Sony RDR-HX720

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Blarney

Registered User
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Hi All,
I recently purchased a Sony RDR-HX720 DVD recorder but I am having difficulty dubbing on it. It records fine to the Hard Disk buy when i dub anything it seems to get read errors. I suspect its some sort of fault with the recorder as I am using Sony and Philips DVD's which should be good quality. Does anyone have this recorder and has no problem dubbling onto DVd+RW?

I dont know why its not working right so any suggestions would be welcome. Its still under warranty thank God so I can get it checked but if it is the recorder I might be better off getting a different one.

Thanks
blarney
 
I've got one and it works fine with any old disc I toss into it. I'm delighted with it. Great machine.

Had two Philips previously and both were troublesome.

If it gives problems with brand-new media, I'd bring it back. Sounds like your optical drive is defective.
 
Blarney said:
Hi All,
I recently purchased a Sony RDR-HX720 DVD recorder but I am having difficulty dubbing on it. It records fine to the Hard Disk buy when i dub anything it seems to get read errors. I suspect its some sort of fault with the recorder as I am using Sony and Philips DVD's which should be good quality. Does anyone have this recorder and has no problem dubbling onto DVd+RW?

Thanks
blarney
Click to expand...

Before you start any dubbing, put the blank disc into the machine - is it automatically formatting the disc and giving you a "format complete" message. If it isin't it should be.
 
Hi Technologist and PodgeRodge,
When I put in a new DVd it formats and says format complete, but I have no idea if it does a complete surface check when doing so. Whether it does or not, its when I dub that I get the errors. What I decided to do was try DVD-Decrypter to see if I could put it onto my computer and then back again with something like DVD shrink and on one of 2 thats I dubbed DVD-Decrypter put it onto the HD of the computer with no errors but when I went to put it back onto a new DVD, DVD shrink told me it had an invalid DVD structure. I tried playing it back on the DVD and it hung! On the second one DVD-Decrytper got read errors.

I think best option is bring it back to the shop and tell them I want a new one although I'm womdering if I should have got a pioneer which they stocked as well. I would have assumed the Sony was a great machine but If it is the optical drive its not a good sign for a new machine.

Thanks again!
 
I'd leave the computer, DVD decrypter and any DVD that's been near it out of the equation, it will only complicate the testing. Re-using writeable media between computers and DVD-Video recorders can be unreliable. Take a totally unused, writeable DVD, put it in the machine and let it be formatted or prepped. Then dub a 4gb recording on to it. That should test the whole disk quite well. If you get errors at that point, I'd say the optical drive is defective. Return the machine. If it finishes writing with no errors, then try to eject it. The machine may have to finalise it first. Then try the disc in another, trusted DVD player. If it does not work well, try some more machines before declaring a fault.
 
Technologist said:
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Really sorry for butting in, but when I saw the name 'Technologist' my heart skipped a beat :)

(Can you tell me why when I try to back up my bought DVDs on to recordable DVDs - using DVD Shrink and CopyToDVD - they freeze on playback after 10/20 minutes? Or can you point me in the direction of a forum that could help me out........have Googled endlessly and can't find a solution. Thanks!)
 
Bushfire said:
(Can you tell me why when I try to back up my bought DVDs on to recordable DVDs - using DVD Shrink and CopyToDVD - they freeze on playback after 10/20 minutes? Or can you point me in the direction of a forum that could help me out........have Googled endlessly and can't find a solution. Thanks!)
Click to expand...
Not all DVD players will happily play computer-written DVDs.

It's a hit and miss situation. Sometimes changing from DVD-R to DVD+R will help. Sometimes changing disk brands will help. Sometimes the problem is with the encoding & transcoding done by DVDShrink.

Best bet is often a new cheap DVD player from Dunnes, Tesco etc or try playback on a computer.

I have what was an ultra-high-spec Sony player, about 10 years old and it's very fussy about what discs it will play. A more modern deck will play the same discs without complaint.
 
Technologist said:
Not all DVD players will happily play computer-written DVDs.

It's a hit and miss situation. Sometimes changing from DVD-R to DVD+R will help. Sometimes changing disk brands will help. Sometimes the problem is with the encoding & transcoding done by DVDShrink.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Technologist, I'll try changing the brand of discs and from DVD-R to DVD+R and see if that helps. It's a Pioneer DVD recorder (540) that I only bought a couple of months ago, I had this dreamy notion that it would play any disc I lumped in to it :eek: Will look up some more DVDShrink-related forums and see if I can get any tips on fiddling with the settings. Gulp.

Thanks again.
 
Bushfire said:
Thanks for that Technologist, I'll try changing the brand of discs and from DVD-R to DVD+R and see if that helps.
Click to expand...
There's also the possibility that if the DVDs you are copying are commercially-produced, the copyright owners might have thrown a few 'spanners' into your works to stop your copies (ahem, backups) from playing.
 
Hi Technologist,
They are not DVD's that I bought. These are recordings off the TV. I'll try later what you suggest, but having said that the other thing I wanted the DVD recorder for was to put DV footage on from my digital camcorder, put it on DVD and then onto my computer to add in Menu's e.t.c. via pinnacle. IF however its a hit and miss situation and some DVD's recorded on a DVD recorder may or may not play on computer then having the DVD recorder for DV input is not a great benefit. I would have though playing DVD's recorded in a DVD recorder would play on computer fine so thats not a good plus for DVD's!

I'll let you know how I get on with trying the dubbed DVD's in another DVD player instead of computer.

Thanks for your help!
Blarney
 
Genrally, DVDs made on a Sony HX720 are very reliable and will play on most DVD players and I think, all computers. That's been my experience with my HX720, although I might choose to use SP mode for best compatibility generally. For camcorder footage, best thing is to just use the menus created by the HX720. In my experience, DVDs created or edited on computers are 'hit and miss'. For some family videos, I've been tempted to go back to VHS to guarantee playability!
 
I have that Sony DVD recorder and am very happy with it.
Have dubbed many VHS tapes to the HDD and onto DVD-R.

No problems so far. I imagine OP has a faulty machine.
 
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