DVD Recorders > Philips DVD Recorders > 70 GBP to 139 GBP

Advantages: Quality, DVD and HDD recording, Live Pause Features
Disadvantages: No EPG or Freeview

...this has got to be a basic of a HDD recorder how can I choose what I want to record. To make this product superb Philips simply have to add freeview and an epg for setting my recordings. But apart from that quality of video and sound is great. ... Read review

Advantages: Freeview, divX playback, USB slot
Disadvantages: Occasional freezing

I bought this product from Laskys in November 2007 for around £135. I was very impressed with the spec - ability to play divx files, as well as freeview and a usb socket. The manual is thorough and easy to follow, although set-ups which involve several other players or set-top boxes may be a bit complicated. The machine can be used as a digital freeview box if you don't have one, but I rarely use this feature as my tv is digital. The initial set-up ...
...but then froze up and none of the buttons worked. I checked the manual and this was covered by the troubleshooting - simply unplug and allow the recorder to reset. I did this and it worked fine. However, it has done it again several times since. I'm not sure if this is going to be a continuing problem but it has been freeze-free for a couple of weeks now so fingers crossed. Recording is on DVD+/-R or RW and DVD+R DL discs. The manual provides a ... Read review

Advantages: Ease of use, picture playback
Disadvantages: Rather large, noisy at times.

I received this as a gift several months ago, and I think it is an excellent product. I have played various different DVD's on it and I have yet to encounter any compatibility issues. The DivX playback (which is a form of encoding for video files, often seen as ".avi" on your computer) allows you to write upto 4gb of video on a normal DVD, which in terms of minutes is around 6 hours depending on quality, a vast increase over the amount of hours you ...
...There are numerous quality settings for you to choose from when you are recording from TV which means you can optimise the use of the internal hard drive. The quality of the recordings are fantastic and i was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to transfer the recordings from the hard drive onto a DVD, just a single click and it was done. I have yet to find any major disadvantages with this recorder, the only minor blemishes with this product, ... Read review

Advantages: DVD and Hard Driv e in one package
Disadvantages: Copy protected software rejects certain TV programmes

From the outset this appears to be a useful and reasonably priced unit. The DVD recorder works well, and the results are of good quality, but it is advisable to only use DVD+R discs, and the DVD+RW will not work in some other machines. The Hard Drive gives good quality, but suffers a serious disavantage. Certain programmes may be rejected due to Copy Protection software built into the unit. The problem here is that the user is not warned at the start ...
...impossible to stop the machine. The percentage of rejection may be small, but this feature renders the Hard Drive unreliable. Recording onto DVD from archive home videos is quite good, but it is best not to use a Scart, instead go in at front on Phono leads. When using Scart, the recorder is liable to go into pause mode if home recording is of poor quality. Whilst the unit seems to be of good quality, the isssue of Copy Protection should be made ... Read review

Advantages: simple to set up and use, great recording quality
Disadvantages: slower than a drunk snail, no HDMI

I recently aquired a Sony DVD recorder (RDR-GXD360). The Sony has freeview built in and a good reputation for audio visual quality. Set up was easy, I used the smart link connection between DVD and TV which means you can operate alot of the TV functions by the DVD remote which saves on fiddling around with two handsets. There's no hard drive but you can record onto most DVD media except dual-layered DVD-R and DVD-RAM discs. It has a number of recording ...
...of anonying traits with the Sony however. The first being how long it takes to load a disc and then to shut down, it's very slow and seems to make lots of noise doing it, the cooling fan makes a noise most of the time There's also the fact that it has no HDMI connection. I recently brought a LCD 'HDMI' TV so I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't use that feature. In light of the present advances in technology the Sony appears a bit dated, obviously ... Read review