Page 1 of a couple of questions on the philips dvdr70.....

first is this machine any good??? is it possible that if i get this and it will replace my vidio that i don`t use now can i transfer the stuff i got on video that i need a vid for and before you start thinking anything i have a load of camcorder stuff of my daughter when she was toddling etc that i would need on to keep and need the vid .. and then where is the best place to get the dvd-r and dvd-rw disc`s from.. also what is the diff between the dvd-r and the dvd+r. thanks for your time....

Hi

My advice is to avoid Phillips like the plague. I had a R880 which was nothing but trouble and if you check out the hardware forum; a lot of people have had similar problems. I have just ordered a Sony GX3.

For discs check out:-

valuemedia.co.uk
bigpockets.co.uk

This item was edited on Saturday, 3rd January 2004, 13:33

The 880(and 890) are well known as piles of cack.
The new Philips range seems slightly more reliable.How you plan to use the machine depends on whether you need to risk DVD+.
The Sony is vastly overpriced,and its hard to justify the extra expense.If you need DVD+ the Philips machines are almost half the Sony price.
Why not go for a Panasonic,or even Pioneer or Toshiba.
For excellent editing,a HDD/DVDR combo is needed,but these are £500+.If you can edit on a PC,then a RAM machine will be ideal for camcoder transfer.

This item was edited on Saturday, 3rd January 2004, 21:50

I recently got a Philips DVDR70 and had a few problems with it. It has however been faultless for the past few weeks so hopefully those initial teething troubles are past.

I also have the Sony GX3 and between the two I would opt for the Philips. I find the Sony very limiting if you want to do any kind of editing. Even simple chapter marking is not possible on the Sony unless using the -RW discs in VR format. And that format I have not been able to use in any other player so far.

Recording quality wise I have found very little difference between the two units although they do have slightly different quality modes:-

Philips:- M1 60 mins, M2 120 mins, M2+ 150 mins, M3 180 mins, M4 240mins and M6 360 mins.

Sony:- HQ 60 mins, HSP 90 mins, SP 120 mins, LP 180 mins, EP 240mins and SLP 360 mins.

I prefer the actual interface of the Sony over the Philips but one or two things I find annoying, eg with the Sony there is no time remaining display on the LCD panel while recording. You have to use the disc info screen whereas with the Philips the time remaining is shown on the LCD display. May not be an issue for some but it is something I like to be able to see. You cannot chapter mark with the Sony whilst recording, only whilst playing a recording back and as mentioned before only on the -RW VR format discs. With the Philips chapter marking can be done on the fly.. much better in my opinion. Also on the Sony there is no option to hide chapters other than by creating playlists (again on -RW VR only) while with the Philips it is a piece of cake (handy for cutting out adverts on recordings if you haven`t been able to do it live).

I am sure others will have a different opinion of the Sony but after a couple of weeks of playing around with it these limitations have been a bit of a show stopper for me. Of course if things such as chapter marking aren`t a consideration then there is very little to choose between them.

Having managed to swap my Philips DVDR880 for a newer DVDR75, I glad to report I`ve had no problems at all despite fairly extensive use over the Christmas period. Given the fact that I think you can pick up a multi-region 75 from Richer Sounds for about £220 (or you certainly could recently) I reckon it`s a reasonable bet.

Again, woulod concern with the other posts, the new Phillips machines are a good build, have been reliable, and at around £200 you cannot go wrong! Editing is easy, and the media is easy to get hold of.