Customer Reviews

Philips DVDR75 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

Ok, you probably read lots of other reviews by now, but here is a summary, of what you will get for your money. But first, keep two things in mind, when you read other 'low rating' reviews :
1. This DVD Recorder is by far one of the less expensive ones - but what you get for your money is truly amazing.
2. In electronics, there are always 'lemons', but with Amazon's great customer service, it is very easy to exchange a unit, that does not work properly.
Ok, so here is what you get when you purchase this DVD recorder.
- A DVD recorder that records on DVD+R and DVD+RW in amazing picture and sound quality. Depending on what quality level you choose, the picture is clearer than on a pre-recorded DVD or (on the lowest quality selection) as good as a VHS tape. The sound is truly amazing.
- When you copy from DVC to your DVD recorder using the Firewire link, you might get some distortion when playing the recorded DVD on another player. But if you use S-Video and the highest quality setting (M1), then there is absolutely no difference between the original and the copy.
- The reaction time of the DVD player is a bit slow, when you press a button. But once you get used to this, it really isn't a problem.
- The DVD+RW discs do not need to be finalized in order to play them on another DVD player - this is a huge advantage over the DVD-RW format. In general, DVD+R and DVD+RW is much more likely to be compatible to other DVD players than DVD-R and DVD-RW. DVD-ROM is really not a DVD format and is hardly ever compatible to another DVD player.
- Even this DVD recorder does not have a hard disk, it is still cheaper, to buy this unit together with Tivo (the total will be about $ 600.--) than another DVD recorder with a hard drive. This way, you will get all the Tivo benefits and copying from Tivo to this unit is a breeze !
- Operating this unit is extremely simple and it is very easy to organize your DVDs (titles, index pictures, chapters etc.).
- The DVD player is excellent and supports the most recent sound systems. The picture quality is truly outstanding.
My verdict - buy this unit ! It's a fact, that in 2 years from now, it will be as 'outdated' as the more expensive recorders that are out now - but for the price, you really get your moneys worth ! And the DVD+R and DVD+RW discs that you record on this machine will still be 'top of the line', when it comes to picture and sound quality, in many years from now.

Bought this June 4th, 2003
Earlier that day I also had purchased the Panasonic DMRE-50s. The Panasonic DVD-R / DvdRam unit is back at Circuit City.
I'm using the DVDR 75 as we speak.
There are a few things to like and some maybe not so.
1st of all, I love the format DVD+RW. The unnecessary task of finalizing the disk sells me. My first attempt was a few SpongeBob episodes. it went like this.
Inserted Philips DVD+RW disk into drive
Selected appropriate inputs and cable channel
Pressed Record
Pressed Stop
Split a few titles into separate episodes (very easy to do)
Edited the names
Assigned each title a custom image thumbnail (from a frame in the show) (Very easy to do)
clicked eject
took the disk to my daughters room and inserted disk in old DVD player
and prayed ..........
I was amazed. It took less than 20 seconds for the title screen (think DVD MENU) to show up.
All my little editing and naming and picture thumbnailing all perfectly intact!
One button got a selected title playing (daughter chose it from the picture)
There was no significant lapse for title to begin playing, NICE!
No formatting, No finalizing, No disappointed daughter, NO KIDDING

But, I did find a few disappointing features here:
There are no real helpful buttoms on the unit itself (Menu, Rec Mode,etc...)
So, if you lose the remote you'll need a new one
Component input was inviting, but it will not accept Progressive Scan?
So, my HDTV Cable Box is now a "Watch 1080i, Record 480i tuner" - 1 star
I have used optical audio out for years, but welcomed the Coax Digital Out as it allowed me to get the recorder away from my receiver.
I Would've been 99% satisfied if this unit would record Progressive scan and if there were a few more facia buttons, but for the price I paid - it's well worth it.

Honorary mention goes to the iLink (FireWire) front input

All things being equal, I like this far better than Panasonics DVD-R units. Despite the Panasonics having a few more unit placed features, it doesn't allow recording to a DVD-RW format besides RAM, and RAM to me is useless because I can't play it back on anything but the Panasonic units that record RAM.

DVD+RW is clearly the more user-friendly format and the Philips DVDR 75 handles it quite well

4.5 stars

I think the Philips DVDR75 Recorder is wonderful. It is a welcome replacement to my VCR; this is my first DVD recorder (other than the one on my PC); I never owned the DVDR985. Connecting was truly easy. Cable provides my TV and all I did was physically replace the VCR and appropriate connections with this DVDR 75. [The cable signal goes from the wall directly into the cable box; from the cable box to the DVDR75; then from the DVDR75 to the TV]. Philips included a "DVD+RW" disc in the box (the unit is not designed for DVD-RAM or DVD-RW rewriteable discs) and that is what I have been using to learn how all this works. We recorded at the M1 quality (1 hour of recording) all the way up through the M6 (6 hours of recording). There is a noticeable difference between M1 and M6, but I assure you the M6 quality is far better than my deteriorating VCR. My next purchase is going to be the Sony KLV 30XBR900 30in LCD TV and I can't wait to see what happens then...

It is important when using the remote to WAIT after pressing a button or combination of buttons (like SYSYEM and then MENU) and to pay close attention to the message(s) on the unit as they are displayed. There is distinct processing time involved which needs to be respected (like on a computer, too much clicking too fast can cause immediate frustration)...

For $399, you just can't beat it!!!
Here are the positives:
- Very easy to setup, was up and running in 10 minutes
- Impressive image quality - even at M6 (6 hours recording mode per DVD), the quality was better than my VCR's, and I mean, A LOT better!!!
For everyday recording, M6 is great. If you want to keep them and get great image quality, use M4 (4 hours per DVD) or better (noticeable difference between M6 and M4).
- Great compatibility - so far has played every DVD's I've put in there, including the ones I burned on my computer without a glitch. My other DVD players have played DVD's burned on this one without a glitch either.
- Same on the timer record function - has been flawless
- They have a very cool feature that allow you to hide chapters within movies, so if you make the commercial break a chapter, you can then hide it so it doesn't play during playback.
- Love the fact that it uses RW's as well (My first recorder could only use R's).

Now for the negative
- A bit difficult to navigate - It does get some getting used to. The buttons on the remote are labeled strangely for what they do. I.e. while playing a movie or recording, the system button will show on-screen display. I was looking for a button that said display, silly me.
- Though the 'hide chapters' feature is great, I wish you could delete them and gain the time back again to record. At this time, if you 'hide' 20 minutes of commercials in an hour show, though the time spent watching it will only be 40 minutes, it will still use one hour of your disc.
- A bit of a delay when you push a button on some features (about half a second), which has a tendency to make you feel it did not get it. Not with every buttons, just some. A little weird.
- If recording something, if you press the stop button, image will freeze for about 5 to 10 seconds, while it writes. Make sure you press the pause button instead, if you don't want to miss what is playing on TV at the moment.
- 480i on Component as opposed to 1080i

So with those negatives, why did I rate it 5 Stars?

Simple - Bang for Buck! This is $390! I can't expect it to do everything I want for that price, and the negatives are more things I wish it had or did a bit better, not things that are of major concerns as far as what it does. If I had paid $490 for it, I would have dropped it to 4 stars, but considering the price, this is simply a great unit that does what it says it does.

I highly recommend it! The only ones I saw that did more things better started at $699 (ones that include a HD).

As far as the few negative reviews I saw here, I think every company has some bad units out.
My recommendation?
Just like anything else you buy, if it doesn't work right from the beginning, return it and get another one. You probably have a bad unit. Make sure you buy from a company that has a 15-day return policy. If it works fine for the first 15 days, you should be fine, if it doesn't, return it and get another one. Especially it it's a major brand. One bad unit doesn't mean every unit made is bad.
Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps.

I checked to see if it does what it advertises and I found it does a good job. However, I found that an old movie I had on a DVD+RW did not play anymore in another DVD player after I played it on the DVDR 75.
There is not as much lapse time when changing from one channel to another as in the previous Philips model 985. However, the remote control is not a universal one as the one that comes with the latter. This means I have to have another remote control for the TV volume.
The worse flaw is that when it is on it gets very, very hot. It has a fan built in (a fairly noise one), but it is not enough. I don't think this is going to do much for the life of this model.

Philips customer service, although very cordial and prompt, is useless because it is such a new model that they can't help you on anything especific to this unit.

the DVD recorder is the biggest thing since the VCR! There are a few great reasons to get the DVD recorder.

1) M1 recording quality is better than SP on a VCR.
2) the DVD recorder is very quiet when on. I noticed my VCR makes noise when on. This is nice because you don't hear any electric humming when watching television.
3) The DVDs are longer lasting than VHS tapes
4) repeated viewing will not affect the picture.
5) DVDs are much smaller than a VHS tape

more detail on the recording settings. M1 is like finding gold. The quality is better than SP on a VCR! If you really want the best quality don't use anything less than M1 unless it is for a one time viewing. M1 recordings look almost as good as the original broadcast, unlike VHS tapes, where you can tell the quality drops a bit if you get close to the screen. M1 recodings when paused loose a bit of clarity, but the pause function isn't used that often, so it's not a concern.

The crazy symbols used could be improved upon, for example for 'channel' they could just display that on the screen but instead you get a fork in the road type picture, but it's ok once you get used to it.
note that consumer reports rated the three DVD recorders (Philips, Panasonic, and Sony) as all having the same recording quality of excellent (March 2003 issue) so I guess your choice is what format you want to use. Philips is +RW and +R.

additional on problems
- RECORDER BUGS -unfortunately, sometimes this machine 'turns itself off'. I have discovered why. when plugged into a vcr to transfer VHS to DVD if you give the recorder a command, and then quickly give the VCR a command like rewind, the recorder locks up and turns off, so I have learned to do one thing at a time and then this doesn't happen. also, when [pausing out commercials] don't use the pause button to resume recording, just press record again or it may turn off. Thankfully it's not a problem once you learn what not to do. Now that I am more careful the machine hasn't turned itself off on me.

- BRIGHTNESS PROBLEM this is probably the only thing that concerns me. but I still don't think it's a problem, because the brightness only shows up when transferring store recorded VHS programs to DVD. on my own tapes, this doesn't happen. Rewind the tape to the beginning and it should go away. The brightness is so obvious that it's easy to spot, and just rerecord the tape. It would bother me more if the brightness issue was sporadic or very slight, which would cause me to buy another brand, but it either records perfectly or all bright (probably only about 2% of the time on store bought or ordered tapes).

NO FAST FORWARD BUTTON really is a minus on this unit, so I recommend using another DVD to play the recordings on. (they say this machine is a also a first rate player. hmmm. not without a fast forward button.

RECOMMENDATION: buy a S-Video VCr to transfer your tapes. you'll transfer the VHS to DVD with the best clairty. (probably only for those of us that really want the best possible quality) but it is a noticible difference

CLAIFYING THE MANUAL: just go to input AUX 2 and plug in your Vcr into the AUX 2 outlet to transfer tapes. once done, just arrow up to the desired tv channel to record off of television.

I just received this unit from Amazon.com a few days ago. After reading all these reviews, I figured this DVD Recorder was going to be a real lemon. So far, I do not have one complaint.

I have recorded two TV shows, and a converted a VHS tape to DVD using DVD+RW Discs. Not one problem to complain about.

One complaint I noticed in other reviews was the owner's manual.
I read the manual from cover to cover. Again, I don't understand the issues others have with this manual.

The recorded DVD's play on two of my three DVD players. The one that it doesn't play on is at least 3 years old.

After using this recorder for a few days, I can't figure out all the bad reviews this device has received.

Don't be afraid to purchase this machine based on all the negative reviews. I normally don't write reviews, but after reading all the bad reviews that this recorder received, I felt the need to write something positive about this product.

This recorder is well worth the price.

This new Philips DVD recorder just hit the market, and my experience indicates it is riddled with design flaws. My new unit failed within six days of purchase. It began writing errors to DVD-RW discs, rendering them permanently useless. At a retail cost of five or six dollars a piece, this flaw quickly became expensive. This unit also experienced a tendency to fail at reading discs which it just finished recording, indicating "no disc" while other machines were able to read them! On day five, the unit began powering itself on and off at will, accompanied by failing to recognize any disc inserted. A replacement unit yielded the exact manufacturing defect in less than a week. A very disappointing experience considering I patiently awaited the release of this third generation machine. Apparently, the bugs that existed in earlier models still exist in the new crop. If you decide to purchase this model, I suggest a lengthy extended warranty contract...you'll need it.

I have a 10 year old wedding video that deteriorating fast and a drawer full of old VHS-C tapes of my kids....what to do?

Go buy a DVD recorder! I said. I looked into buying a DVD burner, analog video capture card / device, and some good video editing software for my PC...oh yeah, would need a larger hard drive, etc. etc....$500 or more...so I did some online research and saw many "bang for the buck" reviews recommending the Phillips machines....it also helped that Amazon's "hidden price" was very good.

Went home....scanned the mannual...stopped reading it and tried to figure things out for myself like a good male engineer...in 10 minutes, I was up and running... it took me more time to move cables and components that it did to hook up the DVD recorder to my VCR and begin transferring the wedding video....DVD+R in, hit play on the VCR, record on the DVD recorder and an hour and 15 minutes later, voila! My wedding video is now on a medium that will probably outlast me!

Only complaint...maybe not fair...is remote control and online menu during DVD viewing....a lot of symbols that are not so intuitive...especially when compared to your basic $100 DVD player...it takes some getting used to for things like zoom, camera angles, fast forward and slo-mo.....so my old DVD player will still see some use in another room...

Also, I wish Phillips made a black colored unit to go w/ the rest of my home components....the chrome-like plastic on the buttons and the DVD slot are a bit cheesy.

Finally, did have some second thoughts..mabye I should have looked more at the Pansonic units...a bit cheaper...a few more features...but concerns about lack of portability of DVD-RAM (for now)...Phillips doing a nice job marketing and advertising lately, so maybe I was just brainwashed.

Anyways, I just realized that in 3 months, many manufacturers will offer cheaper models with more features anyways...my first 4-head VHS-S VCR was over $400...now, they cost $59.

So best just to enjoy my old tapes on DVD and my new replacement for recording shows off cable TV...and buy another recorder in a year or two the standards settle down and the cost $200 or lesss.

This unit is a blessing.

I have tried many different methods of backing up my old home movies. I started with a pinnacle studios mp-10 about 5 years ago. Its amazing how far technology has advanced. If you tried to record more than 5 consecutive minutes with that thing it was like watching an old kung foo movie(for those of you that have never seen one of these the a/v sync is horrid).

Earlier this year I bought my 5th video capture unit for my computer, the adaptec videoh dvd. I thought my problems would be solved now I could capture to my pc with USB 2.0. I spent more time contacting adaptec tech support trying to keep the supplied software from crashing after 30 seconds of recording than I spent using it, and you can't use any other software with it.

I have only ever used DVD+RW discs with this unit, I see no reason to use the +R they arent that much cheaper, and if I ever need to share them with someone with an older dvd player I will dub them on my computer to dvd-r anyway. I have made over 30 DVDs with this thing since I got it about a month ago, and have never had A problem while recording.

Anyway after 5 years of fiddling and getting so-so quality captures and horrible a/v sync, I have come to love this thing. It has cut my processing time to real time, the video and the audio quality are at least as good as the source video and no more lip reading for me. Granted with a computer you can make all these fancy menus and "cool" transitions, but if you want something that works without having to spend 2 hours of editing, and 2 more hours of rendering per hour of video just to get it ready to burn to cd or dvd, then this isnt a bad unit for the price. I know I have spent a lot more than the price of this unit on video capture boxes and capture cards, and I am a lot more productive with it than ever before. They may not have all the fancy menus anymore but the movies look great. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because like many others I think the remote could use a redesign.