Samsung DVD-VR357 DVD Recorder / VCR Combo

The unit is supposed to easily transfer old VHS tapes to DVDs, the main reason I bought a new one.  Either the transfer mechanism didn't work, the instructions were misleading, or I (and my brother, whom I consulted) are stupid.  Both tapes and DVDs played well enough for six months until the unit began not recognizing DVDs.  No amount of tweaking or experimenting made a difference.  So I retired it.  However I did like the fidelity of the reproduction so I bought a second refurbished unit, thinking the first was one of those problems of quality control and that Samsung needed to look more closely at their Poisson distributions.  The refurbished unit immediately began rejecting disks.  A lens cleaner finally got it to function but it quit after about a month.  The easy transfer from tape to disk didn't work.  I now use the unit to play tapes -- period -- a job it still does well.