+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

to explain I received the item as a gift, so they want to send me a mini partial refund. We'll take your machine back, but sorry, tough luck. One rep started processing it before I gave authorization. I'm sorry, but What??? Don't offer anything, this is it- take it or leave it. What is the point of registering the product as an owner, if it really doesn't mean anything. I finally get a rep who wants to do their job and speak professionally, and explains that they are just basically eliminating this product all together. No new models, No replacements or refurbished, and No repairs either. They have had a waiting list that has been growing for months, of customers with broken machines, hoping for replacements.
Felt very shady and underhanded. The other thing that really confused me is that Phillips didn't offer any other products they make as a substitute, either. Raised alot of red flag all over the place. Makes me wonder if they are on their way out of business or something. Either way, Really Upset with Phillips, would not recommend.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

to explain I received the item as a gift, so they want to send me a mini partial refund. We'll take your machine back, but sorry, tough luck. One rep started processing it before I gave authorization. I'm sorry, but What??? Don't offer anything, this is it- take it or leave it. What is the point of registering the product as an owner, if it really doesn't mean anything. I finally get a rep who wants to do their job and speak professionally, and explains that they are just basically eliminating this product all together. No new models, No replacements or refurbished, and No repairs either. They have had a waiting list that has been growing for months, of customers with broken machines, hoping for replacements.

Felt very shady and underhanded. The other thing that really confused me is that Phillips didn't offer any other products they make as a substitute, either. Raised alot of red flag all over the place. Makes me wonder if they are on their way out of business or something. Either way, Really Upset with Phillips, would not recommend.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

to explain I received the item as a gift, so they want to send me a mini partial refund. We'll take your machine back, but sorry, tough luck. One rep started processing it before I gave authorization. I'm sorry, but What??? Don't offer anything, this is it- take it or leave it. What is the point of registering the product as an owner, if it really doesn't mean anything. I finally get a rep who wants to do their job and speak professionally, and explains that they are just basically eliminating this product all together. No new models, No replacements or refurbished, and No repairs either. They have had a waiting list that has been growing for months, of customers with broken machines, hoping for replacements.


Felt very shady and underhanded. The other thing that really confused me is that Phillips didn't offer any other products they make as a substitute, either. Raised alot of red flag all over the place. Makes me wonder if they are on their way out of business or something. Either way, Really Upset with Phillips, would not recommend.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

individual tracks - very time consuming. Or you could use the one-at-a-time dubbing feature, 40 times. Also time consuming.

2. When you finalize a disk (DVD), there is an entry for an empty track.

3. When you finalize a disk, the disk menu it creates is ugly.

4. The fan can be noisy, even when the unit is off.

5. Customer service leaves much to be desired, but at least they do speak english.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

of programing on the highest setting. This unit does not truly upconvert to 1080p like it claims, but its upconverting is nevertheless not bad. The remote is light, but many of the buttons are two small and oddly placed. The USB port on the front allows you to attach a flash drive and view pictures or video and play music. There are some video editing features for deleting and combining video using the DVR, though they are quite basic.
I've tried using the dvd record function only once and had problems. It played back the program as it dubbed, so it took forever to transfer, also it stopped dubbing inexplicably at about 1 hour five minutes into the 1 hour 30 minute program. Also, be aware you can record directly to DVD or the DVR, and you can dub from the DVR to the DVD, but not vice versa.
Several buttons stopped working on my remote which effectively makes the unit a paperweight, since you cannot do anything without the remote. I called Phillips to have it replaced under warranty. To their credit I was always able to speak to someone within a few minutes and they spoke English. Unfortunately, their customer service still sucked. They kept taking my information, but never put the order through for me. I kept being told different things each time I called, such as someone will call me back, or wait a few days, or wait a week or call this other number. Some of them were a bit rude and really didn't care about my problem. Finally after calling about six times over the period of a month and again, being told to wait, I demanded to speak to a supervisor, who saw that my remote got shipped out the next day.
This product has uniqueness in being the only one of its kind on the market, however, depending on your needs there may be better buys. If you are mostly interested in a DVD recorder, their are models from other manufactures that are better. If you are primarily interested in the DVR, and don't mind monthly fees, TIVO and cable/satellite company companies offer superiors DVR's with better menus, more space and better ease of use. In addition there are companies featuring portable media players like Archos which has the portable media players 5 and 7 that feature a DVR ability, though I cannot say how well they work.
However, if you want the DVR/DVD recorder in one unit, this remains your only option. I have used mine alot to watch DVD's and to record and watch off the DVR, and for those purposes it has worked quite well.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

and hard to find; they ARE there, but you have to dig around the first time to find them.

I'd give this a 95% approval rating. I like it so much that I just bought a second identical unit. Giving them more of my money is the best recommendation I can make!

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

EP speed it will record 132 hours on the hard drive, and the quality is similar to the VCR at EP speed. But it has the advantage of wide screen picture and surround sound. But it has the distinct disadvantage that it won't record closed captioning. That is a problem for us with TV programs made in the last 5 years or so, because the dialog is garbled and drowned out by unnecessary music. It wouldn't be a problem if the TV industry would clean up their act.

What is really notable is the picture quality as affected by the tuner and the connection to the TV. A picture that is tuned by this DVR and then sent to the TV by way of either the HDMI cable or component video cables is not as clear as the same picture tuned directly by the TV. What's even more interesting is that the HDMI cable makes a poorer picture than component video cables, even though HDMI is claimed to be the ultimate.

Some day we may have blu-ray recorders, but until that time comes, I think this is an excellent unit.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

EP speed it will record 132 hours on the hard drive, and the quality is similar to the VCR at EP speed. But it has the advantage of wide screen picture and surround sound. But it has the distinct disadvantage that it won't record closed captioning. That is a problem for us with TV programs made in the last 5 years or so, because the dialog is garbled and drowned out by unnecessary music. It wouldn't be a problem if the TV industry would clean up their act.



What is really notable is the picture quality as affected by the tuner and the connection to the TV. A picture that is tuned by this DVR and then sent to the TV by way of either the HDMI cable or component video cables is not as clear as the same picture tuned directly by the TV. What's even more interesting is that the HDMI cable makes a poorer picture than component video cables, even though HDMI is claimed to be the ultimate.



Some day we may have blu-ray recorders, but until that time comes, I think this is an excellent unit.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

EP speed it will record 132 hours on the hard drive, and the quality is similar to the VCR at EP speed. But it has the advantage of wide screen picture and surround sound. But it has the distinct disadvantage that it won't record closed captioning. That is a problem for us with TV programs made in the last 5 years or so, because the dialog is garbled and drowned out by unnecessary music. It wouldn't be a problem if the TV industry would clean up their act.





What is really notable is the picture quality as affected by the tuner and the connection to the TV. A picture that is tuned by this DVR and then sent to the TV by way of either the HDMI cable or component video cables is not as clear as the same picture tuned directly by the TV. What's even more interesting is that the HDMI cable makes a poorer picture than component video cables, even though HDMI is claimed to be the ultimate.





Some day we may have blu-ray recorders, but until that time comes, I think this is an excellent unit.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

EP speed it will record 132 hours on the hard drive, and the quality is similar to the VCR at EP speed. But it has the advantage of wide screen picture and surround sound. But it has the distinct disadvantage that it won't record closed captioning. That is a problem for us with TV programs made in the last 5 years or so, because the dialog is garbled and drowned out by unnecessary music. It wouldn't be a problem if the TV industry would clean up their act.







What is really notable is the picture quality as affected by the tuner and the connection to the TV. A picture that is tuned by this DVR and then sent to the TV by way of either the HDMI cable or component video cables is not as clear as the same picture tuned directly by the TV. What's even more interesting is that the HDMI cable makes a poorer picture than component video cables, even though HDMI is claimed to be the ultimate.







Some day we may have blu-ray recorders, but until that time comes, I think this is an excellent unit.

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

system, but it's really not that hard to do manually. It records HD signals as SD (standard definition). Of course, to record in HD will require much bigger hard drives.

The listing of programs ("Titles") that you have recorded are clearly shown and easy to navigate to. But it is best to put a rudimentary title on the TV programs right after you record them. Otherwise all you have is the date, time, and channel of the recording. You have to add titles by a clunky texting method, requiring multiple presses of numbers 1-9.

Playback
I use an HDMI cable between this unit and my TV. Playback from the hard disk is a joy. Access is immediate. The unit remembers where you left off watching last time on each program individually. You can manoever around the recordings with an (adjustable) 30-second skip forward/backward button, or with an adjustable-speed fast forward/rewind, or with a chapter-jump ("next") which uses the (optional) 10-minute auto-chapters that are inserted.
Playback from DVD is fine, but loading a DVD is slow (perhaps because it can handle so many different DVD formats).

Aspect Ratio
Fiddling with aspect ratio (4:3 vs. 16:9) is a hassle that we will be dealing with for years. This unit, unfortunately, records digital programs as 4:3, even when they are transmitted as 16:9. Translation: when displayed on a 16:9 widescreen TV, you get black borders at top and bottom AND at the sides. This is satisfactorily fixed by zooming the picture on playback. I found it best to zoom from my Sony TV, as the zoom on this Philips is limited and clunky. You have to cancel the zoom the next time you watch a 4:3 program, however, and you can't see the Philips' "information" display when in zoom mode.

User-friendliness
Most functions are well thought out and the software is good. But you will have to read the manual.
The remote control has the buttons needed, but several important ones are badly laid out. The STOP button is tiny.
Since it's a multifunctional device, you have to tell it what component you want to use. If you have been watching a TV show recorded on HDD, then insert a DVD, if you just press "play", it will resume playback of the HDD unless you press "DVD" first. It's not smart enough to realize you want the DVD now.
The 122-page instruction book is detailed. It is fairly well written. Mine is very well-thumbed and dogeared. To get the most out of this complex unit, you will need to read it carefully.

Editing
For copying from old VHS tapes or home DVD's, I find it best to record first onto the HDD. Then use "deleting a scene" to remove unwanted sections. The software for this is pretty user-friendly. Then transfer the cleaned-up version to DVD. You can in theory record directly to DVD from VHS, and delete unwanted sections on the DVD directly, using "Hiding Chapters" but this is clunky (first you have to define the section as a chapter), and these deletions, and added chapter headings, were ignored when played back on another unit.

Downsides
It can't record HD programs.
It's slow to load a DVD.
The remote buttons are poorly laid out.
Widescreen format shows must be zoomed on playback to fill a 16:9 TV screen.
Titling tracks is tedious.
DVD edits may be ignored in other DVD players.

Summary
This is a really fine and extremely versatile unit, at a bargain price. It is a leapfrog into the digital age. Finally here is a device with the versatility to fully supplant S-VHS VCR's.
The next step will be when this kind of device is upgraded to record HDTV on its hard disk AND to record Blu-Ray DVD's. Don't hold your breath.

(This review is based on the predecessor model, DVDR3575H, similar except for the tuner).

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

system, but it's really not that hard to do manually. It records HD signals as SD (standard definition). Of course, to record in HD will require much bigger hard drives.



The listing of programs ("Titles") that you have recorded are clearly shown and easy to navigate to. But it is best to put a rudimentary title on the TV programs right after you record them. Otherwise all you have is the date, time, and channel of the recording. You have to add titles by a clunky texting method, requiring multiple presses of numbers 1-9.



Playback

I use an HDMI cable between this unit and my TV. Playback from the hard disk is a joy. Access is immediate. The unit remembers where you left off watching last time on each program individually. You can manoever around the recordings with an (adjustable) 30-second skip forward/backward button, or with an adjustable-speed fast forward/rewind, or with a chapter-jump ("next") which uses the (optional) 10-minute auto-chapters that are inserted.

Playback from DVD is fine, but loading a DVD is slow (perhaps because it can handle so many different DVD formats).



Aspect Ratio

Fiddling with aspect ratio (4:3 vs. 16:9) is a hassle that we will be dealing with for years. This unit, unfortunately, records digital programs as 4:3, even when they are transmitted as 16:9. Translation: when displayed on a 16:9 widescreen TV, you get black borders at top and bottom AND at the sides. This is satisfactorily fixed by zooming the picture on playback. I found it best to zoom from my Sony TV, as the zoom on this Philips is limited and clunky. You have to cancel the zoom the next time you watch a 4:3 program, however, and you can't see the Philips' "information" display when in zoom mode.



User-friendliness

Most functions are well thought out and the software is good. But you will have to read the manual.

The remote control has the buttons needed, but several important ones are badly laid out. The STOP button is tiny.

Since it's a multifunctional device, you have to tell it what component you want to use. If you have been watching a TV show recorded on HDD, then insert a DVD, if you just press "play", it will resume playback of the HDD unless you press "DVD" first. It's not smart enough to realize you want the DVD now.

The 122-page instruction book is detailed. It is fairly well written. Mine is very well-thumbed and dogeared. To get the most out of this complex unit, you will need to read it carefully.



Editing

For copying from old VHS tapes or home DVD's, I find it best to record first onto the HDD. Then use "deleting a scene" to remove unwanted sections. The software for this is pretty user-friendly. Then transfer the cleaned-up version to DVD. You can in theory record directly to DVD from VHS, and delete unwanted sections on the DVD directly, using "Hiding Chapters" but this is clunky (first you have to define the section as a chapter), and these deletions, and added chapter headings, were ignored when played back on another unit.



Downsides

It can't record HD programs.

It's slow to load a DVD.

The remote buttons are poorly laid out.

Widescreen format shows must be zoomed on playback to fill a 16:9 TV screen.

Titling tracks is tedious.

DVD edits may be ignored in other DVD players.



Summary

This is a really fine and extremely versatile unit, at a bargain price. It is a leapfrog into the digital age. Finally here is a device with the versatility to fully supplant S-VHS VCR's.

The next step will be when this kind of device is upgraded to record HDTV on its hard disk AND to record Blu-Ray DVD's. Don't hold your breath.



(This review is based on the predecessor model, DVDR3575H, similar except for the tuner).

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

system, but it's really not that hard to do manually. It records HD signals as SD (standard definition). Of course, to record in HD will require much bigger hard drives.





The listing of programs ("Titles") that you have recorded are clearly shown and easy to navigate to. But it is best to put a rudimentary title on the TV programs right after you record them. Otherwise all you have is the date, time, and channel of the recording. You have to add titles by a clunky texting method, requiring multiple presses of numbers 1-9.





Playback


I use an HDMI cable between this unit and my TV. Playback from the hard disk is a joy. Access is immediate. The unit remembers where you left off watching last time on each program individually. You can manoever around the recordings with an (adjustable) 30-second skip forward/backward button, or with an adjustable-speed fast forward/rewind, or with a chapter-jump ("next") which uses the (optional) 10-minute auto-chapters that are inserted.


Playback from DVD is fine, but loading a DVD is slow (perhaps because it can handle so many different DVD formats).





Aspect Ratio


Fiddling with aspect ratio (4:3 vs. 16:9) is a hassle that we will be dealing with for years. This unit, unfortunately, records digital programs as 4:3, even when they are transmitted as 16:9. Translation: when displayed on a 16:9 widescreen TV, you get black borders at top and bottom AND at the sides. This is satisfactorily fixed by zooming the picture on playback. I found it best to zoom from my Sony TV, as the zoom on this Philips is limited and clunky. You have to cancel the zoom the next time you watch a 4:3 program, however, and you can't see the Philips' "information" display when in zoom mode.





User-friendliness


Most functions are well thought out and the software is good. But you will have to read the manual.


The remote control has the buttons needed, but several important ones are badly laid out. The STOP button is tiny.


Since it's a multifunctional device, you have to tell it what component you want to use. If you have been watching a TV show recorded on HDD, then insert a DVD, if you just press "play", it will resume playback of the HDD unless you press "DVD" first. It's not smart enough to realize you want the DVD now.


The 122-page instruction book is detailed. It is fairly well written. Mine is very well-thumbed and dogeared. To get the most out of this complex unit, you will need to read it carefully.





Editing


For copying from old VHS tapes or home DVD's, I find it best to record first onto the HDD. Then use "deleting a scene" to remove unwanted sections. The software for this is pretty user-friendly. Then transfer the cleaned-up version to DVD. You can in theory record directly to DVD from VHS, and delete unwanted sections on the DVD directly, using "Hiding Chapters" but this is clunky (first you have to define the section as a chapter), and these deletions, and added chapter headings, were ignored when played back on another unit.





Downsides


It can't record HD programs.


It's slow to load a DVD.


The remote buttons are poorly laid out.


Widescreen format shows must be zoomed on playback to fill a 16:9 TV screen.


Titling tracks is tedious.


DVD edits may be ignored in other DVD players.





Summary


This is a really fine and extremely versatile unit, at a bargain price. It is a leapfrog into the digital age. Finally here is a device with the versatility to fully supplant S-VHS VCR's.


The next step will be when this kind of device is upgraded to record HDTV on its hard disk AND to record Blu-Ray DVD's. Don't hold your breath.





(This review is based on the predecessor model, DVDR3575H, similar except for the tuner).

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

system, but it's really not that hard to do manually. It records HD signals as SD (standard definition). Of course, to record in HD will require much bigger hard drives.







The listing of programs ("Titles") that you have recorded are clearly shown and easy to navigate to. But it is best to put a rudimentary title on the TV programs right after you record them. Otherwise all you have is the date, time, and channel of the recording. You have to add titles by a clunky texting method, requiring multiple presses of numbers 1-9.







Playback



I use an HDMI cable between this unit and my TV. Playback from the hard disk is a joy. Access is immediate. The unit remembers where you left off watching last time on each program individually. You can manoever around the recordings with an (adjustable) 30-second skip forward/backward button, or with an adjustable-speed fast forward/rewind, or with a chapter-jump ("next") which uses the (optional) 10-minute auto-chapters that are inserted.



Playback from DVD is fine, but loading a DVD is slow (perhaps because it can handle so many different DVD formats).







Aspect Ratio



Fiddling with aspect ratio (4:3 vs. 16:9) is a hassle that we will be dealing with for years. This unit, unfortunately, records digital programs as 4:3, even when they are transmitted as 16:9. Translation: when displayed on a 16:9 widescreen TV, you get black borders at top and bottom AND at the sides. This is satisfactorily fixed by zooming the picture on playback. I found it best to zoom from my Sony TV, as the zoom on this Philips is limited and clunky. You have to cancel the zoom the next time you watch a 4:3 program, however, and you can't see the Philips' "information" display when in zoom mode.







User-friendliness



Most functions are well thought out and the software is good. But you will have to read the manual.



The remote control has the buttons needed, but several important ones are badly laid out. The STOP button is tiny.



Since it's a multifunctional device, you have to tell it what component you want to use. If you have been watching a TV show recorded on HDD, then insert a DVD, if you just press "play", it will resume playback of the HDD unless you press "DVD" first. It's not smart enough to realize you want the DVD now.



The 122-page instruction book is detailed. It is fairly well written. Mine is very well-thumbed and dogeared. To get the most out of this complex unit, you will need to read it carefully.







Editing



For copying from old VHS tapes or home DVD's, I find it best to record first onto the HDD. Then use "deleting a scene" to remove unwanted sections. The software for this is pretty user-friendly. Then transfer the cleaned-up version to DVD. You can in theory record directly to DVD from VHS, and delete unwanted sections on the DVD directly, using "Hiding Chapters" but this is clunky (first you have to define the section as a chapter), and these deletions, and added chapter headings, were ignored when played back on another unit.







Downsides



It can't record HD programs.



It's slow to load a DVD.



The remote buttons are poorly laid out.



Widescreen format shows must be zoomed on playback to fill a 16:9 TV screen.



Titling tracks is tedious.



DVD edits may be ignored in other DVD players.







Summary



This is a really fine and extremely versatile unit, at a bargain price. It is a leapfrog into the digital age. Finally here is a device with the versatility to fully supplant S-VHS VCR's.



The next step will be when this kind of device is upgraded to record HDTV on its hard disk AND to record Blu-Ray DVD's. Don't hold your breath.







(This review is based on the predecessor model, DVDR3575H, similar except for the tuner).

+ 0 likes

Philips DVDR3576H/37 160GB Hard Drive ATSC DVD Player and Recorder

...

(not counting the 30 or so digital music channels that both receive).

Go over to avsforum.com and search for DVDR3576H/37-the first two links will tell you all you need to know about this unit! I did a lot of research there, and sat on this purchase for a few days trying to decide whether or not to open the box or return it after I found it didn't have an HD tuner-finally decided to take the plunge and so far it's a pretty darn impressive little piece!
I'd probably give it 4 stars if it had some kind of channel guide (like Comcast DVR), but I understand units with TV Guide feature are "iffy".

PROS
Size-smaller than the VCR it's replacing
Picture quality (not HD but pretty darn impressive)
Nothing like TV Guide/Comcast cable guide to show what's on/tell you what you've recorded (although all your recordings appear as multiple windows/snapshots so you can probably tell what the recording is-if not, just scroll up/down/sideways to the multiple snapshots and the program starts playing immediately in it's small window-think it's 9 windows per page, multiple pages depending on how many recordings you have)
Passes HD signal through to TV with no apparent degradation (got the incoming cable going to the DVDR-VCR-HDTV)
160GB Hard Drive with many recording speed options!

CONS
No TV sound button on the DVDR remote (a pain to reach for the TV control just to adjust the sound level-a universal remote (lighted?) with at least rudimentary TV controls (or just a volumne button!) would be nice.
Button labels pretty darn small! The old eyes ain't what they used to be-could have made the remote bigger with bigger print/buttons? Color-coded buttons might be nice (different color for hard drive functions etc).
No channel labeling! My Sharp TV doesn't have it either, but my Toshiba Regza TV does! With all the channels available now, it would be nice if you could label the channels (as on my Toshiba TV) instead of remembering channel 105.1 is ????
A dual tuner would be nice (would allow you to watch one channel while another is recording)

BTW...got it at Sam's Club for $249-apparently the regular price?!