Rating: 
Summary: Good but not perfect
Review: I've owned this recorder one week ago.1- When the recorder is shuted off it is not possible to see, on the TV, the RGB signal from the SAT decoder connected on EXT2 Scart connector( DVD recorder RGB pass through ). Then if you want to see the perfect RGB image from your SAT decoder you must turn on your DVD recorder. On my old DVD player SONY the pass through functionality was assured with the player shuted off too. 2- The remote control is cheaper and not intuitive. 3- The DVD+RW standard is good but not like the DVD-RW(VR) that is not compatible with the old DVD player (the new DVD players can read the VR standard).
In DVD+RW standard the erased space spread on the disc ( erased titles and commercial messages) cannot be collected and used to record a new title.
Rating: 
Summary: If I could give this a 0 star, I would. I got a LEMON too.
Review: I could not get this to work out of the box. It immediately came up with a disk read error. I unplugged it overnight then it worked until I recorded a DVD, then from that point on, I could not read any DVDs, including pre-recoreded ones. Customer support was pitiful. Having been in the computer/information technology world for 25 years, this is the worst support I've ever had to try to work with. They spoke broken english and could not understand what I was saying no matter how many times I said the same thing. Their knowledge base showed no information on my types of problems even though a search on the web showed many instances where people had the same types of problems I had. Their web site had no knowledge base to search and look for reported problems and how to fix the problems. They said it may be fixed by a firmware upgrade and that they could send me a CD that would arrive in 7 to 10 business days. The real technicians work 9 to 5 M-F. This is a consumer product. Most consumers are at work 9 to 5 M-F. Based on my experience, I would NEVER again buy a product from Philips and I returned this one immediately.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad for the Price
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: I got a LEMON! Phillips support is terrible.
Review: DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT! I cannot tell you how angry I am with Phillips after purchasing this [$$$] paperweight. When it arrived, the DVD tray would not open. I re-read the manual just to make sure I had not done something wrong. Then I called Phillips customer service. I called five different times over four days, and each time the operator barely spoke English. We had a hard time just communicating, much less fixing anything. Each time they had me go through the step of unplugging it-plugging it back in, and also taking it in and out of "dealer mode." When that didn't work, I was told I would need to talk to someone in the "DVR department" whose hours were only 9 to 5, and guess what, I was at work during those hours. Anyway, someone from that department was supposed to call me back, but they never did, so I had to return the item to Amazon.com for a refund, which was no picnic either by the way... Needless to say, this was very frustrating for me. A [$$$] item and the tray won't even open. Un-freakin-'believable.
Rating:
Summary: This unit does not function reliably
Review: After using the DVD75R for two days, the unit has already displayed a number of serious flaws. Simply put, it fails to recognize a large percentage of the DVDs I have attempted to play. These major label video DVDs result in a "no disc" message from the recorder. Strangely certain (spotlessly clean) discs are sometimes recognized, sometimes not...fascinating - but really annoying. Not surprisingly, customer support was not able to help with this. Recording, though laborious thanks to the counterintuitive menus, and incomplete instruction manual, has been largely successful, with high resolution DVDs produced. I did discover the hard way that a DVD+R will not be recognized by the recorder if the power to the unit is lost or the disc is ejected prior to finalizing the disc (a more through manual might have seen fit to mention this). This is a minor point in comparison to the more basic complaint: As a DVD player and recorder, this unit should play DVDs. It does not. Save yourself some aggravation and avoid this product
Rating: 
Summary: Not ready for prime-time - poor tech support
Review: For openers, the DVDR-75 is not a bad recorder. It does an admirable job of recording, and output is excellent. However, there are some serious drawbacks in the design and application of this device in the consumer market. 1) Poorly thought out Owner's Manual. The manual is English/Spanish, but manages to not address some pretty important aspects of the recorders operation. Sections are missing (Chapter 12 skips some sub-sections for disc access), and there is an occasional Dutch word interspersed in the instructions. The cartoon character (Phil) is lame, and offers no tangible benefit to the manual. Comparing the manual to the Sony RDR-GX7 manual shows how a manual should be written. Philips needs to re-issue a valid Owner's Manual. 2) Lousy web support. Go ahead, try to find web support for the recorder on their website. I dare you. Can't do it because it is not there. Then why does the Owner's Manual tell you to try there first to have your questions answered? 3) Lousy phone support. Called pre-sale to see if the DVDR 75 would produce chapter thumbnails. Was told by someone with a heavy Jamaican accent that it would. Bought the unit. Recorded on +R and +RW disks. It records chapter points, but NO THUMBNAILS. Called back today (Saturday), spoke with a woman with an island accent, and was told that there was no one there to handle DVDR questions. I should call back later. Why then was I prompted to press 1 for DVD support, then 1 for DVDR support if there was no one there to actually provide support? 4) Terrible on-screen menu. Not intuitive at all. Again, poor logic. Maybe the Dutch understand it. I don't. 5) Below average remote control functions. Difficult to read buttons. Not enough functions for a $500 unit. Overall, the recording and playback are fine, but there are other units on the market that are at least as good, and far easier to operate for some of the more advanced functions (Panasonic and Sony come to mind). If you've already bought this unit, good for you, otherwise consider a different brand until Philips figures out how to market a product in the US.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the timid
Review: If you have trouble programing a vcr do not venture into the dvdr field. The learning curve is a large one but will pay off in the long run. I have converted some home video, taped from the vcr and digital tv programs. I can't speak for other brands, but this one does work. Use +RW format and you will be money ahead in the long run. I haven't had any of the problems others have listed in these reviews.
Rating:
Summary: I like it, but realize there will be future upgrades
Review: If you have to have it on DVD now, then this is a very decent machine to buy. I for one, had to transfer a ton of VHS shows I taped, and I can do in a format that works on my laptop or on the unit itself for playback. The quality of the recordings is equal to the VHS quality I saved the programs originally. This makes theproduct satisfy me for what I wanted to do with it. As with all electronics there will always be upgrades and improvements, but you have to ask yourself is it worth waiting for ? You could wait a long time and not see major changes and then you will be paying a higher price when the new units come out. For what I wanted to do with this machine I was satisfied. What do I want for the future ? Faster record times would be a main request, however, with the built in memory record I can do other things while I burn a DVD from memory. Its a quality unit, and despite some flaws does what most people want it to do. Best Regards to all, MC - TheStickRules.Com
Rating:
Summary: Easy recorder
Review: It was very easy to record on both DVD+R and DVD+RW from various sources. It does not have optical input, however, because it only records two channel audio (but it has component input instead). In a nutshell, good price and easy recording.
Rating:
Summary: you can do much better for a little more money
Review: OK. I already owned a Sony dvd recorder. But I needed another unit for the bedroom so decided to try the Philips. Took it back after two days and got another Sony. Problems: - doesn't read and write many formats
- the menus use strange hieroglyphic symbols - I for one prefer
menus in plain English
- you use the remote for certain things, then have to go up to the unit to read the display for other things
- interesting bugs - for example, half the time, if I wanted to record a two hour show it worked fine. The other half of the time, it would turn off after recording after only 10 seconds. Tech Support said this MIGHT be fixed in their current software upgrade... they'll send it and I should have it in about 10 days.
- the manual was really poor. It was at least in English, but was very vague. Nope. I dont think so. For just a little more money, you can have a MUCH better unit.
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