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Pioneer DVR-633H-S Review

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  1. Marshall •  January 1, 2006
    Rating: 2.5/5

    I have “taped” a number of shows with the DVR-633H-S and for the most part I’m happy.

    But the TV Guide thing is for crap. It is suppose to pick up all the information from your cable box so that recording is simply “click on the program.” But it hasn’t/doesn’t work that way on my cable system. (Comcast which has TV Guide.) I’m able to change the cable box’s channels with the remore from the Pioneer, but all the TV Guide info doesn’t appear in the DVR-633H-S fields.

    The MOST frustrating thing that I haven’t been able to get a handle on is this: When recording on certain channels–Turner Movie Classics is the most problematic–the audio drops out completely for about 10 minutues!! It usually happens around an hour into a show (which really sucks) and then it mysteriously pops back on again. If I’m watching the show while taping, I can fix the problem by quickly switching to another channel and then back to TMC, but I’ve lost a number of opportunities to record some films because of this problem.

    If anyone else has experienced this problem and foud a fix, I’d love to hear from you. I have gone through the entire manual and tried all sorts of reconfigurations, all to no avail.

    Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  2. Jason •  February 23, 2006
    Rating: 2.5/5

    I have been having the problems with the audio cutting out halfway through a recording. Also, my tv Guide on-screen stopped working, it has been shipped out for service, my advice, wait for the next model for the bugs to get worked out or buy a different brand.

    Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  3. Paul •  May 29, 2006
    Rating: 3/5

    My TV Guide on screen function has bit the dust after only 5 months of moderate use. Thank goodness for 1 year warranty. I see I’m not the only one with this problem. Must be a bad chip.

    Rating: 6 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  4. Michael •  September 17, 2006
    Rating: 1/5

    One of the main selling points of this product is the ability to use the “On Screen TV Guide” to choose programs to record. This is a big tease, because it mysteriously works for a while then quits. At first if would not load up the schedule for several months, then when it did, after a couple of months, it disappeared and now will not load up again. This has been a big frustration since it was a pricy investment to get that feature and now it does not work. It was a big waste of money just to get DVR recorder. I could have bought a lot cheaper one to do that feature only. I am looking for my receipts now, hope I can find it for the warranty, but I think I have been teased for over a year now and my warranty is not good. I should have returned long before now.

    Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  5. Mo •  September 19, 2006
    Rating: 0.5/5

    My TV Guide on screen no longer functions as well. I thought maybe this feature was not supported during summer re-reun season but now that the new programs are being telecast it still does not work. Is there anyway to record without access to this feature? Has anyone had success getting it repaired? Is the repair covered by warranty?

    Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  6. myron •  September 21, 2006
    Rating: 4.5/5

    I own a pioneer DVR-633H-s and whenever I play a dvd, in the begining before the movie starts the player hangs and you can’t work any buttons the player is locked up. The only way to restart it is to unplug the device while it is running and plug it back in. Then still you can’t fast forward thru the advertisements.

    btw I do have trouble with the tvguide thing but I do have a reset number that will work that fine. This will fix it. go to TVGUIDE, SETUP, CHANGESYSTEM.. then type 653274147 this will erase all the settings and allow the tvguide to load again.

    Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  7. Barry •  September 28, 2006
    Rating: 4/5

    I really love this DVR because its human-engineered to please. But the TV Guide On Screen just doesn’t function well. Does anyone know how to set manual reocrding? I can’t figure out how to record my shows when the TVGOS is down.

    Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  8. agirlspet •  September 23, 2007
    Rating: 0.5/5

    This unit started out at 8 out of 10 but now its only purpose is paper weight. Right after my warranty expired the DVR got stuck in a loading loop where it turns itself off then back on displaying loading then turn back off and it does this loop as long as its powered ON. I let it do this for about a week, then I called pioneer who informed me my hard drive was corrupt and that I had to fix it out of my own pocket. After pay almost $500 for this and less than two years of usage I’m suppose to pay more money. This was my first pioneer box and I was looking forward to more but not any more, sorry, I don’t think I will ever buy another pioneer anything.

    Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  9. BC-NJ •  December 31, 2007
    Rating: 1/5

    Pioneer ought to be ashamed of themselves. The TV Guide feature was a big flaw, and two years after light to moderate use the hard-drive became corrupt. I lost ALL of my family videos I downloaded to the unit. Contact support is a joke; they refer me to a repair shop 30 miles away. No phone support, no friendly recommendations, nada.

    Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  10. CHRISTIAN D •  December 31, 2007
    Rating: 0.5/5

    WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT THIS Pioneer DVR-633H-S, I HAD SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE DVD RECORDER. I WAS EXCITED FOR THE REVIEWS. IN DEE, IT WAS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR .GREAT RECORDINGS. THREE MONTHS AFTER. Pioneer DVR-633H-S, BECAME PROBLEMATIC. I CALL THE MANUFACTURE AND THEY COULDN’T HELP ME TO REPROGRAM THE UNIT, I HAD TO SEND IT TO THEM. WARRANTY COVERED THE REPAIR. WELL AFTER SOME MONTHS, IT STARTED TO MALFUNCTION AGAIN. NOW IS OUT OF WARRANTY. IT WILL COST ME MORE TO REPAIR IT THAN BUYING A NEW ONE. SO IF YOU LIKE TO RECORD SPECIAL PROGRAMS ON A DVD, CONSIDER ON GETTING TIVO HD https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxdetails.do?boxName=180hourtivohd&boxsku=R65216 WITH USB NETWORK TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR PC. PLUS THERE IS A SOFTWARE THAT WILL TAKE OUT THE ADDS (Video Redo TV Suite) http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/videoredo_tvsuite.cfm IS A LOT BETTER THAN PIONEER MODELS. I HAD TIVO FOR MORE THAN FOUR YEARS, AND IT NEVER BROKE. NOT EVEN ONCE. WELL HAVE FUN WITH YOUR TOYS.

    Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

  11. thx108 •  April 20, 2008
    Rating: 0.5/5

    I’ve had my dvr-633h for right at two years now and can’t play anything. It records without skipping every two seconds. The hard drive becoming corrupt seems to be norm from everything I read.

    Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.

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