Yamada DVR-8000

Poor instructions, very noisey unit, terrible remote design (I mean so bad that trying to find Play was an ordeal), unit very slow (to the point where I thought it had crashed), crashed a lot (both units), had two units neither of which recorded sound.

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I've come to hate this device. Working with it has revealed that it is exactly as it appears: a demo system from the chipset manufacturers with a badge. The fiddly setup required for recording would be acceptable if it wasn't also required for simple DVD playback as well! As a general-use DVD player it's simply horrible. More than anything else, the pains of using this device has led to my almost never using it for recording. Support seems non-existent - which figures given that the engine of this machine was built by a chipset manufacturer as a demo. Yamada themselves - such as they are - seem to have no technical knowledge of the system. One firmware release and that was that.

Because the Yamada DVR8000's remote has blue patches with black writing it is dificult to read. When you start to get into the menu there seems to be no logic and some item like when you have finished with a function does not tell you how to get out.

I bought the Yamada DVR8000 as an entry level machine in August and was prepared to overlook the unfriendly interaction due to the cheap price.

However, it became increasingly disfunctional, freezing when put on timer then the draw stopped working.

When I phoned to claim on the warrenty the YAMADA number was a voicemail and so far no-one has phoned me back.

Stay away from this machine. It's cheap for a reason.

The Yamada DVR8000 is a great unit for price (I paid £105). The fan is a bit loud but can't hear it when sound system is on.

I'm a great believer that you get what you pay for but this unit contradicts this.

Saw the recorder for sale at a good price from Richer Sounds, so read the reviews here first. Reviews didn't seem too promisiing, but bought one anyway. I have upgraded the firmware to V3, and the unit seems to be a little cracker. Produces TV quality pictures and sound on standard setting (2 hours to a disk). Using more compression (3 hours to a disk) you get video quality recordings, still perfectly acceptable. I have not experienced any of the problems reported by the other reviewers, maybe I am lucky, maybe not! The unit is a little slow to load up a partly recorded disk compared to my DVD player, but this maybe normal speed for DVD recorders, I have nothing to compare it with. Apart from a remote control that is not laid out logically, I am very happy with the recorder.

I bought the Yamada DVR 8000 after reading all the different reviews. I have to admit that I haven't had a problem at all with mine and for the price it was an excellent buy. BUT....... A VERY BIG BUT.

YOU CAN'T PLAY THE DISCS ON ANY OTHER DVD PLAYERS.

Why I want to know. If any one does have a cure for this please let me know.

Also don't set it to stop recording after half hour intervals. IT WILL FREEZE YOUR MACHINE.

The recording on the Yamada DVR8000 machine is excellent. The playback is crystal clear. Unfortunately the 3 recorders I have had, from Richer Sounds, bought then taken back for exchange, have all had problems. Even the guys at Richer Sounds warned me against buying it.

1. Dvd+rw after 4 records then a delete, bad pixelation on playback of 4th recording.(Samsung dvd+rw). Otherwise everything else was OK.

2. Pixelation on a record for the first time.

3. Scart input from sky sat gave obscure pictureson the dvd channel.

Seriously, don't buy this recorder until UMAX have sorted out all the software problems. There have been so many returns of this item.

You have been warned!

I bought the Yamada DVR8000 because of good reviews and a low price. I wish I hadn't bothered. It sounds like its about to grind itself into oblivion every time it's turned on, takes for ever to start up and once it has started takes ages to recognise that any disks have been put into it. So far I've been unable to find ANY disks which can be used for long play recording for more than two hours without the machine throwing a hissy-fit and refusing to co-operate. Yamada's "technical support" can only suggest a rather unhelpful web-link which tells me that the disks I am using should work, but if they don't to read the same website over again. So I am left with a machine that does half a job in a half-hearted way, from a company that is next to useless at helping customers.

On the plus side, if there is one, it can record fairly adequately for two hours, but I bought the machine to archive a lot of old videos, and will not be able to do so for programmes which last for longer than two hours. If anyone can suggest a type of disk that works, I'd be grateful. TDK, Maxell, Memorex, Mitsubishi, or Mirror don't!

Avoid buying this machine and spend your money on a more compatible one.