[Jim Noble]

I have had a Philips DVD-R 985 since Spring 03. It has been very useable for backup recording and for DVD playback.


In the past week, it has been skipping material (often with pixellation artefacts) and freezing, requiring power disconnect to restart.


Is this a known issue? It seems like what happens when a computer lacks sufficient RAM to complete an operation-but maybe it's mechanical.


Any insights would be appreciated.

 

[malaugh]

Yes, look at www.dvdplusrw.org and you will find many people (me included) who had the same problem. The only solution is to return it for service. In some cases, Philips will give you a replacement machine (a DVDR75 or DVDR80). I would ask, this is the best option, since some of them go wrong again some months after being repaired.

 

[moop]

I called Philips recently about my dead 985. They said that I could send it in and it would be repaired without charge. Call them up and see what they tell you.

 

[qpskfec]

The laser crapping out is a common problem. Get it fixed while it is under warranty. It took Philips about 4 days to fix mine.

 

[moop]

Quote:

Originally posted by qpskfec The laser crapping out is a common problem. Get it fixed while it is under warranty. It took Philips about 4 days to fix mine.

Mine is long out of warranty. They said they'd fix it anyway.

 

[Hangzen]

Take it in and tell them you want a replacement... I had mine in twice for other reasons. The guy at the service desk (Goodguys) told me that Philips has had more than enough problems with this unit and that they would ask for a replacement for me... They did and I was upgraded (at no cost) to the DVDR 80.


Much Better unit. More features and half the height.


No problems with this one.


Get rid of the 985 before it's too late.

 

[eujin]

I hope this never happens to mine, because I love it (although I'm thinking of switching to the Pioneer Tivo/DVDR). I got mine as an open box at BB which had been sent to Philips for repair, so hopefully it got the kinks out of the system.

 

[Hangzen]

But I love the DVDR 80 much, much better. More stable, faster, and smaller. The 985 took up as much room as my Denon a/v reciever.

 

[eujin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hangzen The 985 took up as much room as my Denon a/v reciever.

Ah...that's where we differ. I actually like the size of the 985 and its hefty feel. So far, it's been very good to me: 100% stable, never made me a coaster, and actually improves my crappy cable signal when run through it. Now that I'm paid it all these nice compliments, I'm sure it'll betray me by dying.

 

[moop]

Quote:

Originally posted by eujin Ah...that's where we differ. I actually like the size of the 985 and its hefty feel. So far, it's been very good to me: 100% stable, never made me a coaster, and actually improves my crappy cable signal when run through it. Now that I'm paid it all these nice compliments, I'm sure it'll betray me by dying.

Maybe yours is a later model? I've had 2 and both have crapped out. I've made tons of coasters with the 985. Some are "Disk Error" some are "Unknown Data" some are just without color (B&W only). I've also made 100s of just fine DVDs with the Philips machines. It seems kind of hit or miss. I'm on my 3rd DVDR75 and it seems to be working OK so far (knock wood!).

 

[fiatflux]

Quote:

Originally posted by eujin Ah...that's where we differ. I actually like the size of the 985 and its hefty feel. So far, it's been very good to me: 100% stable, never made me a coaster, and actually improves my crappy cable signal when run through it. Now that I'm paid it all these nice compliments, I'm sure it'll betray me by dying.

How long have you had it?