Pioneer DVR-640H (160 GB) DVD Recorder / HDD Recorder

This is my second Pioneer DVD/HDD recorder. I was very happy with my first one - DVD 533HS 80 Gb so when we wanted a second one for another room, I immediately looked at the newest Pioneer. I immediately dismissed it because it didn't have firewire capability which I use with my DV camcorder. My other Pioneer has this feature so I was very surprised when I saw the newer models didn't.

I ended up buying an LG unit for the firewire reason, but soon found out why they were being sold at bargain prices. Everyone was returning the LG's because they have copywrite protection that doesn't allow you to copy off the premium/movie channels. So mine ended going back immediately just like everyone else's. (The store was trying to sell about a dozen "open box" LG's).

So I went back to getting the Pioneer even with the firewire limitation since I could still use my camcorder with my old recorder. However, if this one is to be my primary recorder. I definitely wouldn't get it because of the missing firewire connection.

The second major flaw with this unit is the remote control has been changed from the earlier model. It doesn't allow you to control your TV like most remote controls. I have to use three remotes with my setup - the cable box remote, the TV remote which I need to change from regular channels to Video 1, 2, etc. and then the DVD/HDD recorder remote. A major pain.

While the recorder has some improved features, like Easy Timer, it also has a "Jukebox" feature for storing/playing MP3, etc. which I think is useless. If I wanted to listen to my MP3's I would just drop in one of my MP3 CD's which has over 160 songs on it and listen to it. I have no need to store this music on the DVD recorder. Or in my other room I would play it through my computer speakers, or my stereo. If they dropped some of the other features to replace them with this - I think it was a waste of time.

I also thought Pioneer would have improved the interface for adding titles to the stored files. It is a very cumbersome procedure and if the developers had actually used it on a regular basis, I'm sure they would have at least changed the layout in the newer models. I'm a technical writer and I saw some immediate areas that could have been improved on.

The unit is nice though. If I hadn't previously owned a better older unit I might be totally happy with it, but I have, so I do see the limitations of it.