Philips DVDR1000 DVD Recorder

Pros: It looks like a Sony
Cons: Everything about the player and the company that builds them.

Stay away from this company and their products! I know 4 people that have Coby DVD players and they all skip and stick. Upon contacting customer service regarding the issues we have all had with our products, we were basically told we were screwed.

Pros: Good image quality, when it works!
Cons: Nervous breakdown inducing unreliability.

I've owned my Philips DVDR100 since July 2002, and, I'm sorry to say, I've found it to be very unreliable. A few months after purchase, I returned it to Philips, who actually got the thing to work, but not without continuing problems. From not recognising discs at all ("no disc" message displayed), to scene skipping, freezing, disc errors and warnings, also inability to access blank spaces on discs previously recorded or refusing to access the edit menus on said discs. Maybe the technology has been developed further in the past year and the new machines will be totally reliable. I'd advise you let someone else be the test dummy and spend your money elsewhere!

Pros: When it records, it records clearly.
Cons: Won't handle second-generation tapes or DVDs. Slow and complicated.

Happily for everyone, technology has long overtaken this first-generation recorder. It's arrogant, seemingly deciding for itself what it will (or won't) copy, and exceptionally complicated to understand. It is also, by current standards, bulky and slow. Unfortunately it has also put me off ever trying another Philips product in this category.

Well after agonizing over the decision of wether or not to purchase this unit, I decided to go for it. I am helping to pay for this by subcontracting video backup to the local bulk copy supplier. I love this unit, it works great and the interactive menu building system for organizing clips on the DVD is a real bonus. However on the fourth or fifth time I burned a disk, when it was finished the drawer opened and a 2-lb. deep fried chicken popped out. The coating was crispy and delicious, and was a little spicy considering the menu system did not list a cajun option. Overall was excellent with tender and juicy center and full resolution taste. A great buy.