Pros: Love the tuner, two-way recording capability, and ease-of-programming!
Cons: Instructions hard to follow; not in logical order.
The Bottom Line: Has every feature I wanted, and is easy to use! For the price, I would definitely have bought another, but it's no longer made (of course!).
skaizun's Full Review: Philips DVDR3545V/37 DVD Recorder / VCR Combo
I was looking for a VHS-to-DVD recorder that would let me copy my many old VHS tapes to DVD, but I also wanted it to have a tuner, so I could record cable TV programs. After scouring the net, and trying out some machines at various electronics departments and stores, I settled on this unit.
The only major problem I had was with the setup, in which it took me over an hour to figure out that my old Symphonic TV had to be set to its "game input channel" with RCA A/V cables running between the front of the TV and the Philips DVDR 3545/37, which, granted, doesn't look all that great, but it also means that I don't have to get another cable signal splitter and/or A-B switch to add to my existing collection of doodads running between the cable box, TV, and two other VHS-only units! However, that setup problem was mine alone, having nothing to do with the Philips unit! In other words, it was a matter of making my machine work with the Philips, and certainly not their fault.
The user manual is fairly clear, though not arranged as logically as one might want. Curiously, it gives suggestions as to what manufacturers' recordable DVD discs to use, but I bought an unlisted mfr's discs, which was on sale, and they worked just fine, so I'm a little baffled as to why Philips bothered with the list (in other words, if it works with one mfr's type of disc, why wouldn't it work with another's?).
I am able to play CD, DVD, and VHS with great clarity and ease, and I can record on DVD or VHS, as well as between the two (not with CD's). The VHS tracking system is superb; it removes virtually all jitters and snow that my two VHS players produced.
Programming takes a little bit of practice, but, again, no problems, and any mistakes are easily corrected, even after finishing the program (e.g., change a channel or time, etc). I can't say this about a Memorex VHS recorder that I have, because it won't let me change/edit programs after I create them!
The only thing I wish it could do is to pause the DVD while recording from VHS, in order to remove any commercials (it *might* be able to do that, but I haven't figured it out, and there is nothing specific about it in the manual). However, I figure that even if I eliminate all the commercials, I still might not have room to add another full show or movie, so it's probably not worth the effort, anyway (i.e., do I really want to sit through hours of tapes constantly hitting the pause and fast forward buttons to eliminate commercials?).
I've seen similar units for various prices, but without all the nice features of the Philips (especially the two-way recording feature and tuner), so this unit was a great find!
[UPDATE] When recording (i.e., copying or dubbing) from VHS to DVD, I had removed my homemade tapes' erase tab, so they wouldn't accidentally be erased, much like you would with an audio cassette (remember those?). ;) However, when I tried copying my first VHS to DVD, an error message appeared on the TV screen indicating that I wasn't allowed to copy the DVD in "+VR" mode ("E45"), even though a few seconds of the VHS program made it to the DVD! Having no idea what "+VR" mode meant (i.e., there's no way to set such in any of the Philips' functions, buttons, remotes, or menus), I spent an hour trying to figure out what was wrong with my DVD-RW: I tried erasing it (even on my computer; not a good idea, as it made it totally unreadable to the Philips), clearing it, resetting it, retitling it, removing the title, etc. Nothing worked. Finally, on a whim, I put masking tape over the VHS's erase tab, and the copying proceeded with no further ado! What a terrible error message! Is that what they consider "copy protection": an intact erase tab???
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