LG RC897T Multi-Format DVD Recorder and VCR Combo with Digital Tuner Review

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(More customer reviews)As a satisfied owner of an LG HDTV, I bought this DVD/VCR combo recorder fully expecting to be likewise happy with the quality of the images produced by another LG product. Unfortunately, I had to box it up for return the same day I got it. The problem with the product is one that I hadn't anticipated, but which further very specifically-targeted reading online revealed as a known problem with LG's DVD recorders. That problem is what various message-boarders and bloggers call "image over-processing". Translate that as "too much anti-aliasing" (image-smoothing) or "too much blur". And it was not just on the recorded images. For the minute you switch from the LG TV's internal tuner to the LG recorder's internal tuner, there's an instant layer of "smoothing" that is pronounced enough to be distracting. ...I am talking, depending on your threshold of sensitivity to such things, a potential headache-inducing level of fuzziness.
If you purchase this product hoping to use it to archive your family videos, no way it can do them justice. If you plan to use it as a down and dirty digital era VCR, grabbing episodes of shows you intend to record over once you watch them a single time, it is really not quite servicable for that. All this keeps pulling me back to one head-shaker of a question: What were the people at LG thinking? At nearly three hundred bucks, the quality of the LG RC897T is a major disappointment.

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Samsung HT-C5500 Blu-ray Home Theater System Review

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(More customer reviews)The HT-C5500 is a solid all-in-one home theater package at a good price, but you need to know what it can--and can't--do before you decide to buy.
First, some pros and cons:
Pros:
*Low cost
*Compact
*Easy setup
*Integrates with Samsung AnyConnect+ TVs for one-step DVD playback
*Decent enough sound and sufficient volume for a family room
*Netflix and YouTube connectivity work well
*Completely integrated in one relatively small unit
*iPod/iPhone dock included
*Speakers look nice and are very small and unobtrusive
Cons:
*Very limited inputs (Audio only; there are no HDMI inputs--the description above is wrong)
*Flabby bass response (no surprise given the 8lb passive subwoofer)
*Completely integrated--if one part dies, your entire home theater system is offline
*Wireless Internet use requires optional ($70) proprietary Samsung LAN adapter
*Proprietary speaker connectors
*AnyConnect+ can be a little wonky: If you have a disc in the tray, DVD playback seems to override all the other functions such as Internet services or the AUX input.
Even given all the Cons, this system suits my needs very well. I already owned a Samsung TV. I didn't want a proliferation of remotes or components. And the odd shape of my living room meant that I wasn't going to get optimal surround sound in any case, so I wasn't willing to pay a fortune for a system.
I ran the HT-C5500's HDMI output to one input on my TV and connected my FIOS box's optical audio output and my Mac mini's analog audio output to the appropriate inputs on the HT-C5500. The HT-C5500's remote is nothing special, but it makes it quite easy (after a little practice and reading of the manual) to switch between setups. You still need, however, to manually switch between HDMI inputs on the TV depending on what source you want to watch.
Note, however, that I'm at the absolute limit of what this system can do. I couldn't add, for instance, a game console into the mix.
Still, I'm very happy with my purchase. Yes, the HT-C5500 hits a wall quickly, but if you intend to stop before that wall arrives, you won't be disappointed.

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