Philips DVDR600VR DVD Recorder with VCR
Too many problems for the price.
I had a lot of problems from the start with this one, and finally decided to return it and get a more expensive Sony.<br /><br />The first problem was that most of the DVDs would not play back on my old Panasonic DVD player (which specifies that it will play DVD+R and +RW, and has played them from my computer and other sources).  I tried Philips, Verbatim, Fuji, and Imation discs.  I finally got some Memorex and HP DVD+R discs to work; so it just may be that all those other brand DVDs are too shabby.  However, I still haven't gotten any brand of DVD+RW to work - they'll record, but not play back elsewhere, even though the other equipment specifies it.<br /><br />Furthermore, often at the end of recording, it no longer recognizes the disc.  I recorded on a Philips DVD in the Philips recorder, it seemed to be working fine, but when I tried to acess it again to add titles and finalize it, it said the disc was not the right region code for the player. Another time with an HP DVD+R disc, after I had recorded two short titles, it simply froze up at the end and would not bring up either the system menu or the title menu.  Later I put this disc in the Sony recorder and it allowed me to finish editing the titles and finalize the disc.<br /><br />The remote has fewer features than I'm accustomed to.  Specifically, they use the same button for Next and Search - you press once to advance to the next chapter, or hold it down 2 seconds to search.  I found this awkward and unreliable, though perhaps I would have gotten used to it in time.<br /><br />Finally, the VCR does not eject tapes all the way; they stick when the edge of the cassette is flush with front of the machine, and if you try to pry it out, it pulls it back in.  I've had this problem with old worn out VCRs before, but this is a brand new one and should work better.<br /><br />There are other issues, but these were the most important.  I used to think Philips was a good brand name; this has changed my mind.  But I would have to admit you can get this to work for you if you're tolerant of all these problems and take the time to test the discs and procedures to find a combination that works for you.  But I think it's worth another $50-$100 for a model that's relatively problem free and handles more formats as well (I'll review the Sony later - so far it's seems much better).ind.  But I would have to admit you can get this to work for you if you're tolerant of all these problems and take the time to test the discs and procedures to find a combination that works for you.  But I think it's worth another $50-$100 for a model that's relatively problem free and handles more formats as well (I'll review the Sony later - so far it's seems much better).