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Radio Shack ---Accurian ADR-3223 Recorder
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NMILT
Newbie
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1. August 2006 @ 14:44 |
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I am interested in purchasing one of these units. Does anyone have one of these units, and if so what is your experience with the unit?
Red
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radar01
Newbie
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3. August 2006 @ 05:08 |
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Bought an adr-3223 about 2 months ago. Overall it's great. Very simple to use and multi-format recording feature (allwrite) and the 80gig HD make well woth the price. Radio Shack frequently puts them on sale for around $300.00 with a $50.00 rebate.
On the negative side the unit only has one tuner so you can't watch one channel while recording another, without using a cable splitter or similar device.
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NMILT
Newbie
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3. August 2006 @ 08:28 |
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Thanks for the info. I'm waiting for Labor Day, hoping the unit will
be put on sale. I understand about watching one channel while recording another, but have a way around that. I purchased a Philips unit with hard drive (DVDR3735H/37) which worked about the same way this one does, had problems with it and returned it , purchased another unit, (same model), had problems, returned it. Reviews for this unit on Radio Shack web site are good, so looking forward to trying one if reviews here continue good. Thanks again.
Red
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radar01
Newbie
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8. August 2006 @ 04:26 |
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NMILT, Glad to help. Forgot to mention that adr-3223 is lacking S-video on the front panel, (one is on the rear). This was a non-issue for me but thought you'd like to know. BTW you mentioned that you had a work around for watching a channel and recording another. How'd you do it? Perhaps your solution works better than mine.
Thanks
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NMILT
Newbie
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8. August 2006 @ 08:49 |
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Thanks for the info. Not having an S-video on the front will not be a problem. I just hit the TV/VIDEO button on my TV remote and it switches the TV to direct in, instead of through the recorder, when I want to watch another channel. BTW, I was in the local Radio Shack store yesterday and they have dropped the price of the unit by $100.00 (now $249.99)for clearance sale (limited to product in the store). Think I am about ready to purchase one.
Red
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radar01
Newbie
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9. August 2006 @ 04:24 |
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Great...I doubt you'll find it any cheaper than that. You may be interested to know that the accurian your ready to purchase is most probably a re-badged lite-on LVW 5045 with a smaller HD. The region hack is the same for both. Can't say for certain if the macrovision hack is the same.
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NMILT
Newbie
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9. August 2006 @ 09:08 |
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Thanks for the info. Have a contact that is pretty knowledgeable about Radio Shack electronics, and hope to talk to him tomorrow.
Red
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radar01
Newbie
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10. August 2006 @ 05:24 |
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Would you let me know what your Radio Shack friend has to say about the accurian being a re-badged lite-on. My opinion that they are basically the same has not been confirmed and I know several persons who like to know if it is. Thanks
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eVipere
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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11. August 2006 @ 08:20 |
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What a coincidence that I stumbled upon this page.... I am looking at purchasing this unit too, but I have a bit of an advantage with it, I actually work at a Radio Shack. Here, we have a unit onhand, so I have the ability to look into it a bit ^_^
Anyway, I don't know if this will help any, but here are the specs and what's actually in the box!
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Harddrive: Seagate 80GB Ultra ATA ST380012ACE w/ firmware 9.51
This looks to be very upgradable, probably to 250GB or more. Yet to try it though....
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CPU/Motherboard: LSI Logic DiMeNsion 2 DMN-8652
(http://www.lsilogic.com/products/recorder_dvd_dvr_dtr/dmn_8652.html)
From what it looks like, the processor is a RISC type customized to run audio/video applications and on-the-fly a/v encoding/decoding. LSI calls it their DoMiNo Architecture. **shrugs**
The motherboard supports IEEE1394 (firewire) which is running to the front of the unit, SDRAM [non-upgradable], 2 ATAPI drive (1dvd, 1hdd), and 2 USB 2.0 [??????] This machine has no USB connections on the casing, but the CPU has a USB2.0 Host Controller built in, and there is a jumper on the board (JP6) that suprisingly looks like a USB plug. 2x5 in size. Anyone want to try it out?
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DVD: Lite-On DDW-813S mounted in thin sheet aluminum (probably for RF interference reduction.)
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Ok, I don't think that the generic PSU matters much, and the TV tuner looks like nothing special.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. August 2006 @ 08:48
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eVipere
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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11. August 2006 @ 08:27 |
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Oh yeah.... yes they are being discontinued by Radioshack. The price will continue to drop, but only the quantities that the different stores have on-hand is what is available through RS.
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radar01
Newbie
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12. August 2006 @ 14:22 |
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evipere, Thanks for the feedback and info. If you come accross any further information which might help finding the macrovision hack, please let us know.
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NMILT
Newbie
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13. August 2006 @ 18:21 |
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Just got back in town, and didn't get to talk to my contact, but am e-mailing him and hope to hear back in a few days. Will share any info I receive. Appreciate Info you guys have supplied.
Red
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eVipere
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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1. September 2006 @ 14:38 |
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Ok, it's been a while, so noone may be looking for this device anymore... but RS just dropped the price again. $199.97 is the current RP.
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NMILT
Newbie
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1. September 2006 @ 14:59 |
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Because of vacations etc., I have not heard from my RS contact. However, since all info I have been able to review is more favorable than any other units I checked out, when the price dropped below $200.00 I couldn't resist any longer and purchased a unit this morning. I'll post my results when I have it checked out. Thabks for the inputs.
Red
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NMILT
Newbie
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4. September 2006 @ 13:03 |
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I am well satisfied with my unit. Everything I have tried to do with it has worked well. I haven't tried transferring from WHS to DVD yet, but that is not a biggy for me. Operation is much simpler, and better options than the Philips 3537 I tried before. Haven't looked for Firmware yet, my unit was built a year ago, so upgrade may be available. The operation manual contains information on 120 and 160 GB hard drives, so assume it can be upgraded for more capacity. Would definitely recommend it, and at $200.00, the price is good.
Red
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Charlie6
Newbie
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14. September 2006 @ 17:24 |
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I just picked up the last one at my local RS. So far, it's all I can hope for. Some things have been updated so the manual is not up to date, however, it's not hard to figure out. If anyone is successful in replacing the hard drive with a larger one, I would appreciate all the info. The small 80GB hard drive is the only con I can see so far.
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eVipere
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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15. September 2006 @ 08:49 |
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I just told my manager to hold the one that we have, (since I'll buy it, just broke right now....), so as soon as I get it, I'll switch the HD out with another that I have laying around. Next week(ish) probably is when I'll get around to it.
USB! That device has the capability for a USB connection. yet to try that too....
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NMILT
Newbie
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15. September 2006 @ 09:52 |
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eVipere, I will be much interested to see how your upgrades turn out. I am particularly interested in increasing the HD capacity.
Red
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bottlerkt
Newbie
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24. September 2006 @ 13:58 |
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Hi...I just bought one from radio shack and have a couple of questions for those who also have it.
Is the DVD player supposed to be so loud? When using the DVD source just playing a regular DVD, it's really loud. At first it's a kind of clicking scratchy noise then once it actually starts playing the movie, you can hear the running of the player over the movie. It plays with no problem, but I'm just concerened about the noise. Oh, also when I open the disc tray it just doesn't sound right...like something itsn't aligned right. Anyone have any insight on this?
No noise problems in the Hard drive mode, and it has worked perfectly.
I made it region free, but it there anyway to allow it to record protected DVD's on the HD?
Thanks guys.
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NMILT
Newbie
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24. September 2006 @ 20:28 |
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Mine does not have either of these problems. Can't help you on the protected DVD question.
Red
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bottlerkt
Newbie
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25. September 2006 @ 07:31 |
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thanks for the reply, but do you have your unit in a cabinet or somewhere pretty far from where you'd watch? mine's just in my room, on top of my tv. it sounds more like a computer reading a CD (that kind of fast spinning almost fan noise), than a regular dvd player. I love the thing (HDD), and if I take it back, I can't get another one because I bought the last one. What to do...........
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eVipere
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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25. September 2006 @ 12:25 |
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Contact Liteon... They're one one's who actually made the thing. Or contact Radioshack, but that probably won't be much help. If you want, try to find a Liteon DVD burner online and swap it out. It's a standard 5 1/4 inch drive. I tried to put an unformatted 120GB drive, but it came up the error 0x810D0004 -- Please contact customer service. Damn... no auto-formatting option.
HOWEVER... I did at least find out that it's running basic FAT32 partitioning and is labeled LITEONFAT (or something similiar to that...) I'll try a formatted 120GB once I get around to booting up my linux machine, since WinXP does not support formatting FAT drives in that large of a size.
Check out my sweet ass site! It's.... oh wait, I'm too lazy to finish it, NVM!
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Charlie6
Newbie
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25. September 2006 @ 15:54 |
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eVipere, there is a program you can download online to format the drive in fat32 that people use to format drives for hd recorders. The program is called "h2format.exe". Do a search and you can find where to download it. Let me know if it works out. I'm buying a 160GB drive and hope to be able to use it on my Accurian.
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Charlie6
Newbie
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25. September 2006 @ 16:45 |
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I forgot to mention. The program h2format works in Win Xp. Also, don't forget to name the drive "LITEONFAT" or whatever name was on the original drive. I don't know if it's true or not but I've read that not to format the new drive in the machine as it will then revert to the original 80GB's. The following is instructions for h2format I found online:
"Under XP it's not possible to format a drive larger than 32GB with FAT32. But for photo storage devices ('image tanks') FAT32 is essential - they doesn't work with NTFS formatted drives.
The german computer magazine c't offers a format tool - H2Format. But it works on unformatted partitions only. To prepare a drive, go to the Disk Management, delete the partition, create a new one and select 'Do not format'. The use H2Format to write an FAT32 file system - usage is similar to the FORMAT.EXE. Sample:
h2format u: It's very fast because it does nothing else then writing an empty FAT32 file system."
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NMILT
Newbie
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25. September 2006 @ 20:29 |
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bottlerkt,-- My unit is in an entertainment center (open front) and I am about 8 feet from it. I checked today and I have to get within about 18 inches from it before I can hear any noise while playing a disk, and at that distance it is a very low noise. I don't know how many RS dealers are in your area, but there are about six in my area, and all of them show units in stock on the internet (I realize this is not 100% reliable), so you might be able to return it and get one from another dealer.
Red
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