Philips DVDR75 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder
Philips DVDR75
We bought the Philips DVDR75 because its recording capabilities are compatible with the DVD burner on our computer. We also liked the Firewire port because we have a DV camcorder. From the beginning the machine gave us trouble. When we tried to play a disc, the disc tray would close, then immediately reopen and the message &quot;BLOCKED&quot; would appear on the display. When we tried to turn the machine off, the same thing would happen. The only way we could turn the machine off was to unplug it. After being unplugged overnight, the machine would play (or record) one disc, then the same problem recurred. Philips customer service was no help at all, so we sent the machine back to Amazon for a replacement. The second machine seemed to work well at first, then, when recording a disc, we noticed that it would always record video, but would not always record audio. Again, Philips customer service was clueless. Fortunately, Amazon has a good return policy and the second machine is now on its way back, this time for a refund. It's a shame, because the picture quality was excellent and the machine had a lot of convenient features, especially the firewire port, but those things don't mean much if the machine won't work. We were particularly disappointed with Philips customer service. They all seemed to speak English as a second or third language and did not seem to understand our problems. Their suggestions did not help. The owner's manual is very poorly written. You would think a big company like Philips would hire a native English speaker to write or edit the manual, but you would be wrong. It was poorly laid out and contained several passages of grammatical nonsense. We cannot, in good conscience, recommend this DVD recorder.