Sony RDR-HX900 Review

Overall Rating

Nice unit Looks good
Big Storage
Can handle multiple types of media
Can FAST DUB to certain types of media
Can Edit out unwanted parts of a video piece and continue on with fast dubbing. Can FAST DUB multiple titles onto one disc.
Has I LINK CONNECTION for DIGITAL DUB AT ONCE from other Sony units (cameras)
Has some common sense logic to the recording features. We are now fond of the restore factory settings feature.
FAST DUBBING is very nice.
SOME SUPPORT IS HELPFUL for connections and initial use.

AV SEARCH FROM CABLE INFO
Non current AV Guide search device
(not as sophisticated as the units provided by the Cable Guy)

CANNOT DIVIDE AND KEEP and save both parts of a video piece with one recording for later use of each.
(You must record it twice and trim the other out using the A-B erase function)

FEATURES MAY BE DISABLED UNKNOWINGLY
Setup actions may disable some features (like FAST DUB) without notice or recovery prompt.

DUBBING TIME BAR ABSENT
No timebar for dubbing process.
Some AV incompatibility with home discs of other machines (would not play finalized discs from a Panasonic machine)

FAST DUBBING
This occurs only from HDD to disc one way.
FAST DUBBING can disappear from availability with some setting changes. It happened to us and no explanation has been provided as yet.

SUPPORT

For the troubleshooting of FAST DUBBING may be frustrating and you may be unable to get help to resolve the issue AFTER SEVERAL HOURS of support time(mostly waiting) we were given permission to send the unit back in.
AFTER RECEIVING authorization to send unit for service, we found the RESTORE TO FACTORY settings button. (THANK GOODNESS IT WORKED)
No hints for this type of troubleshooting noted in the manual and this was not suggested by support personell X 5 or 9.

No EXPORT TO TAPE DEVICE
Have not found an export to tape ability for semipro computer editing.

The Sony RDR HX900 is a nice consumer grade product that does allow good ease of use for the occasional home video user. It has a few bonus features and can fit with other equipment to allow DVD production for the home video enthusiast.

We own numerous video units and in fact one of our users actually is a principal owner of a video production company and animation house in Orlando with years of experience with customers from Disney, Universal, Paramount, GE, OtoAssociates, and other companies with significant AV interests. Although the reviewer is not a professional at AV production, we do have extensive experience with home production, (consumer grade products) and with Professional production (commercial grade products).