Review Sony RDR-GXD360 DVD Recorder

As an upgrade to its average predecessor we are expecting bigger and better things from Sony’s RDR-GXD360 DVD Recorder, but once we’d seen that they’ve forgotten to add a HDMI and analogue tuner we were nowhere near as excited about checking it out.  One thing we were impressed by is that it costs £100 less than its predecessor, the GXD310.  

Design

Sony haven’t smothered the RDR-GXD360 in contemporaneousness, in fact, they haven’t even given it a smidgen as a kind gesture. When we got it out of the box we thought we may have been sent the wrong one, or that we had time-travelled back 10 years, but unfortunately not.  The very basic design is predominantly silver with a black strip stretching the entire length which contains the LED screen and disc drawer. 

When checking out what features Sony has given the RDR-GXD360, we were left a little unsatisfied.  So to get rid of the bitter taste this unsatisfactory spec list has left in our mouths we should start by telling you what it doesn’t have to offer.  First-off, Sony has still not decided to support DVD-R Dual layer variations, and they’ve also failed to make the GXD360 compatible with DiVX, XVid and MPEG4 recordings.  And while we are on the subject of Sony’s shortfalls we should mention that it lacks an analogue tuner too.  On the more optimistic and brighter side, they’ve given it the technology to record everything apart from DVD-RAM, however, it can still play them.  We’re glad Sony has made the RDR-GXD360 DVD+R Double Layer Disc compatible as this almost doubles the recording capacity.  Other features include a Freeview tuner service, however it isn’t backed up by an analogue one, so you’ll have to cross your fingers the reception is good.  And as we know, with Freeview you get an Electronic Programme Guide to take the weight off your mind, reminding you when your un-missable shows are on.  You can plan to record 40 events or up to a month of recording, whichever is more.  Speeding things up is the 12-bit 108 MHz processor which works well with the PAL/NTSC progressive scan feature to provide a great picture.  At the touch of a button you can start recording, and if you want to watch another channel or something you have already recorded at the same time you can do that also.  Once you’ve recorded your programme you will enjoy utilising the handful of editing options, some of which are rather quirky. 

The VR-mode is the most user-friendly because it allows you to edit, play and record using the re-recordable DVD+RWs and DVD-RW discs.  The thing to remember if you do choose the VR-mode is that if you record using it, the CD may not playback on other machines.  By using the simpler video-mode, you are guaranteed it will playback on any machine but you will forfeit editing features.  For an unknown and completely crazy reason, Sony has taken away the Intelligent Chapter Creation, which we won’t go on about because it is in the past, but it was a great editing feature that should have remained.  The menu system is the same as that on its predecessor, still nice to look at, and well planned out but rather slow to respond.  The set-up process is as complicated as you make it.  The manufacturer’s settings work well but you can dive in and have lots of tweaking-fun if you know what you are doing. 

As with all other Sony picture performances, when it comes to great quality, they really know what they are doing.  If your Freeview broadcast is good, you are more or less guaranteed a great DVD recording experience from the RDR-GXD360.  We sampled all recording modes going from the highest down to the lowest quality.  We found the bottom-end modes very impressive, managing to get 8 hours out of the SLP mode.  Admittedly we saw a lot of noise including rings around objects, but for a high capacity mode it was ultimately impressive.  We got 2.5 hours on the LSP mode, 3 hours on ESP, and the LP mode gave us 4 hours. Playing back pre-recorded DVDs provided us with an excellent performance all round, even after trying out loads we had no slip ups.  Colours were bold and realistic, and detail was smooth making our viewing experience very pleasurable.  We would have liked a HDMI connection to upscale the picture, but the RGB or component put up a good performance in its absence. 

The Sony RDR-GXD360 DVD Recorder does everything you could expect, other than upscaling, and provides a good picture performance in the process. We are unsure as to why they have left out the poor HDMI port which should definitely be included. All in all, the RDR-GXD360 is a good DVD recorder worth considering.