WARNING OF A MAJOR RIP OFF
SONY USES MACROVISION COPY GUARD TO BLOCK RECORDING!
Recently, I bought a Sony RDRVX560 DVDR & VHS player-recorder combo on eBay. I already own a Magnavox combo & have had zero difficulties recording anything whatsoever with it (however, its VHS player doesn't play antique VHSs at the quality level I want, so that's why I decided to try to upgrade).
BIG MISTAKE AND TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY
Since Sony loads its recorders with hyper sensitive Macrovision copy guard protection, it is impossible to record from VHSs OR DVR satellite or cable, live or recorded, from the receiver.
It is pointless to own this type of non-fuctioning recorder. Although I paid 20$ to ship it back to Sony, as their technical support agent advised, to be "unlocked," within days after the Sony Repair Center in Laredo, Texas received it, a person who could hardly speak or understand an East Coast American accent phoned to tell me they would not be doing anything to correct the problem. Since Macrovision copy guard protection blocks recording deliberately, the warranty doesn't cover what Sony considers to be not broken! Even though the unit is unusable as a DVD or VHS recorder, it only will play, this is somehow supposed to be acceptable to consumers.
Well it's not!
After doing considerable research into this product & other Sony products & Sony customer service, I located thousands of reports of utter customer dissatisfaction with Sony DVDR & VHS recording devices, Sony's malicious PC software that downloads copy guard junk without notifying consumers & reports that absolutely blast Sony's poor performance serving consumers.
Buyers, on eBay, that would qualify for negative feedback & zero stars!
I tried to contact Sony for a week, online & via telephone. Even though my product is registered online with Sony, while it was supposed to indicate its repair status, to date (11/10), there is nothing whatsoever to show me online that Sony has ever even received my unit (I shipped it 1st Class USPS Insured w/Delivery Confirmation, so I know exactly when it was received ion Oct. 25th!). Over the phone, I waited each morning, afternoon or early evening (I tried all 3 time periods), for between 35 minutes to an hour on hold with no customer satisfaction, repair technician from Laredo, or customer service agent EVER responding to me with accurate knowledge about my unit. In fact, I was given a wrong tracking number of an item shipped to Honolulu (around 5,000 miles away from me!).
Quite frankly, in 40 years, this is the 1st & assuredly the last Sony item I have invested in. I would never advise a soul to buy a Sony product. If you want to read what others are writing, there are online reports about this product at other websites where they are being offered that are similar to eBay. Thousands of consumers are leaving their negative feedback online for the public to read.
Plus, there are now products that cost just a much as the Sony DVDR VHS player recorder itself being offered to unscramble copy guard protection. If you have already invested in a Sony recording unit loaded with hyper active Macrovision copy guard protection that won't record, google "remove Sony Macrovision copy guard" & the websites advertising the electronic units that unscramble this malicious software will appear. I highly recommend owners of Sony DVDR & VHS recording units to check out these unscrambling devices so that their units will legally record.
Please don't let what has happened to thousands of us already happen to you too. Realize that Sony has certainly earned the worst possible reputation of all for preventing consumers from legally recording. If the product states it has Macrovision installed:
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