Philips DVDR3355/37 DVD Recorder with 8 Hour Digital Video Recording
Rated 3 stars because there's always hope with firmware upgrades
The following are my issues with the DVDR3355:<br /><br />Sometimes a recording on DVD-R media did not allow Fast Foward or Rewind. There was a similar issue that a firmware upgrade was meant to resolve: Before the upgrade all finalized DVD-R could not be FF on the device but would be perfect on another player. Now it became erratic: sometimes it's possible to FF sometimes it's not (even on other DVD players), which is frustrating.<br /><br />When the EDIT menu is poped-up I cannot FF or FRW because the remote buttons to do that are the same to navigate the menu system. It's a pain trying to find the index picture if you've missed it because you can't go back without exiting the Edit menu, which brings another issue:<br /><br />Exiting the EDIT menu always makes the device to UPDATE the disk, regardless if you did any actual edit or not. This is such a simple software issue to resolve that I can't believe philips did not make it into a firmware upgrade yet.<br /><br />I can't change the video aspect unless there is no disc on tray or tray is open. I can't accept that an expensive device like this one does not let me change the display aspect \\"on the fly\\" like any (unexpensive) other DVD player around (including DVD players from philips)<br /><br />My brother owns another DVDR3355. He lost unique, very important recordings (the 2006 world cup final for instance) that took 2 hours recording because the UPDATE of the disk failed after the STOP was pressed. His device also did not seems to be able to record successfully on DVR-RW media from philips (and perhaps any other brand). My own device do not have this problems tough.<br /><br />There seems to be impossible to RECORD in 16:9 aspect (widescreen). I own a Widescreen digital camera (Panasonic PV-GS59) but I've found no way to record on my DVDR3355 in widescreen using the front CVBS inputs (I did not tried the other inputs nor the MiniDV input - firewire - because I did not own a DV cable yet - and yes, I made sure the camera was outputing int 16:9 before you ask :-) ).<br /><br />Many operations are DAMN TOO SLOW. Ejecting a DVD can take up to 30 seconds. Boot up can take this or much longer (up to 1 min). If I tried to Eject just after powering on, the device seems to freeze. If I operate too fast the remote, the device sometimes seems to freeze for up to 1 min (one time even requiring me to click the power button on the device because the remote wasn't responding).<br /><br />I think the firmware of this unit and it's menu system to be pretty much in beta stage and still too much stupid. Overall I liked the unit because I really wasn't expecting too much from it, but I was TOO MUCH disapointed by the firmware and Menu/Operation. I was very satisfied with my previous philips players and found them simple to use, but this DVDR3355 usage is cumbersome. I also thought that this device would be full of new features because it was such a modern concept, but instead it was a rather primitive DVD player compared to more \\"ancient\\" pure DVD players. This device is really a recording one and do not replace your (old) top-notch DVD player / Home Theater system.<br /><br />If it was not for the menu and firmware I would rate it 4 out of 5, which means that a future firmware upgrade could make me this happy. Today, with the menu and firmware issues I will rate it 2.5 out of 10. Since I did never own any other DVD recorder to date (not counting PC based ones) I can't be sure if there is a DVD recorder that is better than this unit today.made sure the camera was outputing int 16:9 before you ask :-) ). <br /> <br />Many operations are DAMN TOO SLOW. Ejecting a DVD can take up to 30 seconds. Boot up can take this or much longer (up to 1 min). If I tried to Eject just after powering on, the device seems to freeze. If I operate too fast the remote, the device sometimes seems to freeze for up to 1 min (one time even requiring me to click the power button on the device because the remote wasn't responding). <br /> <br />I think the firmware of this unit and it's menu system to be pretty much in beta stage and still too much stupid. Overall I liked the unit because I really wasn't expecting too much from it, but I was TOO MUCH disapointed by the firmware and Menu/Operation. I was very satisfied with my previous philips players and found them simple to use, but this DVDR3355 usage is cumbersome. I also thought that this device would be full of new features because it was such a modern concept, but instead it was a rather primitive DVD player compared to more \\"ancient\\" pure DVD players. This device is really a recording one and do not replace your (old) top-notch DVD player / Home Theater system. <br /> <br />If it was not for the menu and firmware I would rate it 4 out of 5, which means that a future firmware upgrade could make me this happy. Today, with the menu and firmware issues I will rate it 2.5 out of 10. Since I did never own any other DVD recorder to date (not counting PC based ones) I can't be sure if there is a DVD recorder that is better than this unit today.