Page 1 of To Philips DVDR880 or not to Philips DVDR880...that is the question?

I`ve just read through www.dvdplusrw.org and it seems to make a convincing argument that it is the better DVD recordable format.

I`d appreciate if any owners of the Philips could tell me what the real world recording quality is like in LP and EP modes. What is the picture quality like when used as a player for prerecorded DVDs?

I was looking to get a Tosh 220E but as my VCR has now packed up I am considering the DVDR880 and not get the Tosh and VCR.

I`ve got both the Tosh and the Philips.

LP and EP mode from a terrestrial broadcast are better than VHS quality, probably up to S-VHS quality. EP mode does depend on what you record, it isn`t really suitable for sports or material with fast moving objects.

I`ve recorded from Sky movies at SP+(2.5hr mode) and the picture is v v stable, almost indistinguishable from the broadcast. Only thing I wish it had was a DD5.1 input and the remote had seperate FFW/RWD and chapter skip buttons. The disks plays fine on my Tosh player.

If you go for the recorder, the multi region hack for it does is not RCE compatible.

A tip I`ve picked up from another site is to buy a +RW disk, take it to a dealer who has demo facilities and ask if you can record some material to gauge the quality. If you plan to archive it might be an idea to take a VHS tape along with you to record that to see what the quality is like.

Hope this helps

Thanks Mickl. Do you know if the DVDR880 is about to be discontinued hence the lower prices or is it just competively priced? I`ll definitely try to get a demo of it on the weekend.

I just hope that the format survives and does go the way of the old Philips flip VCR tape.

the 880 is the cheapest of the latest batch of DVD+RW recorders from Philips. If you look at AV magazines, most will only have this recorder down as products to come and has not even been reviewed yet.

To gauge the recording quality, I find the best type of program to record are drawn animation shows eg. Simpsons as these shows have clearly defined lines and markings in the picture so any blocking, artefacts, pixellation is much more noticeable. On EP and SP mode, the recording looks like it has been drawn onto the screen, of course this is dependent on your source. I have recorded from a Simpson`s DVD as a test and the recording is almost indistinguishable from the original.

As to format survival, when +RW disks came out last year they were £15 each, now they can be bought for <£7 if you shop around on the net with +R write once disks at the £3 mark and falling. If you bought a batch of both when prices become even cheaper, you wouldn`t need to worry about things anymore.

Hi,

Thanks for the info about the DVDR880. Does anyone know whether it is possible to enable the multi-region hack for it by using a Philips Pronto Universal control, rather than one of the Oneforall controls?

I think it is possible, look at www.dvdplusrw.org and do a search for the forums.

If you can set your pronto up as a standard Philips DVD player remote then that should be ok.