written by keithrigby on 03/10/2007
Good Points
Cheap - nice design - easy to understand manual, reasonably quiet fan
Bad Points
Getting hard to get hold of - stocks seem to be running out everywhere.
General Comments
Bought from Currys online, after two bad experiences with other machines, and after reading Terence Wass's review... Delivered very quickly by DHL - before Currys have even debited my card! A bit of background here - I bought my first Goodmans DVD recorder three years ago, and until a few months ago, it gave me stirling service. When it finally started playing up, I bought a Sony - and my problems began! (Sony RDRGX120). To open the Goodmans box and take out this machine was like meeting a much missed friend again... the remote almost identical to my old one, so familiar with most of the controls already. Plugged it in - SCART in, SCART out, RF in, Rf out, Mains plug, turned it on... went straight into setup, searched for, and found all five analogue channels. Toggled through the "Source" button - to SCART - and the Set Top Box came through fine. All the controls set out logically, the picture and sound quality perfect. Very low noise level from the cooling fan, but turned the machine off anyway, just to see... and no probs - after a short delay, the picture and sound came back perfectly, meaning a through connection between In-Out SCART when the machine is off. The only (very slight) criticism is, as mentioned by Terence - the left hand side of the front panel has a recess for audio/DV inputs - and due to the design, it looks as though a front cover to this recess has been lost. I remember my old machine had a small drop down cover over similar sockets - but really, its nothing. Only had it for a few hours, so can't comment on its longevity - but if it lasts as long as the last Goodmans, it'll do just fine.