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Question: I want to connect the audio DVD to my receiver while retaining the HDMI connection to the TV.  Is this possible?
Document: Now for a big suprise, when I switch to the HDMI input on my TV, I have a picture but it displays the message "HDMI audio not supported"  and there is no sound. What gives? I switched from Bitstream back to PCM and now I have sound on my TV through the HDMI cable. If I want 5.1 surround through my stereo I have to change back to Bitstream.
Even thought it is a Samsung the HDMI seems pretty compatible with Panasonic Plasma TV and Onkyo( 608 receiver) so all the units power up properly. Would buy again. Would have given it 5 stars if not for the noisy fan and the display format(size) problems.
I have my satellite receiver/DVR connected in a similar fashion. It works the way I want it to and I don't have to change settings when switching between TV sound and 5.1 surround sound from the stereo. This is annoying, but not a deal breaker.Right from the begining, the 357 was fussy about what recordable disks it would accept. I called tech support and they said try a disk they recommended. This sounded fishy to me but I went with it.
Received product fast and so far so good with regards to functionality. I haven't tried burning anything yet but I'll review that soon. Do wish it had a built-in tuner though. I kept my other Samsung DVD/VCR connected so I could tape shows on TV because it has a tuner. I chose this method versus buying optional cable and configuring unit to work with my cable box. I may connect it solo in the future but now its fine with the two connected together.
I too have a Philips plasma and when using the HDMI connection, I get snow, a Green screen, then a black screen. Then the picture returns for 10 seconds then the same again. I tried searching Samsung's site and the web, but couldn't find anyone else with this problem until I saw it here. I tried calling Samsung and they said to use 720p. Not!
I purchased the Samsung DVD-VR357 so that I could transfer old video tapes to DVD's. The first thing that I noticed when I received the unit is that they don't recommend using DVD+R disks. They recommend DVD-R.  My old DVD players work best with DVD+R disks.I would have lived with that, however, when I connected the Samsung unit to my new Phillips 42" LCD flat screen TV via the HDMI port, it did not work.
I had purchased this through BB to replace the other Samsung combo unit that was NOT a recorder, as the VCR would "eat" the tapes (until you FFed past about a 10-minute mark).Not compatible with my Philips 32" flat. When watching DVD's, it intermittently flashes snow, blue screen, and black screen when using HDMI connection. I checked cables and the usual troubleshooting, and it was not happy at any point. Will be returning it.
Works perfectly, excellent video and with name brand DL-DVD's records excellent quality from DirecTv HR-21. The Dual-Layer capability is important if you want to record longer than 1 hour at highest quality. DL's will record over 2 hours. Dup's VCR's to DVD w/o a hitch. Note no tuner in this model. (I have a DVD-VR330 that is basically the same, but has no HDMI output and includes a tuner.)
We could not get any home videos in these formats to play. Would be great to solidify this feature in a later model. Does play standard audio CDs and MP3s-on-CD.7. Summary. The world of DVD-R is a little more complicated than VHS recording but this model automates most of the options if you want it to, like auto-initialize and auto-finalize.
Bought the 357 a week ago and have not been able to figure out why it wont allow recording tv shows. We can watch movies, and we can transfer vhs to dvd but we cannot record anything from tv on to dvd. WE have hd cables one going from tv to cable box and one going from tv to dvd player. 357 does not have coaxil connection to connect to cable box so what other cable should we have to make proper connections?
Answer: PamRosa,We haven't tested that, so it's difficult to give a definitive answer.  You can try by using an RCA cable to your receiver from the "audio out" port while it's connected.   If not, however, we can't offer support on how to make that happen.  HDMI usually carries both the audio and video through the same cable, and the design may not offer an option.--Mr. S