Customer Reviews

Philips CD Recorder (CDR778)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought mine on E-Bay as a used and it worked just fine. I used it for over two years without any trouble until it got stolen in a break-in, from high speed dubbing, or recording from tapes using the analogue connection manually, to recording over the air radio broadcasts. It worked even better than the 'brand new and sealed' Sony RCD W-3 that I got as a replacement from the store. The only trouble that I encountered with it was that it had trouble recording 80 minute disks. I was later told by Philips that it was actually meant to work with 74 minute disks only and I only wish they would tell people that important fact before they buy or at least write that in their manual. Otherwise everything else was OK. I give it a high five.

I bought this machine new during its heyday. It died after five years of good service. The final year became consistently more trying as it would only record on one brand of music CD, then only sporadically. Still that's long life for a piece of recording equipment. I replaced it with a Sony CD player-burner. Read my review of that elsewhere in my reviews.

Here's what I said about this when it was going strong: I bought Cream's "Wheels of Fire" and "Live Cream" used [...]. This is how my life changed since I bought this machine, which is a little termperamental about what CDs it will record but is otherwise trustworthy and steadfast. It has not broken down in five years of continuous use and has allowed me to burn 250 of my own CDs and another 100 or so for my friends from CDs, records, tapes and even 8 tracks. It won't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse sonically but it gives me more control over the final product than any prior machine I used while making cassettes and CDs the past 30 years.

As a person that buys 30 CDs a month and sells about half that number, I have high expectations for my music library. This machine allows me to create CDs with Anton Bruckner, Jack Bruce and Nat King Cole mixed in or whatever fits my mood. I'm sorry Philips discontinued this model but am pleased to say they still offer live technical advice over on their web site.

I've had mine for quite a while, but it has always been flaky and had problems with the CDs... A CD that I used would suddenly not be recognized, or the record drawer would lock up.

Finally, it totally gave up and won't recognize any disks any longer. I'm going to have to replace it.

I resent this, as my other audio equipment has lasted MUCH longer.

I originally got this to record tapes & records on CDs to listen in the cars (which don't have tape players these days).

I used it lightly; usually I'll have a heavy recording weekend (5-7 CDs created), and then it lies unused for a few months.

I don't think I got my money's worth from this unit and don't recommend it.