Sony RDR-GX7 DVD Recorder OFFERS

Features
Material recorded on compatible media can have custom titles (up to 64 characters long) added to them. Some titles are automatically inserted into the recordings from over the air broadcasts. We recently programmed the RDR-GX7 to record Saturday Night Live and the title automatically showed up without having to edit the DVD. Each of the recorded titles show up on the Title List menu. Titles can be protected or erased by the user. The more advanced editing capability allows the user to edit the original recording by taking advantage of the true random access nature of DVD. Creating a playlist on an original recording is possible as well as fully manual chapter insertion. The user can also erase sections of a track by defining a starting and ending point (A-B) on the disc. We took one of our favorite foreign films on laserdisc that is not available on DVD and transferred the video directly to a DVD-RW (VR mode). Since I started the recording just before I went to sleep, the recording included a 10-second side change from our CLD-D704 laserdisc player. By simply tagging the unwanted segment (A-B), that part of the recording was removed from the video. The data actually still resides there, but the unit jumps over the unwanted segment.

Recording programs is a simple process with several options available. Manual recording is similar to a standard VCR where the user pushes the record button and the current channel is copied to DVD. The Quick Timer records in 30-minutes increments up to a maximum of 6 hours. Scheduled recordings are also available using VCR Plus+ or the traditional method and can store up to 30 programs (up to one month in advance). There's also a Synchro Record that automatically starts recording when commanded from an external component.

One of the great features of the RDR-GX7 is the ability to communicate with digital camcorders using the Firewire connection. Using the One-Touch Dubbing feature, the DVD recorder will transfer the entire content of the tape to a DVD. If the recorded content was stored on a DVD-RW disc using the VR mode, the Advanced Program Edit feature allows the user to completely rearrange or delete scenes, resulting in a fully edited version of the original content. Another feature called Program Edit lets the user select the scenes to transfer to the disc prior to burning the data on the DVD. This is particularly useful when using DVD-R write-once media. In this mode, the recorder keeps track of each scene selected by the user and creates a table to be processed once the arrangement is complete. This is possible because the recorder completely control the camcorder including play, stop fast-forward and rewind.

For those who lack the full home theater speaker system, Sony has included some audio processing to simulate a surround environment. The TV Virtual Surround (TVS) has four modes and can also be completely defeated. The Dynamic mode creates virtual rear speakers using the front two channels. The Wide mode is similar, but creates a virtual full five channel system. The Night mode is essentially a dynamic range compressor. Loud sounds are compressed and quiet sounds are still audible making it ideal when others are sleeping (like your neighbors). The Standard mode creates three virtual speakers.

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