Page 1 of Which Philips DVD recorder?

Hi! I`m in the market for a DVD recorder and have heard good things about the R80, and tested one - works great! My question is, as I don`t need the fancy connections for camcorders/digital cameras and stuff and want it just to archive old videos and use as a backup player etc, should I go for the R70 instead? Does the quality of recordings for this cheaper unit match the R80?

Also, are there any other recorders I should be considering?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

Keep clear of any Philips DVD recorders. Reliability is poor & after sales is none existant, if you have to go the route of the DVD+ then the Mico is a very reliable make & they do give help afterwards, it`s available in Sainsburys at £199-99

This item was edited on Wednesday, 5th November 2003, 15:25

I own a Hi-Fi shop and after about 3 years of dealing with them I have come to the conclution that philips are the bastard son of the devil himself. Unrilliable product and the worst aftersales in the trade.

All the best,

The 42%er.

Had my Philips DVDR880 recorder repaired and it`s now better than new.

All the Philips early DVDR models had problems with the Laser unit which would normally fail after 6 months use. But after repair by Philips should be fine.

why buy somthing that you KNOW will screw up before the end of the 1st year ? :/

As a convert to Panasonic after bad Philips problems I can see both sides of the story.Philips are VERY unreliable,but on the occasions the machine went wrong,I found their customer service ok,just a bit slow.However,after the most recent problem it was back after 2 weeks,and was repaired 2 months OUTSIDE the warranty period.I am interested by the 42%ers view.If Philips are so bad,why does his company only advertise Philips dvd recorders.Admittedly,a couple of months ago a Panasonic slipped in for one month only.My local Sevenoaks told me Panasonic were too much trouble,as a company,and Panasonic recorders were never in stock,only to order.

Quote:
Panasonic recorders were never in stock,only to order

That`s because they don`t flood shops with loads and loads of what are essentially inferior products, or rush release models a la Philips ;)

I`d rather wait a few weeks for a reliable Panny, to be honest :)

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Thanks for the replies. I`ve never been a fan of Philips but when I borrowed the R80 for a couple of days it worked perfectly for 4 disks I created. To follow that I saw a 5-star review of it in one of the magazines (not sure which one). That`s what swayed me towards getting one myself.

Thanks for the recommendation Paull, but I`m on the Isle of Man and we don`t have a Sainsbury`s or most of the big outlets.

Clayts/phelings, which model Panasonic would you recommend? Are we talking the same amount of cash, sub-£300?

Thanks.

I also have the Panasonic E50 & am over the moon with it. It can be obtained at £250-00 now but I have read that it is shortly to go down to £199-00. That`ll put the cat amongst the pigeons.

E50 is pretty sassy, I agree - I`d be inclined to go for one with a hard drive though, such as the DMR-E60, for total flexibility. I`m too used to my Tivo to give up that little luxury (all hypothetical at the moment as I don`t intend buying one at present).

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Moderator
DVD Reviewer

Webmaster of Area 450 - independent Sampo DVD site