Philips DVD-R880 Review

Overall Rating

Good quality playback when it plays!

Freezing up on playback. Disc error consistently while trying to record. Will not recognise discs.

When I bought the Philips DVD-R880 DVD recorder, I thought because it was made by Philips it would be reliable. I have many Philips products, all with no problems except this heap of rubbish. Yes the notorious Philips DVD-R880. My friend and I both bought one, his started to freeze and stopped recording after about 3 Months, mine lasted a little longer, just out of the year guarantee. During that time it would not play anything off the computer, and still used to give the occasional disc error during recording from the TV. So I bought a cheap Medion player which played any thing I put in it, even a disc I recorded on the Philips which it would not play. I tried many different makes of disc including Philips, but it made no difference - still rubbish.

After it was 15 months old I gave up trying to use it. I was told it was a bad model which was not worth getting repaired. I tried to contact Philips via their web site, and it said it was not possible to e-mail at the time and gave a phone number to call at 15p per min. NO WAY!! I'm not paying to complain!! I have already wasted £350.00, and I am not wasting any more of my money on anything Philips. Tomorrow I go out and buy a Panasonic DMRES 10 DVD recorder.

Philips must have known this recorder had many problems, and should have offered people a cheap upgrade. They may regret it because bad publicity will do them much financial harm. I have already talked a friend out of buying a Philips TV.

Members' Comments onpav50vert's Review

• poons on 21st Jan 2006

  Hi Pav50vert,
  Sorry to hear that you have had the same problems with ur DVDR880 as the rest of the world's population.
  I don't know if this will cheer you up, but my unit has now worked perfectly since I got it repaired by Philips approx nearly two years ago.
  I still think that it is a good product and it serves me well.
  I just wish that Philips had tightened up there quality control, and maybe most of us would not have had to go through hell...
  Anyway, the price of DVD recorders have now dropped to well under £100, which was not available at the time of the 880 release.
  However quality playback will be reduced on these cheap and cheerful recorders, but a great option for people who have never ventured into digital recording.
  
  Regards Poons

• pav50vert on 23rd Jan 2006

  Hi, thanks for your comment, I went out and bought a Panasonic DMRES 10 DVD Recorder and it is fantastic, I have been using it constantly with no problems. The ram is incredible, you can record something and start watching what you are recording before it finishes recording. It's much faster to operate than the Philips, no waiting for it to start to work. I have contacted Philips and they replied saying that they are sorry but no parts are available for this model, but they would let me know if they became available, that's a cop out, it now sits in its box looking like new with its 2 remotes, yes they put 2 in the box by mistake. So if you know anyone who needs any spares contact me.
  Regards Peter

• poons on 17th Apr 2007

  Hi Peter,
  Sorry to take so long to reply, but I havent looked at this site for some time.
  Glad to see that u are delighted with ur Panasonic.
  My mother has the same recorder, and I know what u mean by it's features, as I had to set it up for her.
  Guess what, my "DVDR 880 is still going strong, even after all this time", is this a world record?, LOL.
  
  Regards Poons

• pav50vert on 18th Apr 2007

  Yes, I think it must be a record, in my opinion the only way to make that model last is not to use it, they wanted £85.00 to repair mine, so I did not get it repaired. I'm glad I bought the Panasonic, its still fantastic, most of the time I just use ram disc for speed. I am glad yours is now still working, remember if you ever need a remote for it I have 2 one of which is still in the packet never used.
  regards Peter