Philips DVDR80 DVD RECORDER & PLAYER-PROG. SCAN user reviews

1.0 stars

"P.O.S. P.O.S. P.O.S. P.O.S." on May 27, 2005 by jbnews

Pros: burning DVDs is nice

Cons: Remote is Cryptic, No Disk errors, Tons of Coasters

Summary: It took forever to figure out how to do anything with the remote - and it is not designed for the common tasks you would use the remote for!

Though it will read -R and +R formats it will only burn to +R. Which +R brand DVDs will it burn to? - I've had mixed results will a broad range of media... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't -- even with their own brand of DVD media. Sometimes it will not recognize a disk at all, other times it will let you start burning then stop in the first 30 seconds and crash the player - then other times it will record everything and then fail during finalization... with a "Disk Error" message. I've probably thrown away 1 disk for every one I've burned... not to mention the various stacks of non-compatible DVDs.

As others have said, it will fail to recognize some purchased DVDs (that are brand new and have never been viewed) -sometimes it jumps and skips on DVDs that work perfectly on other machines.

This product sucks, as does their tech support (I'm reluctant to say that they even have tech support). It is a shame that this product is so flawed and Philips is ruining their brand by turning a blind eye on the consumers who have purchased it... just as others have said, I don't think I'll buy another product from this company.

Don't buy this DVD Recorder, you will be sorry.

0.5 stars

"Better Have Another DVD Player Handy!" on January 12, 2005

Pros: IR Blaster works well with cable.

Cons: 1) Recording on any +R disc other than those made by Philips can lead to recordings that disappear. 2) BIGGEST PROBLEM: Unit will stop reading commercial discs that play just fine on my computer's DVD player. If you read the message boards about Phil

0.5 stars

"1.5 yrs., then TROUBLE...LOTS!" on June 19, 2005 by swwing17

Pros: it has +RW

Cons: VERY tempermental; horrible tech support

Summary: i've had mine for 3 yrs. now. problems with remote commands started immediately. i returned it, got a new replacement. that one lasted just over 1 yr. (glitches occurred/went away), then BAD things started. i'd have to re-insert a disc 4 or 5 times for it to be read. it would turn a one-time recording into an everyday recording, on it's own, thus erasing programs already on the disc. after 2 yrs, it stopped reading dvd+r discs that weren't finalized (they still had lots of recording space on them); so i've lost all things i transferred from vcr tapes, things i wanted to keep...GONE! now it will only read a FEW dvd+rw discs (not all), so i can't rely on a programmed recording because sometimes when it "powers on" to begin a recording, it won't recognize the disc, and i'll miss the recording. it will no longer recognize pre-recorded discs that i buy or rent. during playback of one of the few +rw discs it will read, it'll freeze for a few seconds, then skip ahead 2 or 3 minutes; or if i try to fast-fwd, it'll stop, then go back to the beginning of the program.
i've tried phone support 9-10 times, but the only help they give me is how to reset my machine, or download one of their too-infrequent software upgrades that don't really apply to this model, thus they have no effect on the problem. finally, when i called today, i was told that my model NO LONGER QUALIFIED for FREE tech support, and that i would have to pay $15(non-refundable) for support (that might not work).
I now own a $700 paper weight!
STAY AWAY FROM PHILIPS!!!

0.5 stars

"no, no, no, don't do it" on January 30, 2005

Pros: it worked for about 3 months.

Cons: it worked for only 3 months. Customer service was horrible (they lied to me and refused to let me speak to their supervisor). I had it repaired only to have the problem reoccur soon after. This machine is a total waste of money. I'll never buy any Phi