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Philips DVDR75
Philips DVDR75 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder |
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Reviews:
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Everything dies, I guess...
3 out of 5
As of the last month or so, my Philips DVDR75/17, purchased in early April of 2004, is clearly giving up the ghost and approaching the "white light", so to speak. We had a very happy relationship up until then, created hundreds of DVDs both for personal use and family/loved ones from various media sources (VCR, DVD movies, camcorder/digital camera) and I loved it very much. After coming to enjoy and even rely on it as much as I have over time, it is rather heartbreaking (and extremely frustrating) to watch it slip into a sort of state of senility, as it has recently.
I remember, I bought it on the same day that the only DVD player I owned at the time officially kicked the bucket, after about two years of happiness and then a few weeks of symptoms {I sense a pattern here...hence the title of this review}. I went out looking for a new player and came home with my first - and so far, only - recorder. Go figure. Initially, this silver, bulky, boxy, sterile-looking thing was a very intimidating beast and I was very tempted to take it back to the store the next day, but once I got used to all of the features and editing capabilities (e.g., the System Menu, removing commercials and creating screens for individual titles via 'FSS', etc.) I found it to be quite user-friendly. Once I realized that I could record onto DVD+RWs, edit the recording to my exact tastes in FSS and then select the 'Make Edits Compatible' option and pop the finalized DVD+RW into the DVD R/RW drive my laptop and generate a duplicate copy on a standard DVD+R with edits intact, that sweetened the deal for me [it should be noted here that although edits/chapter insertions can be made on a DVD+R recorded directly from the DVDR75, those edits will ONLY SHOW UP WHEN PLAYED ON THE PHILIPS DVDR75 ITSELF, NOT ON ANY OTHER STANDARD DVD PLAYER].
Anyway, I see that many other owners (prior, current & otherwise) have testified to the same problems I'm having now - disc freezing, the dreaded 'Disc Error', and so forth - so I won't be too redundant. I understand now that this is a common problem, that the laser on these things pretty much start to go after about 600 burns or so, according to one person.
There's one thing I could never understand regarding this recorder. Or rather, the ridiculous directive given in the ludricrous manual (I swear this is one of the most absurd Owner's Manuals you'll probably ever read in a lifetime of owning stuff; if you don't believe me go to Philips' webiste and download a copy for yourself) which states that you should NEVER, EVER use a DVD drive cleaning disc on this unit. How can you NOT use a cleaner on a DVD player (even if it IS also a recorder) after months and/or years of usage? Maybe this was Philip's intention - if you ever had to call customer service when and if the thing broke down on you, they could blame YOU when they asked you if you've used a disc cleaner on it and you said 'yes'. This is pure speculation though. I have not called customer service, and from what I've read from other owner accounts they're absolutely useless anyway.
So, why am I giving this product three stars? Well, I guess I paid somewhere in the area of $300 for my unit, and for what it's worth I'd have to say that it more than made up for the price I paid, in terms of all of the DVDs I was able to create/recreate. I'd have to say that the picture quality is excellent up to about the 3rd or 4th record speed setting (it has 6 in total), editing is easy, and you can create a really nice picture in the Title Menu screen for each chapter. If you're feeling really creative, you can use your PC to create special intros and pictures for your recordings, but that's a whole 'nother story. It's a good unit - WHILE IT WORKS. I know this product is no longer manufactured by Philips; I think it had been discontinued right around the time I bought it. I chose not to purchase an extended warranty after the 90(?)-day warranty expired, but I have no regrets. But I think I'll try to buy another one. The price has gone down significantly since I bought mine, and there are a few floating around out there if you look hard enough.
To anyone who might feel compelled to seek one out based on this review, I would suggest that you try to find one which is new, or rather, UNUSED - not 'like new', not 'only used a few times' ("everybody lies" - ©House, M.D.), not 'refurbished to manufacturer's specifications (unless there's a really good return policy), but UNUSED. I think you'll enjoy it once you get used to it. But don't expect it to last forever. Remember - everything dies...
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Great While it lasted
2 out of 5
On Paper this machine was wonderful. It had everything I was looking for starting at a great price: Flexability of DVD+R/RW discs, front i.LINK connection, nice picture, easy menu creation...
It was very easy to set up, I was happy with the recording quality and the ease of creating chapters and menus.
I was very pleased for about a year then I started seeing small problems like the machine would freeze while trying to read the disc, or after recording the disc would format then freeze resulting in 'disc error'. It was still not consistent enough to worry about it at the time. When the machine froze while reading a disc, the only way to stop it was to unplug the machine. I did not try this when it was formatting a disc in fear I'd loose the work I just put in. I just waited until it gave 'disc error' and could not read anything it recorded.
Now it is 6 months later and recording is hit or miss. I thought it maybe was just my machine until I read similar reviews on this and other Philips DVD recorders.
Problems I have:
1) It has difficulty reading discs (commercial, blank, recorded) making it difficult to use. Error: "No Disc" or "Disc Error"
2) When I try to record onto a disc, it starts recording (you think) then freezes after about a minute. Then the machine shuts down completely. When turning the machine back on again you find that in fact nothing has recorded at all. This problem occurs about 70% of the time now.
3) Using timer to record has the same problem as recording, though you don't have the joy actually seeing it fail. Using the timer, while simple to set up, is pretty useless since it rarely actually records.
4) Sometimes when playing back a disc (commerical or recorded) it will give a "Disc Error" and stop playback.
I am hoping Philips DVD recorders will improve as they have potential and a good brand name, but I am seeing similar reviews on newer machines.
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Mine had a good run, then fizzled out (too quickly considering the price!)
2 out of 5
I received the DVDR75 as my first DVD recorder for Christmas 2003. I was cajoled by the company's slick TV ads ("got to believe it's getting better ... better all the time"?) and also because Philips employs a considerable amount of people in my local area. Support US products, I always say.
Well the reason I'm writing this long-delayed review is that I ignored the warnings about their reliability and dismissed criticisms about this specific machine as "online naysayers" ... I was wrong.
It was somewhat difficult to set up, very difficult to master, but worked reliably and with few "coasters" (disc errors making DVD+Rs useless) for awhile ...
About 18 months after purchase, it simply burnt out. I use it almost exclusively for recording TV shows (I'm not into Tivo). Currently it will record for about 5-10 seconds and then shuts down. I have no idea why nor do I have the inclination to fix it. I'm buying a new Panasonic recorder (currently $100 cheaper, plus it boasts 4.5/5 stars after 23 Amazon reviews).
Look, you're going to read this and either choose to believe me & pass over this, or you'll choose to ignore me. But I implore you --- think about the experience of other buyers like me before making your decision.
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Stops working after a few months
1 out of 5
I had quite a few coasters from the get-go, but it would work well about 75% of the time. Now it has not just stopped recording DVDR's, it can't read them either. Only works as a regular DVD Player for regular DVD's not DVDR's, can't read it's own recordings or DVDR's burnt on my computer. Piece of crap!
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Works fine until warranty runs out
1 out of 5
On paper this machine was good and it worked well for the first year. Then it started to reject disks with disk error. These disks played fine on my computer and on other players. Then it started to jump chapters and titles, despite a firmware upgrade, rebooting, cleaning etc it just got worse and worse until I finally cracked and threw it out of an upstairs window into the concrete yard. I'm going to execute it with prejudice (water, oven and large hammer whilst powered) and do what I should have done in the first place and buy a Japanese unit.
Don't buy it whatever you do.
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Buy at Amazon.com
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