8th Generation of Philips/Magnavox HDD/DVD Recorders:
MDR533H/F7, MDR535H/F7, MDR537H/F7 (53x Series)
Three new Mag HDD/DVD recorders have started arriving:
533 ( 320GB ): $244 New, Walmart.
535 ( 500GB ): $248 New, Walmart.
537 (1000GB): $288 New, Walmart.
Operating Manual. The download menu will show "MDR535H" but it's for all three models.
These will be new versions of the 515, as "we" requested in "our" Prime-1 Wish... actually, one I added after a grapevine grabbed me and said it was all over, we might not get ANYTHING more, which prompted the "appeal to Walmart" with the Prime-1 request reiterated from Wish List #1, and the rest is history! You can blame me or thank me for Prime-1, your choice. 
Each will have a different-sized HDD: 320GB, 500GB, 1TB (1000GB). They'll also have a "different" tuner... ANT IN/OUT connectors are closer together. Previous tuner reached end-of-life (EOL) so Funai had to get a different one. It's still a hybrid (switched) design. Also, HDD title capacity has been increased in the FW from 600 to 900.
Unfortunately, virtually all the errors, omissions and misleads in the manual are still there. Here's a list with page numbers added so newbies know what's still wrong.
Top 12 Things Still Wrong, Misleading or Omitted In the 53x Manual
Jump To:
- WRONG: Connection sketch for cable box shows this DVDR behind the box. Still there and still wrong. pg 19.
- WRONG: Use your TV tuner (CH- from 2) to find the Initial Setup menu. Fixed in 53x manual. pg 22.
- WRONG: Digital channels can't be recovered once deleted. Still wrong, pg 31.
- WRONG: PBS is only channel mentioned for auto clock setting. Still wrong. PBS has a time signal but it's almost always WRONG! FOX, CBS & some ABC stations better. pp 28, 32-33.
- WRONG: "Unfinalized disc" not playable. Still wrong, pg 67.
- WRONG: Overwrite can only be done on unfinalized DVD±RW. Still wrong, pg 52.
- OBSCURE: Only one note on important effect of Progressive Scan setting on Mag outputs. Still obscure, still only on pg 15.
- MISLEADING: "This unit cannot record images with an aspect ratio of 16:9." Makes a technical point users don't give a shitzu about... it's still misleading and totally unnecessary. Doesn't tell the MOST CRITICAL PART of this highly technical, nuts-&-bolts subject, as described below. MANY people don't buy after reading this ill-advised statement, or they buy then don't know they have to set TV Aspect to "16:9 Wide" to record WS stuff. Both groups then post negative comments quoting this misleading statement from the manual. Other people believe this crap and THEY decide it's not for them. The manual should simply tell readers they can record or copy WS if they set Video > TV Aspect to "16:9 Wide." pg 45.
- HALF-TRUTH: Power backup time is 30 sec. (1-hour for 515 & 53x). Both true but only if you don't have Auto Clock ON or set for MANUAL channel. pg 34.
- OMITTED: Special Edit/Scene Delete instructions for Front- and End-Cut are undocumented. Still omitted, pp 93-94.
- OMITTED: No warning that real-time rec or dub to DVD at different rec mode makes that the default mode. Still omitted.
- OMITTED: The Soft Reset procedure for "dead" or "frozen" units. Still omitted but necessary if Funai hasn't fixed the rare but annoying "freeze" issue, which has generated lots of negative reviews because they're the perfect way to shows their anger, and they don't know how easy it is to recover from. No mention in the manual and no reference to avsforum.com for the answer. Still annoying but recoverable if they knew how.
1. WRONG: Connection sketch for cable box wrong for most people. Still wrong. pg 19
For a system with a cable box, the manual shows the box 1st on the coax but that makes this DVDR a slave to the box, i.e., you can only record whatever single channel the box is tuned to and you can't watch one channel while recording another. Ridiculous.
DVDR 1st on the coax, as shown here, takes advantage of this DVDRs amplified and filtered coax passthru/splitter circuit and makes any clear-QAM channels (many users have them) "independently" tunable and recordable. You can also record one channel on this DVDR while watching another channel thru the cable box or TV's independent tuner.
This doesn't change even if ALL your cable channels are scrambled, and you'll only knoiw THAT if you disregard the sketch and put this DVDR 1st on the coax, do an Auto Channel Preset > Cable (Analog/Digital), and see if your DVDR can tune any channels by itself. Worst case: this DVDR can still provide an amplified passthru signal, whether it's on or off, to the cable box if this DVDR is 1st on the coax.
Only if you order PPV/VOD thru the box or if this DVDR interferes with your cableco's Guide or maintenance services should you, instead, use a 2-way bidirectional splitter, with its -3.7dB (min.) signal loss, on the incoming cable, with one output to the cable box and one to this DVDR.
JUST DO NOT MAKE THIS DVDR A SLAVE TO THE BOX BY CONNECTING THE BOX 1ST ON THE COAX AS SHOWN IN THE MANUAL!
Unlike a cable box, the incoming coax from a satellite antenna, which has power/amperage, should not connected to this DVDR at all, as shown here.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
2. WRONG: Use your TV tuner (CH- from 2) to "find" the Initial Setup menu. Fixed in 53x manual. pg 22.
This error alone must account for a high percentage of unit returns. To see the Initial Setup menu, you have to have your TV on the Input to which you connected this DVDR.
Unfortunatelu, the "Before You Start" page in the manual advises you to use your TV tuner to find the Initial Setup menu, as follows: "Press '2' on TV's remote control, then press channel down button repeatedly until you see "Initial Setup" menu." That's WRONG for most people!
Funai apparently assumed that your TV's tuner worked like their oddball, hybrid (switched) tuner in this DVDR. Their tuner ratchets thru the channels AND eventually lands on one of its external inputs (L1, L2, L3, USB).
Your HDTV probably does NOT work that way since most modern TVs have an integrated tuner with only channels in its CH+/- sequence... it never lands on any of its inputs. Your HDTV prob. has a separate button to select one of its INPUTS.
To see the Initial Setup menu, simply select the TV INPUT to which you connected this DVDR... and that can't be the coax connector (ANT IN) since nothing internal on the DVDR goes thru that coax, it's just a signal passthru.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
3. WRONG: Digital channels can't be recovered once deleted. Still wrong. pg 31
Once you complete an Auto Channel Preset successfully, both analog and digital channels can be deleted with Manual Channel Preset, and those channels can be added back when desired with the same Manual Preset menu. Deleting and Adding only affect which channels are in CH+/- button memory... even "Deleted" channels can still be tuned or used in a Timer program if entered directly with the number buttons. .
These DVDRs add and delete DIGITAL channels as a group, so you can't delete just one subchannel... in fact, the Manual Channel Preset menu allows entry of just the major channel number. However, one benefit of this is that, once you have a digital channel group in memory, any new subchannels added by the broadcaster or cableco are AUTOMATICALLY added and tunable in the normal CH+/- sequence... you don't need a complete rescan like our HDTVs do... unless they add a new digital channel group, and then you can add it with a Manual Channel Preset (of course, you have to know they added that group first! )
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
4. WRONG: PBS is only channel mentioned for auto clock setting. . Still wrong. PBS has a time signal but it's almost always WRONG. FOX, CBS & some ABC stations better. pp 28, 32-33,
When the unit is off, Auto-Clock will search the signal coming thru the coax at noon and midnight for ANY channel with a time signal... doesn't have to be PBS. For the 3575/3576 and 2080, that can be ANY analog channel, and for the 2160/2160A/513/515 that can be ANY analog or digital channel. With the Auto Clock > Manual menu, you can set any of the units to search for one SPECIFIC channel, and you can CONFIRM that channel has a good time signal using "The 11:57 Procedure" described here. An Auto Clock > Manual setting prevents an all-channel search and, thereby, reduces the chance of running into a "rogue" signal that can mis-set the time or year or even freeze the machine.
The manual also says this: "If this unit is connected to a cable/satellite box, select the local PBS station on them to set the clock automatically." This DVDR can apparently get a time signal from a cable/sat box ONLY if you connect this DVDR on the coax AFTER the box and MANUALLY set the box to a channel with a good time signal. So, you'd be back to "slave" status as mentioned in item 1 above and a manual process.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
5. WRONG: Unfinalized disc not playable. Still wrong. pg 67
You can PLAY or RW-ERASE unfinalized discs in the same brand of Mag or Philips HDD DVDR that created those discs. With Make Recording Compatible (MRC) turned ON, you can PLAY/RECORD/DUB/RW-ERASE/TITLE DELETE in the same brand or the OTHER brand of Mag/Philips HDD DVDR. With MRC ON, and AFTER a 6-sec manual rec/dub or an RW is Erased, ALL disc ops become available, including:
- Finalizing ±R/-RW discs and Unfinalizing -RW discs, as described here. If you want to use a Finalized -RW in the other machine, Unfinalize it first in the machine it was created in.
- Deleting the Empty Title/Space on DVD±R discs, as described here.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
6. WRONG: Overwrite can only be done on unfinalized DVD±RW. Still wrong. pg 52
Manual shows Overwrite only applicable to DVD±RW, but it can also be used on unfinalized DVD±R, as in Deleting the Empty Title described here.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
7. OBSCURE: Only one note on important effect of Progressive Scan setting on Mag outputs. Still obscure. pg 15
This note in the manual should be repeated everywhere "Progressive Scan" usage is mentioned in the manual (5 other pages).
First "Connection" page is only place in Mag manual that mentions no output from VIDEO OUT or S-VIDEO OUT jacks when Progressive Scan is ON. Those connection types in any device are NOT designed to handle a Progressive Scan (PS) signal, and these PhilMag DVDRs handle that differently. It's OK to set PS ON in the Philips 3575/3576 since they will send a video signal thru Composite and S-Video outputs... it'll just be auto-converted to interlaced 480i which those connection types CAN handle. On the other hand, the Mags will NOT send ANY signal thru Composite and S-Video outputs with PS ON. Turn it on in those units only if (1) you need to use Component (RGB) connections, (2) you can see a PQ difference between PS on and off, AND (3) you don't need Composite or S-Video output. Leaving PS off allows use of all connections. HDMI has a dedicated "HDMI" button on the remote for selecting and controlling its video formats (480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p) and an HDMI menu setting for selecting "HDMI Format" (either analog RGB/YPbPr or digital YCbCr).
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
8. MISLEADING: "This unit cannot record images with an aspect ratio of 16:9". Still misleading. pg 45
Technically true but users couldn't care less... they just want to know if it can record a 16:9 WS program and display it correctly on their HDTVs. It leaves the user hanging without telling the important part: SDTV DVDRs like ours have to record all content in a 4:3 video frame because the DVD std was based on the old NTSC 4:3 std. And an even more important part is: the DVD std ALSO allows a combo of square/non-square pixels, variable horiz. rez, compression and decompression within that 4:3 frame, which allows your HDTV to stretch that frame into a natural WS image.
Explained another way, Wikipedia says this about "anamorphic" widescreen (a term you'll see here a lot) that explains the 4:3-to-16:9 transition perfectly [with my bracketed edits]:
"... anamorphic format camera lenses [our DVDRs] compress the image horizontally so that it fits a standard [4:3] frame, and anamorphic projection lenses [our HDTVs] restore the image and spread it over the wide screen."
It IS a technical subject, so if you really need more technical details, here's a nice Wikipedia entry on Widescreen where you can read a little about why SDTV DVDRs record all content "as 4:3."
If you're a dimwit like me, all this technical crap probably makes your head hurt!? Even that last Wiki link above has to admit at top: "This article may be confusing or unclear to readers"... duh, ya think!? To make your head feel better, just think like I do: There's some "electronic voodoo" going on in our 4:3 frames that makes digital WS programs look beeeeauuutiful! Just do as I do: let the technicians argue this among themselves while we pragmatists revel in our wonderful widescreen world!
More info on WS related specifically to these DVDRs is here.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
9. HALF-TRUTH: Power backup time is 30 sec (1 hour for 515 & 53x). Both true but only if you don't have Auto Clock ON or set for MANUAL channel. pg 34.
True ONLY IF Auto Clock is set to OFF. When set to AUTO or MANUAL (even if you have no confirmed time signal), 30-sec power backup extends to 2-3 min. and 1-hour extends to at least 2 hours and sometimes an unbelievable time. With a 515, rmacdona got 60 hours! A power loss for MORE than those time periods loses the clock time and all timer rec programs (cuz they're tied to the clock). However, HDD titles, channel memory, and all menu settings remain.
Weird note: During a total power loss here, my 3575's and 2160 maintained all settings, incl. clock and timer rec, for 12 hours! My units had been set for Auto Clock > Manual > FOX analog channel in my cable TV feed for 9 months.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
10. OMITTED: Special Edit/Scene Delete instructions for Front- and End-Cut are undocumented. Still omitted. pp 93-94
The manual describes how to remove a commercial inside a title... a Mid-Cut. However, there are NO instructions for making Front- and End-Cuts, both of which are needed for virtually every title you care about. Those cuts can only be done accurately and reliably by using a specific play-mode button to set Start and End points, as described here.
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
11. OMITTED: No warning that a real-time rec or dub to DVD at different rec mode makes that the default mode. Still omitted.
Users need some notation or warning that a real-time record or dub at a rec mode different than their current Default changes their Default to the mode selected for the rec or dub to DVD. This is true for a manual recording, manual timed recording or real-time dub (RTD).
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
12. OMITTED: The Reset procedure for "dead" or "frozen" units. Nowhere to be found. Oh wait, it's only in a help file in this thread.
The manual doesn't mention the Soft Reset procedure that can bring "dead" or "frozen" units back to life.
In another forum, a gearhead found a reset button INSIDE his unit and posted that "all anyone has to do is open the case and press that button with the unit plugged in." 
That recommendation excites the gearheads among us but is a potential "zap-trap" for the vast majority of your users. Most are ex-VCR jockeys and they're not even CLOSE to "gearhead-level" who can safely play around inside a multi-board DVDR case. People need to know that the simple, non-invasive Soft Reset has brought frozen units back to life, without cracking the case! Funai, PLEASE ,mention the Soft Reset in your manuals and in advice from your Customer Support Reps! Who knows, you might prevent some returns with the story: "I don't know what happened. All of a sudden, all the electronics just melted!"
Go back to List. ...... Go to main list of help files.
Edited by wajo - 4/1/13 at 9:32am
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