Gateway AR-230 DVD Recorder

[Ioman]

Priced at just $349, approximately $100 less than competing products, the Gateway AR-230 DVD Recorder hopes to leave a considerable impact.

With this latest addition to its CE product line, Gateway offers consumers a wide selection of home entertainment products just in time for the holidays.

Bringing DVD recording from the PC to the living room, the Gateway(TM) AR-230 DVD Recorder is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to record, play and store movies and TV programs on DVD. In addition to offering the standalone product, Gateway will also be the first to deliver a complete home theater solution incorporating a DVD recorder with its 1,000-watt KAS-303 home theater system. The DVD recorder category is growing quickly, with sales expected to grow from 1.5 million units this year to nearly 5 million units in 2004.

The Gateway AR-230 DVD Recorder was among the products launched today at the Gateway store in New York City, where chairman and CEO Ted Waitt revealed the company's dramatic retail transformation and unveiled 14 new products for businesses and consumers.

The new DVD Recorder is the latest innovative product in Gateway's transformation from a PC company into a branded integrator of personalized technology solutions. The company showcases its digital products in its nationwide network of 190 stores. These stores allow consumers to evaluate how the products perform and work together prior to making a purchase. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 94 percent of consumers purchase CE products at retail, giving Gateway a distinct advantage with its multi-channel direct model.

"We are leveraging our direct model to bring more value to the DVD recorder category and accelerate adoption of this new technology, much like we did with plasma TVs," said Matt Milne, senior vice president and general manager of consumer solutions. "Our DVD Recorder's convenience and ease-of-use will resonate with consumers who want a quick, simple and reliable method of recording and storing digital video."

AR-230 DVD Recorder Preserves Video for the Long Run

The AR-230 DVD Recorder replaces the VCR, allowing customers to record TV programs, store movies and playback digital video and other multimedia content. It can record up to six hours of video on a 4.7GB disc. Offering superior quality and longevity over VHS tape, DVD discs maintain recordings up to 100 years versus the three to five years of the average VHS tape. DVD discs also take up significantly less space than bulky VHS cassettes. The Gateway DVD Recorder supports both DVD+RW and DVD+R discs in which Gateway will offer as additional items with the DVD Recorder.


Using the Gateway AR-230 DVD Recorder, consumers can record favorite TV shows, movies and sports events onto a single DVD with the touch of a button, unlike the multiple steps required to program a VCR. Also, RCA input enables consumers to transfer taped copies of home videos from a VCR onto non-degradable DVD discs.

The DVD Recorder records using DVD+RW or DVD+R Media and can play a wide array of media such as DVD-ROM, DVD+R/+RW, CD-R/RW and CD-ROM. It's compatible with DVD-Video, DVD+VR, Super VCD, Video CD, Audio CD, MP3 CD and JPEG CD. It also has a full range of inputs and outputs including IEEE 1394 for recording home movies directly from a digital camcorder as well as S-video, component, digital audio and progressive scan.

Pricing, Limited Warranty and Service & Support

Gateway's AR-230 DVD Recorder is available for $349 and the bundled solution including the KAS-303 home theater system is offered for $1,099.

Customers can learn more about DVD technology from highly trained professionals at Gateway's 190 stores nationwide. Gateway supports its DVD Recorder with a one-year limited warranty and a range of service plans.

[ed4818]

Am going to local Gateway store this week to check this product out. If anyone has already done so, would appreciate your opinion.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by ed4818
Am going to local Gateway store this week to check this product out. If anyone has already done so, would appreciate your opinion.

Please tell us what you think. Personally, I think the player looks kind of cheap, but if it performs well and is affordable, I think a lot of people can overlook its appearance.

[ed4818]

I had (via phone) long talk with Gateway Store sales advisor who was very knowledgeable re product. From descriptive material, I thought there was possibilty of also using this as bridge device to capture VHS to computer, but he said can't be done. As this was is my area of interest, using the phone saved me a trip, so I still haven't seen AR-230 up close. Looking strictly at specs and price, it should be worth a look from anyone interested in DVD Recorder.
Ed4818

[booman]

I purchased this recorder yesterday. I tried to hook it up to the computer to transfer footage out of pinnacle 5.0 with firewire.... The DVD recorder couldn't get a signal. I called customer service and the gentleman said the firewire only works with camcorders.... Has anyone figured a way around this or actually made it work?

[techfreak]

Sounds likes like a dissapointing player. Are there any DVD recorders that will let you hook a computer up to it via FireWire or ethernet? Also, are there any other sort of video or audio inputs on the AR-230 that will let you capture from a source other than FireWire? If there was S-Video input, the picture would look pretty good.

[FEG]

I purchased this product since july 04. I burned a CD with the last firmware that the Gateway web brings, however I always have problems because the DVD can't read de CD-R. If there some one with the same problem?

[yobdab]

I recently bought the AR-230 and couldn't get it to update the frimware also. After talking with Gateway for about 2 days I was told what I have is a "version 2" AR230
P/N 2521671 and there are currently no updates yet. And the 1163 firmware doesn't work with the "version 2"