Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony RDR-GX3 DVD Recorder

One of the main areas of concern at the moment is that there are two opposing 'formats' for recording onto dvd's.
These two formats are the 'plus' camp: (+R and +RW) and the 'minus' camp: (-R and -RW)

Just in case you don't know, the single 'R' discs can be recorded onto only once, and the RW discs are re-writeable discs (you can record on them up to 1000 times).

This unit can record onto the following discs: -R, -RW and +RW
You are therefore covered with any existing compatibility issues. (Note that most modern DVD players will be able to play back dvd's in any of these formats).

Using this machine, I have recorded TV programmes onto -R, -RW and +RW dvd discs. All have worked perfectly.

I have played back +RW and -R and -RW recordings on my friends Toshiba DVD player and also my friends Panasonic DVD recorder. No problems at all. (-R and -RW discs need to be 'finalised')

I connected this machine to another DVD player. I played back one of my recordings on the dvd player and recorded another copy onto another blank disc in the Sony unit. This worked perfectly too.

If you are using this unit connected to an ordinary co-axial aerial, then all tv programmes you record are automatically given a title. This title comes from the teletext signal. This is a great feature.
I have also tried it whilst connected to SKY Digital. When you record off Sky, it does not get the programme name - just the word 'Sky' as the default. Of course, you can change the name manually if you like.

The menu system on this unit is superb. Stylish menu screens that fade in and out and still let you hear the sound through the tuner. They are also often opaque, allowing you to see the tv in the background.
The menus are navigated via a small 'joystick' on the remote control and it is very intuitive and easy to use.

When you put a disc into the machine, you can press a single button and a table of contents is displayed on screen. This table lists each programme that is on the disc, the date it was recorded, the length of the programme and the full programme name. It makes handling discs so easy. Also, each programme automatically gets a small thumbnail picture to accompany the programme name, so you can see what it is.
If you do not like this thumbnail image, you can manually choose a new one.

Here are some more features:

You can erase titles at a touch of a button.
You can protect titles from being erased (even on RW discs).
You can sort programmes by title, date or length.
You can give a 'name' to any disc. Eg: 'Mark's Disc' or whatever you want.
You can set the timer for up to eight programmes up to one month in advance.
You can use the video-plus number system and/or PDC for setting timer recordings.
You can record in six different recording qualities. Each drop in recording quality means that you can record more programmes on a disc.
You can mix and match different recording types onto the same disc. The default recording length is called 'SP' and on my 21" tv is indistinguishable from the original signal. SP mode will allow you 2 hours of recording. The maximum recording time is 6 hours and though the quality of this is not good (10% less than VHS I'd say, it IS useable in emergencies).

As a note, I have never yet experienced 'pixelation' or 'blocking' from a recording.

If you set a timer recording and there is not enough space left on the disc, the unit will automatically switch the recording type to a longer one to fit the programme on the disc.

One thing to be aware of (this applies to all DVD recorders at the moment) - is that when you use -R or -RW discs, certain operations take time.
For example, when you put one of these discs in the unit and close the tray, the unit 'loads' the information about the disc....this takes 20 seconds or so.
When you remove a disc of this type, there will sometimes be a 30 second (or more) delay while it 'writes' information onto the disc. Only after this time will the tray eject.
You also need to be aware that for these discs, you need to 'format' them before you can use them. This can take 7 or 8 minutes.
The advantages of this format is that you have more powers of editing. It is possible to perform non-linear editing within the machine. That is to say, you can record programmes and then remove SEGMENTS of individual recordings. This is amazing technology! You can also create many different playlists of the programmes on the disc, without interrupting the original recordings.

You can 'back-up' any old VHS tapes you have onto dvd. Simply connect the unit to your VCR and play the tape and record onto disc.

Also worth noting is that when you have a programme on disc, you can put it in your pc drive (has to be a dvd drive obviously) and drag the files onto your hard-disc. (I recommend you use +RW discs for this).

In summation: I heartily recommend this machine to anyone who is thinking of switching to DVD recording. The build quality is superb, it looks terrific, the manual is good and the remote control is well designed. A superb machine.

Having decided to splash out on a DVD recorder instead of buying a VHS recorder, I waded through reviews, specs, and information to inform my decision. The Sony isn't the cheapest DVD recorder available but a combination of overwhelming concerns about the reliability of Philips recorders (see reviews on Amazon) and the fact that these Sonys are the only Dual RW compatible recorders available makes this by far the best by. The compatability with both DVD-RW and +RW was the biggest decider for me - far less likely to become obsolete in the future but I must admit I am rather taken with the units quality build and appearance. Mine hasn't had a great deal of use yet but I have been very impressed so far. Set-up is a doddle. The machine does most of it for you - the only bit where you could get in a tangle is the wiring. As my gear is all in a solid oak cabinet I had to have my wits about me making sure that the many scarts and RF leads were all going to the right places. Take your time and there is no great mystery to it all. The on-screen menus are self explanatory and well laid-out and in operation the whole thing has an up-market feel about. Picture and sound are stunning and not only is this an excellent and versatile recorder, it also beats my (excellent) Pioneer DVD PLAYER hands down as a source.

VHS is dead. With a product like this why would anyone want to ever touch a VHS cassette again (except to transfer old tapes on to DVD)? This is the future, and definitely worth the extra over the Philips recorders. Peace of mind is worth a great deal these days!

I eventually ended up with one of these machines after my Philips 880(grrr!) broke in 9 months - as they all do it would seem. I should havepaid a bit more and got a Sony in the first place. I've bought their kitfor years and have NEVER had a faulty machine from Sony. Just theopposite. Their kit is like the Duracell bunny, just goes on and on andon... This machine is fantastic. The Philips felt very light and nondurable. When you pull the Sony out of its box you are instantly struckby its solidity, weight and overall engineering excellence. In fact, ifit was a car it would be an old Mercedes 190. Overengineered and built tooutlive its owner! I cannot recommend the GX3 highly enough. If you're inthe market for a DVD recorder then buy it. You will NOT be disappointed. As for those with masochistic tendencies who like pain and hassle then buya Philips machine!

This DVD-recorder has only two scart connections: Scart 1/Line 1 is for the TV. Scart 2/Line 3 can be used either to connect a VCR, or a decoder (you can specify which connection is to be made through this scart during the "Easy-Setup"). If you want to connect both a Decoder as well as a VCR, you may have to use the S-Video connection for your VCR (cables are supplied), if your VCR supports S-Video. Alternatively, there is also a component video output (cables not supplied).
So although the DVD recorder is fully featured in the connectivity department, this will not help you if both your VCR and SKY decoder have Scart connections and nothing else, in which case you will only be able to connect one at a time to the GX3, and specify which you just hooked up using the set-up menu functions.
Hope this helped a bit.

A superb piece of kit again from Sony. You don't get the convenience of a HDD built in, but you do get the multi format of DVD's which is useful if recording onto DVDRW for editing on a pc then recording back onto DVD.
Easy to use, and excellent quality sound/vision.