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All Reviews > Hardware > Storage > DVD/Optical drives > External DVD drives

September 23, 2005

Sony RDR-HX510S

When combined hard disk and DVD recorders first appeared they struggled to convince people they represented good value for money. But with prices dropping, consumers are starting to realise that such products aren't merely aspirational. In fact, they're well within reach for your average punter.

More importantly, people needed to get to grips with the technology. VCRs had done an adequate job for years. Videos were cheap, everyone had one and even Dad knew how to operate it. Why swap that for a potential nightmare of lost tempers and kicked cats?

Sony's solution is to keep it simple. The RDR-HX510 is easy to set up and the instruction manual is very easy to follow, taking you through things step by step. It explains in detail the various processes such as formatting discs, recording to disc and hard drive, and dubbing from drive to disc.

Compatibility problems also plagued early hard drive/DVD recorders. Sony has solved this by ensuring that the RDR-HX510S can write to almost all DVD formats.

The hard disk is 80GB. This should be good for 120 hours at a reasonable quality setting. The remote control is well laid-out, while the frontpanel of the RDR-HX510S is attractive and has plenty of controls.

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Independent customer reviews from

Sony RDR-HX510S scored:
8.8 out of 10 100% real reviews

The 2 most helpful reviews based on 42 reviews:

01 Oct 2005 Gordon, Harlow

10

Good Points

Very simple to use. The recording and review on screen menus are especially easy to use. The picture recording quality is perfect, this was the reason for paying a bit extra for Sony.

Bad Points

I should have bought the version with the bigger hard drive, as the machine is so quick and easy to use, that the hard drive fills up quickly, especially when recording in top quality mode. Previously I had never bothered recording on my old video recorder as it was too much hassle.

01 Oct 2005 Andrew, Halesowen

10

Good Points

DVD Recorder! Got to have a Built In Hard Drive!

Bad Points

NONE

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Total reviews: 4,313

See product specs

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Build quality

4.5/5

Features

4.5/5

Value for money

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Overall

4/5

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Sony RDR-HX510S

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