Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 9

Great info here. I've read through but haven't found an answer to this question: although this post states that this machine records 16:9 Aspect Ratio from Digital 16:9 Channel, does this apply to 16:9 input from a DV camcorder via the firewire input?

Can this machine then make a 16:9 DVD-R, after editing on the HDD, originally from that 16:9 DV camcorder video source? And is it a high-speed dub?

My ubid unit just arrived and I'm setting up the channels even as I type. Since I'm in Minnesota and the tuner is finding channels, mine at least is not a PAL machine. (It has an April build date on the serial-number sticker and a pink slip attesting to its having passed final inspection at Ozark Electronics, Inc.)

This is my second 3575, and the immediate problems are 1) how to rearrange the cabling and 2) where to stack the thing so that the remote only talks to the one I want it to.

Not necessarily the best indicator - the video system (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) and the channel spectrum allocation scheme are two independent variables - that's why they have so many different PAL-lettercode systems listed. A better indicator is that a PAL device will show an NTSC composite video signal as black & white, and vice-versa.

Wab (may I call you Wab?), I wish the connections were that simple. This is my fifth recording device, and my distribution and switching setup has gotten so rats-nesty that I have to reinvent it every time I swap in a new box. Ideally, I'd like to be able to record any signal from my STB to any device and any device to any other device for dubbing. But that's not going to happen, so I have a couple of switches and lots of cabling to crawl around in while I try to make sense of the labels I put on things. The TV has four available inputs plus its own tuner, so it's the matrix of connections that makes for the headaches. That and the black spaghetti that lives behind the boxes and threatens to strangle the cats.

I'm settling on locating the two Philips boxes high and low in the stack (about 4 feet apart) and see if the remote is directional enough. If not, I'll just have to live with the increased level of exercise involved.

Haven't managed to get that rogue title erased, but no other glitches have emerged in the course of a fair amount of dumping-to-DVDR, title-erasing, and such. I like the way the 3575 works so well that I took a chance on that refurb. We'll see how it stands up to a period of intensive time-shifting (Wednesday night seems to have attracted about half the programs we like to follow--and the new school term starts that day, so my wife's telly watching goes back on the save-it-up-for-the-weekend mode).

Physical installation is complete, so I can't get to the back of the unit to check the model suffix (that strangled-by-cables problem), but the paperwork says it's a /37 and it scans and receives Charter's analog and digital lineup, records on the HD, plays back a DVD-R made on the other unit, and takes composite video just fine. So I'm guessing that ubid linked to the wrong page. Last thing to check out is timer behavior, which is tonight's project--I'm also curious what the digital HD programming from the Minneapolis local stations looks like played back on our SD system--direct-viewed it's more contrasty than the equivalent SD program, which I take to be a result of down-conversion.

BTW, thanks for posting that alert last week--I don't monitor those sale sites and would have missed the opportunity altogether. Now we have a backup machine for the day when the Forces of Evil declare an end to time-shifting and commercial-skipping.

Can I call you Waxy? Can I call you Waxy-poo? (Whose routine is that, anyway?)

BTW part deux, the remote seems directional enough that my four feet of vertical separation allows each to be controlled without interference.

I tried string, but found that AV cables work better. But serially, folks--our Toshiba 24-inch CRT has two composite/S-video inputs and one component in, plus a composite-out for its internal tuner--it's about two years old and pre-HDMI and such. We're quite a while from going HD, partly because the combination of the Toshiba and the available program-material quality seem adequate right now, and partly because there's only so much space available in our book- and music-crowded living room.

Basic cable goes to the Toshiba's tuner and we view encrypted/premium STB programs via one of the DVD recorders--a Panasonic DVD/VCR or the first 3575--both of which have component as well as composite/S out. Picture quality is fine. I'm still figuring how to configure my video switch(es) to let us at least view the semi-retired Philips 75/17 (there's a big, big stack of saved up programs on +RW and unfinalized +R disks that I don't want to confuse the 3575 with).

Incoming cable signal gets sent in several directions via a four-way amplified bidirectional splitter, and there's a powered RF matrix switch that allows some choices, as well as a JVC JS-X100 passive A/V selector that sends signals to various boxes. Once it's set up it's fine--but I have yet to figure a way of documenting my connections that make sense when I have to rearrange things. (Damn little flags dry out and fall off the cables. Maybe I'll take a picture.)

I spent all afternoon on my hands and knees swapping cables, and by god everybody's gonna know every little detail! Just be thankful it wasn't my annual physical that occupied my day.

My doctor had some, um, probing questions. I was deeply moved. Deeply.

Well, I couldn't help myself. I went out and got one, if only to answer my unanswered question above.

• Good news: the DV Input detects my old model Canon Elura, bought back in 2000, unlike the Panasonic DMR-EH55.
• Bad news: As far as I can figure, it does NOT record 16:9 widescreen from a 16:9 widescreen DV source, like my Toshiba RD-XS35 can.

So I won't keep it.

Quite frankly, I don't see what all the excitement is all about over this machine. It's just not in the same league as the Toshibas, Panasonics and Pioneers, despite their flaws. Are we now reduced to this; is this the best we can expect now that the former three seem to be losing interest in producing HDD DVD recorders? In Canada, there are still some good HDD Pannies and Pios to be had, but for how long? OK, it has ATSC and QAM, but the Philips doesn't have nearly the features and quality of the others. It's like a consolation prize for the US market, now that the big players are pulling out. And I fear the Canadian market will follow suit if TIVO starts to make inroads here.

I thought that option only affected playback.
Are you saying it affects the recording as well?

Actually, if you look at the very end of the specs, they list this:

Manufacturer Part Number: DVDR3575H/37B.

So all should be OK.

More correctly it affects the output of the built-in TV tuner, not the recording.

That was my understanding as well. But wabjxo, you think it might affect the recording from DV Input? Then I'd be able to burn a DVD that would play 16:9 on other DVD players?

I just ordered one on the strength of Rletson's report that it's working OK for him, and I hope he would have mentioned if he'd plugged it into a 240V 50Hz outlet.

Shoot, I was just getting used to "Waxy."