. Initially, set up the time manually. There is a special field for the channel number for your local PBS station, so the DVR time stays correct, this is in addition to programming in recording channels, and is important to set. If your time is still incorrect, go back and choose manual time setting.Channel Setting:If you have cable, choose the Cable/Digital scan option. And run three scans. This will help this DVR program in the quirky digital channels. More below about those.It takes about 5 minutes to program cable channels and 15 more minutes for the digitals.Now surf through to be sure all your channels are there. Add any missing ones and remove any not wanted.Digital Signal:This type signal works differently. As noted above, I subscribe to cable and the cable brings the extra digital signal. Two of my 30 or so digital channels regularly “disappear.” What is happening?I do not know the mechanics of how my digital channels are being received. I know I get them if and only if the cable service is hooked up and active. Yet, these channels behave like off the air channels also. Go figure.In any off the air reception, radio or TV, what you get depends on factors such as distance from the station, terrain, and even weather conditions. You just may get a great channel, only to find one day a blank recording. With analog cable, you may see a snowy picture on a weak channel. With digital you do not subscribe to, you will see no snow, the picture is either there or it is not, the signal is either being completely picked up or not at all. That channel may be gone for minutes, hours, or days. Your TV may even pick up the channel while the DVR does not, if your TV’s tuner is more powerful. Be prepared for this, but no worries, the channel will return again.If you have an actual antenna instead of cable, your reception could be different.On the AVS Forum, a thread suggests that you run several channel setup scans of this unit to help with getting the best reception. Should one of your digital channels go missing, try running a full channel scan.But, and this is a big “but,” if you have cable, you DON’T want to run an “antenna” scan, hoping it will improve reception. It won’t, and if you then run a cable scan, ALL of your timer programming and the time set may be lost.Again, if you have cable, be careful to choose ONLY “Cable/Digital” when you run re-scans. By the same token, if your main input is over your external antenna, choose ONLY “Antenna” to re-scan. Any time you run a re-scan, choose ONLY the appropriate source, External Antenna OR Cable/Digital.And, before running channel scans, always write down or take a picture of your timer programming, just in case.Backup Duration:The time and programming remain set for a period if the unit is unplugged or loses power, but over an hour and you need to reset everything.TIMER PROGRAMMING:This works like the VCR did, you put in the date, time, and channel of the show to be recorded. Unlike the VCR, which would only allow 6 programs, this DVR will hold 3 dozen programs. You can set it to record a movie, a special, a daily program, etc. On this machine, “daily” means Monday through Sunday. Or you can choose Monday through Friday, Monday through Saturday, Saturday only, Sunday only, any weekday, or any specific date. For each program, there is a field to choose your source, cable or digital; cable is the default.TV Guide:This machine, unlike TIVO, has no dedicated TV Guide feature, you must use the TV guide broadcast by the cable service, which only shows the current and next hour, and will not show the digital lineup.I go online for the full scheduling of all the channels I get. A good website for cable is Locate TV. For the digital channels try going to the website of that channel; eg., say you get PBS on Channel 3.1, the website will show programming for Channels 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, etc.Aspect Ratio:The review by Wajo discusses this. For a widescreen TV, called a 16:9 screen, there is a place to set the DVR so that the recording is widescreen. If your TV has the familiar squarish, called 4:3 screen, the DVR is already set for this.PLAYBACK:Unlike the VCR, this DVR allows you to watch a program – from the beginning of that program – as it is being recorded, or other programs already recorded, right while the DVR is busy recording. No more waiting.***PROS:No monthly feeReplaces VCR technology while adding better capabilities and featuresQuality of recordings is excellent, especially if you choose HQCONS:With TIVO, there is an integrated TV guide feature and simpler programming, and you may be able to record two or more channels at the same time; but with a monthly fee. If you hate entering dates and times, you may prefer TIVO to this DVR.If you are a subscriber to your cable provider’s full lineup including digital, they may rent you a DVR at a minimal monthly fee and set it up; their DVR may have more TV guide and ability to record 2 or more channels at the same time, that this DVR does not have. But for limited basic cable subscribers, cable companies do not offer their DVRs..UPDATE 6/20/14After working flawlessly for almost 1-1/2 years, the time began jumping on its own, even when set to manual. And the sound on the digital channels stopped coming through, either live or recorded. The first time, the sound problem was fixed by unplugging 1 minute, the next time two minutes, the third time I used 20 minutes unplugged. Finally I was able to fix the problem by turning off the machine and unplugging for a few hours, then doing an auto channel scan (set). Make sure you take a picture of your timer programs first.Further update 8/25/15 I have now learned that a power interruption can cause loss of receiving the sound with this unit. The fix is very simple. Turn off, unplug, and leave unplugged. Try 30 minutes than an hour, and keep going with longer times until problem is fixed. The power goes out often where I am, it does not always affect the DVR, but when it does, usually only 30 minutes unplugged will fix the sound.