I have only had my 530 a couple of weeks and found it to be a great machine, doing everything I wanted but I find it very noisey. Most of the time I can detect its hardrive noise when watching the TV at normal listening level.

Do other users have a problem with this? I have been to a friends house who has a Sony and his is virtually silent. Should I take it back to the dealer or is this usual for this machine.

Any replies will be much appreciated as the dealer is prepared to at least have a look at it.

Mines ok m8 no noticable noise

I can hear mine too, and it can be a bit annoying at times. I think the noise level is probably average - some recorders are considerably quieter and others a bit more noisy. Also, a lot of people's "normal" volume level for their telly is actually quite loud, so they think that the machine is very quiet.

I have a 630 and I haven't found the noise level obtrusive. It's about the same, or perhaps slightly quieter, than my VCR. Over the noise of a TV, I can't really tell it's on. Then again, I also have an Iomega external network hard disk drive and that is virtually silent, so I don't know why the Pio's disk is that noisy. But when the Iomega has been on for a few hours, it seems to get noisier. Perhaps it's a fan kicking in? In which case, perhaps the Pio has a fan built-in and it's that you can hear, not the disk?

It's perfectly normal for the dvd recorder fan to make some noise. I've 'heard' some recorders, other than Pioneer, which were considerably louder. My 530 is not louder than a playing VCR.

Most of the time, I play the tv sound on my home theater set, which is usually a little above normal listening level (thank god for no neighbours), so not really a problem for me...

Only time I've really noticed a noise is If I'm recording whilst watching one prog. whilst something another off the HDD (even then it's a low rocking sound whilst the head seeks). If it's annoyingly noticeable then take it i in for a look but I suspect "they all do that Sir"