Philips DVDR 3380 > Reviews (13)

BACKGROUND
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I have been an avid fan of Pilips for quite a while.
I have an old Hi-Fi back in France, which is 15 years old (never had a problem), I've had a Philips TV that was brilliant, and my old DVD player was a Philips.
I wanted to upgrade to a DVD recorder that can play Dvix, so why go for anything else than Philips???

WHAT DO I GET?
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In the box you get the DVD recorder, a remote control, a terrestrial antenna cable, and 1 SCART cable, a manual, and a quick set-up manual.
The latter allows you to set up the time, find the channels etc etc within 5 minutes.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
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The recorder in itself wouldn't win a beauty contest, but we are after performance here (aren't we?). The remote control is noir nice nor ugly, but very badly designed. My old DVD player had exactly the same remote, but with half the buttons; so then it was ok, but on this one, they could have improved the design; there are no different colored buttons, they are more or less all the same size… So you hve to look at the remote to see what you wanna do…
In a nutshell, if you have sausage fingers, you might struggle to operate the unit properly.
Although, on the front of the recorder, you have the basic buttons: play stop, record.

IMAGE / SOUND QUALITY
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Playing DVDs:
The quality of the picture is spotless, as it was with my old player. The image / sound quality is brilliant, and you won't be disappointed.

Playing recorded programs:
I recorded a TV program last Friday (live from Abbey road on more 4) using the average quality recording, and I watched it the following day. The recording was brilliant!!! As good as it was played on TV the night before! And I didn't even recorded at the best quality setting!

Playing Divx:
I guess the quality of the picture / sound depends on the quality of your Divx (how well it has been encoded)

EASE OF USE:
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I was a DVD recorder virgin. I used VCRs in the past without struggle, and basically, it is exactly the same.
You just use onscreen menus that are clear and easy to follow. Programming is very easy too. Just set the time, date, source (TV, digital box, satellite…), quality of recording, press ok, and that is it!
You have several qualities of recording:
- High Quality (HQ): records up to 2h on a 4.7GB DVD
- Standard Play (SP): records up to 4h on a 4.7GB DVD
- Extended Play (EP): records up to 8h on a 4.7GB DVD
- Super Long Play (SLP) records up to 12h on a 4.7GB DVD
I so far recorded using the SP option, and it was great…
You also get some recording enhancement: at the end of the recording, the recorder adds chapters every 5 minutes of your recording (that is optional, as you can do it manually), Selectable index pictures…

Playing DVDs is just as it would be on any DVD player.

I noticed that the unit can sometimes be a bit slow to startup, but nothing terribly bad.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT
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I have never had the occasion to get in touch with them, so I can't comment on that.

And I am not complaining: I'd rather never have to deal with them.

PRICE
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It will depend on where you purchase it; I got it on Amazon.co.uk in March 2007, and it cost me £100 (delivered).

THE GEEKY BIT (SPECS)
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Picture / Display
D/A converter : 10 bit, 54 MHz A/D converter : 10 bit, 27 MHz
Sound
D/A converter : 29 bit, 192 kHz A/D converter : 24 bit, 96 kHz
Video Recording
Recording system : NTSC, PAL Recording modes : High Quality (HQ), Standard Play (SP), Extended Play (EP), Super Long Play (SLP) Recording enhancements : Manual Chapter Marking, Selectable index pictures, Auto Chapter Marking Audio compression : Dolby Digital Recording media : DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW
Video playback
Playback Media : DVD+R/+RW, CD-R/CD-RW, DVD-R/-RW, Video CD/SVCD, DVD+R DL Compression formats : MPEG2, MPEG1, DivX 3.11, DivX 4.x, DivX 5.x, DivX 6.0
Audio Playback
Playback Media : DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R DL, CD-R/RW, Audio CD Compression format : Dolby Digital, MP3, MPEG2 Multichannel, AAC
Still picture playback
Playback Media : DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R DL, CD-R/RW Picture compression format : JPEG Picture enhancement : Rotate, Zoom, Slideshow, Slideshow with MP3 playback
Tuner / Reception / Transmission
TV system : PAL B/G, SECAM L/L', PAL I, SECAM D/K, PAL D/K, SECAM B/G
Connectivity
Front / Side connections : Audio L/R in, CVBS in, i.LINK DV in (IEEE1394, 4-pin) Rear Connections : Digital coaxial out, Analogue audio left / right out, RF antenna in / TV out, Composite video (CVBS) output, S-Video out, SCART1 (CVBS, RGB out), SCART2 (CVBS, RGB in)
Convenience
Programming/Timer Enhancements : Daily / weekly repeat program, Manual timer, One Touch Recording, VIDEO Plus+, VPS/PDC recording control Programmable events : 8
Power
Power supply : 50Hz, 220-240V Standby power consumption : < 3 W Power consumption : 27 W (Typical) W
Accessories
Included accessories : Remote control, Full SCART cable, User manual, 2 x AAA Batteries, Quick start guide, Warranty Leaflet, RF cable Remote Control 12NC : 2422 549 00611
Dimensions
Set Width : 360 mm Set Height : 43 mm Set Depth : 322 mm Packaging Width : 498 mm Packaging Height : 124 mm Packaging Depth : 413 mm Set weight : 3 kg

MY OPINION
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I would definitely recommend this unit. I have never been disappointed by Philips, and I feel that this unit is great for "beginners" at recording DVDs. It is very easy to use, and very intuitive.
I wish (as a lot of other people) that the remote control was better designed, but hey, you can't have everything.

THE BIT YOU'LL THANK ME FOR LATER
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As you saw in the specifications (you geek), this unit is Region 2, which means you can only play DVDs purchased in Europe; but here I am, with my little thing I found on the net: A nice hack, that will remove this little annoying thing:
1/MAKE SURE NO DISC IS IN MACHINE SWITCH ON AND WAIT UNTIL DISPLAY SHOWS NO DISC ENTER 0009 AND PRESS OK THIS WILL DISPLAY THE REGION CODE THE MACHINE IS SET TO (2).

open /close tray
2/ DISPLAY SHOWS NO DISC; ENTER 0086000 AND PRESS OK . again ....open /close the tray.
now region free ...to verify region . use step 1 again
Switch off DVD recorder and turn back on again: your unit is region free!

I did this on the day I received it, and it doesn't damage your unit in any way. It is all working fine.

IN A NUTSHELL
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PROS: super easy to use
great picture/ sound
fairly cheap

CONS: crap remote control
Sometimes can be a bit slow to load (but nothing alarming)

Thanks for reading!
J