The Presidian PDR-3222 Budget DVD Recorder - Product Review
Monday March 13, 2006
The Presidian PDR-3222 is a DVD Recorder, sold primarily through Radio Shack, that offers multi-format DVD recording at an extremely low price point. Although the PDR-3222 doesn't offer many of the more advanced features and conveniences of higher-end, name-brand, units - it still offers some benefits for someone looking for a very basic DVD recorder. For more details, check out my Full and Short reviews.
Comments
I extremely dislike the PDR-3222. Firstly, It only has the dvd drive, so you have to hook up a vcr to it, and if you dont have a tv that has av inputs built in, that meens you must now use the PDR-3222, and TWO vcr(s). Secondly, It has no coaxal cable OUTPUT, which causes the need to use a vcr in the first place. There are also no controls on the front of the machine, so therefore, the only way you are able to use the machine is with the remote. The features are terrible. You cannot input a music player or cd player to add soundtrack music and/or backround music to your dvd(s), and you cannot design menues, create multiple pages, (i.e. special features, or scene selection, or play movie, etc.) Overall, it was the worst waste of money i ever spent, and now i bought a phillips which is much better and gives me everything i need and its only 40 dollars or o more. Unfortunately, i didn’t find out how shoddy the machine was until the warrenty ran out, so i couldnt get my 100 bucks back for the Presidian. It’s probably the most inconvenient machine i have ever bought. Take my opinion or not, I THINK ITS HORRIBLE!
“““““““`also i forgot to ad, it has no usb in/outputs and also no camera in/outputs so you cant burn directly from a saved pc video or from a digital or cassete tape camera. There…I said it. The end.
Thank you very much for your comments on the Presidian DVD Recorder Review – I am sure you noticed that I only gave the unit an average rating due to my own observations regarding its shortcomings:
1. The 3222 has no S-Video inputs or outputs. This limits the maximum benefit access the best video quality when recording from Hi8 camcorders and S-VHS VCRs that have S-Video connections. The lack of S-Video outputs limits the quality of the video that can be displayed on many pre-HDTVs that feature S-Video input connections.
2. The DV input does not yield as good a result as the composite inputs. Dubs made onto DVD from a Panasonic PV-GS35 mini-DV camcorder, using the 3222’s DV input, exhibited motion lag artifacts, but looked satisfactory when using composite video connections.
3. The 3222, although able to play back standard commercial Dolby Digital encoded DVDs, is not capable of playing back DVDs with DTS-only soundtracks or DTS soundtracks on DVDs containing both a Dolby Digital and DTS playback option. For home theater enthusiasts that prefer the audio characteristics of DTS or over Dolby Digital, when available, this is a major drawback if using the 3222 as a principle playback DVD player, in addition to its use as a DVD recorder.
4. No Front Panel LED Display. In other words, you must access the on-screen display menus to set-up and see the status of the DVD recording and playback functions. Unlike many DVD recorders (and even VCRs), there is no time, channel, or other status display on the front panel of the 322. There are only red, green, and yellow indicator lights.
5. Although the 3222 does provide a digital coaxial audio output, it would have been nice to also include a digital optical output for those cases where a such a connection is the only one available on an AV receiver.
However some of the “negative” comments you made are not unique to the Presidian or are misstatements:
1. The Presidian is only a $100 or less DVD Recorder and you should not expect high-end features.
2. Many DVD Recorders do not have active RF outputs, audio dubbing capability, menu creation, multiple pages, USB inputs and outputs. Also, most DVD recorders cannot interface directly with a PC for transferring video files as they typically do not have the driver support need to communicate with a PC – however, there are individual exceptions. In addition, your comment about the Presidian not having a VCR section included – there are three main types of DVD Recorder Configurations: Standalone units, such as the Presidian, DVD Recorder/Hard Drive Combos, and DVD Recorder/VCR combinations. The Presidian is a common configuration, which is classified as a standalone DVD recorder.
3. The Presidian DOES have a front mounted Firewire input for transferring video from a digital camcorder to DVD directly.. In addition, the Presidian also has front mounted analog audio/video inputs for standard camcorders. The Firewire and AV inputs on the front panel are accessed via a flip-down door on the bottom right of the unit.
4. With regards to your comments regarding the RF connection – Almost all DVD recorders must be connected to a TV via AV connections (or component video connections) to play back DVDs – if your TV does not have AV connections, you need to use an RF modulator to connect the playback outputs of the DVD recorder to the TV – you should not connect a DVD recorder to a TV via a VCR. For more info on this check out my article on this question:
http://hometheater.about.com/od/dvdrecorderfaqs/f/dvdrecgfaq17.htm
5. The Presidian 3222 at the time of the review was the least expensive DVD recorder that had the ability to record in the DVD-R/-RW/+R/+RW formats.
6. One last point – The Presidian has NTSC/PAL bi-directional conversion on playback and can be made Code-Free by accessing a hidden setup menu.
7. The Presidian I used in my review still works fine after almost a year – Incidently, the Presidian 3222 is made by LiteON for Radio Shack.
There are definitely better DVD recorders out there and no DVD recorder is a perfect match for every consumer’s needs – the Presidian is marketed as a basic unit and priced as such – you did the right thing jumping up to the Philips for the features you are looking for.
Once again thank you very much for your comments and let me know if this info helps.
For more complete information on what DVD Recorders are designed to do and not to do, check out my DVD Recorder FAQs:
http://hometheater.about.com/od/dvdrecorderfaqs/a/dvdrecfaqintro.htm
Robert Silva
About Home Theater
http://hometheater.about.com
http://www.About.com
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I have had this thing for a year and it is junk. I will never buy a Presidian product again. Worst instructions i have ever seen.
I like mine except for the inabilty to delete obsolete settings on “Timer”. I delete everything on my disc and still can’t record something unless I override a Timer. Any suggestions?
The ratings on this by users, if you were able to query them all, would probably show them all so disgusted with the manual, menuing and controls on the presidian PDR-3222 that they either have or want to throw it against a wall violently then stomp to pieces whatever is left. Only a person with a lot of knowledge could begin to understand it enough to give it anything but a MINUS 5 star! DON’T BUY THIS PIECE OF JUNK! I AM ANGRY THAT RADIO SHACK EVEN SOLD IT TO ME!
I love my PDR3222. Where do I go to buy another? For a person with my level of inexpertise, it is perfect. I had to learn by trial and error why some disks “fail”ed to Finalize, and it required repeated trips to the manual to learn how to erase. I still don’t know why some disks that I believed had recorded correctly, later stated that they were “blank”, and I was unable to access what I had recorded, BUT, I want another just like the one I have. Radio Shack (in Hemet, CA) claims that the Presidian is no longer available. I purchased the one I am currently using in November of 2005 and I have encountered only “User” problems or inadequacy.
We have one of these units available at our RadioShack franchise in Orlando, Florida
407.423.1771