NEW Reviews Beta Feedback

Pioneer DVR-633H-S DVD Recorder/DVR (Progressive Scan, 160GB Hard Drive)

75

Good

Avg User Rating
4 User Reviews | add yours »

Performance
PCW Rating	Good: 75
Performance	Good
Image quality	Good
Write-once DVD initialization : Time required for a DVD-R or DVD+R disc to format and be accessible for recording, in seconds.	21
Write-once DVD dubbing performance : Time to dub 1 hour of high-quality content from the recorder's hard drive to DVD-R or DVD+R, in minutes:seconds.	5:54
Rewritable DVD dubbing performance : Time to dub 1 hour of high-quality content from the recorder's hard drive to DVD-RW or DVD+RW, in minutes:seconds.	8:33
Remote	Good
Interface	Good
On-disc editing	Good
Write formats	DVD-R dual layer, DVD-R/-RW
Hard drive	160GB
Inputs	One antenna, three composite, S-Video, FireWire
Outputs	One antenna, one composite, one S-Video, one component, one optical and coaxial digital audio
VCR Plus+	Yes
Electronic program guide	TV Guide
One-touch recording	Yes
Time shifting: Ability to pause and resume playback of live television during recording.	Yes
Record modes	1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 17 (dual-layer only) hours
Other supported formats	WMA, MPEG3, JPEG
Parts warranty	One-year warranty
Design & usability	Very Good
Design/usability comments	Copying programs from hard drive to DVD (or vice versa) is particularly easy.

User Reviews for Pioneer DVR-633H-S DVD Recorder/DVR (Progressive Scan, 160GB Hard Drive)

Reviewed by: brdvideo

Duration of ownership:

Strengths:

Weaknesses: 1394 Firewire Port

Overall Evaluation: The Pioneer 633 seemed to be a good product at first glance and reading the reviews. However they claim it has Bi directional 1394 and it is not. It works only one way in! After going round and round with Pioneer they said sorry we mean bi directional as in controlling a camcorder... DA! That is not what their ads all say Bi Direction 1394 in/out to me that means video not controls... However the previous model 520H was true Bi directional in/out video.
Reviewed by: pabz2k13

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Top-of-the-line DVD player. 160GB Hard Drive. Good DVR. Sleek and modern design. Dual-layer DVD burning capabilities.

Weaknesses: TV Guide on-screen hasn't worked since installation. Powering off the unit. Reset of the system's clock.

Overall Evaluation: This is my first DVR. The Pioneer DVR-633H-S has almost an equal amount of advantages to disadvantages. The advantages consists of an excellent DVD player. Second, the 160 GB hard drive allows for several hours of program recording without having take up too much space on the hard disk drive. Third, the DVR itself provides several options for modifying the recorded programs from the quality of the programming to removal of commercials (manually done). Fourth, the unit has a slender wide look that is quite modern, but the remote is typical of stock remotes - nothing out of this world. Finally, the unit supports DVD-R DL (dual layer), DVD-R (single layer), DVD-RW. The advantage of having dual layer is that it can record more on a single disc, but the downside is the dual layer blank DVDs cost much more per disc than just purchasing multiple single layer DVD-Rs. This leads me to the disadvantages of the unit. I haven't figured out how to get the TV Guide On-Screen to display the programming in my area. Fortunately, my TV was already equipped with Guide plus, which displays what programs are shown for a week in advance. Because I can't use the TV Guide On-Screen, I have to manually add in the time frame I want to record, the channel, the quality, and the date. Second, the unit does not have a "power off" button. Instead, it has a "stand by/on" button. By pressing the button it turns on, but if I press it to turn it off/standby it usually goes to the standby mode. Sometimes it randomly turns itself off, then by itself turns on later. Which leads me to my final, yet big disadvantage of the unit. If the unit turns off, then the time on the system changes for some reason. The only way to change the time is to undergo the process to set all the channels onto the DVR. If you don't change the time, then the timed recordings won't record the correct program. This can be annoying. In conclusion, because this is my first DVR, it has changed my viewing experience. Also, as time goes by I am learning how to tame this DVR. If you are looking to buy a DVR/DVD recorder there aren't to many choices.