Philips DVD-R80 Review

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Philips DVD-R80
2.4 stars
Average rating for this product is: 2.4 out of 5

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londonapprentice's Review of Philips DVD-R80 DVD Recorder

22nd Dec 2003

Overall Rating

4.5 stars
  • Value for money
    4.5 stars
Good Points

Stylish, Fully featured, Excellent picture Quality, 8 hour recording.


Bad Points

Guide Plus is awkward, Takes a while to recognize a disc on loading.


General Comments

I received this Philips DVD R80 unit as a replacement for the Philips DVD880 (the predecessor to the DVDR70)which I wasn't 100% happy with. I thought it had been released too soon before the bugs were ironed out. The DVDR80 on the other hand was a big improvement. The GUI is exactly the same but the reliability had improved with no problems from any brand of DVD I used to record on. You can also download the latest firmware upgrade from Philips website which when burnt to a CD can upgrade the unit.

It has up to 8 hours recording per disc which is so convenient. The quality at this capacity is noticeably reduced but still on a par with VHS recording.

I was looking forward to using the GuidePlus system, but this was very fussy to set up. My post code wasn't recognized and despite technical support stating it wasn't likely to be the post code causing the setup to fail, I changed it to a nearby postcode and it worked! The manual states the recorder should be turned off to update the guide, it actually needs to be turned ON! So it took almost a week before I got any GuidePlus data. There was also a problem with included adverts that appear in the GuidePlus frame that started flashing rapidly. This was only corrected after a full reset of the GuidePlus and hasn't happened since I am pleased to say.

The Disc Manager feature is a little limited in its function but if you do a lot of recording from the TV (as opposed to archiving films like I do) then you may find this more useful.

Sound and vision are excellent as expected and the quality of the cabinet finish and remote control is also excellent. The tray and buttons illuminate with a red glow that is very chic.

I have recorded many hours on this machine and I am very satisfied it does a good job at both recording and playback. There are a lot of useful editing features and recording options.

Highly recommended.

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