Philips DVDR615 DVD Recorder
Philips Recorder- Good or Bad
I have purchased Philips DVD recorders before and I really like the Philips however the problem is that you either receive a good one or a bad one.  There seem to be nothing in between.  I like the Philips because the DVD+RW gives you more flexibility if you want to use it like a VCR.  The -RW format makes you delete the entire disc where as the +RW allows you to delete one program or the entire disc depends on what you want to do.  Another thing I really like about Philips is their thumbnail format which will display a small picture of the program that you have recorded.  This will allow you to see at a glance what is on the disc.  You can also edit the thumbnail to display any picture from the program.  This thumbnail will also display when you play the disc from any DVD player unlike the Sony which will not allow the edit of the thumbnail in +RW and will display a blank picture when played on other DVD players.  Another great thing about the Philips is that you can record two programs together like Simpsons and Friends in a one hour continues recording and then instead of one thumbnail of Simpsons, you can divide the 1 hour program into 2 30 minute programs with 2 different thumbnails.<br /><br />I have read that a lot of people do not like the remote control and the Philips manual however for me after getting used to the remote control and understand the manual, the recorder is very easy to use.<br /><br />I have tried a lot of other DVD recorders like Sony however I still come back to Philips DVD Recorder.  The only problem with Philips is their quality control.  You either get a good machine or a bad.  If you can stand the problem of buying a Philips recorder, set it up, find out that is has problems, return it back to the store, get another replacement, and see if you have a good one this time.<br /><br />I went through a few before finding a good one.  The first one did not work right out the box, returned for an exchange.  The exchange unit worked for about a week then the tuner started to flash bright and dark every second which really bothered me.  Returned for another exchange.  This new exchange worked for 10 days and then started to lock up.  It would not record anything but just freeze.  This happens every other recording which is a real pain because you thought you had recorded something and then find out that it frooze.  Returned this unit also.  Waited for a few weeks while trying to find other brands like Sony but still came back to Philips.  Purchase another Philips and found it again did not work right out the box.  Returned back and got a replacement.  This time, everything is fine.  I have had the Recorder for over 30 days and everything is fine so far.  So if you really want a good, flexable +RW DVD recorder, I would recommend Philips if you are willing to keep returning the recorder until  you find one that works.or about a week then the tuner started to flash bright and dark every second which really bothered me.  Returned for another exchange.  This new exchange worked for 10 days and then started to lock up.  It would not record anything but just freeze.  This happens every other recording which is a real pain because you thought you had recorded something and then find out that it frooze.  Returned this unit also.  Waited for a few weeks while trying to find other brands like Sony but still came back to Philips.  Purchase another Philips and found it again did not work right out the box.  Returned back and got a replacement.  This time, everything is fine.  I have had the Recorder for over 30 days and everything is fine so far.  So if you really want a good, flexable +RW DVD recorder, I would recommend Philips if you are willing to keep returning the recorder until  you find one that works.