Philips CD Recorder (CDR778)

Rating:
Summary: It gave me everything I wanted
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Top notch machine changes my life daily
Review: Today I bought Cream's "Wheels of Fire" and "Live Cream" used on Amazon.com so I could burn my own super CD of live Cream. I'm going to mix in a couple tracks from "Ginger Baker's Air Force" and have my own dual CD set of Cream greats. Then I'll sell the CDs for about half what I paid for them.

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 six 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.