JVC DRM10S DVD Recorder/Player

I just got this for 1 week now -- mostly been transferring videotape to DVD. What I'm writing here is my first impression, as I've only used a small portion of the features so far. The setup has been mostly straight forward. I like that the inputs are available in the front as well as the back. I like that it has the i.link for Sony camcorder transfer in the front. The manual can be a little confusing. I've trying to setup the menus and title menus, but it seems I only have 1 master top menu. The chapter menus are not configurable. The manual is not much help here. You can enter the DVD title using the screen display of a keypad -- moving aruond with your cursor can be a little tiresome. The reason I got this was that Consumer REports rated it well -- I believe it was the JVC-DRM10SUS. I assume this is the same one. The quality so far is good. I will add another review when I've tried the Sony camcorder transfer and my Dish Network recording features.Here's is my followup review. I accepted the limitations of the bad menus, terrible manual but the machine went bad on me. It started to freeze in the middle of a DVD playing many times. Finally I returned this system to Amazon -- I think I'll pay a little extra for the Sony GX7 and get more features.I do not recommend getting this machine - save your money and more importantly, your time. I wasted a month on it. Go for the Panasonic or Sony - their reviews are raving positive.BTW, how I remove the stars? - I give this product no stars.

Two months ago, I gave this product a positive review. This was before my system got a bug in it that is not only common, but make the system unusable in any way possible. Whenever I turn on the unit, it flashes "Loading" on the display, not allowing me to make any of the other buttons work in the process. Even unplugging the machine does not take this problem away once it is plugged back in. A couple times I was able to stop the flashing message by waiting 24 hours and then pushing the power button again. This method gave me 20 minutes of play time before the problem came about again. The model is just plain bad. I do not recommend this to anyone. If there was a 0 star rating, I would use it for this product. Technical support on their site does not help the issue what-so-ever. Just don't buy it! If you really want to jump onto the DVD recording bandwagon, get a model with a built in hard drive. Even when this thing worked, it was limited by the fact that you could not delete unwanted scenes from DVDs unless they were in VR Mode or DVD-RAM discs. Either way, they are incompatible with nearly every DVD player on the market. Investing 70% more is well worth the price unless you want a bunch of commercials on your precious DVDs.

This DVD player has been quite good when it works. We had to return it to JVC for repair within the first year but, to their credit, they did repair it free of charge.

I've battled with my JVC DR-M10S for a couple of years, sent it back to JVC for "upgrade" or whatever it does to fix the LOADING error, found that it worked O.K. after the fix, only to to have it crash once more to LOADING just yesterday. I, too, had to unplug it to stop the error, then plug it back in. Eventually, the disc ejected, but the LOADING error continued for a while. Then it powered off.My "crime" may not have been a smudged disk; the disc was new. There's a 2-second minimum to edit in the middle of a selection (1/30 sec. min. at the beginning or end of a file); so, I adjusted my "IN" and "OUT" at one point to 2 seconds, and it crashed.I find it strange that JVC does not explain WHY this happens nor does it suggest how to AVOID it. It just doesn't give a damn. That it is willing to fix it FREE says that it is an engineering bug that cannot be fixed without its re-engineering its entire circuit board or laser or some such big deal.By the way, if you USE the Library Function, the fix will erase some of your hard-earned TITLES, THUMBNAILS, CATEGORIES, DISC NUMBERS, etc. I lost the first 34 Titles that I'd created.It is tedious to enter this information in the first place because JVC does not provide, say, an infrared or USB "keyboard" option, but if you -- get this, now -- place the disc with the missing Library information back into the machine, you CAN re-register it and get back your lost Library data. However, it will assign a NEW disc number, the next in your series of entries. That is small consolation for all of the difficulty JVC has caused.If anyone has help or a suggestion beyond the damning that I totally concur with in these one-star reviews, write me at [email protected] night, and good luck.

Update on machine. I've had the dvd recorder for almost 4 months and I think I've figured out why the Loading problem happens. Everytime the laser hits a smudge on the dvd disc, the Loading problem happens. Discs with scratches or smudges will cause the recorder to reset and flash Loading....I don't think I could have bought a better recorder. The only thing I would change is I'd get a recorder with a hard drive built in******************************************I bought this machine from a competitor site and I won't say where, but I will say it has been relatively problem free for the five days I have had it.The operation is very easy (and I am not one who gets instructions and operation manuals right the first time around) and I learned how to do the basic recording and programmed recording on the first day.Now for the LOADING error. I notice that if you power down the machine without a disc in the tray, you get the error message and you can't open the tray for a long while. But it will open later than sooner. So if you just remember to leave a dvd in the tray when you turn it off, you shouldn't get the error anymore.I don't have any complaints about the recorder. Maybe the factory fixed the problem. I forgot to mention this machine is refurbished so maybe that's the difference.