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Philips 985 DVD Recorder +R type, on closeout at Circuit City, 380$-415$ or less - Page 2  

post #31 of 175
6/9/03 at 12:09pm
I was wavering on if I should keep the 985 I bought. The conensys at the dvdplusrw forums are very harsh towards the 985 (and with Philips in general) and I didn't know if I could justify the price of the unit (how often does one actually record to DVD?).

In the end I decided that I keep enough crap on my Tivo that I could offload to DVD to justify the unit.

I also got a sweet deal on DVD+R media from CC. I bought six 5 packs of Memorex DVD+R media for $60. I price matched with the Office Depot promotion.

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post #32 of 175
6/9/03 at 6:27pm
My 985 works well and I like it better that the Panasonics. Much of the disgruntlement had to do with a firmware upgrade that had some problems.

The most recent firmware release seems to work pretty well for most, although Phillips, like all manufacturers, produces some lemon recorders. Many of the problems undoubtably are also due to people buying white box DVD media.
post #33 of 175
6/9/03 at 6:45pm
Thread Starter 
Best Buy has the FujiFilm media for 1.50$-2.00$ all the time and the are considered very high quality discs by everyone I know that uses them, never had a bad one yet.

They are sold in 25 and 50 packs.

As to the harsh words, that's what I alread said above, most of it was old firmware or the very first run of units and even more of it were people posting over and over making it look like there were MANY more occurences of the same problem over and over than there really were.

If you read that forum, these units are absolute junkpile material when in fact they record fairly high video quality. Its kind of misleading, but about 2 years ago , remember this was ALLLL new technology and software in the form of the firmwares.
post #34 of 175
6/9/03 at 7:21pm
My error... It was the Panasonic E30 that was the open box at my CC. The 985 was $419 and they had one left in a box. It was manufactured in 2002 and the box said A03. I did not pick it up based on what I read here about the A41 being superior. Was this a mistake?
post #35 of 175
6/10/03 at 4:18am
I picked up a DVDR985 yesterday that was an A03 unit. From what is posted above and what I have read elsewhere, if the unit was made December 2002 or later, then it theoretically should have updated hardware. Whether it does or not, I bought the Circuit City extended warranty. According to the salesman, if you bring it back 3 times and have any other problem, they will refund your full puirchase price in the form of a CC voucher. By that time, the next generation of machines will be out. I don't mind taking it back if I have to, so I view this as a no risk proposition.

Regarding price, you may be able to get a unit cheaper if you can cite a Circuit City store selling the same unit at a lower price and insist that the store manager call (not check on the computer) that store for verification. I found that Circuit City pricing varies substantially by geographic region.
post #36 of 175
6/10/03 at 6:19am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I would grab the A03 unit, its probably a later engine even if its not the A41, there were several later versions of the engines according to Philips. That is a known fact, not speculation, I have spoken to them on the phone.

Just get the extended warranty, get CC's if you want a new deck, get Philips if you want it repaired or a new Philips unit or a refund if you complain like I did. They refunded all my original cost/money with the first run unit purchase I made in the beginning of last year(2002), in December of 2002. I got the shipping, full cost of the 985, and 100$ for blank dvd's that for one reason or another did not burn properly in the +R format with the very first firmware version.


The point is they took care of me just fine, and I saved 400$ when I went out and bought a 985 replacement on my own.
post #37 of 175
6/10/03 at 9:58am
Thanks for everybody's input. I called the CC phone number listed on the website. There was still the one at my local store so I ordered it. They charged me the full price listed on the website, but will refund the difference when I pick it up at the store (I have that in writing). It's a great deal.
post #38 of 175
6/10/03 at 11:16am
I got one from CC today, brand new in the box, $344 + a free DVD by mail. Now, where can I find some cheap good discs to record on? I don't want to buy them in packs of 20 or more. Does Best Buy have the FujiFilm discs in packs of, say, 3?

R
post #39 of 175
6/10/03 at 12:48pm
Thread Starter 
raz:

Thats a steal, people paid 899$ or more for these last year, myself included!
post #40 of 175
6/10/03 at 2:27pm
ZZtop,

The setup is a pain though, I still haven't figured out how to switch between Ext1, Ext2, Ext3, etc

R
post #41 of 175
6/10/03 at 3:24pm
I just got the last new one at the Woodbury, MN Circuit City. It had the A41 seriel # also. If anyone's interested, they still had the floor model. It was manufactured in February, 2002, in Belgium - I forgot to look at the serial #. The Burnsville, MN Circuit City, however, posted a $537 price for this unit.
post #42 of 175
6/10/03 at 3:59pm
Thread Starter 
You switch just by changing channels low below 1 or whatever, and then ext 1 , ext 2, ext 3 are listed.

If you mean the inputs on the back, simply hook up one thing at a time, though they are labeled and should be able to be understood that way.
post #43 of 175
6/10/03 at 5:49pm
ZZtop,

Thanks, I got it now! So far so good, the Philips records beautifully!

R
post #44 of 175
6/11/03 at 11:02am
I just picked up one of these at my local CC for $344! :D When I called this morning, they told me $599. To make a long story short, I got the manager to call another store (about an hour away that had told me their price was $344 but they didn’t have any in stock). He called me back and said “It seems that the only stores listing it for $344 are those that don’t have any in stock. But, if you want it for that price, I’ll sell it to you for thatâ€. So, I ran down there at lunch. They had two new, sealed boxes on the floor. One was A03, the other A41. Needless to say I bought the A41. It even comes with a CC rebate for 2 free movie tickets and the Philips James Bond DVD rebate (Die Another Day DVD and the Bond DVD 3-Pack since it is a “Level 2†purchase). What a freakin’ sweet deal! :D Thanks ZZtop! Now I just need to convince the wife that we really need it! :eek:
post #45 of 175
6/11/03 at 12:13pm
Quote:
Now I just need to convince the wife that we really need it!
Let me know what excuse you used. I still haven't come up with a good explanation to justify the $450 charge on the credit card statement.

Luckily the 985 fits in the doghouse, so I am ok. :)
post #46 of 175
6/11/03 at 1:25pm
It was easy for me... we had a bunch of old VHS tapes of school plays and home movies that were literally falling apart. "They'll last forever if we can get them on DVD!"
post #47 of 175
6/11/03 at 6:41pm
Thread Starter 
For me its been a super VCR replacement and superb video quality recording when the source is good.

I send a signal out my Zenith 520 to it, and its AWESOME.

I hope everyone gets as much fun out of it as I do thats all..

Mail the warranty card within 10 days, and again I recommend everyone by the extended warrany from CC or philips. CC's might be cheaper, just to cover yourself.

That A41 model at that price was real find TonyS, you got VERY luck! I paid 599$ for my replacement after Philips refunded me on my bad unit in December.
post #48 of 175
6/12/03 at 11:43pm
ZZtop,

How long have you had your A41? And, how do you know that the A41 units are more reliable than previous versions of the 985?

Thanks,

R
post #49 of 175
6/13/03 at 8:16am
So - now that I own one of these machines, what media is ideal/ok/best, both in DVD+R and DVD+RW? I started with some Verbatim I found at a decent price at Sam's - I have no idea where these stand in the media world.
post #50 of 175
6/13/03 at 8:29am
Alan,

I read that the Ritek DVD+R and DVD+RW discs are very good and quite cheap.

R
post #51 of 175
6/13/03 at 9:15am
Thread Starter 
Verbatims have been problems for people, Riteks have also.

Both are "OKAY" in my opinion but both generate coasters from time to time. They are both much more a problem when you try to play them in another player.

Both are good buys for the price per disc cost, but the favored gold standard seems to be the FujiFilm dvd+R's you can get at Best Buyu for 1.5$-2$ each. No one wants to record discs you cant use in another machine or eventually if and when the 985 wears out if you have it for a long time.

I have had personal experience with the Ritek , they were better than the Verbatim for me as far as ranking them.

GO Fuji!
post #52 of 175
6/14/03 at 7:12am
Not sure if anyone else beat me on the deal ... I got an openbox from CC (everything will included except the box, virtually brand new) for $299 + tax.

I am not hearing others mention this ... but here goes ...

As a former PC-based Digital Video Capture freak ... I am totally sold on the firewire input on this unit ... my camcorder video never looked so good !!!!

Its nuts to think of going back to using a PC + firewire card + large HD + unusable PC while capture is on + TMPENC editing + very long DVD burning time ... environment ... FORGET ABOUT IT !!!

My PC cost me $1500 + loads of hours of my time to burn DVDs ... INSANE INSANE INSANE !!

Oh ... apart from firewire recording ... this DVD recorder is a true highend progressive player and upconverter ...

Did I say it costs only $299 ?

I think, I need a cold shower.
post #53 of 175
6/14/03 at 9:19am
Can anyone comment of how the PQ of the DVD player portion of the 985 compares with a high quality player like the XP50? I've been toying with the idea of buying an XP50 before they are gone, but I wonder if the 985 I just bought would product a very comparable PQ.
post #54 of 175
6/14/03 at 9:35am
Thread Starter 
The 985 has the Faroujdia chip set, and is fairly stable and its output has been said to be better than that of other dvd decks with the same chipset.

The Samsung 963SA which I bought but hardly ever used seemed to be ever so slightly better to my eye.

For a player only, currently the new Bravo D1 seems to have the best PQ.
post #55 of 175
6/14/03 at 4:51pm
OK... here's a question... does the 985 support Anamorphic squeeze in playback? I have a Sony XBR450.
post #56 of 175
6/15/03 at 11:28am
Office Max in the Orange County/Los Angeles area has 5 -pack HP DVD+R's for $7.99.

So far I've tried Ritek DVD+RW, Philips DVD+RW and Maxell DVD+RW discs on my 985 and Maxell discs work the best.

R
post #57 of 175
6/15/03 at 12:05pm
BB seems to have Fugi with rebates ever other week,
Both the DVD+R / +RW are very good.
post #58 of 175
6/15/03 at 1:03pm
Thread Starter 
These are considered high quality dvd's in the reviews and I have burned about 100, not one coast among the bunch :)

They are all I use, period.

And thats true, you go to BB and get them for 2$ a piece regular price or get a rebate and get them for around $1.50. To me thats cheap and they have been that price for months now at BB. They are just frequently sold out so people don't see them.

AND I have noticed TDK 4x media for 4x speed computer burners for the SAME price per disc pretty much. :eek:
post #59 of 175
6/15/03 at 2:35pm
Can someone tell me the BB part number for the DVD+RW that sells for $2 ????

My BB does not have them for that price ... that I know of.

Here is what I have found:

http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=...at=&e=11168020

and thats a 5-pack Fuji DVD+RW for $20 at BB.

Any help is appreciated !!


Thanks.

Max
post #60 of 175
6/15/03 at 3:38pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by umenon
Can someone tell me the BB part number for the DVD+RW that sells for $2 ????

My BB does not have them for that price ... that I know of.

Here is what I have found:

http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=...at=&e=11168020

and thats a 5-pack Fuji DVD+RW for $20 at BB.

Any help is appreciated !!


Thanks.

Max
Look for the 25, 250, or 100 packs.

The 50 and 100 are often just several 25's shrunk wrapped together. The are big spindles, not in boxes. The store in Perimeter Mall, also called Dunwoody, located in Atlanta has them in stock all the time.

You could always call them. I would give you the number but I don't think thats allowed. Hope this helps.
;)
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AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › DVD Recorders (Standard Def) › Philips 985 DVD Recorder +R type, on closeout at Circuit City, 380$-415$ or less