Philips DVDR75 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder
Good (if you are a forgiving technophile)
I found that this machine had a bunch of annoying quirks that one had to get used to:<br />1. It allows you to name the disk - but when you view the disk on your computer it always shows up as \\"PHILIPS_DVD\\". Then what is the point of naming the disk?<br />2. Some very non-intuitive and confusing operations with the remote control.<br />3. You can name a title up to any length but only the first 16 characters will make it to the written index.<br />4. It got really confused when I switched the input signal from a camcorder playing back an 8 mm tape to the same camcorder providing live video. It ended up writing errors to DVD+R disk that made the disk unreadable.<br />5. The unused space at the end of a disk ends up as a section titled \\"empty title\\" that gets read as such by your DVD player. The only workaround (that I could figure out) is to record on this space and then delete it!<br />Nice things to say:<br />1. The setup was very easy and self-driven (channel line-up, time, etc.).<br />2. Very convenient user-friendly way of archiving old home video, in a fraction of the time that a computer would take.<br />3. The quality of recording was very good. In fact, it seemed cleaner than the originals (eight year-old 8 mm Sony camcorder tapes).<br />4. I found the manual detailed and better than others have made it out to be. I set up the system faster than I set up a portable gas grill!<br />Warnings:<br />1. Don't try to buy DVD-R disks when the unit clearly states that it can only record on a DVD+R or DVD+RW. Don't try to play a DVD+RW disk that you record on a different player that does not support this format. The safest option is probably to use only DVD+R disks once you are done experimenting (use a DVD+RW while you are learning the ropes).<br />2. You cannot hook a DVD player to this unit expecting to make perfect DVD copies! You have to use your computer to do that!<br />In closing:<br />I returned my unit and will get back to this technology when it is betterand cheaper.<br />Disclaimer:<br />All experiments were limited to using this unit only as a recorder using only analog input.