Goodmans GDVD301RP

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Good
Sound Level	Good
Ease of Use	Simple
Range of Features	Above Average
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Cheap, lots of features, easy on eye
Disadvantages:	not alot really switching to scart can be an inconvenience?

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have had this machine for a little over 2 years now. I thought it was about time I shared my experience of using this machine with people on this site. I have decided to do a synopsis/review to provide an informed account of the specs and my experience with the GDVD301RP DVD+R/RW
I went through the usual lineup toshiba sony samsung kenwood and usually if I saw something like matsui or goodmans - quick hide, even though my dad had a lovely 14" matsui box for over 5 years in the late 80s.

WHY I BOUGHT IT

First of all I bought it because it was cheapish and had all the features of the other more expensive models.
I went through the usual lineup toshiba sony samsung kenwood and usually if I saw something like matsui or goodmans - quick hide, even though my dad had a lovely 14" matsui box for over 5 years in the late 80s.
This time I thought you know what seems to be apparent nowadays is that the cheaper brands do perform to quite a high standard and while sometimes do not equal the standard set by higher priced brands they do sometimes when your lucky perform as good and on occasion better, I know the best video recorder which had all the features cost less than £90. I would never want any other video recorder because it had every extra feature applicable to video recorders.
This DVD REWRITER is a GOODMANS brand one I'm not too familiar with but I have noticed that electrical goods by them tended to be a slightly lower quality or looked a bit more boxy rather than the sleek up to date designs of your sonys etc. I noticed with this dvd rewriter and it was sleek looking and would fit in with my setup easily, it was cheap, and most important of all had all the features I required and the extras the more expensive brands have. My main one being a DVD rewriting capability, I had seen DVD recorders but I was insistent that the unit could do rewritable discs svhs extra scart etc and this unit convinced me they had really tried to make this item fully featured for a good price.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

DVD Recorder
Remote Control
2 'AAA' batteries for remote control
SCART Lead
1 RCA AV line cable
1 RF coaxial cable
User manual
Quick-setup Guide
Manual
One DVD+RW disc
I believe there is enough extras with the device it certainly presents itself with a lot of extras you may have to pay extra for in some cases. Its certainly enough for me and covers all my requirements as I have not needed anything extra in the time I have had it.

USING THE DEVICE

I used the Goodmans GDVD301RP for recording early on because I needed to find out how easy it was to record and get ready so i could set it up without much bother. The instructions are very easy to understand and take you through the set up very easily. The main problem I had was switching to scart in order to make sure the screen is in sync with the TV. I'm sure this is something to do with the default settings and I'm too lazy to sort it out so if that is the case then this system is almost perfect if that were possible.
The GDVD301RP is very user friendly asking you if you would like to format a disc if it isn't already formatted which is handy and keeps the user informed so your not pulling out scart leads or throwing discs around the room wondering why it wont copy. Hey I know this is an extreme but I also know people can and do behave like this.
I have used this machine to make copies of TV programs and when the program is finished, you can look on the screen and it informs you how much of the disc is available for information to be copied to as a percentage and allows you to have a menu for separate programs that are recorded so you can pick which program you want to look at.

MEDIA

Discs - This DVD recorder also has the rewrite (DVD+RW) capability so I think it is handy to have a few of these hanging around for things you may watch then copy over them when you've seen it enough times. I got a pack of 10 which cost £5 so about 50p each and they were for supermarket branded DVD+RW discs. If you want better quality you can be talking up to £1 or more. I feel I made the right choice in getting 10 of these types of discs just giving me the option for rewriting over programs I'm not so keen on or if you use it for copying soap repeats etc and then use all the DVD+Rs for complete programs which you like as reference such as documentaries and films worth watching twice.
Personally I get a batch of 200 DVD+R discs at a time FOR £30 online and works out at 15p a disc and that includes postage DVD+Rs can only be written to once but I find that for most copying I do one copy is enough. I like to store the information either for watching later and also online reference material. Any faulty disc can be thrown if their is any or the information is rubbish but its not too costly at all to do this. Any smaller amount of this DVD+R media or branded makes means that the price of discs goes up and can easily be twice the cost of this bulk amount I have made reference to. So it would be wise to consider a bulk amount depending on how you want to utilise this recorder, branded discs are also more expensive but in my experience don't give much more in terms of copying except maybe a couple of less dodgy discs which is neither here nor there. The following options are available as far as quality and maximum length of the DVD+R or DVD+RW these are.
HQ (High Quality) about one hour
SP (Standard Play) about two hours
LP (Long Play) about three hours
EP (Extended Play) about four hours
SLP (Standard Long Play) about six hours

CONCLUSION

A great all round machine and will cover all your dvd/dvdr/dvdrw requirements. There is new technology coming out like for example Blue ray discs and the fact that more and more technology seems to be adopting the technology of hard discs and inbuilt technology such as sky+ boxes for recording day to day soaps and programs and the fact dvd rewriters almost come as standard in PCS and laptops nowadays means information is easily accessed through the web and can be put on disc if necessary making dvd recorders almost redundant. I know I get most of my information from the web and write straight to disc so the Goodmans RW gets used as a player to make sure the disc can be read on a standard DVD player. If the system is getting to the stage where it is almost redundant as in my case, as a rewriter anyhow then you are not going to be too keen on splashing out on an expensive one, if you do intend to have a good rewriter this is for you This is a solid bet, an economical machine, covers all of the requirements you may need from a device like this also it has all the features good styling why pay more???????