Wal-Mart just recently got these in (for $298). Has anyone gotten one of these? Are they okay, pretty good, or lousy?

I'm considering getting one of these (in about 2-3 months), an wondered if anyone out there has any experience with this.

I bought one this past week and I love it. This is my first harddrive recorder. You can edit commercials for the TV shows you record and then burn them to a DVD disk.

I found the owners manual.

http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?slg=ENG&cat=DVD_PLAYERS_RECORDERS_CA&sct=DVD_RECORDERS_SU&session=20060519213223_69.162.214.50&grp=HOME_AUDIO_VIDEO_GR&ctn=DVDR3455H/37&mid=Link_UserManuals&hlt=Link_UserManuals

I like the 2.5 hour spp mode, and divx 6 playback feature. But no Dual Layer support.


And I don't care for the yesdvd trial offer. Make three yesdvds then if you want to make more you have to buy the key code to unlock the feature.

does'nt quite fit what I'm looking for.

I bought one this past week and I love it. This is my first harddrive recorder. You can edit commercials for the TV shows you record and then burn them to a DVD disk.

So how do you like it so far? I've seen a bad review about it at videohelp.com

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdrecorders.php?DVDnameid=1606&Search=Search&list=1#comments


This DVDR with HDD does everything it says, but the picture quality is worse than either of my VCRs. I'm taking it back to Walmart tomorrow. I read a post in this forum listing the problems with all brands of DVD recoders, and this is precisely the problem everyone else had.

I have a 36" Tv, I'm using the component RCA video cables (Pr/Pb/Y), and I'm recording in the HQ-highest quality mode. All this and the video is still grainier than my VCR recording in the 4 hour SP mode.

I pretty disapointed


Is the PQ that bad, are you using component outputs as well? Hmm...for that price you will be able to get upcoming PIO 540H (80gb drive though).

TIA,

cm

I'm using component cables with a 120" projector screen and the quality looks great. I'm not even recording in the highest quality mode, I'm using SEP. The worst quality there is.

Dear Philips Corp.

I am writing this letter about one of your products that I purchased. The DVDR3455H/37. This product has some good features. However like many new products introduced into the market place. Some companies or not always in tune with just how people use their equipment. I have a few suggestions that I believe can be instituted through a firmware update. That will make your product a superior buy at it's price range.

1. A lot of people use such devices as a tuner. That way they can hook it up to a plain monitor or just listen to the audio from a program. Such as some cspan programing or televised concerts. When people are doing this they just need the tuner. So if you could put a software program in the DVDR that allows the time shift feature to be turn off completely. That way there is no wear and tear on the hard drive. A small warning message can be put on the screen at startup and on channel changes to alert the user in case they forget that it is off. Also the feature can be set to auto turn on if some one hits the record button.

2. Once the unit is turned on you lose the LED time display. Most people actually use their units as a clock. The time display should always show the time or you should at least have the option to turn on a permanent time display option. This would be an improvement in a couple of ways. 1st all channels today display their logo so you always know what channel you are watching. 2nd When watching a program, it is good to know how much time is remaining in a program especially if it is a really good one.

3. When you are watching a dvd you should have the choice of viewing the actual time of day or the running time of the dvd. You should be able to toggle this feature from a remote control unit. Also the time slip function is on when you are watching a dvd. There is no need for this feature. You can pause and rewind a dvd at any time. Why time slip while watching a dvd?? Again the option to turn off the hard drive unit is needed.

4. There needs to be a commercial skip button on your remote. This feature should allow you to time jump when viewing saved programs at a 15 or 30 second interval. You should be able to set the time jump interval from the setup menu.

I believe if you can add these features through a firmware update. You will have a truly superior product. But as this product model stands (DVDR3455H/37) . It can at best be given a poor rating on features. Simply because most of these features have been standard on VCR's for years and DVDR's are suppose to be an improvement. As it stands there is know way I can recommend this product to a friend or give it a good performance rating to members of a help forum which I am a moderator for. As I have stated you have a good base product. It is just that the fine tuning of software features were not well designed. With the above improvements which are mostly software in nature you can put your product at the top of heap for this type of dvdr at it's price.

I hope you consider the updates. Thanks for your time

Dear Philips Corp.

I am writing this letter about one of your products that I purchased. The DVDR3455H/37. This product has some good features. However like many new products introduced into the market place. Some companies or not always in tune with just how people use their equipment. I have a few suggestions that I believe can be instituted through a firmware update. That will make your product a superior buy at it's price range.

1. A lot of people use such devices as a tuner. That way they can hook it up to a plain monitor or just listen to the audio from a program. Such as some cspan programing or televised concerts. When people are doing this they just need the tuner. So if you could put a software program in the DVDR that allows the time shift feature to be turn off completely. That way there is no wear and tear on the hard drive. A small warning message can be put on the screen at startup and on channel changes to alert the user in case they forget that it is off. Also the feature can be set to auto turn on if some one hits the record button.

2. Once the unit is turned on you lose the LED time display. Most people actually use their units as a clock. The time display should always show the time or you should at least have the option to turn on a permanent time display option. This would be an improvement in a couple of ways. 1st all channels today display their logo so you always know what channel you are watching. 2nd When watching a program, it is good to know how much time is remaining in a program especially if it is a really good one.

3. When you are watching a dvd you should have the choice of viewing the actual time of day or the running time of the dvd. You should be able to toggle this feature from a remote control unit. Also the time slip function is on when you are watching a dvd. There is no need for this feature. You can pause and rewind a dvd at any time. Why time slip while watching a dvd?? Again the option to turn off the hard drive unit is needed.

4. There needs to be a commercial skip button on your remote. This feature should allow you to time jump when viewing saved programs at a 15 or 30 second interval. You should be able to set the time jump interval from the setup menu.

I believe if you can add these features through a firmware update. You will have a truly superior product. But as this product model stands (DVDR3455H/37) . It can at best be given a poor rating on features. Simply because most of these features have been standard on VCR's for years and DVDR's are suppose to be an improvement. As it stands there is know way I can recommend this product to a friend or give it a good performance rating to members of a help forum which I am a moderator for. As I have stated you have a good base product. It is just that the fine tuning of software features were not well designed. With the above improvements which are mostly software in nature you can put your product at the top of heap for this type of dvdr at it's price.

I hope you consider the updates. Thanks for your time

Good post :). BTW.... how is PQ? Are there any features you like so far? I've heared from someone that is pretty good. I should be getting my unit anyday... can't wait.

Has anyone used Staples brand DVD+R on these burners? If not could someone please? It would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

caveman_17

I used the video connections and the Hq setting to record with. I only have a few programs that I miss a month. So I dont need to use low quality settings. The picture looked fine to me. It is on a 21 inch set. Not big 36" plus sets.

I have a 36" Tv, I'm using the component RCA video cables (Pr/Pb/Y), and I'm recording in the HQ-highest quality mode. All this and the video is still grainier than my VCR recording in the 4 hour SP mode.
I'm using component cables with a 120" projector screen and the quality looks great. I'm not even recording in the highest quality mode, I'm using SEP. The worst quality there is.
Grainy on 36" TV at HQ quality, but "looks great" on 120" projector screen at SEP!?

Will the real truth please be told...or did they reverse the quality settings on this unit???

This unit offers a lot of recording and playback options. It is possible the people with poor picture quality did not get settings right. Software options are the weak point of this machine. It offers a lot but does not tie it together well.

Record options are HQ, SP, SPP, LP, EP, SLP, SEP
Play back through Rf, video inputs, S video, and compent video
You have a progressive scan playback if your tv supports it.
You can playback in NTSC or PAL
Picture shape can be played back in 4:3 LB, 4:3 PS, 16:9 WS

These are just the playback options. So with poor software menus. If you are not sure what you are doing you can easily end up with poor picture quality.

Grainy on 36" TV at HQ quality, but "looks great" on 120" projector screen at SEP!?

Will the real truth please be told...or did they reverse the quality settings on this unit???

Just to get this straight it wasn't me with 36" TV, I just copy/pasted this from videohelp forum. Like I said before I'll be getting my unit any day now, after I'll post a mini review with my findings. Btw I also have 36" tv (sony 36hs420) so I guess my picture won't be so good :eek: :D

This unit offers a lot of recording and playback options. It is possible the people with poor picture quality did not get settings right. Software options are the weak point of this machine. It offers a lot but does not tie it together well.

Record options are HQ, SP, SPP, LP, EP, SLP, SEP
Play back through Rf, video inputs, S video, and compent video
You have a progressive scan playback if your tv supports it.
You can playback in NTSC or PAL
Picture shape can be played back in 4:3 LB, 4:3 PS, 16:9 WS

These are just the playback options. So with poor software menus. If you are not sure what you are doing you can easily end up with poor picture quality.

Sorry to say, but it looks like you are very disapointed with this unit. You bought an entry level 'Civic' and you are expecting a perfmormace of fully loaded 'Accord' :rolleyes: If you wanted a better/more friendly gui you should of bought Panny or Pio dvr recorders. The buttom line is you get what you pay for. My max was $300, and the choice was either Polaroid 2001G or this Philips, I went with this Philips since I was able to buy it for $240 off ebay ($300 at walmart), where Polaroid goes for $220 at walmart. The way I think about it is that the $150 I save today, I can add to my future dvr that I'll buy in 2-3 years from now. (hd-dvd and blue ray who ever wins). My self I knew exactly how the menus look like before I've made a purchase, so I don't expect too much. Most of the options you've listed, you set it once and you don't change them again. I guess some people complain the menus are too simple.... and some say that everything is too complicated.....i.e. Toshiba dvrs. Nothing personal, but if you don't like the unit, return it back, add few $$$ and get your self Panny or Pio. I bet $$$ they will have some flaws too ( you cannot make everybody happy), there is no such thing as perfect :D Look what happened to Pio's EPG problem in last years models.

Someone knows how to change from Region 1 to 0 or MultiZone?

Ricardo

Change what?

Change what?

Region code, so you can play i.e. European DVDs on the unit. By default most of the units sold in NA are set to region 1, some of them can play Multi-Region dvd by changing the region to 0. This can be done i.e. via dvd menus by typing a 'special' numbers.

Robocardo, I'm waiting for my unit to arrive, as soon as a find out how to do it I'll post it in this forum (if it is allowed) or I can pm you if it is not. Please do the same :D

Yes I know about Region Codes. They are associated with players, recorders, and discs themselves. He did not specify which of those he wanted to change the Region Code of. Hence my question. I guess since this Topic is about a recorder, I could have assumed that's what he wanted to change the Region Code of. But he may have been asking about changing the Region Code of a disc (it wouldn't be the first such question), in which case I could have helped him.

Yes I know about Region Codes. They are associated with players, recorders, and discs themselves. He did not specify which of those he wanted to change the Region Code of. Hence my question. I guess since this Topic is about a recorder, I could have assumed that's what he wanted to change the Region Code of. But he may have been asking about changing the Region Code of a disc (it wouldn't be the first such question), in which case I could have helped him.

good point ;) , I've assumed he was asking about changing region code from 1 to 0 on his philips dvr.

And you're probably right now that I think about it.

Page 9 of the manual under Region codes. "This device will only play Region 1 DVD's or DVD's manufactured to be played in all regions. 'ALL' DVD's from other regions cannot be played on this recorder."

soultraveler,

I have had a chance to read the manual and I now understand your issues regarding the time shift buffer. It writes to the HDD continuously whenever the unit is not off or in standby mode, apparently even, as you say, when you are viewing a DVD! You are concerned about wear and tear on the HDD. While I understand your concern, I think you don't need to worry so much about it since the HDD is continuously spinning anyway, regardless of whether the HDD is being read from or written to anyway. Since the read/write head does not physically contact the disc, there should not be any significant wear and tear issues related to the time shift buffer. So I wouldn't worry that much about it. But I agree with you that writing to the time shift buffer should be a user selectable option.

I find your comment regarding the time shift buffer being active even when viewing a DVD interesting. Does this mean that the DVD contents are being recorded to the buffer or the selected tuner channel? If the contents of the DVD is being recorded, then is this true even of copy protected, commercial DVDs? Just curious. Take care. And once again, let us know if Philips responds.

Vic

I should let some people know I am an old hand at burning dvd's from the computer.

But back to the Philips dvr. I actually had the machine home for a week before I decided to set it up because of what I was reading in the manual. But I set it up anyway. Mainly, because from a hardware stand point. For $300 this machine has it all. It is just when it came to programing all this hardware, they just got lost. It happens. They could have a new team of people doing dvdr software. Who are somewhat clueless about how these things should really work.

For example when you are watching a dvd. If you stop the dvd turn off the machine. Guess what it does not pickup where you stopped the dvd. Even the $29 dvd players give you the option of resume play or should I say to pick up where you left off. It are these little things that show that they have new people writing their software. I am confident that a firmware update will come soon to fix many of these little problems. And if they don't, I am sure there are hackers who can fix most of them. If you saw the miracles they performed on the first of the Apex dvd players you know what I mean.

A bit of advice from someone who has many edit dvd's. I would not waste my time with the editing software on this machine. Just get yourself some dvdrw disc. Record the shows to them. Get an oem version of nero. Use nerovision express to edit the the material and to make the chapters and menus. Then burn it to a 4.7 or dl. That way you know you will have a disc that will play just about anywhere.

If you by chance have a lot of dvd movies that you have copied for whatever reason. This machine does not play dvd's that have been compressed very well. It will freeze up on you eventually. Like a 8.5 movie put on a 4.7 using any number of software programs. It will however play dl copied disc with no problems at all.

Once again for the record. Hardware wise this machine for the money is unbeatable. Software wise it needs a lot help. But the great thing is that it can be made much better. And I am confident that Philips will get it there. Simply because it will be the best piece equipment on the market hands down.

I should let some people know I am an old hand at burning dvd's from the computer.

But back to the Philips dvr. I actually had the machine home for a week before I decided to set it up because of what I was reading in the manual. But I set it up anyway. Mainly, because from a hardware stand point. For $300 this machine has it all. It is just when it came to programing all this hardware, they just got lost. It happens. They could have a new team of people doing dvdr software. Who are somewhat clueless about how these things should really work.

For example when you are watching a dvd. If you stop the dvd turn off the machine. Guess what it does not pickup where you stopped the dvd. Even the $29 dvd players give you the option of resume play or should I say to pick up where you left off. It are these little things that show that they have new people writing their software. I am confident that a firmware update will come soon to fix many of these little problems. And if they don't, I am sure there are hackers who can fix most of them. If you saw the miracles they performed on the first of the Apex dvd players you know what I mean.

A bit of advice from someone who has many edit dvd's. I would not waste my time with the editing software on this machine. Just get yourself some dvdrw disc. Record the shows to them. Get an oem version of nero. Use nerovision express to edit the the material and to make the chapters and menus. Then burn it to a 4.7 or dl. That way you know you will have a disc that will play just about anywhere.

If you by chance have a lot of dvd movies that you have copied for whatever reason. This machine does not play dvd's that have been compressed very well. It will freeze up on you eventually. Like a 8.5 movie put on a 4.7 using any number of software programs. It will however play dl copied disc with no problems at all.

Once again for the record. Hardware wise this machine for the money is unbeatable. Software wise it needs a lot help. But the great thing is that it can be made much better. And I am confident that Philips will get it there. Simply because it will be the best piece equipment on the market hands down.

Thanks for your insides, I have few 'compressed' movies myself so I'll report my findings about that once I get my unit, I don't really care, because I have 2 additional dvd players hookeup to my TV and I woudn't use Philips unit to play dvd, perhaps divx movie once in while. Did you try different kind of dvd media? However I hope they will improve menus. Other than weak GUI, do you like the unit, PQ and other features? :)

good point ;) , I've assumed he was asking about changing region code from 1 to 0 on his philips dvr.

Yes. you are right.
I apologize with this forum if my question is not legal. I bought this great DVR that works fine, but i live in Argentina, so our Region code is 4. I need to change it. On the past, i did it with other models like DVP642/37 and DVP5100/37. But i can't find any references of this model.

Ricardo

Thanks for your insides, ...

Now that's what I call commitment!

Yes. you are right.
I apologize with this forum if my question is not legal. I bought this great DVR that works fine, but i live in Argentina, so our Region code is 4. I need to change it. On the past, i did it with other models like DVP642/37 and DVP5100/37. But i can't find any references of this model.

Ricardo

Try it at your own risk ;) , it is not for this particular model, howerer it might still work. I'm still waiting for my unit to arive, so I couln't try it yet.

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?select=Philips+DVP+5960

Please post your results.

Does anyone know if this dvd recorder can play MPEGISO (a mpeg on a DVD with no authoring)? Also, can it play an out of standard DVD-Video, like a DVD with a resolution of 544x480?

Thanks.

I just bought my Philips DVDR3455H/37 yesterday amazed at the price at Wal-Mart, however I was worried that there are no HDMI ports for up conversion to HDTVs (I just bought a Philips HDTV as well). Will this be a problem or will the component connections be fine?

So far the Philips 3455 is working well. I returned a Pioneer 533 after seven months because despite the cool listings and the glitzy graphic and options, I got tired of the buggy software and several hardware breakdowns. The Philips actually works! But there are some questions that maybe one of you folks has figured out the answers to:

Is there a way to reorganize the timer screen with the list of upcoming programs to be recorded? Mine is stuck in the order in which I programmed them, but it would be nice to see them in chronological order.

On the Timer Screen and the HDD screen, is there a way to go page up/down, rather than one slot at a time on the up/down arrow buttons?

How do you exit from HDD Menu?

When inputting a title while setting up a timed recording, is there any other way to choose the letters than up and down arrow keys? That's really cumbersome.

And what key is the 30 second jump?

Thanks,

burnspc

burnspc.

I sympathize with you. All the problems you mention. Are part of the downfall of this machine. It has the worst firmware probably ever written for a recording device.

Naming a title the worst set up I have ever seen.

I do not know which Hdd menu you are talking about. You can get out of one by just hitting one of the top buttons on the remote other than the HDD button of course.

There is no 30 second skip button. Can you believe that. You can program it to insert chapters every 30 seconds. But even that is not a true answer.

Who ever wrote the firmware for this machine was and is still out to lunch. Given all the other bad firmware decisions they made you can only hope they do a very comprehensive firmware update.

I was chastised earlier about not giving this machine a good rating. The truth is I still cannot recommend this machine. It does record very well and plays back a good picture. It looks nice.

But anyone who has this machine, after a while all the bad firmware decisions start to drive you crazy. Just wait till you discover it does not have resume play where you left off on the HDD recordings or the dvd player part. This I truly do not understand.

I read all of these posts on the DVDR3455H and the only mention of freeze-ups I see is when playing back compressed DVD's. Am I the only one having problems with Hard Drive freeze-ups? I've had this unit a month and I've had 4 freeze-ups already. I have to unplug to reset and get it to work again. After 3 of them I moved my cable box off of the top of it because it was causing extra heat and the top of the unit was very warm to the touch. I thought this could possibly be causing the problem. It went a while before freezing up again, but it did it again for the 4th time. I checked with Philips for firmware updates, but there are none yet. Since no one else here has mentioned this issue, I'm wondering if it's my unit or should I just hold tight and be patient and wait on a firmware update hoping this will fix it. I've heard that other units have been cured of this problem by firmware updates. What do you all think? Thanks for any advice.
P.S. Other than the very annoying freeze ups, I really like this unit and hope firmware update will fix this problem.

I have just run into my first actual machine problem. Which is I can not delete a scheduled timer program. I hit the cancel button to remove it from the timer menu and it will not delete it. As soon as I can reach behind the units stand I will unplug it and see if it will then allow me to remove the timer session.

I am now on my 2nd DVDR3455H/37 and continue to have lockups/freezing when using the timeshift buffer. Resetting it requires unplugging the unit with the subsequent loss of the buffer contents. I returned the first unit to Walmart after having it for 3 weeks and getting no help from Philips tech support. Their only response was to ship it to them for repair. The first lockup occurred within one week and the lockups became more frequent as time went by. I decided to simply exchange the first unit at Walmart but I wasn't able to locate an in the box replacement as they seem to have been sold out. I finally found another one on June 20th - about 10 days after returning the first one. On the seventh day of continuous use, the second unit locked up for the first time. Since then it has locked up 6 times and 3 times over the last 3 days. The second unit seemingly runs a little cooler the first one but the lockups are the same. The remote and all buttons on the case have no effect and only unplugging the unit gets it to reset. I am getting close to returning the second unit as well but I am really addicted to that great 6 hour time shift buffer that nobody else seems to offer. Other than the lockups, I am very satisfied with the DVDR.

I have just run into my first actual machine problem. Which is I can not delete a scheduled timer program. I hit the cancel button to remove it from the timer menu and it will not delete it. As soon as I can reach behind the units stand I will unplug it and see if it will then allow me to remove the timer session.

To delete a timed recording, you highlight the recording that you want to delete, then press the select button (directly below the HDD button, on the remote).

I've only had mine for 2 weeks now, and am completlely thrilled with it. My previous one was the Target trutech, a piece of junk. I'm goin to just toss it in the trash. Would be ashamed to give it away!

Anyway, I am happy with this set. I have copied 6 VHS tapes so far, and they turned out great! Copied them to HDD then to DVD. After verifying that the are copied good, then I delete them from HDD.

Does anyone know how to make back up copies of non-copyright DVDs? That is, how to copy the DVD to the HDD and then make another DVD?

Thanks

My lockups/freezing continue on my second unit. It has locked up 10 times since 6/27 with one string of 4 lockups in 4 days. I called Philips support again and this time they are telling me it's locking up because it's "detecting too much static electricity" and "working as designed"! They recommended moving the unit to another location and said that it required a surge suppressor. I had it in a cheap powerstrip/suppressor along with my other equipment but had also tried it directly plugged into the wall. I now have it plugged into a decent quality surge protector all by itself. Keeping my fingers crossed .......

Just got this unit yesterday. Pretty happy overall, but I think I found a 'Dealbreaker' for me.

About 30 minutes into a timer recording (while the program was still recording), I tried to rewind and watch the show from the beginning only to find out that you can't (or at least I can't figure out how).

It appears that you have to wait until the program is finished recording before you can start watching it from the beginning. Anyone else notice this or am I doing something wrong?

If you just hit the record button, however, you can rewind while it is recording, but not while it is timer recording....bummer!

If this is true, I'm afraid it's going back to Wally-world...

RF

Looks like there is no way to pause/rewind while timer recording is in process....too bad, cause I thought this was a good machine. If you can live without that feature, than it's a pretty good model.

For me though, not having this feature makes it too much like a VCR. (I'm impatient!)

As far as the grainy picture is concerned...my TV is a 32 hidef Sony. I found the picture quality to be good. I did notice some grainy-ness on some of my channels that had a weak signal to begin with...but that is the fault of the incoming signal and not the DVR...

I think I will try the Costco Lite-on Model...

There is no 30 second skip button. Can you believe that.

Actually, there IS a 30-second skip button. I didn't find it in the documentation. I tripped across it by happenstance. When playing a video, pressing the right arrow button skips ahead 30 seconds.

About 30 minutes into a timer recording (while the program was still recording), I tried to rewind and watch the show from the beginning only to find out that you can't

That's true. However... since the buffer stores the last six hours of programming, there's a workaround. Just leave the machine on when you leave the house. When you get home and your program has already started, simply "rewind" to the beginning and watch while the machine continues to buffer the show.

You can also record from the buffer. When you're at the beginning of the show, just press the record button. When you reach the end of the show, press stop. Your show will be saved.

Does anyone know how to make back up copies of non-copyright DVDs? That is, how to copy the DVD to the HDD and then make another DVD?

Thanks

Just plug a DVD player into one of the inputs, play the DVD, and record it to the hard disc in real time. From there you can copy it to another disc.

Thanks for the tips, folks. Please keep posting as you come across various functions and learn how to use this machine. I'm finding that it's a good, basic, machine that is missing several functions (like resume!!), but such is life. It'll do until dvrs get better and cheaper in a few years. I had a Pioneer which had terrific functions, but the hardware kept breaking and the TVGuide software was way too buggy. I traded for the Phillips, which will do until Pioneer gets its act together.

Also, the documentation for the Phillips is poor, so please do post as you discover how it works.

I bought this unit 2 weeks ago and I have to say I am very satisfied so far. I wanted a cheap unit till the digital tuners/ HD recording etc. are sorted out and I buy another HD set with HDMI input etc., and this is an excellent cheap unit that does a lot of what I wanted.

The only real problem I have is it's inability to let me view anything in HDD when it's in time recording, not the program it's recording nor anything else on the HDD like my previous panasonic DVDR (but then that cost almost $1000). It pause live TV and has 160G which my other unit did'nt and for $300. If this lasts longer than 3 yrs (my pano stopped recording) or even 2 yrs I'll be happy. By then hopefully the digital tuner and HD war will be resolved.

I do not use this for DVD movie viewing, only for recording TV programs on to HDD. I will have to try burning a DVD soon, which I have'nt done so far. Also, the picture quality fron my cable box vis ext input is not as clear as the direct antenna feed, but no biggie.

Overall, other than the philips reliabilty issues (2 wks and going for me), I am happy with both software and hardware aspects of this DVDR.

I bought one this past week and I love it. This is my first harddrive recorder. You can edit commercials for the TV shows you record and then burn them to a DVD disk.
I need to record a feed from a private provider (educational). The printed material from Phillips says "all you need to do is putin the TV Guide#". Can you program like a traditional VCR - ie. date & time? and how many timer settings?

That's true. However... since the buffer stores the last six hours of programming, there's a workaround. Just leave the machine on when you leave the house. When you get home and your program has already started, simply "rewind" to the beginning and watch while the machine continues to buffer the show.

You can also record from the buffer. When you're at the beginning of the show, just press the record button. When you reach the end of the show, press stop. Your show will be saved.


True that works OK, but I was really looking for a little more automation...I bought the Pioneer DVR 640 for a few bucks more, and I must say it works great. I did some heavy research and trial and error with other models, I must say for me and for the price it takes top honors!

RF

I need to record a feed from a private provider (educational). The printed material from Phillips says "all you need to do is putin the TV Guide#". Can you program like a traditional VCR - ie. date & time? and how many timer settings?

Yes, you can put in the date and time on the timer recording,..there are 20 timer recordings but each one can be set for daily, weekly, wknds only, wk. days only etc, so if they are regularly scheduled programs you'll only need one timer recording for each show. Hope that helps.

Does anyone know if this dvd recorder can play MPEGISO (a mpeg on a DVD with no authoring)? Also, can it play an out of standard DVD-Video, like a DVD with a resolution of 544x480?

Thanks.

I'm also interested in this, and would like to add CD-R and CD-RW into the mix for the MPEGISO results.

Thanks in advance!

Im looking at this unit as a second recorder. I do most of my recording from OTA ant, some from external Dish Box.

I often record 2 one hour shows back to back from same channel. Two questions about this unit:

If you record set up one recording for 6-7, then another for 7-8 same channel, do you miss the beginning of the second recording? i.e. how about if you do the same but for differnt channels.

Second question: I see that you can divide recordings into 2. When you do this, is ther a way to get to the point in the original without actually watching it, (ie can you "jum" one hour into recording then divide, or do you have to fast forward to that point?

Thanks.

Rick

Im looking at this unit as a second recorder. I do most of my recording from OTA ant, some from external Dish Box.

I often record 2 one hour shows back to back from same channel. Two questions about this unit:

If you record set up one recording for 6-7, then another for 7-8 same channel, do you miss the beginning of the second recording? i.e. how about if you do the same but for differnt channels.

Second question: I see that you can divide recordings into 2. When you do this, is ther a way to get to the point in the original without actually watching it, (ie can you "jum" one hour into recording then divide, or do you have to fast forward to that point?

Thanks.

Rick

rickie, I am not sure about the overlap question, but MOST Timer Setups won't LET you schedule 2 truly overlapped recording times, at least in those devices I have owned. If it was me I would likely set one to end at 6:59 and the other to start at 7:00 or something similar - IF I felt the need to split the two shows into 2 seperate recordings that way.

In splitting a HardDrive Recording there are several ways to jump forward to your "Cut" point. One is of course to fast forward using the >> (FFWD) button. The second is to use the >l (next) button to jump forward in 5min. increments. This works best for me, and is not much trouble. Actually you can choose your own setting of how much time elapses "between chapter markers", but you have to do it thru the "Setup Menu" PRIOR to making the recording. There IS a "Time Search" feature accessible thru the "T/C" button (2nd row from the top , 2nd button from left) but apparently this only works when Playing A DVD. :(

Last nite I made One Big Recording on the hard drive that included "My Name Is Earl", "The Office" and "America's Got Talent" all in one 2 hr. recording. I used the Split Program feature to Cut Out "The Office" from the middle (took 2 splits) , and then used the "Hide Content" feature to "Edit out" the commercials leaving me a 20 minute program which I then Burned to a DVD-RW. I found the Editing to be Pretty Accurate encountering only one minor "miss", and that in a VERY difficult transition point where there was literally a split second between the end of the commercial and the resumption of the dialogue. It took me several tries before I got a succesful burn, but it looked very good when done.

On the downside it Burns to -RW in a "VR Mode" which I haven't yet figured out how to load on my computer in a way that I can "Play It Back" with PowerDVD or some similar program. DVDShrink would not work with these files ("DVDShrink encountered an error and connot continue. Overlapped I/O operation is in progress"), and Nero would only create them as a .NRD file that I haven't figured out how to "playback" yet. I want to find a way to get .MDS files from these -RW
Burns like I do wth my Panny DMR-ES10K.

There are many fine features to this Philips unit, but also some (apparently) major oversights.

rickie, I am not sure about the overlap question, but MOST Timer Setups won't LET you schedule 2 truly overlapped recording times, at least in those devices I have owned. If it was me I would likely set one to end at 6:59 and the other to start at 7:00 or something similar - IF I felt the need to split the two shows into 2 seperate recordings that way.

In splitting a HardDrive Recording there are several ways to jump forward to your "Cut" point. One is of course to fast forward using the >> (FFWD) button. The second is to use the >l (next) button to jump forward in 5min. increments. This works best for me, and is not much trouble. Actually you can choose your own setting of how much time elapses "between chapter markers", but you have to do it thru the "Setup Menu" PRIOR to making the recording. There IS a "Time Search" feature accessible thru the "T/C" button (2nd row from the top , 2nd button from left) but apparently this only works when Playing A DVD. :(

Last nite I made One Big Recording on the hard drive that included "My Name Is Earl", "The Office" and "America's Got Talent" all in one 2 hr. recording. I used the Split Program feature to Cut Out "The Office" from the middle (took 2 splits) , and then used the "Hide Content" feature to "Edit out" the commercials leaving me a 20 minute program which I then Burned to a DVD-RW. I found the Editing to be Pretty Accurate encountering only one minor "miss", and that in a VERY difficult transition point where there was literally a split second between the end of the commercial and the resumption of the dialogue. It took me several tries before I got a succesful burn, but it looked very good when done.

On the downside it Burns to -RW in a "VR Mode" which I haven't yet figured out how to load on my computer in a way that I can "Play It Back" with PowerDVD or some similar program. DVDShrink would not work with these files ("DVDShrink encountered an error and connot continue. Overlapped I/O operation is in progress"), and Nero would only create them as a .NRD file that I haven't figured out how to "playback" yet. I want to find a way to get .MDS files from these -RW
Burns like I do wth my Panny DMR-ES10K.

There are many fine features to this Philips unit, but also some (apparently) major oversights.

Thanks for response. One of my current DVD recorders has problems with back to back recordings (I lose about 1 - 1/2 min between shows), but another DVD recorder I have works fine for back to back. Thats why I thought I'd ask about the Philips.

It fast copies to the DVD in VR mode! That might be a deal breaker for me. I'll do some tests and see how well that works with my other recorders and the player I play them on. (both of my current recorders allow me to set either Video or VR mode, for compatibility, I always have used Video mode, but I"ll check out VR as well. I know editing is supposed to be more flexible in VR mode.

Thanks again,
Rick

Thanks for response. One of my current DVD recorders has problems with back to back recordings (I lose about 1 - 1/2 min between shows), but another DVD recorder I have works fine for back to back. Thats why I thought I'd ask about the Philips.

It fast copies to the DVD in VR mode! That might be a deal breaker for me. I'll do some tests and see how well that works with my other recorders and the player I play them on. (both of my current recorders allow me to set either Video or VR mode, for compatibility, I always have used Video mode, but I"ll check out VR as well. I know editing is supposed to be more flexible in VR mode.

Thanks again,
Rick

You are welcome Rick. The VR mode was with DVD-RW. I think it copies in regular format on DVD-/+ R Discs. I haven't finalized one of those yet, though.

OK.....found solution to the VR Mode "problem". DVD-Decp. at least got them into VTS-IFO's that my PowerDvd can recognize and play on my computer. Sweet!

OK.....found solution to the VR Mode "problem". DVD-Decp. at least got them into VTS-IFO's that my PowerDvd can recognize and play on my computer. Sweet!

Hmmmm.....But now I am having trouble burning them from my Computer to DVD in their present form. I am such a freaking noob where these different Video Formats are concerned. :(

TMPGEnc DVD Author can import video from one or more VIDEO_TS folders and author a new DVD from it.

Check out http://videohelp.com where they have How To guides and talk about this kind of thing all the time.

TMPGEnc DVD Author can import video from one or more VIDEO_TS folders and author a new DVD from it.

Check out http://videohelp.com where they have How To guides and talk about this kind of thing all the time.

Thank you Bob!

rickie, I am not sure about the overlap question, but MOST Timer Setups won't LET you schedule 2 truly overlapped recording times, at least in those devices I have owned. If it was me I would likely set one to end at 6:59 and the other to start at 7:00 or something similar - IF I felt the need to split the two shows into 2 seperate recordings that way.

In splitting a HardDrive Recording there are several ways to jump forward to your "Cut" point. One is of course to fast forward using the >> (FFWD) button. The second is to use the >l (next) button to jump forward in 5min. increments. This works best for me, and is not much trouble. Actually you can choose your own setting of how much time elapses "between chapter markers", but you have to do it thru the "Setup Menu" PRIOR to making the recording. There IS a "Time Search" feature accessible thru the "T/C" button (2nd row from the top , 2nd button from left) but apparently this only works when Playing A DVD. :(

Last nite I made One Big Recording on the hard drive that included "My Name Is Earl", "The Office" and "America's Got Talent" all in one 2 hr. recording. I used the Split Program feature to Cut Out "The Office" from the middle (took 2 splits) , and then used the "Hide Content" feature to "Edit out" the commercials leaving me a 20 minute program which I then Burned to a DVD-RW. I found the Editing to be Pretty Accurate encountering only one minor "miss", and that in a VERY difficult transition point where there was literally a split second between the end of the commercial and the resumption of the dialogue. It took me several tries before I got a succesful burn, but it looked very good when done.

On the downside it Burns to -RW in a "VR Mode" which I haven't yet figured out how to load on my computer in a way that I can "Play It Back" with PowerDVD or some similar program. DVDShrink would not work with these files ("DVDShrink encountered an error and connot continue. Overlapped I/O operation is in progress"), and Nero would only create them as a .NRD file that I haven't figured out how to "playback" yet. I want to find a way to get .MDS files from these -RW
Burns like I do wth my Panny DMR-ES10K.

There are many fine features to this Philips unit, but also some (apparently) major oversights.

Ok, I did some tests last nite, setting one of my recorders to record in -VR mode on a -RW. (I re-use my DVD'spretty much like VHS tapes). In any event, I finalized and put it in my DVD Player (OPPO 971), and while the OPPO recognized the DVD, and displayed the contents in a folder format (similar to a how it displayes DVD's with JPEGS on it). I touldnt play the DVD.

I then tried it in my other DVD recorder and that one played it fine. But I do alll of my watching using the OPPO player, (much better than my DVD recorders at at playing DVD's). So, unless there's a way to get the Philips to copy from the HD to DVD _RW in DVD-Video mode, I think I"ll have to keep looking.

Thanks for info.

Rick

O.K I finally got to recording on to a DVD, and I did not like the results. I was recording contents of my old hdd (the panasonic HS2 DVDR that failed on me) to retrieve from that unit, the picture is full of "honeycomb" artifacts (I don't know the technical term, but looks like you are viewing the picture through a mesh of very tiny holes), first i did'nt notice it and then it got worse. This is is "SP" recording. I hooked up the pano tp philips with composite cables, I'll try to record hdd to dvd from the same unit and see where the problem is, just a heads up.

I just burned a DVD from the harddrive last night. It was the band Train playing live on PBS Soundstage (OTA antenna). I recorded the 1 hr. show to the HD at the SPP Mode and burned and finalized it to a DVD-R Disc. The quality is exceptional. The Blacks are inky, the colors very vivid and true to the original and the clarity is outstanding. I finalized the -R Disc and indeed the files are recorded in the VR Mode.

I then used DVDShrink (one title per disc is the key here) to process these files onto my computer and then burned a DVD with them from Nero. I was also able to use Nero 6 to create a Nero Image (.NRG) that will play on my computer via the Nero Virtual Drive. I have also been able to use DVD-Dcryp to make an .MDS file that will allow me to play the image on another Image Drive I have available on my computer, but I can't seem to use this MDS file as a burning cue for DVD-Dcryp.

Anyway, the resulting DVDs play perfectly on my Philips 3455H DVDR, my Panny DMR-ES10K, my computer, and an ooooold Toshiba SD-1600 DVD Player I had laying around. Overall it is beginning to look like I might be able to make this thing work. More compatibilty tests to come. I will test these DVD's on friends and family's DVD players and see what happens. YMMV.

Thanks man, I was starting to get worried there,...I'll try a few recordings next wknd., and hopefully everything is ok.

This is my take on the Philips DVDR 3455H. I have played with it enough to have a better feel for it by now, so here goes.

It is overall a nice unit with a number of pluses, but also a few very glaring minuses! As some of you here know I got an amazing deal on this unit. The fact that I only have $115.00 incl. tax in this unit has heavily influenced my decision to keep it. At $298 I would not have purchased the Philips to start with, much less decided to keep it. At that price I would likely have opted for a Panasonic or possibly a Pioneer.


By far the largest reason for that is the apparent inability to ”Chase Play”, the ability to watch a pre-set “Timer Recording” from the beginning while the unit is still recording that “Timed Recording”. I can do that using DVD-RAM on my Panasonic DMR-ES10K, and it is one of my favorite features. I mistakenly took Philips’ description of “Watch, pause, and rewind live TV” to mean the unit had the “Chase Play” feature, which it does not. That refers instead to a “Live TV buffer” that automatically begins to record whatever channel you are currently viewing through the Philips Tuner. Why this cannot be utilized to buffer and view a preset “Timer Recording” I am sure I have no clue, and it is by far the biggest downer to this unit.

Inability to record or playback DVD-RAM is the other major fault of this device. No “Time Slip” function enabling you to jump ahead a “user selected” number of minutes or hours while viewing a Hard Drive Recording is another omission that is hard to understand. That feature is available only while viewing a DVD. Why?!? Some more minor negatives are no “Slow-Mo” on Playback without accessing it thru the “Setup Menu” which seems clunky to me, and no Reverse “Slow-Mo” at all. OK, you can sort of “Slow-Mo” by pausing and then repeatedly pressing the ( >| ) button, but do this a little too quickly and a FF Mode begins. “Commercial Skip” is not marked, but is accessible thru the ( > ) Navigation button in 30 second increments. The ( < ) button skips backwards in 10 second hops. Forward and backward “Fast Search” are limited to a paltry 32x maximum speed. Another negative is that Philips only permits you to use the included YESDVD Software on three DVDs, after that you have to pay for it ($39.95 - Yeah Right!!!) to keep using it. I despise it when companies bundle “Pay Software” with a unit that is pricey enough so that it should include the software for free. Archive and DVD “Titling” is limited to a stingy 12 Characters.


Now for the good. For starters, a 160GB Hard Drive is pretty darn nice! This model can record 85 hrs. of video using the SPP Mode, which is pretty high quality video. The “Live TV Buffer is indeed a handy feature (tho I would trade it for true “Chase Play” in a heartbeat!!!!). Compatibility with DVD +/-R and +/-RW Discs is a plus as well. The Philips Tuner is stereo, which remedies a weakness of the Polaroid/Philips 80 GB hard drive model that’s also available at Wal-Mart (reportedly with a mono tuner). There are a wide variety of recording speeds available both for Hard Drive and DVD recording. HQ=1hr. per 4.7gb DVD, SP=2hr., SPP=2.5hr., LP=3hr., EP=4hr., SLP=6hr., and SEP=8hr. Using the SPP/2.5hr. Recording Mode I cannot distinguish a Hard Drive Recording from the original source material, but my eyes may not be as discerning as some here. Same goes for a DVD burned from the HD at the SPP mode. To my eyes the recording quality is very good. The Black Level is exceptional, and the colors are vibrant, the picture very clear. The Remote includes a 2 stage “Picture ZOOM” feature (with pan and scan ability), but again this is available only during DVD Playback, and not functional during Hard Drive Playback. : ( (I have since discovered that the Picture Zoom feature will work with HDD Recordings. Sometimes you have to Pause the picture, then Zoom, and then resume Playback to get it to work)

The DVDR 3455H records video in the VR mode, which means you can still edit a recorded DVD-/+R Disc (before you finalize it) which is nice. The “Disc Edit” feature allows you to select a new "Title Frame Picture", and hide unwanted Chapters before you finalize the disc. You can also add or remove Chapter Markers. At least one person here has reported Playback difficulty on other DVD Players when using DVD-RW Discs recorded with this unit. I have found no way to “finalize” a DVD-RW Disc on the Philips unit, neither was my Panasonic DMR-ES10k able to finalize a -RW Disc recorded on the Philips 3455H. The Philips recorded -RW disc plays back fine on my Panny, but not on my old Toshiba. No surprise there, as the Toshi never played any +/-RW discs, nor will it play +Rs. I have experienced perfect compatibility on all DVD Players tested to date when using DVD-R discs recorded and finalized on the Philips. I have found DVDs burned on the Philips to be more difficult to work with on my computer. I am discovering workarounds, but DVDs recorded on my Panny are very easy to transfer and then edit on my computer, so the VRMode recording cuts both ways - it is a negative in this instance.


Editing with the Philips Hard Drive by Remote is a little twitchy, but the edit points seem pretty easy to hit, and I suspect all the editing will become much easier with practice. At times it seems to want to reset if I make too many mistakes/retakes during editing, but it may just be my unfamiliarity with the process at this point. My big ‘ol fingers may be hitting the wrong buttons a time or two. A key is to sit pretty close to the unit when using “Edit” functions, and point the Remote right at the DVDR unit. This unit also plays DIVX, which is pretty neat, but it seems to pick and choose exactly which files it will and won’t play. I couldn’t begin to tell you why. I don’t know a lot about different DVD/Video formats in general. The DIVX playback quality is in accordance with the quality of the original source recording.

As to appearance, I find it a very attractive unit. I much prefer AV Equipment in Black, and that is distressingly hard to find with the "Silver Craze" of the last 5 years or so. The Top and Bottom of the Philips is silver, but the faceplate is a very nice black, so this unit could blend into both a Black or Silver equipment stack. The Blue "HD Light" and the BRIGHT red "Record Light" both look very sharp and improve the overall look of this DVDR. The unit is amazingly quiet as well, particularly when recording from the Hard Drive.

In summation, had I not gotten such an incredible deal on this recorder I would have looked elsewhere, most likely to a Panny EH75 at the now reduced prices, or possibly to the Panny EH55. I listed the negatives of the Philips 3455H first, because at $298 they would have combined to keep me from purchasing/keeping this unit. But at $115, I think I’ll keep her!

FullOnShred

Your negatives are some of the same ones that I found. And like you have no understanding how such basic very standard dvd player functions are missing from this unit. Those negatives make this unit a non buy at its current price. All the things you pointed out can be corrected through a good firmware rewrite. But it looks like it is not coming. For it should have been done by now. All I can say to anyone is stay away from this machine at this price. Those little left out things will drive you crazy if you try to use this machine on a daily basis. All the machine is good for is recording and playing back from its hard drive. Because it makes a very poor dvd player and dvd burner.

Nice review, but the panny's you mention are at least $450 or more making them 50% more expensive, and like all units likely be obsolete once digital tuners/built-in HD/blu-ray players, and possibly HD recording etc. come to market in a couple of years. So, I think at $300 it's still a good buy as an interim unit, and at your price it's a definite steal.

I know the Pannys are a bit more expensive. I did have a line on Open Box Full Warranty units of the EH75 for $325 OTD. The downside is a Hard Drive that is half as big as the Philips, but it does include a VCR with the Panny. I would pay a few bucks more for the pannys as I have always had good service from Panasonic electronics, barring the terrible 2-line phone of theirs I bought a few years back.

In all honesty, if the Philips had true "Chase Play" of a timed recording, my other complaints with it would seem rather minor. That is a HUGE feature for me. I have read one review elsewhere that says the Panny EH75 doesn't support that feature from HD recordings. Is that true?? Anyway,there is lots to like with the Philips, but some simply glaring omissions that are hard to fathom.

Hi guys,

I'm a beginner about DVD recorders, and I have read this forum, to try choose a better DVD recorder to buy.
I'm needing help, because I'm doubt about two differente models:

- Pioneer DVR-640H-S
- Philips DVDR3455H/37

I would like to know if somebody have some information about the Philips DVD, this is more cheap, but they're similar.

Somebody could help me.

I guess the Pioneer is still coming with that TVGuide software (TVGOS). It's just glitchy as hell and I seriously doubt they have straightened it out. But when it works, it's a dream. Lots of gizmos,sex appeal, ways to search, easy recording. I had lots of fun with it, but every month I had to send the machine back, reboot, or some such pain in the neck. If you want to go that route, be sure and buy your unit at a store, such as WalMart, with a really easy, long, no questions asked return policy, because you might very well end up there. I waited about six months and WalMart grumbled but said okay if I took store credit instead of money. So, I ended up with a Phillips because that's the best WalMart had at the time. (They apparently discontinued the Pioneer, which tells you something. What electronics manufacturer doesn't drool over having WalMart carry its products?) The Phillips is a very reliable, kind of boring workhorse, even though it's missing some really obvious tools (see earlier posts for everyone's complaints about that) and I'm happy with it for now. It does get the job done and never screws up. In a year or two, I'll cruise the net and see if people are happier with newer versions of the TVGOS software and maybe switch back to Pioneer at the time.
Hope this helps.

- Charley

Hey Burns, in a few days I will post a list of complaints/improvement suggestions here and maybe we can all use it, add to it, etc. , and send some emails to Philips urging them to address what they can through a Firmware update. Just a thought.

Hey Burns, in a few days I will post a list of complaints/improvement suggestions here and maybe we can all use it, add to it, etc. , and send some emails to Philips urging them to address what they can through a Firmware update. Just a thought.


The only item that stops me from getting the Phillips is the VR mode used to move from hard disck to DVD. I record TV on DVD recorder, but then always watch the DVD's on a different (OPPO) DVD player. The Oppo won't play DVD's from my Emerson DVD player if I use VR mode (it does play DVD's from Emerson recorder if I use the DVD-Video mode.).

There are ways around this, but they are not good work aounds. Right now it looks like I'll end up with a Pio 640, A Panny 55, or a Tosh 35 I think it is.

Rick

I guess the Pioneer is still coming with that TVGuide software (TVGOS). It's just glitchy as hell and I seriously doubt they have straightened it out. ..
Actually it looks like Pioneer threw in the towel with respect to TVGOS; the 2006 models don't have it at all.

From all accounts, if you don't need TVGOS and a DV input, the Pioneer DVR-640H-S is a very nice unit.

Tony

Actually it looks like Pioneer threw in the towel with respect to TVGOS; the 2006 models don't have it at all.
Tony

That's only true in the US and Canada. In Europe and elsewhere, the 2006 Pioneer DVD models come with the GUIDE Plus+ EPG, which is essentially the same as TVGOS and is provided by the same company, GemStar.

Philips DVDR3455H/37 Could someone please help me set up the VCR Plus Feature Step by step. Thank You

Has anyone tried to use the firewire or usb port to connect to a computer to download from the hard drive. I am looking at one of thes uint at a pawn shop
for about 175.00 and want to copy all of my old 8mm tapes to dvd. After editing them.
Thanks Lee

gamex2000

At 175 dollars what you want to do can probably be done on your computer with the right usb interface and software. $175 is too much to pay for this machine it is a good recorder and play back machine. But its performance in all other areas is suspect to say the least.

Has anyone tried to use the firewire or usb port to connect to a computer to download from the hard drive. I am looking at one of thes uint at a pawn shop
for about 175.00 and want to copy all of my old 8mm tapes to dvd. After editing them.
Thanks Lee

Manual states that the USB Port is for Portable USB Flash Drive/USB Memory Card Reader only. Also, it will not allow recording of the contents of the USB Flash Drives/USB Memory Card Reader to the HDD or to a DVD Blank. It will not read a USB Hard Drive(according to the manual). I assume this means there is no provision for reading from a Computer via the USB port either, at least without some kind of hacked Firmware. Sorry. Keep in mind, I haven't attempted any of these things personally. I am just going from the manual.

They have released a firmware up grade for this model. I will try and flash tomorrow. But the notes on the firmware upgrade dosen't look all that hot. Plus they are vague about how to name the upgrade disc.

Has anyone tried to use the firewire or usb port to connect to a computer to download from the hard drive.
I tried my laptop to a Pioneer 640 USB port and it did not work.

Wait before trying the firmware upgrade tried it, it hung up after about a minute. I do not know what to do.

I have a question regarding using this machine to edit programs recorded to the HDD.

I am hoping to use a unit like this to archive some TV programs I have on VHS. My goal is to copy each such tape to the HDD, edit out the commercials and then archive the resultant commercial-free programs to DVD.

It says you can use Chapter Markers do edit out (or "hide" as they say) commercials from programs recorded on the HDD. If you then copy this program to DVD,

1. Are these Chapter Markers automatically retained on the DVD? Will all the marked commercials be automatically skipped?

2. Or, are those sections of the program which are marked as hidden even copied to the DVD? In other words, if I record a 60 minute program to HDD that has 16 minutes of commercials, will it end up occupying 60 minutes worth of "space" on my DVD, or 44?

Additionally, what speed would be recommended for this type of archiving? I want to be able to store a fair amount of video per DVD, but I also want something that looks reasonably good. I'm thinking in the neighborhood of 3-4 hours per DVD (this should equate well with my VHS recordings which were mostly done in SLP).

I did the Firmware Update last night. It was not all I had hoped for. I will post how I did it just because. You don't have to name the Update Disc.

I just went to the Philips Website and downloaded the new Firmware dated 8-23-06 and installed it in my 3455H/37. It can be found here.

Philips DVDR 3455H/37 Firmare Upgrade (http://www.usasupport.philips.com/productDocuments.html?ProductCode=DVDR3455H/37&subCat=DVD_RECORDERS_SU_US_CONSUMER)

I just downloaded the Firmware, and then opened the Firmware Upgrade PDF on the Philips Website and followed the included instructions. I unzipped and extracted the Firmware Upgrade Files to a folder in My Documents, and then I used Nero 6 to burn the unzipped files to a DVD-R as a Data DVD following the settings specified in the PDF file. I then inserted the DVD-R into my DVDR and it automatically began the update process. It didn't take long at all. Do remember to remove the Firmware DVD-R from the Philips Unit before Pressing the Final "OK" command that restarts the DVDR and completes the Upgrade.

The procedure went flawlessly. The downsides are that I had to reprogram all my channels and reprogram all my Timer Recording Presets. That, and that the Update did not fix the "No True Chase Play of a Preset Timer Recording" problem. I do wonder what type of Chimps they have working over at Philips. Uuuuuuugggghhhh!!!!!!!!

Main thing of (to me) minor value is they claim to have fixed it so you can now pause the playback while recording in the TimeShift Mode. Big Whoop, I want TRUE CHASE PLAY during an Ongoing Preset Timer Recording!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Added 1-06-07 Apparently in some cases this Firmware Upgrade is necessary to be able to view a previously recorded HDD Title or to view a DVD while a Preset Timer Recording is still in progress. So - it is a pretty major upgrade if it accomplishes this........'Shred

I took back the Phillips and bought the Pioneer 640...For me the the Pioneer wins hands down. It was a little more expensive, but the Philips inability to "chase play" a timer recording was the dealbreaker!

The pioneer will even let you record a live channel, and watch something from the HDD at the same time..sweet feature.

There is thread here about the pioneer that is quite extensive. If you are considering that model, check it out!

AVS Pioneer Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=683581&page=1&pp=30)

RF

Richard, If I had even $175 in this Philips I would take it back for a refund and get the Pio 640 or the New Panny. I am still hoping Philips may actually put out a Firmware Update that is worth a crap that will fix the "No True Chase Play" problem, but even if they don't, at $115 I gotta keep the Philips. : P lol..... It is a nice burner and has some other nice features as well. To me it just seems that Philips brought it to market in an immature state. It isn't very well thought out for a $300 product. Maybe they thought Walmart customers wouldn't know the difference, or wouldn't care. They were wrong, at least about This customer, anyway.

I have a question regarding using this machine to edit programs recorded to the HDD.

I am hoping to use a unit like this to archive some TV programs I have on VHS. My goal is to copy each such tape to the HDD, edit out the commercials and then archive the resultant commercial-free programs to DVD.

It says you can use Chapter Markers do edit out (or "hide" as they say) commercials from programs recorded on the HDD. If you then copy this program to DVD,

1. Are these Chapter Markers automatically retained on the DVD? Will all the marked commercials be automatically skipped?

2. Or, are those sections of the program which are marked as hidden even copied to the DVD? In other words, if I record a 60 minute program to HDD that has 16 minutes of commercials, will it end up occupying 60 minutes worth of "space" on my DVD, or 44?

Additionally, what speed would be recommended for this type of archiving? I want to be able to store a fair amount of video per DVD, but I also want something that looks reasonably good. I'm thinking in the neighborhood of 3-4 hours per DVD (this should equate well with my VHS recordings which were mostly done in SLP).

Spud, sorry for the delay in the answer. I wanted to make sure I was giving you accurate info. With this unit the commercials that you "Hide" by "editing them out" on the HDD are Not recorded to the DVD Blank. Tonite I recorded a program that was 3 hrs. long in the SPP Mode which only lets me record 2.5 hrs onto a 4.7gb disc. However, after "Hiding" all the commercials the Program was now only 2:10 and filled up approx. 90% of a 4.7gb DVD-R Blank Disc.

As to what speed to use, it depends on how sensitve you are to picture quality. I find the SPP (2.5 Hr.) Mode to produce a very nice picture after burning to a DVD-R. If you are shooting for VHS SLP quality I think you would be fine with the EP Mode which allows 4hrs. per 4.7gb Disc. But honestly, the best way to do it is to burn a few test discs of the same original program onto DVD-RWs and compare and see what speed suits your needs best. IMHO it is better not to cheap out and just burn more discs at a higher quality. I have some old VHS stuff that I consolidated from SP onto another tape at SLP to "save a few tapes" back when $$$ was tighter. I am now kicking my own butt for this short sighted approach. Some of those tapes are basketball games that are simply irreplaceable. Arggghhhhh!! :D

Thanks for the reply.

I picked up one of these units the other day, but haven't had a great deal of chance to play with it yet...perhaps this weekend.

It's good news to see that "hidden" commercials edited out on the HDD are not transferred to the DVD.

As far as recording speed / quality vs. space goes, you're right. I'll have to do some of my own testing. Since most of my stuff was recorded in SLP, I was wondering if recording it to the HDD at a higher quality would be a waste (since the source video was already at a lower quality).

On the upside, all of my VHS tapes were brand new at the time of recording and most have never been played more than once. I'm guessing I should get reasonable results at EP (where I could squeeze 5 hours of broadcast television without commercials onto one DVD), but I may opt for LP (4 hours of same).

Thanks again for your reply, FOS. Much appreciated.

Spud, sorry for the delay in the answer. I wanted to make sure I was giving you accurate info. With this unit the commercials that you "Hide" by "editing them out" on the HDD are Not recorded to the DVD Blank. Tonite I recorded a program that was 3 hrs. long in the SPP Mode which only lets me record 2.5 hrs onto a 4.7gb disc. However, after "Hiding" all the commercials the Program was now only 2:10 and filled up approx. 90% of a 4.7gb DVD-R Blank Disc.

As to what speed to use, it depends on how sensitve you are to picture quality. I find the SPP (2.5 Hr.) Mode to produce a very nice picture after burning to a DVD-R. If you are shooting for VHS SLP quality I think you would be fine with the EP Mode which allows 4hrs. per 4.7gb Disc. But honestly, the best way to do it is to burn a few test discs of the same original program onto DVD-RWs and compare and see what speed suits your needs best. IMHO it is better not to cheap out and just burn more discs at a higher quality. I have some old VHS stuff that I consolidated from SP onto another tape at SLP to "save a few tapes" back when $$$ was tighter. I am now kicking my own butt for this short sighted approach. Some of those tapes are basketball games that are simply irreplaceable. Arggghhhhh!! :D

Spud, you are most welcome. As you learn more about the unit be sure to post it here. We usually learn from each other more than from the manual. : )

It makes me happy that the commercials are skipped in recording. I plan to tape some basketball games to the HDD in the SP mode, and they wouldn't fit on one DVD unless the commercials are cut on the dump to DVD.

The first 2 discs that I've tried to burn with my DVDR3455H have produced some mixed results. I used the "edit" option to cut out commercials and then burn to a Memorex DVD+R 16x 4.7GB disc.

Playback on the Philips is fine with no problems. When I put the finalized disc in another player, whether it be a stand-alone DVD player or PC DVD player, the program freezes at the "edited" chapter stops. The only way to continue playback is to hit the chapter advance. Also, fast forward/reverse will cause the playback to jump ahead or behind at odd increments including several chapters.

Has anyone encountered the same problem or if there is a simple workaround?
Do I need to go back into the disc before I finalize and add in chapter markers at the edited points?

Any help would be appreciated.

Spud, you are most welcome. As you learn more about the unit be sure to post it here. We usually learn from each other more than from the manual. : )

It makes me happy that the commercials are skipped in recording. I plan to tape some basketball games to the HDD in the SP mode, and they wouldn't fit on one DVD unless the commercials are cut on the dump to DVD.

I dubbed all episodes of "Survivor: The Australian Outback" to the HDD a few nights ago and last night began the task of dividing everything up into individual episodes.

A couple of things I noticed:

When recording to the HDD, you can press the record button multiple times to set how long you want the recording process to last. Each press (after the initial one to start recording) increments the timer by 30-minutes. You cannot, however, go beyond a six-hour timer; it reverts back to "manual" mode whereby recording continues until you press the stop button.

If your HDD recording extends beyond six hours, a new title is automatically created. And, once that new title is created, there is no way to join it to the end of the previous title to form one new contiguous title even if the resultant title would be less than 6-hours in length. Since both of my tapes had 8-hours of footage, I'll have to redo the last episode on the first tape (as it actually ran over 3 or 4 minutes past the six-hour mark which put the end of that episode onto the new title). The same is true for last epsiode on the second tape (which was two hours in length).

The Morale: When dubbing episodic TV from VHS tapes having six or more hours of content, set the HDD to record for 5.5 hours. You should easily get the first 5 hours of television in one title even if it runs a few minutes extra.

Next Challenge: Editing out (or "hiding") the commercials. I've fooled around with this a bit already, and I must say I find it to be a little cumbersome. If I mark them correctly the first time and everything plays back to my satisfaction, I'm OK. Sometimes, the edit isn't to my liking and I'd like to do it again, but in order to do this, I need to remove the markers I added the first time. I am finding it difficult to navigate to the exact point where I put the original markers (as this is the only way they can be removed). If I do get there, the unit doesn't pause or stop to let me know I am at a marked point; it just keeps playing. So, when I hit OK to try to delete the marker, sometimes I get it right, but more often than not, I just end up putting another marker in the vicinity of the one I was trying to get rid of in the first place. What am I doing wrong? There must be an easier way to do this that I am missing or overlooking?

Also, does anyone else find this unit to be slow to respond to the remote? Sometimes I have to push a button a couple of times in order for it to be recognized. It is especially noticeable when I use the unit as a tuner and press the "Channel +/-" buttons; there is literally a second's wait time between the time I press the button and the time the unit changes the channel. Batteries are brand new, but I am going to try a different set. Is this an issue with the remote or the unit? Would a good universal remote work better? Any ideas?

Navigating to the exact point where you put the original marker: try this; pause the playback, then use the Chapter Skip button to jump the next Chapter Mark. Just a thought. I don't have that model but it works on other models that I have.

I can get this recorder for $270 shipped. I know it has some drawbacks from the reviews I've read here but it seems like at least a step up from my old LiteOn that does not even have a hard drive. How does this unit do with Directv?

Marty, I haven't a clue. The recording quality in general is quite nice though.

I can get this recorder for $270 shipped. I know it has some drawbacks from the reviews I've read here but it seems like at least a step up from my old LiteOn that does not even have a hard drive. How does this unit do with Directv?
At that price, you're fairly close to a Pioneer 640...$347 shipped!

The Polaroid price of $219 at Wal-Mart is a little more "distant," but $270?

At that price, you're fairly close to a Pioneer 640...$347 shipped!

The Polaroid price of $219 at Wal-Mart is a little more "distant," but $270?
Yea, I've been reading about that Polaroid. It is suppose to be very much like this Phillips. I just found out that I have to add $18 tax to that $270 price so that probably kills the deal. Plus, I like the idea of buying a similar unit at WalMart where I can return it easily if need be. Thanks again!

Yea, I've been reading about that Polaroid. It is suppose to be very much like this Phillips. I just found out that I have to add $18 tax to that $270 price so that probably kills the deal. Plus, I like the idea of buying a similar unit at WalMart where I can return it easily if need be. Thanks again!

Wal-Mart is where I bought my Philips 3455H/37. Here locally they are out of stock on them right now. The Main things you lose with the Polaroid are 5 hours of Live TV "cache" and 80gb of HDD space. You also lose the stereo tuner if you go with the Polaroid. The extra $$ for the Philips would be worth it to me if it was an "either/or" scenario. YMMV. Just wanted you to be aware of these things before you bought. The 6 hr "live tv cache" on the Philips is nice. If I happen to be watching a football game (or any other show) and it turns out to be a really good one, all I have to do is Press and Hold the record button for 3 seconds and it will dump the "tv cache" to the HDD automatically where I can edit it for a keeper. I would find the 1 hr. "live tv cache" on the Polaroid a bit limiting now that I am used to the 6hr. "cache" on the Philips.

I just checked WalMarts website and no sign of the DVDR3455H/37. They must have dropped it. Probably getting too many returns on it due to "No Chase Play of an HDD Recording in Progress." : P

Thanks fullonshred, that cache thing is good to know and six hours would be great. Boy, decisions, decisions! I also did not see the Philips on the Walmart website when I looked earlier so as you say, they must no longer carry them. They still have the Polaroid. The source I found the DVDR3455H for $270 was at the Philips direct own site. They have it for $299 plus 10 percent off with a coupon they show right on their site. Free shipping too but nearly $20 tax may kill it for me. I think their deal if good for a few more days so I'll keep reading and looking around before I make a decision.

Glad to be of some small assistance milacqua. I think the Polaroid has a few abilities that the Philips lacks as far as remote control functions, so it cuts both ways to a degree. A one hr. cahce wouldn't work for me now that I know what it is capable of though. I can Turn On the Philips to Tuner Mode, pick my channel - then switch to HDD Mode and edit or watch a pre-recorded program and when I am done, switch back to Tuner, back up the video cache, and watch what was on that channel while I was messing with the HardDrive. You might want to check your local WalMarts or Sam's Club - they may possibly have one left on the shelf. You never know.

I bought the HDRW 720/17 a year ago from costco. I think all the bad reviews are correct. The machine is full with bugs, crashes about 2-3 times a week. Had to call CS about 2 time a month.
But I have to say still better than not having a HDRW drive and having to use a old fashion VCR. (I got used to have all my favorite shows recorded automatically)
Also I got used to have a TV-Guide built in. I check all upcoming movies for the next week and click on record, whatever I am interested in.
Now I shipped the HDRW720 back to Phfillips (got tired of constant crashes and lost TV-Guide) and just learned Philips will most likely ship back an upgraded unit, the DVDR3455H which has no longer a TV-Guide... sure it has a bigger hard drive, but I really bought the old unit for the TV-Guide feature.
Any recommendation what to do with this one or which unit to buy (with TV-Guide) ???

Thanks

Glad to be of some small assistance milacqua. I think the Polaroid has a few abilities that the Philips lacks as far as remote control functions, so it cuts both ways to a degree. A one hr. cahce wouldn't work for me now that I know what it is capable of though. I can Turn On the Philips to Tuner Mode, pick my channel - then switch to HDD Mode and edit or watch a pre-recorded program and when I am done, switch back to Tuner, back up the video cache, and watch what was on that channel while I was messing with the HardDrive. You might want to check your local WalMarts or Sam's Club - they may possibly have one left on the shelf. You never know.

That 6 hour cashe sounds sweet. I went with the Polaroid so I'm stuck with the one hour. I do have a HDDVR from my cable company though so I can live with it.

Is the Philips hardware hackable? Has anyone tried to replace the hard drive or burner? It would be great to know. Thanks!

That 6 hour cashe sounds sweet. I went with the Polaroid so I'm stuck with the one hour. I do have a HDDVR from my cable company though so I can live with it.

Is the Philips hardware hackable? Has anyone tried to replace the hard drive or burner? It would be great to know. Thanks!

Check the polaroid thread here. I have added a 250 gig hd to mine and it formatted and works perfectly in it, has 105 hours in SP mode.
Others have added even bigger drives and some have found alternate burners that work too, so far none of my extra burners have but I only tried a few I had loose here.

Check the polaroid thread here. I have added a 250 gig hd to mine and it formatted and works perfectly in it, has 105 hours in SP mode.
Others have added even bigger drives and some have found alternate burners that work too, so far none of my extra burners have but I only tried a few I had loose here.

Thanks Dartman it was because of you that I now have a 500 gig in my Polaroid. I posted in the Polaroid thread that I did find two burners that work. An NEC which is a rebadged liteon and a BTC. The model numbers are in my original post.

I guess you were asking if the Philips can be upgraded :rolleyes: I don't see why not, as far as I know they both use the same board with different firmware and a few different hardware jacks plugged in so I'd bet a bigger drive will simply plug in and work for that one also.

I guess you were asking if the Philips can be upgraded :rolleyes: I don't see why not, as far as I know they both use the same board with different firmware and a few different hardware jacks plugged in so I'd bet a bigger drive will simply plug in and work for that one also.

Exactly. I was wondering if anyone had attempted it.

Picked one up at walmart over the weekend. Was considering the polaroid but the lack of a stereo tuner in the polaroid bugged me. Seemed to be the last unit the walmart had. I really like the picture quality and so far it beats the heck out of my 14 year old Zenith VCR that died. And I really liked the old VCR which had a good remote and a lot of features for its time.

If I could improve the Philips DVDR3455H I would like the ability to toggle the clock on or off on the display, some sort of chase play while recording, ability to move data from DVD to the HDD, an online TV Guide, a better remote, and maybe dual tuners. I also like the fact that it is firmware upgradeable though I haven't tried to upgrade the firmware yet. Anyway as a replacement and upgrade to a 14 year old VCR it is definately a keeper.

Upgraded to the latest firmware. Downloaded and burned to a CD went well just followed the directions. Although updating the firmware was fairly easy as some one previusly reported it did not fix or change much on the unit. Anyway got the latest firmware and wil occasionally check philips site for updates.

Exactly. I was wondering if anyone had attempted it.

nextoo, I haven't tried an HDD upgrade yet because 160gb is ok for me for the moment. Here is something I do wonder about for Polaroid users who Upgrade to bigger HDDs - would the Philips Firmware give you folks the 6 hr. Live TV Cache? And what would you lose with the Philips Firmware? And is there anyone here talented enough to Hack and Combine the Philips and the Polaroid Firmwares so we can all get the best of both worlds? I know I certainly am not in that League of ability. :( But I find it an interesesting thought at least. The Polaroid Remote has some nice features/abilities that the Philips lacks.

This has been an interesting thread. I've got my eye on the Philips 160 GB unit or something similar to it once I've worn out my Samsung R130 transferring my tapes to DVD. I really love the slim line, which is one of the things that drew me to my Samsung. I've noticed a lot of people seem to value the "chase play" feature. I do respect someone else's need for the "chase play" feature, assuming I understand what I think it is: watching one show while another is recording, but I need to clarify something just for my own information.

For someone like myself without HDTV or cable, would this really be an important feature? In other words, for a unit without this feature, could one achieve the same result by taking one's universal remote, going back to TV and hitting "video" in order to enjoy a program while something else was recording, or to even enjoy a program in progress while one was recording on another tuner? I ask because that's exactly what I do with my Samsung recorder.

Keeping the above in mind, would the Philips be a good buy for someone who didn't want to spend a lot and who wouldn't otherwise need chase play if the end result can be achieved by another method? Or is the money better spent on a TiVo?

Thanks in advance for the perspective!

MissIris....You can indeed watch a Different Previously Recorded show while the HDD is recording a new one. But you Can Not Jump to the Start of the Program you are Currently recording and Begin watching That Same Program. That is a feature I dearly miss in the Philips, and for the life of me don't understand why it Isn't enabled. If you are using the 6 hr. "Live TV Buffer" you can back it up and begin watching at the very start of the show that is curently buffering(recording) in the HDD Cache. But not possible with a Timer Started Recording In Progress. : ( : ( : (

You can only view the currently recording channel by using the "Tuner" section of the Philips. You can Not change channels on the Philips unless you Stop the Recording.

I got a Killer (total luck) deal on the Philips($115 tax incl.) . It is "just Ok" at $298. If I had to spend $298 I would personally pony up the extra $$$ for the Pioneer 640 ( $52 more) or the Panasonic EH-55 ($131 more) for the capability of TRUE Chase Play of an In Progress Recording. But then that function obviously means a lot to me.

Seems to me since you can record from the buffer and pause a recording from the buffer you should be able to do the same from a timer recording. I don't know what the deal is with the timer recording that makes it so different from the buffer or recording from the buffer. Hopefully they will do a firmware update that will enable pause or chase play while a timer recording is in progress.

MissIris, I need to correct a mistake in my earlier post. When the Philips is Recording, you can Not watch a different channel. You Can watch a Previously recorded program by using the HardDrive. And of course, you could watch another channel thru your television's tuner just like with a VCR. Sorry for the misinformation in my previous post.

I bought one of these units about a week ago from Walmart -- but I think it may be going back for me.

I want to be able to create my own custom chapter points for recorded shows. After playing with the unit, I discovered that it's only possible to insert custom chapter marks after the recorded show has been copied to the DVD -- i.e. you can't insert custom chapter marks while it's on the HDD (and I'm not talking about auto chapter markers -- I have that feature turned off).

So after copying the recorded show to a DVD+R disc, I proceeded to manually insert my chapters marks in the desired locations. I then played the DVD to verify that they existed and worked -- which they did. Then I finalized the DVD and verified that the chapters still worked in the Phillips recorder. Next I took the DVD and put it in a seperate DVD player -- guess what???! The chapters don't work. In fact, it says I have two titles (I only recorded one to the disk) and only 1 chapter. I even tried playing the DVD in a computer and got the same results.

I checked and the recorder has firmware revision 19.07 -- I noticed that there's been two firmware releases in the past couple of months, but the readme doesn't mention anything about chapter markers. I will try updating the firmware, but can anyone verify if this is still true for the latest firmware?

So this upsets me that I can't create chapter markers with this unit that will work in other DVD players. Enough that I am considering returning the unit.

I'd be interested to hear how others might be creating chapters markers using computer software. Do I have to buy a high-end package to do this or can I get by with something more basic (for inserting chapters and re-burning on a computer).

Also, I can't stand the background image or the menu -- there is no choice and it puts a big arrow at the top that takes you to some generic screen with a big regtangular box with the words NTSC and Edit inside (I think it's left over from the burn process on the recorder). I heard that the latest firmware removes /changes the background -- guess I'll have to try it.

Thanks.

Rob

I bought one of these units about a week ago from Walmart -- but I think it may be going back for me.

I want to be able to create my own custom chapter points for recorded shows. After playing with the unit, I discovered that it's only possible to insert custom chapter marks after the recorded show has been copied to the DVD -- i.e. you can't insert custom chapter marks while it's on the HDD (and I'm not talking about auto chapter markers -- I have that feature turned off).

So after copying the recorded show to a DVD+R disc, I proceeded to manually insert my chapters marks in the desired locations. I then played the DVD to verify that they existed and worked -- which they did. Then I finalized the DVD and verified that the chapters still worked in the Phillips recorder. Next I took the DVD and put it in a seperate DVD player -- guess what???! The chapters don't work. In fact, it says I have two titles (I only recorded one to the disk) and only 1 chapter. I even tried playing the DVD in a computer and got the same results.

I checked and the recorder has firmware revision 19.07 -- I noticed that there's been two firmware releases in the past couple of months, but the readme doesn't mention anything about chapter markers. I will try updating the firmware, but can anyone verify if this is still true for the latest firmware?

So this upsets me that I can't create chapter markers with this unit that will work in other DVD players. Enough that I am considering returning the unit.

I'd be interested to hear how others might be creating chapters markers using computer software. Do I have to buy a high-end package to do this or can I get by with something more basic (for inserting chapters and re-burning on a computer).

Also, I can't stand the background image or the menu -- there is no choice and it puts a big arrow at the top that takes you to some generic screen with a big regtangular box with the words NTSC and Edit inside (I think it's left over from the burn process on the recorder). I heard that the latest firmware removes /changes the background -- guess I'll have to try it.

Thanks.

Rob

Why can't you edit things on the HDD and then burn to DVD? I would upgrade to the latest firmware also. The firmware upgrade didn't upgrade a lot but glad to see them putting out upgrades. I really like mine especially the pause live tv buffer I don't think I would want a unit anymore without the ability to pause live TV. I only burned a DVD to make sure that it worked burning DVD's. I should preface with the fact that I upgraded from an old VCR so the philips really beats the heck out of that. I mostly record shows to the HDD and watch them later or record or pause live tv from the buffer if there is anything I really want to keep or share will burn to DVD.

Is there another way to burn DVD's from HDD without YesDVD ?

MissIris....You can indeed watch a Different Previously Recorded show while the HDD is recording a new one. But you Can Not Jump to the Start of the Program you are Currently recording and Begin watching That Same Program. That is a feature I dearly miss in the Philips, and for the life of me don't understand why it Isn't enabled. If you are using the 6 hr. "Live TV Buffer" you can back it up and begin watching at the very start of the show that is curently buffering(recording) in the HDD Cache. But not possible with a Timer Started Recording In Progress. : ( : ( : (

You can only view the currently recording channel by using the "Tuner" section of the Philips. You can Not change channels on the Philips unless you Stop the Recording.

I got a Killer (total luck) deal on the Philips($115 tax incl.) . It is "just Ok" at $298. If I had to spend $298 I would personally pony up the extra $$$ for the Pioneer 640 ( $52 more) or the Panasonic EH-55 ($131 more) for the capability of TRUE Chase Play of an In Progress Recording. But then that function obviously means a lot to me.

I'm not sure I understand your answer to my question: why can't you use your TV's tuner to watch what your Philips is recording on its own tuner? Am I missing something? Maybe that's what I'm not understanding about why the chase play feature is a big deal. Thanks again for your perspective.

Miss Iris, you can indeed watch the channel you are recording thru the Philips tuner, but you can't switch the Philps' tuner to a different channel while recording is in progress.

And you can ALWAYS just let the Philips keep recording and watch ANY channel you want thru your television's tuner.

Here's what I love about True Chase Play. For instance, if I am away from home and a recording begins at 7pm. Say I then I get home at 8p.m. but the recording won't be thru until say 10p.m. With true chase play, I can just pick up the remote, press the Play button, and the show that started recording at 7p.m. (and won't finish until 10p.m.) will begin to play from the very beginning of the recording so I don't have to wait until 10pm (when the recording process ends) to begin watching my ballgame, or other program from the very start of the recording. I can actually watch my program from the very beginning while the Panasonic is still recording the remainder of my show! Yaaay!! I LOVE that feature! It also allows me to FF/Skip thru all the commercials unless I "catch up" to the point the program is currently recording.

IMHO, the inability of the Philips DVDR 3455/37 to do this on a Pre-Programmed Recording that is still in progress is a glaring and needless weakness that diminishes the units overall value considerably.

Is there another way to burn DVD's from HDD without YesDVD ?

Absolutely. I never use the YesDVD for recording.

Put a Blank DVD+/-R (or +/-RW) in the DVD Tray. Press the "HDD" button on the remote. Scroll thru your recorded programs until you find the one or ones you want to burn to DVD. Press the "Select" button on the remote. It will add this program to the "Recording Que". It will also show a "Status Bar" in the upper Rt hand corner that shows how much space of a Blank DVD this will take, and what percentage remains available for other programs. If you have room and want to, you just continue to highlight and "Select" recordings until you reach 100% of your DVD blank space. Then, you press the "HDD" button on the remote and the selected programs will begin to burn to your Blank DVD disc. How long it takes depends on how many shows and the length and the original recording speed of the shows you are recording. Each different program you select will be burned as a seperate Title on the DVD Blank.

"IMHO, the inability of the Philips DVDR 3455/37 to do this on a Pre-Programmed Recording that is still in progress is a glaring and needless weakness that diminishes the units overall value considerably. "

As is with Panasonic DMR-EH55S's lack of a 6 hour timeshift buffer which is more important to me than recording chase play - although I would love to have chase play during recording too. I was shocked to find out that the DMR-EH55S didn't timeshift.

"IMHO, the inability of the Philips DVDR 3455/37 to do this on a Pre-Programmed Recording that is still in progress is a glaring and needless weakness that diminishes the units overall value considerably. "

As is with Panasonic DMR-EH55S's lack of a 6 hour timeshift buffer which is more important to me than recording chase play - although I would love to have chase play during recording too. I was shocked to find out that the DMR-EH55S didn't timeshift.

Yes, I agree. Your comment pretty much sums things up in a general sense.

There will never be a recorder that is all things to all people. What is important to one may not be important to another. Thus it is important to do the research and find the device that fits your needs.

"IMHO, the inability of the Philips DVDR 3455/37 to do this on a Pre-Programmed Recording that is still in progress is a glaring and needless weakness that diminishes the units overall value considerably. "

As is with Panasonic DMR-EH55S's lack of a 6 hour timeshift buffer which is more important to me than recording chase play - although I would love to have chase play during recording too. I was shocked to find out that the DMR-EH55S didn't timeshift.

Hoby, I own the Philips but not the Panny EH-55s. I am not sure what you mean that the EH-55 won't time shift. In my understanding, True Chase Play (Like I have on DVD-Ram Discs with my Panny DMR-ES10K) is Time Shift. And it works equally well whether I just "grab the remote and press record" during "live viewing" or on a Preset Recording I come home to later. If I am misundertsanding you please help me here. I do love to learn more in this forum. :)

Now, I do suspect that the EH-55 doesn't have the "constant" 6 hr. buffer like the Philips 3455/37 that will allow us to switch channels and keep right on "buffering" (temporarily recording is what it is actually doing when we speak of buffering) without any action on our part. It is indeed a nice feature, and ideally I would like to have the TimeShift Buffer like the Philips unit, AND True Chase Play like the Panny.

And my main point is this - Since the Philips CAN do the Time Shift on Live TV, it makes no sense to me that it doesn't do the same thing on a Preset recording. With a 160gb HDD, I simply HAVE to believe that the ability to perform in this manner is inherent in the Philips, but for some reason, not enabled!

Where can I "go to school" to learn how to "hack" firmwares etc. etc. :D I really believe the Philips 3455/37 CAN be made to do Time Shift/Chase Play on a Preset Recording.

"I am not sure what you mean that the EH-55 won't time shift. "

FullOnShred, I didn't say the Panasonic wouldn't time shift, just that it didn't have the "Time Shift Buffer" as Philips calls it. I really like the fact that I don't need to do anything like press record to have it available and I don't have to erase it manually to get rid of it. Your point about the firmware is interesting as I have also owned the Polaroid 60 GB DVDR. It looks like the same people coded the firmware but the Polaroid has some neat features that the Phillips doesn't and vice versa. I never understand how they arrive at the features trade off that they wind up with. It really would be nice to pick and choose what features or options you had available. I was really surprised that the Philips could only "chase play" within the Time Shift Buffer and not when doing a timed recording. The Polaroid also had that same limitation

hoby said...."I was shocked to find out that the DMR-EH55S didn't timeshift."

That's cool hoby...I just misunderstood. I really like the picture quality on the Philips,and the Live TV 6hr. Buffer is nice too. But I just HAVE to believe that True Chase Play of an In-Progress Recording is within the physical capabilities of the Philips unit with the proper firmware upgrades. I would love to be able to hack and create Hybrid Firmwares between the Philips and the Polaroid, but alas, I am a mere mortal. ; )

OK what am I doing wrong? I am using a cable box. However, I split the signal BEFORE the cable box to be able to use the schedule feature of the Philips. When I look at my 42” TV using the cable box and using the TV’s tuner (input 1 on the TV) the picture looks great. When I look at the TV using the split before the cable box and going through the Philips tuner (input 2 on the TV) the picture looks degraded, grainy and sometimes pixilated. Of course, if I record this on the unit it will look just as poor. Why is this happening? It is almost as if the Philips DVDR3455H/37 tuner is ruining the quality of the signal. I am using a direct signal from the cable company right into the recorder and sending it to the TV using component wiring. The signal should be just as good and clear as going through the cable box. Anybody got any ideas?

Try reversing the cable that goes to the cable box with the one that goes to the recorder. If it's still bad on the recorder then yeah I'd say the tuner on the recorder is the problem. But you must first rule out the signal path from the wall to the recorder, use quality cables and tighten the ends with a wrench. Slight snow in the picture can be a sign of interference getting through the shielding which can also happen at the ends if they are not wrench-tight.

EDIT: You could also take your best cable and run it straight from the wall to the recorder to see if that changes anything. Try different cables to see if they have any affect on the picture quality. If they do then at least some of the problem is due to the cables.

To eliminate the cable and the splitter as the problem, switch cables from the splitter...interchange them so the one going to the cable box is the one going to the recorder. If no diff., it's something else, like the tuner. If the PQ "switches" quality, it may be the splitter...either a "cheap" one or one port has higher dB "loss" than the other?

P.S. Your cable is analog, right, not digital?

Could be a lot of things. Weak signal? Possibly a line amp on the one going into the Philips would help. Bad wires or connectors?? Try some different connectors and or wires. You are making a number of assumptions here and not giving enough to go on. Do you have Digital Cable? Regular Cable, I would think, but I have seen stranger things posted before. Digital Cable MUST go thru the Cable Box. Are ALL channels equally bad thru the Philips Tuner? Is the SAME channel good on Input 1 but Bad on Input 2?

I would at least try switching the Philips to the TV Input (Input 1, apparently) you KNOW you are getting a good picture from and see what it looks like. I would also try different cables. And I would make absolutely sure I had the TV on the right input and the Philips Tuner tuned to a channel you KNOW is coming in clear, as different channels can vary in the amount of interference in the signal. I don't mean to be rude, or to suggest overly simple things to try, but I never really know what the situation REALLY is unless I am there in person. :)

Oooops...Looks like wabjxo beat me too it! : )

I have a HD cable box and I am comparing the same channel on both.

I have a HD cable box and I am comparing the same channel on both.

That is a Digital Cable Box. No wonder the picture stinks. The Philips does NOT have a HDTV Tuner Built in. You MUST pass thru the cable box first.


HDTV (http://www.timewarnercable.com/corporate/products/digitalcable/hdtv.html)

That is a Digital Cable Box. No wonder the picture stinks. The Philips does NOT have a HDTV Tuner Built in. You MUST pass thru the cable box first.


HDTV (http://www.timewarnercable.com/corporate/products/digitalcable/hdtv.html)

I do not believe most HD cable boxes have a coax output. At least that is the way mine is. My setup is similiar. I split the coax and then run one into the cable box and the other into my recorder (Polaroid - very similiar to the Philips). The coax out of the recorder to the coax in on my television. Along with component from the cable box to the recorder then component to the television. It is a 37" flat panel (LCD). The picture I get using the dvd recorder's tuner is actually pretty good. Better than I had expected. Also the television has a QAM tuner so I am able to get non scrambled HD channels via the coax - no HD box required.

Here's my guess as to the problem. I think it's a weak cable feed. This will be obvious when viewing analog cable but when using the cable box the analog noise you see is eliminated because it is digital when using the cable box. Take the coax directly into the television from the wall as suggested without splitting. If the picture is still bad then its the cable line. If it looks good then it's your splitter or cables being used post split.

late edit here - I should add that one other reason could be a bad tuner in the recorder? Possible I guess.

Somebody are "play" a DVD burned in the DVDR3455H
in another brand "DVD PLAYER" to speeds of 4, 8, 16 and 32?
does it work well?

I do not believe most HD cable boxes have a coax output. At least that is the way mine is. My setup is similiar. I split the coax and then run one into the cable box and the other into my recorder (Polaroid - very similiar to the Philips). The coax out of the recorder to the coax in on my television. Along with component from the cable box to the recorder then component to the television. It is a 37" flat panel (LCD). The picture I get using the dvd recorder's tuner is actually pretty good. Better than I had expected. Also the television has a QAM tuner so I am able to get non scrambled HD channels via the coax - no HD box required.

Here's my guess as to the problem. I think it's a weak cable feed. This will be obvious when viewing analog cable but when using the cable box the analog noise you see is eliminated because it is digital when using the cable box. Take the coax directly into the television from the wall as suggested without splitting. If the picture is still bad then its the cable line. If it looks good then it's your splitter or cables being used post split.

late edit here - I should add that one other reason could be a bad tuner in the recorder? Possible I guess.

I stand corrected. I do not have cable, but when my sis had digital cable and tried to bypass the cable box the results were fugly. Really fugly.

Forgive me if I've missed it somewhere either here or in the manual, but is there an easy way to access the menu on a DVD you play in this unit? I have some DVDs that have previews that can only be skipped by pressing the menu button, and it really bugs me that I can't skip them. Plus, when watching a DVD, it's nice to just back to the menu for whatever reasons. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

just got this...i was expecting to find an IR box that changed the channel on my cable box...as i've seen on other units...is there no way to run this after my cable box? (wanting channels that i can only get from the box)

got mine from walmrt a few days ago. Three things are starting to bug me. After skipping commercials, that dam bar pops up at the bottom of the screen. have to hit display a couple times for removal. wish they'd create some firmware to knock that off. the buttons on the remote seem to be recessed, have to hit them just right. all the programming codes on my universial radio shack remote don't work with this machine. when setting the timer, the numbers-letters seem to be a little too small on my 20inch tele, how about a font just a little bit bigger. all in all, I think if the machine lasts 90 days it will be a welcome addition to the house.

FinalJump:
The <Back> button will take you to the menu, at least it seems to work for what I have tested it on so far. I am supprised the remote doesn't have the traditional Title/Menu buttons

took mine back...too basic for what i want. it doesn't interface with my cable box, and thus can't get any sort of program guide. Reminded me of an old vcr..trying to set the recording time manually...neway..seems nice if you don't need more than a basic recorder..just not what i was looking for..

Frogger:
Sorry it didn't work out for you. I love my unit but I just have the basic extended cable package so no cable box. As far as a program guide you could pay a monthly subscription fee with Tivo or get a unit with the TV guide system but when I look at some of the threads of units with the TV Guide system seems users are either saying it works great or they cant seem to get it working or set up right.
I wish I could find some easily accessible VCR + codes online, it would make programming the philips recording much easier. Since there are millions of VCR +
units out there if a website wants lots of traffic they should put up a VCR+ TV schedule.

I wish I could find some easily accessible VCR + codes online, it would make programming the philips recording much easier. Since there are millions of VCR + units out there if a website wants lots of traffic they should put up a VCR+ TV schedule.
Here is the VCR+ "Code Generator" site. (http://www.vcrplus.com/login.asp)

You have to set your browser for Medium security or enter *.vcrplus.com as one of your "Trusted" sites, or you'll be in an endless loop trying to register.

You have to register with email and pw, then a zip code, then a local newspaper. Once you get all that right, you can search for codes by date, time and length of time.

VCR+ is sort of a "cruel joke" because it's a date/time/length-of-time based system...not related to Name of show at all. That is, a daily or weekly show doesn't retain the same code number throughout its run. Each time of each day, and each length of time on that day, has a separate code number that is randomly generated for each day/time/length...they are essentially "never" the same.

One example: We record two Soaps on ABC from 1:00-2:00 and 2:00-3:00pm. Each is a 1-hour show and has its own code # for each day of the week and each week of the year. So, 10 codes per week, 520 codes per year!

We could combine both shows and enter a single span of time, 1:00-3:00 and end up with only one code # for each day, or ONLY 5 codes per week, 260 codes per year! :(

We don't do either 'cause its "too much trouble." We just program a Daily or Weekly show by time in a normal timer rec program. Either way, we still don't get the Name of the show! :mad:

Anyway, good luck in finding the codes you need, and hope it's more helpful to you. :)

Hello I recently purchased a dvdr3455h/37 and was just wondering if any one else has noticed very faint horizontal lines going across the screen especially darker or black screen. This is only when I view tv through the philips tuner. If I switch the tv back to normal (turn the tv off input and put it directly in a given channel) the lines go away but the picture seems a little more snowy. Also if I record and play back, the lines are not there even though they were when I recorded it. The lines are not really bad, but I wanted to know if I should exchange it or not.
I also had it lock up on me the other day when I went to review something in the time shift buffer. Had to un plug it in order to unlock it.

vh14a,
Not sure about your line & snow effects but the lockups are typical with using the time shift buffer for extended periods like several days continuously. I have had and returned 2 different units and both did it. My third unit hasn't locked up yet but I don't leave it on for as long as I did with the other two without a timer recording going on. The timer use stops the time shift function and seems to eleviate the lockups - so far.

vh14a,
Sounds like some kind of interference from another source. Rf signal is being influence by some other appliance try using shorter patch cables going from the unit to your tv.

Also has anyone noticed how hot these units get while using them. I think they need a bigger fan in them.

Is it possible to turn off the time shift buffer?

nextoo

As of now there is no way to turn off the shift buffer. I wish there was. But the firmware for this machine sucks pretty bad. By FCC standards this unit will be obsolete in five months. So no really useful firmware corrections will probably be introduced.

nextoo

As of now there is no way to turn off the shift buffer. I wish there was. But the firmware for this machine sucks pretty bad. By FCC standards this unit will be obsolete in five months. So no really useful firmware corrections will probably be introduced.

Why obsolete? The mandate says an ATSC tuner must be included or no tuner at all. I don't think this should obsolete the Philips.

The Polaroid 2001G is a Philips in a Polaroid case. You can turn off the buffer which stops the hard drive from thrashing. Also the time shift works on al inputs. I looked at the manual for the Philips and it looks like the time shift only works with the tuner. Is this true?

I'd like to meet the people who make these firmware decisions. Crazy. There's plusses and minuses from each machine. It would be nice to be able to pick the best features from each.

I do not know if the time shift buffer works with dvds are not because I use a dvd player for movies because of firmware issues again (no resume play just start from the begining).

It will be obsolete by manufactures standards simply because everything after March will have atsc. And within 21 months all broadcasts will be in HD. Thus a unit which has poor dvd playing features, will be all you can use the unit for. Not to mention if HD dvd's take off. There be zero incentives to upgrade this model in any way.

Walmart has a lot of these units selling for 300 dollars. Many people are unaware that the unit only has a shelf life of about 2 years. Unless you spring for a converter.

I do not know if the time shift buffer works with dvds are not because I use a dvd player for movies because of firmware issues again (no resume play just start from the begining).

It will be obsolete by manufactures standards simply because everything after March will have atsc. And within 21 months all broadcasts will be in HD. Thus a unit which has poor dvd playing features, will be all you can use the unit for. Not to mention if HD dvd's take off. There be zero incentives to upgrade this model in any way.

Walmart has a lot of these units selling for 300 dollars. Many people are unaware that the unit only has a shelf life of about 2 years. Unless you spring for a converter.


There is a little confusion on this issue. Yes, the law mandates that all OTA broadcasters must broadcast a digital signal and that ATSC tuners must be provided in all devices that would normally contain an analog tuner, but this does not make devices with analog tuners necessarily obsolete. There is no law regarding analog cable transmissions (because there are no frequencies that would be freed up on a cable transmission vs. OTA> which is the impetus for the law). There is some debate and discussion that analog cable transmission may still be avail well after 2009. If you already use a digital converter box for cable and/or satellite, you likely do not care whether you have an analog or atsc tuner in the recorder anyway because it is not used.

I do not know if the time shift buffer works with dvds are not because I use a dvd player for movies because of firmware issues again (no resume play just start from the begining).

It will be obsolete by manufactures standards simply because everything after March will have atsc. And within 21 months all broadcasts will be in HD. Thus a unit which has poor dvd playing features, will be all you can use the unit for. Not to mention if HD dvd's take off. There be zero incentives to upgrade this model in any way.

Walmart has a lot of these units selling for 300 dollars. Many people are unaware that the unit only has a shelf life of about 2 years. Unless you spring for a converter.

I don't think obsolete is the right word. Will there be better technology available? Yes. Obsolete no.

Although I do not have the Philips I have its almost clone. I am very happy with the PQ. The quality is excellent. Especially when recording from a HD cable channel at 480i. Actually I wish all the channels were HD. I'm actually looking forward to more HD as the date gets closer.

vferrari - I noticed you posted. I agree with your OTA/ATSC/Cable comments.

well, my philips froze up yesterday while watching a dvd, and froze today while editing a show on the HD. whats' going on here???

It might be overheating, is it really hot when this happens? I've had a few cheap players and a laser disk that would do a movie or two then get hot enough to start locking/skipping. It was worse during the summer on hot days.

Is it possible to turn off the time shift buffer?

Yep. There is a way to turn off the time shift. I just press the "DVD Rec" button at the top of the remote. This should stop the time shift buffer when it's on.

Does anyone know why the firmware links are dead on the Phillips site? I want to upgrade my firmware but both the readme and zip files are dead. :(

Yep. There is a way to turn off the time shift. I just press the "DVD Rec" button at the top of the remote. This should stop the time shift buffer when it's on.

Does anyone know why the firmware links are dead on the Phillips site? I want to upgrade my firmware but both the readme and zip files are dead. :(

That's good because I noticed with my almost identical clone (polaroid) that it runs cooler withouth the HDD thrashing around supporting the buffer. I would suggest turning it off if not using it. I did remove my HDD though so now there is even less of a thermal issue.

hey dart, thanks for the reply: I downloaded the firmware and installed it last night. Maybe that was it , or like you said it could be hot. Next time it ddoes it, i'll feel the thing for warmth. < let's hope there's not a next time though:D


It might be overheating, is it really hot when this happens?

Does anyone know why the firmware links are dead on the Phillips site? I want to upgrade my firmware but both the readme and zip files are dead. :(\\

They re-arranged the website. Just go to
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DVDR3455H/37&scy=US&slg=en

and select the Software & Drivers link.

I just got this model today for a gift. I hooked it all up and I can't get it to work. My TV is about 8 years old and its a mitsubishi. Will this dvd recorder work on older tv's? Big picture, am out outta luck?

Can comeone help me. I just got this model for a gift, but I can't get it to work on my 8 yr old tv. Do I need a newer tv to run it or is there some adapter or something that I can buy to make it work on older models.

The Composite Video and Stereo Audio (Yellow/White/Red RCA jacks) goes from the recorder to the TV. If your TV has no such inputs then you will need either a new TV or an RF Modulator. Such as: http://www.amazon.com/Recoton-DVD647-RF-Modulator/dp/B00005T3FO

If your TV cannot even take RF as input then it gets a bit more complicated, but I suspect it does.

It does have the red white yellow jacks, and is hooked up as you said. But other than the power being on, there is no indication that there is a connection, the tv is running through it via the satellite just fine, but other than that, nothing.

the tv is running through it via the satellite just fine, but other than that, nothing.Do you mean that the signal you are feeding the recorder from the satellite receiver is visible on the TV when you change the TV to the appropriate input that the recorder is coming in on? If so then it is connected alright. I'm not sure what more than that you are expecting. Try playing a DVD.

No there is no display on the tv to indicate it is work, a dvd will say its playing but nothing on the tv indicates it is. The tv has only one red yellow and white place to connect. I am assuming it is rf in and like u said I need a modulator?

I don't get a boot up screen at all. The manual says I should see a blue screen when i turn it on.

And yes the tv works fine when I have it hooked up. So the satellite signal is running through the dvd recorder.

If, when you play a DVD on the DVD Recorder, you do not see the DVD playing on your TV, then you must not be watching the output of the DVD Recorder on the TV. To be sure you are watching the output of the DVD Recorder on the TV, when you think you are, turn off the DVD Recorder, and the screen should go blank. If not then you are not watching the output of the DVD Recorder on the TV. This is what I suspect is the problem.

Sounds as if you're not switching the TV INPUT from ANT (RF) to COMPOSITE INPUT, or some other name for the red, white, yellow connection in your TV menu?

I do not know how your satellite set up works. But if you are using the red yellow white cables into your tv from the unit. You must put your tv into the AV mode. To view anything from the unit.

\\

They re-arranged the website. Just go to
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DVDR3455H/37&scy=US&slg=en

and select the Software & Drivers link.


The software link for this firmware is:
English (UK), Zip file (5.22 MB) version

Even though the firmware says "UK" this is ok to use on my USA machine?

Even though the firmware says "UK" this is ok to use on my USA machine?[/QUOTE]

Yes, it worked fine for me. I just found this link though:
http://www.usasupport.philips.com/productDocuments.html?ProductCode=DVDR3455H/37&subCat=DVD_RECORDERS_SU_US_CONSUMER

Thanks for the link *hoby*!

How do you all set up your recordings as far as start and end time? Do you have your clock one 1 min. ahead and then set for an exact start time and one min after the end time?

I want to use the VCR+ codes, but afraid I am going to miss either the first min. or the last min of a show by setting my clock ahead.

Given the vagaries of clock differences and the inexactitude of network timing I shoot for 5 min. before and after. If I am going to keep the show I will end up editing it anyway so the extra bits don't matter to me.

I have been recording so much TV to the HD since I got this unit. Yesterday set to record 3 hours of TV went to turn off and got message there was not enough space left and I had to delete some stuff before recording. So I went in and deleted some old shows. I have Disc space management set to automatic so shouldn't it delete older stuff for me automatically.

God the remote on this machine sucks. What universal remotes are you all using? Does it cover all the functions that are on the Phillips remote?

I'm looking for one with a small LCD and can program favorite HD channels without hitting the "-" button.

Do the same thing those of us with the Polaroid version of this machine are doing, get the high output infra red LED for less the 2 bucks from Radio Shack and replace it. If you can solder it's super easy. Otherwise just about any learning remote that has good range now will work, or one with Philips codes built in.

I really like the picture quality on the Philips,and the Live TV 6hr. Buffer is nice too. But I just HAVE to believe that True Chase Play of an In-Progress Recording is within the physical capabilities of the Philips unit with the proper firmware upgrades. I would love to be able to hack and create Hybrid Firmwares between the Philips and the Polaroid, but alas, I am a mere mortal. ; )


That chase play is really important to us also! I'm glad I read this thread before purchasing it. But I wonder...in theory (because I'm figuring you've tried this FullOnShred) could you set a Program Timer, then, if you wanted to start watching it before the timer ended, turn off the Program Timer and watch it from the beginning via the 6-hr. buffer? The problem is occurring due to the Program Timer's lack of functionality right? You could still watch it via the buffer. Or am I wrong?

The Hans

That chase play is really important to us also! I'm glad I read this thread before purchasing it. But I wonder...in theory (because I'm figuring you've tried this FullOnShred) could you set a Program Timer, then, if you wanted to start watching it before the timer ended, turn off the Program Timer and watch it from the beginning via the 6-hr. buffer? The problem is occurring due to the Program Timer's lack of functionality right? You could still watch it via the buffer. Or am I wrong?

The Hans

Hans, I have not tried cutting off the"recording in progress" and checking the time shift buffer to see if whole show is in there. My gut says no. I don't think that would work, but I will definitely set up a "throw-away" recording just to test it. It is an interesting idea. If it works, kudos and full credit to you! :)

Nope......Doesn't work. I think it states somewhere in the manual that the Live TV Buffer is inactive when HDD (for recording I suppose) is selected, or DVD or basically any input other than Tuner. I am too lazy to go look it up right now though. For sure,stopping the recording and trying to view via Buffer didn't work though. Thanks for the idea, The Hans. It was worth a try. : )

Sorry it didn't work! Your comments helped us decide between this Philips recorder and the Pioneer DVR-543H-S (the 80GB version of the DVR-640H-S). They're both on sale for $299 Canadian and for us, the features of the Pioneer are more important than the 160GB hard drive. It was a fortuitous coincidence really that you pointed it out, because that particular thing that bugs you, the chase play thing, would have really bugged us a lot as well. And I don't think it's a missing feature one really would have anticipated. So thanks for that!

The Hans

You're welcome. I hope the Pio works well for you! : )

can it record on to hd and watch a dvd at the same time

So I snagged a Philips DVDR3455H/55 player on eBay, new in box, for $235 shipped. I read this thread for a bit first, and I wasn't particularly bothered by the lack of true "chase play" on Timer-set recordings, as I don't have the desire to do that much. I liked the DV input as well as the USB drive option. And DivX as well, so that's why I chose this player. ( I burned a LOT of DivX movies in college...)

I didn't see anything on Philips' web site about the difference between the /55 player and the /37 player. Same stats, specs, and features. I probably should have done a bit more research, though. The player is set up and seems to work fine with the default settins... I've recorded shows and it pauses live TV and all that. Menus are all in English. I have yet to play a DVD in it, though, so I'm wondering if it's a different region player, but I couldn't find that out. Regardless, I don't plan on using it as my main DVD player, as I already have a 5-disc progressive scan changer that I prefer to use (more convenient for box sets of TV shows). Though it would be rather annoying.

While I haven't tried all the features, the only problem I've run into is that the remote, while looking physically identical to the /37 remote, has [+ P - ] button where the [+ Ch -] button should be. The other side has the same [+ Vol -] button, though.

Since I have analog cable, I have no cable box, so I need to use this as the tuner. I can punch in the channel # just fine on the number pad, but the [+ P -] button does not seem to do anything at all. Neither does the [+ Vol -] button, but I don't care much about that as I pipe the sound through my receiver anyways.

It's rather annoying that I can't flip sequentially through the channels! There are different firmware upgrades on Philips' site for the /55 than the /37, none of which I've tried yet. I'm going to try the listed one first, but I'm curious if I can load the firmware for the /37 and get it to work....

Any suggestions? Anyone ever heard of the /55 model?

Edit: Upon further review, the /55 is a Region 4 player. Sucks for me not paying attention... Again, not a big deal due to my current setup, but I'll check and see if a firmware swap will fix that. Still no word on the [+ Ch -] button issue, though.

CTMechE

The channel button should work if you have it in tuner mode. The vol only works on phillips TV's.

Has anyone been able to successfully add custom chapter points and finalize the DVD and then be able to use the chapter points during playback in other non-Philips DVD players?

My experience with the latest firmware indicates that any custom chapter points added to content on the DVD only work with this DVD recorder only. (I haven't tried other Philips DVD recorders or players). I have tried various brands of standalone DVD players including DVD-ROMs and writers in computers and laptops and have had no luck with these units seeing the chapter points. If I stick the disc back in this DVD recorder, the chapter points work fine.

I am recording content from an external source and need to be able to add custom chapter points and distribute the recorded DVDs to people that may have various types and brands of DVD players. It doesn't appear that this is going to work with this unit.

I'm assuming this doesn't depend on the type of DVD media used?

Does any one have suggestions for computer software to assist with adding custom chapters afterwards? (i.e. rip the finalized disc to the hard drive, add chapter points, and re-burn to a new disc)

Thanks.

Does any one have suggestions for computer software to assist with adding custom chapters afterwards? (i.e. rip the finalized disc to the hard drive, add chapter points, and re-burn to a new disc)TMPGEnc DVD Author does this easily enough, I've used it for that. Also, when you import the video from the source DVD, and tell it to use the existing chapters, you will now for sure what chapters are already there. But since you are reauthoring the DVD, you will lose the existing menus created by the recorder.

CTMechE

The channel button should work if you have it in tuner mode. The vol only works on phillips TV's.


Thanks, I got it. I had to do the "auto program" and let it find the cable channels before the button would do anything. Kinda odd, as every TV I've had that has a channel program feature still changed channels when I hit the +/- button.

And it turns out that it actually *is* a /37 player. Oddly enough, the eBay seller said it was a /55, but shipped a /37. It plays my DVDs just fine.

Thanks for the help everyone.

I picked up a 3455/37 at Walmart yesterday and have been encountering some gripes. When I'm flipping through channels on the tuner, I keep getting the annoying time shift status bar. As much as I try, I cannot seem to get rid of some annoying bar or description that appears every time I change something (the channel, switching to HDD, etc). And when I'm recording, half my screen is blocked out by some text "Recording in process". Has anybody encountered this same problem and know how to fix it?

[QUOTE=vh14a]Hello I recently purchased a dvdr3455h/37 and was just wondering if any one else has noticed very faint horizontal lines going across the screen especially darker or black screen. This is only when I view tv through the philips tuner. If I switch the tv back to normal (turn the tv off input and put it directly in a given channel) the lines go away but the picture seems a little more snowy. Also if I record and play back, the lines are not there even though they were when I recorded it. The lines are not really bad, but I wanted to know if I should exchange it or not.
I also had it lock up on me the other day when I went to review something in the time shift buffer. Had to un plug it in order to unlock it.[/QU
Exchanged it for another one. the tuner was worse than the first one. returned it and bought a pioneer DVD640H-s . MUCH BETTER MACHINE! the picture is clearer through this units tuner than regular tv. better editing features. no lockups, very happy!

anyone have a universal remote that works with the philips? if so, what make and model?

I picked up a 3455/37 at Walmart yesterday and have been encountering some gripes. When I'm flipping through channels on the tuner, I keep getting the annoying time shift status bar. As much as I try, I cannot seem to get rid of some annoying bar or description that appears every time I change something (the channel, switching to HDD, etc). And when I'm recording, half my screen is blocked out by some text "Recording in process". Has anybody encountered this same problem and know how to fix it?

The Time Shift Display Bar is a major PITA. There should be some way to turn it off, or adjust its "hang time", but I haven't found it. The darn thing stays on for 25 seconds EVERY single time you use another Tuner control!! At the most it should stay on for 5 seconds. Then if you want it back you could press the Display button. I am CONSTANTLY having to press the Display button twice to get rid of that aggravating thing!!

Philips should pay me $75,000 a year to explain things like this to them. They really seem clueless about some MAJOR consumer end preferences.

Philips should pay me $75,000 a year to explain things like this to them. They really seem clueless about some MAJOR consumer end preferences.

I am so glad someone else believes as I. How could phillips programmers be so bad.

Maybe Philips will post new firmware soon to fix the display bar "problem" and others. I really like the Unit but it seems they could improve it with better software/firmware. I upgraded to the latest firmware when I got the unit.

Hi guys, this thread is super long. what is the general concensus about this model? is it good or bad? is it better than the Pioneer DVDR-543HS?

Hi guys, this thread is super long. what is the general concensus about this model? is it good or bad? is it better than the Pioneer DVDR-543HS?

yeah superlong, I know how that goes. My opinion, the philips does the job well for 300dollars. you could spend 140dols more and get a panasonic that doesn't have some of the functions I like. No opinion on the Pioneer, good luck and let us know which one you get.

Will the Philips 3455H except my Direct TV HD boxs output of 480P through the s-video cable. Thanks for any help in this..

no

Will the Philips 3455H except my Direct TV HD boxs output of 480P through the s-video cable. Thanks for any help in this..
S-Video and Composite (RCA red, white, yellow) are strictly 480i.

The only common "multi-scan" (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p) connections in North America are Component and HDMI.

That is what I run to my TV is HDMI. But I would be running s-video to the DVR and the to the input on my TV as s-video or component. Would this work?

Yes, as long as it's 480i on the S-Video from the HD box to the DVD Recorder.

The display on my recorder is very dim. Is this a common complaint, and is there a way to change the brightness of the display?

I haven't seen this question asked yet, but since the buffer thingy appears to always be on, apparently writing data to the disc drive, how quiet is the thing? If I get it, and set it up in my bedroom, any sort of 'click' noise could be annoying....

thanks everyone for all the info. I was going to purchase the phillips 3455. I became a little leary after reading some of the comments. Last nite the Pioneer 543hs was on sale online at bestbuy for $314 can whereas the phillips was $297.

The small price difference and the cnet editors choice on the pioneer 533hs, the pioneer was the one I bought.

Thanks FullonShred for your insight. Man, I just cannot feel comfortable with this Philips product, no matter how many times I play with it. There's always something that makes me a bit angry that I have to fork over 300 bucks for it (annoying display bar, picture quality less sharp than actual tv, etc.)

I saw a few people earlier that got it for 115-150 bucks. Just out of curiosity, where did you guys get such a good deal for it? 300 bucks is just too steep for such an error-prone product, but I would consider keeping it for less than 180. Any insight? Thanks!

I got 2.5 questions...

1. Does anyone know what make the HD is and is it possible to swap it out for another? Would you need to format it or load it with anything to get it to work?

2. Does anyone know what the video bitrate and audio settings are for each of the recording modes?

Thanks FullonShred for your insight. Man, I just cannot feel comfortable with this Philips product, no matter how many times I play with it. There's always something that makes me a bit angry that I have to fork over 300 bucks for it (annoying display bar, picture quality less sharp than actual tv, etc.)

I saw a few people earlier that got it for 115-150 bucks. Just out of curiosity, where did you guys get such a good deal for it? 300 bucks is just too steep for such an error-prone product, but I would consider keeping it for less than 180. Any insight? Thanks!

Thanks for the props, Avid. I will do a re-print of how I got my great deal. Not available at this time unfortunately. :(


How I got my deal(repost):

So I go into WalMart after my workout tonight. On a whim I wander back to electronics to look over the DVDR's, specifically the Polaroid 80gb model, thinking I might take one home to see if I can deal with the mono sound. For the price, what the heck. No Polaroid 80gb model to be found, not even a Sku for it. I happen to look down in the undershelf stock and spot the Philips 160GB model, about 7 of them all stacked up, but they are not individually marked. The shelf tag under them reads Philips DVD Recorder $144.88. I am thinking NO FREAKING WAY MAN! But hey, what do I have to lose, right? I put one in my cart with my groceries and head to the front. Cashier rings up my junk, the DVDR rings at $298.00. I politely tell the lady,"Pardon me, but the shelf tag says $144.88, I really would not want this at $298.00. She says"Let me call electronics" which she does. They verify the shelf tag at $144.88, tell her it is wrong but it's their mistake so go ahead and sell me the one I have at that price!! Well, she has to call a Top Manager to OK that big a deal, and it takes her a while to get over to us. Top manager OKs it, but now the register has sat idle too long and won't continue, so we have to unbag my 4 bags of groceries and ring everything up again - the lady is having problems so she has to double ring a few things,subtract a few things etc.etc. . Then the main lady has to come OK it all again. Then the register wanted to balk at my credit card (it's a good card, I have excellent credit ) but it finally spits out a receipt for $159 and some change. At this point (30 minutes or so) I am not even thinking, I am just ready to get outta there and out from under the baleful glares of those in line behind me (I warned them we might be awhile! ), so I sign the slip and head home. I get home and check the receipt - she has doubled charged me for some cherries, but it hits me that the total bill shoulda been bigger, so I look line by line and somehow, somewhere in all this scanning/deleting/re-scanning a "Vendor Coupon" for $40.54 has been entered!!! I refigure my whole bill and after the overcharge for the cherries I figure out I have a grand total of about $115 dollars in this DVDR, including tax!!! Totally, completely whacked! Now I HAVE to keep the darn thing whether I like the sound or not! Anyway, that was my trip to WalMart.

I'm stuck in a setup limbo. I tried to hook up my new unit last night but I ran into a problem during setup. Im trying to connect the machine to a new Sony Bravia 32" TV which has an available component inputs (I'm using Video 5) and also an assortment of available video inputs. According to the setup manual they suggest setting up the recorder first and then enable the component.

Then the manual says -
If your TV accepts Progressive Scan signal, see the chapter
“Setup Menu Options – PREFERENCE settings” for detailed set up.

Nowhere in the manual can I find “Setup Menu Options – PREFERENCE settings”.

So I tried the following -
With the recorder connected via video cable to my Bravia (Video 3) I was able to get through the setup.

Leaving the video cable in place I also coneected the component cables to the Bravia. I then went to the setup menu (sub menu -video) on the recorder and attempted to change the progressive scan to "enabled".

The picture on video 3 (video) waves and blinks out. Then it reappears about 5 seconds later with the submenu showing progressive scan "dissabled"

I've actually tried to switch to the Bravia's Video 5 (component) during the 5 seconds to see if there would be a menu prompt or something. Once I saw some interference, other times I saw nothing.

I'm fairly sure that the Bravia will auto connect to the Philips at 480i so I tend to think that either the Philips may have a problem or that there is a menu hoop I haven't jumped through.

Anybody connected via component calbes, please help out if you can.

Thanks

I'd guess it is asking you to confirm that you can still see the picture when it switches to 480p. It reverts back if you don't give the confirmation. I'm not sure why you don't see the picture on VIDEO5 though. Is there a picture there normally, without trying to switch to Progressive Mode? Since you have a fixed-pixel display (Bravia) and they all have deinterlacers anyway, going to Progressive Mode won't have much affect on the picture. So you may be perfectly fine sticking with 480i.

I was wondering if the switchback to disabled was due to me not confirming a "do you see this?" question. I actually switched the Bravia to the component input before pulling the trigger on the "enable" menu just to see if any menu briefly showed up on the component side. Didn't see one.

Whoa, I think I've made a logic leap that wasn't necessary. The owners manual gave me the impression that I had to enable progressive mode just to get the component output to be "on". With both the video cable and the component cables plugged in I only have a signal to the video input of the TV, not the component input. As far as the two different video connections possibly the recorder's output defaults to the video mode if more than one is connected?

I'm going to reinstall everything tonight with just the component cables connected and see if I get a 480i signal through. If the component output works at 480i I'm fine with that.

Thanks

Not having your particular DVD Recorder model, I have to guess, but in my experience, all the outputs are active at the same time, I've not heard of a situation where the Component Video outputs are only enabled when Progressive Scan is enabled. That would be unfortuante if that's the case, you'd like to be able to use the Component Video outptus regardless of Interlace/Progressive Mode.

I wish I could remember what and where, but I just recently ran across a recorder or TV spec. list that stated "Priority" next to the Component Connection item.

Sounded as if only that connection would be active even when other connections are in place?

Just tried out the "component cables only" approach - Nada

I plugged in the video cable and its a gorgeous picture :confused:

Anybody know a quick route to resetting everything to default settings, just in case I managed to mess it up during setup?

If not -
next I swap inputs to the Bravia to rule out a bad video 5 input
Then I'm going to have to try another set of cables to rule out a bad set (have to move the huge entertainment center to accomplish that :mad: )

And finally, I'll have to decide whether to deal with returning it or defaulting to video or SVHS.

The cable is S-Video, not S-VHS. S-VHS is the video cassette recording format.

The cable is S-Video, not S-VHS. S-VHS is the video cassette recording format.

Multitasking is not my friend - from what brain belch did I type S-VHS?

My blunders go lower than that though.
I decided to test the connections as best I could from the front of the cabinet so I switched the component cables in the back of the TV and plugged my little old DVD/VCR player into the video 5 - nice picture. Then I knew it wasn't the video 5 input on the TV.

Before I moved the monster entertainment cabinet again I thought I'd plug the original cables back into video-5; first to see if there was a chance that the cables were not snug enough before. (small chance, I had plugged and unplugged these cables more than once last night) And second for the cables to not fall into an inaccessable place in the back of the cabinet. But this time, working from the front of the cabinet and looking over the TV I could reinforce the TV from the front as I inserted the cables. I noticed that the Y cable seemed to resist more so I gave it just a little bit extra push and it slid about 1/8" further.

You guessed it - I turned it on and had an excellent signal via the component connection.

I'm just glad my son wasn't here. So many times I've embarrassed him when I fixed his sound system's "major problem" by identifying and tightening a loose connection. He would have had a field day with me.

Thank You Bobkart and wabjxo for offering help. I'm happy that I have the unit up and running even though I'm somewhat embarrassed to reveal what the real problem was.

That's probably happened to all of us at one time or another.

Glad to hear you got it working!

Has anyone tried to record 16X9 from a video camera through the firewire port? I have a Sony DSR-PDX10 and when I hook it up to the unit using the firewire port it records in ‘squished’ 4X3. I don’t foresee using this function very often but it sure would be nice if it respected the WS flag as I do everything in anamorphic widescreen.

Here's a great review of shooting 16:9 and DV, date 2002 but most still applicable. (http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/understanding_16_9.html)

Here's a good article on 16:9 and DV using examples from your specific camcorder. (http://www.maxent.org/video/16x9.html)

Both taught me lots on 16:9 from DV and may explain why you're getting 4:3?

Thanks for the links wabjxo. I have been using my PC to capture with Scenalizer, edit with Ulead Media Studio Pro 8 and author with DVDLab Pro for a few years now with excellent results. I use my Sony 50” LCD WS TV as a computer monitor and I have the Philips hooked up using the component connections. The player is set up for the WS TV and everything plays correctly from DVDs. The problem is the Philips doesn’t mark it’s recorded mpg files from the firewire port with the WS flag.

With more and more people using real 16X9 capable cameras maybe they’ll fix it in a firmware update.

Can someone help me out. I am a new guy to this dvr. I am trying to figure out recording to dvd for play on other dvd players. I have successfully burned 5 hours of tv onto a disc at one of the longer recording settings, however anything I have tried to burn and finalize that was recorded in SP will not play on other recorders. I am using dvd +R 120mins dvd's.
Can someone enlighten me as to what I am doing wrong??

Can you try a DVD-R? It should work with a DVD+R but there may be some older players that balk at DVD+R . . . ?

whats the difference? R- just older??

whats the difference? R- just older??

DVD-R is more compatible with some older DVD players. What Brand of DVD+R are you using, and what recording speed rating? Theoretically, either one of those factors could cause problems. A couple of my friends have older DVD players that balk at anything recorded on 16x media. I stick with 8x media due to that discovery.

Can someone help me out. I am a new guy to this dvr. I am trying to figure out recording to dvd for play on other dvd players. I have successfully burned 5 hours of tv onto a disc at one of the longer recording settings, however anything I have tried to burn and finalize that was recorded in SP will not play on other recorders. I am using dvd +R 120mins dvd's.
Can someone enlighten me as to what I am doing wrong??


If I recall, the Philipps uses VR mode for DVD's. I know my DVD player won't play DVD's formattted in VR mode, only those in DVD-Video mode. If this has changed, I hope someone lets me know. It was the one thing stopping me from picking up this recorder.

Rick

CLNATR

The files are not vob files. A good trick, record your shows to a dvd rewrite. Down load a free program call "dvd shrink 3.2"

dvd shrink will burn your disc into a standard dvd format that will play on any dvd player. You can also do a little editing with shrink. Not a whole lot but some.

CLNATR

The files are not vob files. A good trick, record your shows to a dvd rewrite. Down load a free program call "dvd shrink 3.2"

dvd shrink will burn your disc into a standard dvd format that will play on any dvd player. You can also do a little editing with shrink. Not a whole lot but some.

Are you sure that they are not video mode files? Meaning that the Philips DVD discs do not contain the standard video mode vob structure?

There reason I ask is because I have the cousin of this unit (Polaroid 2001G) and my DVD recordings are in video mode. I made it a point to look at the file structue because the same question has been asked in the Polaroid thread. The Polaroid without a doubt burns in standard video mode.

You guys ARE finalizing the Discs, aren't you???

The files from your dvd recorder read as Dvd_VR. If you run it through shrink the dvd will read as a dvd-video

The files from your dvd recorder read as Dvd_VR. If you run it through shrink the dvd will read as a dvd-video

The DVD_VR is just the name of the DVD disc. This is an arbitrary naming decision. It has nothing to do with the file format.

The files themselves are in video mode format. If you look at the disc there is a video_ts folder. In the folder there are VOB files. There is a video_ts.ifo file etc. This file structure is "video mode" not VR mode. Don't let what the disc is named fool you.

There is no need to run anything through DVD Shrink. There is nothing to convert. The disc is already in video mode. DVD Shrink may help in making things work on a specific player but it is not converting anything.

The recorder is not capable of recording in VR mode. I wish it offered the option.

edit - I added a jpg of a burned disc to show the file format.

edit # 2. Well I may have to correct myself. The file format could be the +VR format which mimics the video mode format (file structure) but offers some editing capabilities. Looks like I was half right. It's not VR. +VR is a Philips introduced file format. Here's a link that explains it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_formats

Here's a cut and paste that speaks to the +VR mode:

+VR Introduced by Philips for use on +RW. The idea was to keep compatibility with the DVD Video format so it could be played elsewhere, but try and introduce some features as found in the VR mode used on DVD-RW/DVD-RAM. +RW normally always uses this mode in set-top recorders. It doesn't need a separate finalise step to play in other DVD recorders, it is actually finalised just done in the background but makes it bit easier to use, i.e. you can't forget to do it but it does put extra wear on the disc as the same area of the disc is updated every time it is used. Due to DVD Video not being able to take advantage of defect management and the extra overheads of background finalising after each edit or recording, the +VR mode has always been the least reliable, and the editing features may be missing on some DVD recorders to make it more robust.

Because Video Mode and VR mode are DVD Forum standards, they are only used when recording to DVD approved formats i.e. DVD-RAM/DVD-RW/DVD-R discs. +RW isn't approved by the DVD Forum so can't get a license to use the above modes, hence Philips introducing their own +VR mode, so +RW gets +VR and generally they are not mixed.

However, many cheaper recorders are mixing these formats up now and typically this means not bothering to get the recorder approved by the DVD verification labs and so not paying the appropriate licence fee or reaching a certain level of quality or compatibility, and so just use +VR mode on DVD-RW and +RW. You can tell these by the lack of the DVD Video logo!

I guess this is why Philips doesn't advertise the -R capabilities even though -R works fine.

Here's a cut and paste that speaks to the +VR mode:

+VR Introduced by Philips for use on +RW. The idea was to keep compatibility with the DVD Video format so it could be played elsewhere, but try and introduce some features as found in the VR mode used on DVD-RW/DVD-RAM. +RW normally always uses this mode in set-top recorders. It doesn't need a separate finalise step to play in other DVD recorders, it is actually finalised just done in the background but makes it bit easier to use, i.e. you can't forget to do it but it does put extra wear on the disc as the same area of the disc is updated every time it is used. Due to DVD Video not being able to take advantage of defect management and the extra overheads of background finalising after each edit or recording, the +VR mode has always been the least reliable, and the editing features may be missing on some DVD recorders to make it more robust.

Because Video Mode and VR mode are DVD Forum standards, they are only used when recording to DVD approved formats i.e. DVD-RAM/DVD-RW/DVD-R discs. +RW isn't approved by the DVD Forum so can't get a license to use the above modes, hence Philips introducing their own +VR mode, so +RW gets +VR and generally they are not mixed.

However, many cheaper recorders are mixing these formats up now and typically this means not bothering to get the recorder approved by the DVD verification labs and so not paying the appropriate licence fee or reaching a certain level of quality or compatibility, and so just use +VR mode on DVD-RW and +RW. You can tell these by the lack of the DVD Video logo!

I guess this is why Philips doesn't advertise the -R capabilities even though -R works fine.

Nextoo

Are you talking about the Phillips or the Polaroid? I might try one of these if this is the case. I tried using the -VR mode on both of my current recorders, and my OPPO wouldn't reocognize the DVD. But if the Philipps uses a different VR mode, maybe it would work.

Does the Polaroid and the Philips use the same mode?

Thanks,
Rick

Nextoo

Are you talking about the Phillips or the Polaroid? I might try one of these if this is the case. I tried using the -VR mode on both of my current recorders, and my OPPO wouldn't reocognize the DVD. But if the Philipps uses a different VR mode, maybe it would work.

Does the Polaroid and the Philips use the same mode?

Thanks,
Rick

I believe they record the same. The Polaroid is made by Philips. I am making a small leap but based on what I've read they do record the same way.

The DVD's I am using for burning are "Verbatim DVD+R" It says they are 16x or burn up to 16x. Is that all my problem is? The DVD's?

And yes I am finalizing discs.

It plays fine on the dvr after burning, it just won't play on my upstairs dvd player (3yrs old)

What brand/model is the dvd player.

rca

Rc5240p

I'd try -R. That model makes no claims as it concerns burned media. You might have a better chance with -R

Here is all it says about media:

It's kind of crazy. I burn 1 disc, it doesn't work. I do another one and it works on my other player. It seems hit and miss. I'll try a R- and see what happens (when I get to a store)
Thanks for the insight everyone. I am new to this stuff and this is a great forum to learn.

RCA was one of the models that chokes on 16x discs for me and my pals. That may be the main problem. Try 8x and see what happens. I predict they will play fine. I only buy 8x now for this very reason.

The DVD_VR is just the name of the DVD disc. This is an arbitrary naming decision. It has nothing to do with the file format.

The files themselves are in video mode format. If you look at the disc there is a video_ts folder. In the folder there are VOB files. There is a video_ts.ifo file etc. This file structure is "video mode" not VR mode. Don't let what the disc is named fool you.

There is no need to run anything through DVD Shrink. There is nothing to convert. The disc is already in video mode. DVD Shrink may help in making things work on a specific player but it is not converting anything.

The recorder is not capable of recording in VR mode. I wish it offered the option.

edit - I added a jpg of a burned disc to show the file format.

edit # 2. Well I may have to correct myself. The file format could be the +VR format which mimics the video mode format (file structure) but offers some editing capabilities. Looks like I was half right. It's not VR. +VR is a Philips introduced file format. Here's a link that explains it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_formats


OK, I checked VR mode on two other DVD recorders I have and neither of them have the DVD-Video file structure when using VR mode after finalizing. SO perhaps you're right and what the poloroid uses (and presumably the Philips) is a +VR mode.

I actually emailed Philips about this a few months ago (asking if they do indeed use VR mode and explained my problem. Their email response said they didn't understand the question and suggested I call customer support rather than email. I decided not to pursue it at that point.

Perhaps I'll look at this again, since I'm still in market for another DVD recorder with a Hard drive. (and Wal-Mart has a pretty good return policy.

(I guess now I'll have to go back over the Polaroid and Philllips threads to decide which one to check out.

Thanks
Rick

I read the wikipedia link. I do not know if the author of the piece meant to say dvd recorders when talking about the play ability of VR mode recordings. As most burners of dvd's know. Recorders are a lot more forgiving about what they will play or read than just plain old dvd players.

All I truly know as a burner of many dvd's, is the best way to get wide acceptance of what you burn is to get a burner that allows you book type as a dvd rom.

The only input I have running into my 3345h is the s-video through the ext-2 input. Problem is, every time the machine is turned off and then back on, the machine does not remember that I was using ext-2 and defaults back to the standard tuner. Is there some secret way to fix this, or is this something Philips needs to address in a new firmware revision?

The only input I have running into my 3345h is the s-video through the ext-2 input. Problem is, every time the machine is turned off and then back on, the machine does not remember that I was using ext-2 and defaults back to the standard tuner. Is there some secret way to fix this, or is this something Philips needs to address in a new firmware revision?

Not sure phreak. Mine always defaults to tuner first regardless of what Mode it was in upon shutdown. I have seen nothing in the menus to change that either.

Saw some on ebay with 320 and 500 gig hard drives. Did philips increase the storage or these just where someone replaced the 160 gig drive with a 500 gig drive? If I could replace original HD with a larger hard drive I might want to try it.

Is there a limit to how many Edit Points you can put on one recording with this unit? I was editing a football game I had previously recorded to the HDD and about midway thru the 2nd half when I tried to edit probably the 15th or 16th commercial out all my Edit Points preceding that one disappeared and I could not place the New Edit Point!!

When I rewound it just a bit all my Edit Points re-appeared. When I went forward again they all disappeared again! Then the Unit stopped responding to my remote, nor would the buttons on the unit function. Meanwhile, the game was still "playing" so I let it run to the end of the Title hoping that would help. It didn't. The unit was then fully locked up and only unplugging it from power worked. I plugged it back in, went back to my game, and ALL My Edit Points were gone!! : ( Has anyone here experienced anything similar with this unit?!?!?! : (

I was wondering if you think this is a good replacement for the Pioneer 531H. I need something with a larger hard drive and this philips looks like a good deal. Are there any features of the 531H that are missing from this philips model? Is the editing out commercials easier or more difficult?

Mertens, up to my problem last night I have found editing pretty easy with the Philips. Now I am a bit worried. Also, the Philips does NOT allow Playing a Preset Recording that is still in Progress. No True Chase Play on a Preset Recording Still in progress.

If I were buying again I would spend a bit more and get a Panny or a Pio. But I got my Philips for cheap so I am keeping it.

Saw some on ebay with 320 and 500 gig hard drives. Did philips increase the storage or these just where someone replaced the 160 gig drive with a 500 gig drive? If I could replace original HD with a larger hard drive I might want to try it.
I would just get one and try it, if your careful you can put in the old drive and take it back if it doesn't work out for you. It's basically the same machine as the polaroid so I'm pretty sure it will work the same way.

I would just get one and try it, if your careful you can put in the old drive and take it back if it doesn't work out for you. It's basically the same machine as the polaroid so I'm pretty sure it will work the same way.

I was wondering about this but it seems nobody has given it a try. I agree. There is a good chance it will work.

Also, the Philips does NOT allow Playing a Preset Recording that is still in Progress. No True Chase Play on a Preset Recording Still in progress.


lol, I'm not exactly sure what that means. I mean, the "still in progess" part, do you mean its still recording live onto the hd?

Thanx for the response. I just saw a decent deal on this unit, so I got it. I hope it works out. The Pioneer I had was good, but the hd was just not enough because of a busy schedule.

While the unit is currently recording a Pre-Programmed (Timer set) recording to the HDD you cannot skip back to the beginning and start watching the program from the starting point, or pause, ff, or rewind. I really really miss that feature with this unit. Back earlier in this thread myself and several other folks did some fairly in depth reviews of this unit. Good luck with your purchase, and please post anything you learn about it here so we can all benefit. thanks.......'Shred

This unit does not have true chase play. But it can be simulated. This is how. If you are in the middle of a timer recording and want to start from the beginning. Just hit the stop button. Once you hit stop and the recording is canceled. You then hit the record button on the remote. Once starts the recording, twice for 30 min, three times for an hour and so on.

This starts a new recording of the program you were recording. Then hit the hdd button select the program you were recording and start watching. When you reach the end just switch back to the tuner and the new recording. Just follow the instructions for viewing the recording.

This unit does not have true chase play. But it can be simulated. This is how. If you are in the middle of a timer recording and want to start from the beginning. Just hit the stop button. Once you hit stop and the recording is canceled. You then hit the record button on the remote. Once starts the recording, twice for 30 min, three times for an hour and so on.

This starts a new recording of the program you were recording. Then hit the hdd button select the program you were recording and start watching. When you reach the end just switch back to the tuner and the new recording. Just follow the instructions for viewing the recording.

This is an OK workaround so long as it isn't a program you want to keep. ;)

I appreciate you sharing it though, 'cos it will be good for throwaways. There is no reason Philips couldn't make this unit do True Chase Play with a decent Firmware upgrade. They should also add the ability to frame advance in reverse as well. this would Greatly aid editing. This machine could have been a Killer, but Philips dropped the ball in too many places.

Actually both recordings will be on the harddrive. One will be under the timer recording name. And the other will be given a name of title 01 or 02 etc. depending on how many unamed recording you have.

When you switch back to the tuner you have to stop the new recording if it has not already ended. Then go back to hdd to view the new title.

If you want you can burn both titles to a dvd for one seemless movie or program.

I must agree that Philips really dropped the ball on this machine. Such a shame.

I have just bought a 3455. When I receive the signal from DVDR( composite output ), the TV screen is signaficant white than receiving the signal from cable(RF output of the DVDR). Who can tell me if it is normal, or my unit has bad quality and needs to be changed? Thanks ahead.

My component picture is a very good picture to my tv. Recheck that you have the connections right.

Thank you, soultravler. I mean the (CVBS)VIDEO, the correct name should be composite. Sorry.

I decided to make a post about Editing on this Philips unit since I am getting perfect Edits most of the time now. Many of you may not need input on this, but perhaps it may help a few.

I Edit mostly NCAA basketball and a few sitcoms. For basketball I use the SP 2hr. mode and then edit out commercials/halftime etc. Even if the game goes into overtime I still can fit it on a 4.7gb DVD after editing.

First I use the Divide function to trim off the non-essential material at the start and finish of the recording.

Next I enter the Edit mode on the Title and start jumping forward using the 30 second Commercial skip ( > ) to advance thru the Title. In my experience you will miss very few commercials and other edit points advancing in this manner.

When I encounter a commercial I use the 10 sec. Reverse skip ( < ) to find a position just prior to the start of the commercial. I then press the Pause button ( >ll ) just as the desired programing is ending and then use the Next button ( >l ) to Frame Advance 'til the game/sitcom picture is allllmost faded out to black, but not quite all the way. I then use the OK (OK) button to begin the Edit.

Next I use the 30 sec. Advance ( > ) to reach the start of my desired programming, and then the 10 sec. Reverse skip ( < ) to find the end of the commercial and then Pause ( >ll ) again. Next I Frame Advance until the game/sitcom is juuuuust beginning to fade in and hit the OK (OK) button to end this Edit point. I almost never get flash frames of the commercial on either end of the Edit using this method. I repeat until I have removed all undesired material from the Title

I also "measure twice but cut once" in most instances to make sure I am really where I want to be before I place the Edit points. I find that easier and faster than having to undo/redo later. You have to pay attention to the Audio as well if you want a perfect Edit. With a little practice I've found I can do all of these steps far faster than it sounds here.

To check my edit points I then Play the Title and use the 5 minute Advance (Next) button ( >l ) to move quickly thru the Title. It will stop at all edit points. Pay attention to the time reflected on the "Progress Bar" and you can tell when you encounter and edit point because it will usually be less than the standard "5 minute jump". When I encounter and Edit point I use the 10 sec. Reverse skip ( < ) to back up so I can check both the "lead out" and "lead in" Edit points. In most cases using the methods above I get a perfect "flash free" edit. :D

Finally, I burn to Disc as needed and then use Magic DVD Copier to Archive the Title on my Western Digital MyBook 500gb external hard drive, which incidentally NewEgg has on sale right now for about $204 delivered which is a heck of a deal!!

Magic DVD Copier works great with the VR Files the Philips produces, and creates Video Files (VOB) which I can easily "load" into Power DVD and play on my Computer if I so desire. I think I have found my comfort zone with recording, editing and archiving with this unit. :)