Philips DVDR75 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder
Good with some disappointments
This product is a great replacement for a VCR but it has some limitations.<br />The good:<BR>Excellent compatability with all DVD players I tested.<BR>Not too difficult to setup and easy to use.<BR>Good quality recordings.<br />The disappointments:<BR>The component video input is only 480i not 1080i.<br />The editing features are weak. You can only hide chapters on playback you can't reassemble them. For example you can put in chapter markers before and after commercials and then hide those commercials during playback. It works but it is clumsy and you will often loose the edits when you play back on another DVD player anyway. (By the way, According to the manual you should be able to finalize your edits for playback on another DVD player. This process is not reliable however and Tech support acknowledges this) <br />You can not timelapse a playback. Unlike TIVO or the Panasonic recorders, you can not, among other playback effects, pause live action when recording. Also you must wait until the recording is complete before playback. Other units, for example, allow you to begin watching the big game after it has started. You can watch playback from the begining as it continues to record. With TIVO you can even fast forward through the commercials and eventually catch up to real time. Not having this capability compared to competitive products is a major disadvantage in my opinion.<br />The remote control is terrible. For example, the reverse scan and previous chapter functions are integrated on the same button. If you want to do a quick replay of a scene it is easy to inadvertantly go back to the previous chapter or to the start of the recording by mistake. I found this so frustrating that I may have returned the unit had I not been able to use a universal remote that accepted the Philips DVD player codes. The universal remote had separate buttons for these functions<BR> (like most DVD player remotes).The DVDR75 remote control is now in a drawer somewhere.<br />In conclusion, I believe the product is good for the price but is clearly has limitations. It is able to archive VCR tapes and perform VCR like functions with better quality. However, if you expect more you may be disappointed.