Customer Reviews

Philips DVDR600VR DVD Recorder with VCR

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If you're looking for a DVD Recorder/VCR that's affordable, easy to use, and of good quality, look no further than the Philips DVDR600VR. This product contains both a DVD+R/RW recorder and a VCR, making it easy to record high quality DVDs and videotapes. You can dub from tape to DVD or vice versa, set your own chapters and titles for DVDs, or record DVDs right from a TV or camcorder, as well as play CDs.

The DVDR600VR is surprisingly easy to use, even though the owner's manual looks a bit confusing (and the five sheets of addendums didn't help). I had the product set up in 30 minutes and had recorded my first DVD by the end of the day, complete with index pictures, titles, and chapters where I wanted them. Although it took me a few false starts and a couple of snafus, I've pretty much got the hang of it now and I've only had it for two days. :) Also, it records in DVD+R format, which tends to be compatible with more DVD players, so I can play my homemade DVDs in other devices - a definite plus.

The DVDR600VR isn't perfect, of course; you can't pause the recording when dubbing from tape to DVD, so make sure your original tape doesn't have anything you don't want. You can choose to label commercials, etc. as "hidden" chapters, which won't be shown during playback, but those still take up room on the DVD. You can't label chapters the way commercially-made DVDs do, so you just have to flip through a title to find the chapter you want; a minor aggravation at best. I've also had trouble dubbing from another VCR; I don't know if it's the other device, but playback seems slow and jerky when viewed through the DVDR600VR. The biggest problem that I've had, though, is transferring older or less-than-perfect VHS tapes to DVD. If there's any kind of bobble in your tape, it winds up as a brief (think half-second) dropout on the DVD which gives the look of odd, jerky splicing. Also, the DVDR600VR won't copy "protected" tapes - understandable, but it has a weird idea of what constitutes "copy protection". I've been able to transfer a couple of older, commercially-produced tapes from my old skating competitions, but a ballet that had been copied perfectly from DVD to VHS wouldn't record because the DVDR600VR thought it was "copy protected".

Still, though, these are minor flaws considering the quality and value of this product. The DVDR600VR is easy enough even for beginners, and it's a great value especially at Amazon's price. If you're looking for the best way to put your favorite TV shows, movies, or memories on DVD, this is a great way to go.

I had a lot of problems from the start with this one, and finally decided to return it and get a more expensive Sony.

The first problem was that most of the DVDs would not play back on my old Panasonic DVD player (which specifies that it will play DVD+R and +RW, and has played them from my computer and other sources). I tried Philips, Verbatim, Fuji, and Imation discs. I finally got some Memorex and HP DVD+R discs to work; so it just may be that all those other brand DVDs are too shabby. However, I still haven't gotten any brand of DVD+RW to work - they'll record, but not play back elsewhere, even though the other equipment specifies it.

Furthermore, often at the end of recording, it no longer recognizes the disc. I recorded on a Philips DVD in the Philips recorder, it seemed to be working fine, but when I tried to acess it again to add titles and finalize it, it said the disc was not the right region code for the player. Another time with an HP DVD+R disc, after I had recorded two short titles, it simply froze up at the end and would not bring up either the system menu or the title menu. Later I put this disc in the Sony recorder and it allowed me to finish editing the titles and finalize the disc.

The remote has fewer features than I'm accustomed to. Specifically, they use the same button for Next and Search - you press once to advance to the next chapter, or hold it down 2 seconds to search. I found this awkward and unreliable, though perhaps I would have gotten used to it in time.

Finally, the VCR does not eject tapes all the way; they stick when the edge of the cassette is flush with front of the machine, and if you try to pry it out, it pulls it back in. I've had this problem with old worn out VCRs before, but this is a brand new one and should work better.

There are other issues, but these were the most important. I used to think Philips was a good brand name; this has changed my mind. But I would have to admit you can get this to work for you if you're tolerant of all these problems and take the time to test the discs and procedures to find a combination that works for you. But I think it's worth another $50-$100 for a model that's relatively problem free and handles more formats as well (I'll review the Sony later - so far it's seems much better).

I was thrilled when I originally bought this unit, because I intended on converting old VHS family tapes to DVD. Because I had already converted some tapes on my computer to DVD+R format, I also was using it to play the DVD+R's that I had burned on my computer. There is some sort of problem with the unit that causes it to freeze and skip when playing custom burned DVD+R's. It was shipped back to the factory once, and when I received it back, they had replaced the DVD Drive, but still was not working. It is currently being fixed now the second time, I'm highly doubtful they are going to fix it now since they already replaced the DVD drive to begin with last time. But I am very disgusted with Philips warranty service and this unit. I have now been without my unit while under warranty repair for about 2 months, and after it came back the first time, there was an additional noise inside of the unit of something that had broken loose on the inside and was falling around inside the unit. Stay away from Philips unless you dare!

After spending a lot of time recording a disk the machine will freeze and produce error Disc contains unknown data. Note- this also happens after only a few minutes of recording. The only thing I have been able to do is throw out the disc and start over. After 10 different discs this problem happened 4 times.

I bought this a few days ago and so far have no complaints. It was easy to hook up (I had it up in less than 1 hr). The recordings are good and fairly easy to make (roughly 1 page manual explanations on each function are well laid out). I have dubbed my wedding VHS tape and this function worked well too. Only minor complaint is that when dubbing from a VHS tape to DVD, I was not able to hit the monitor or video button to watch TV (I had to watch the material being dubbed). This should not be necessary since at the end of the dubbing I will have to watch the DVD again to make sure everything came across OK on the DVD (which it did). I did like that the recording stops automatically at the end of the tape. If you are looking for a VCR/DVD Recorder combo to use as a DVD Recorder and to copy over your VHS tapes (that are not copy protected) then this appears to be a good value at $320 offered by Amazon.

I am totally frustrated with the Philips DVDR600VR. I recorded exactly 2 DVDs before it quit working. Now I can't get it to either read or record a DVD. The remote is awful as the unit responds to the commands at an extremely slow pace. A complete waste of over $300. Now I have to send it in for repair.

I basically like the features of the product, and after a bit of use it is pretty easy to use. I really do love the convenience of using rewritable discs on this. A few notes: It is noisy, I am not sure why. There is an electrical hum all the time, it is quite apparent. I almost sent it back thinking it was broken but I noticed other reviewers on other sites say the same thing. The other reason I only gave it a 3 *s is because--as of yet--I cannot figure out how to set a timer recording for the VHS portion of the machine. I don't think it is possible, so that was a bit of shock.

Job one for a DVD player (even one that records on DVD and VHS) is to play what you've recorded, and to play your DVDs. Good luck getting this hunk of junk to play your store-bought DVDs. Half the time, when offering you a menu, it will not highlight the menu items so you can't actually choose anything. Which of course brings your viewing to an abrupt end.

As to recording, this thing does not allow you to dub digitally from an outside source to the DVD player. So much for the wonder of digital imagery.

I'm very unhappy with the machine -- I'd say you should avoid it.

I liked the unit when I first received it, but really only used it a dozen times within a year and a half. My daughter went to use it the other day and told me it wasn't working, as usual I thought it was something she was doing wrong. I looked at it and said you have to turn the power on my dear for the unit to work, she just looked at me and walked away. Two hours later I was still trying to turn the power on, it was dead with no signs of life. Not sure what happenend but all of my other electronics were working fine, so I ruled out any kind of lighting strike. Of course I was a few months out of warranty and when I called a Phillips representative to find out where I could take it to get repaired he just told me to take it to Best Buy. I didn't even know Best Buy repaired electronics, I don't think they do. Overall I would say now this is a bad experience since I paid $386 for the unit and barely used it at all, now I have to get it repaired or just junk it. So stay away and buy a Sony, that is what all my other electronic toys are and some I had for about 20 yrs and are still working fine and never purchased an extended warranty either.

BEWARE: DVDs are non-standard & incompatible

I am bitterly disappointed with the Philips DVDR-3400 recorder, and suppose that all of its line has the same problems.

I did not find out until I had burned 300+ DVDs that the disk directory structure created by these Phillips machines is defective. The main title on the disk you make will appear to "play" on your home DVD player... but ALL of the post-recording edits made (cutting out parts you didn't want etc.) are LOST.

AND most PC-based DVD players and other software won't handle the disk, so if you wrote your home movies to disk for long-term archiving, you're out of luck.

I don't know how a company the size of Phillips can release such a piece of [...]. They HAD to know of these problems. I am sick to think of the time I have lost. All I have is junk to show for it. And yes, I did everything right (finalizing the disks etc).

Add to this the terrible remote control with rubbery, no-feedback keys that often don't work; little provision for using the deck for playback, etc. etc. (read other's complaints) and you have a real loser here.

I bought my first Phillips tape recorder in 1968. I will never buy another Phillips product.