Philips DVDR3570 - 160Gb Hard Drive DVD Recorder - Black

Philips DVDR3570 - 160Gb Hard Drive DVD Recorder - Black
Take control over your TV.

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Mustek R580 DVD +R/RW Recorder
Customer Review: Good Unit but poor Support
The record quality is very good with 5 quality options. To get a 2 hour film onto a 4.7gb DVD the quality setting needs to be on SP (The middle setting) and the reproduction is as good, if not better than the original. The 80Gb Hard drive is ample for fast recording and transfer to DVD, but if you are looking for a unit to store your favorite films on, look for one with a larger hard drive. The control facilities are better than some DVD players, they include Fast forward up to 80x and fast backwards also. The audio is supoosed to be 5.1 but my particular machine has an audio problem. I get sound for around 1 hour after power up and then it disappears until disconnected from the power for 1 hour. I have contacted Mustek and they have told me to return it to the factory at my own expense for assesment and to include the purchase receipt. This was a Christmas gift so I have no receipt. I will probably scrap this and Buy a Panasonic or something that has a better after sales service. A pity because all round the machine it self is well worth owning as long as there are no manufacturing faults with it.
Customer Review: Cheap and cheerful HDD/DVD recorder
It’s an HDD recorder, it’s a DVD recorder, and right now, it’s 120 quid. That’s a pretty tempting proposition. But the example that I bought has had a few problems. On my old TV, I had a lot of trouble with crackly sound (only from this player, not from any other source) though since changing TV’s, the problem has gone away. More annoyingly, the discs that this player was burning all had CRC errors on them, making them impossible to edit on the PC. I’ve downloaded and installed a firmware update from Mustek’s website, and (touch wood) that issue seems to have been resolved. Be aware that firmware upgrades are not without risk, and Mustek’s website expressly says that any units which die during a firmware upgrade will not be covered by their warranty. The interface is pretty clunky. Many of the buttons won’t do what you’d expect them to when you’d expect them to. For example if you stop the DVD disc and try to switch to HDD it won’t let you. You have to have pressed stop twice before it will let you switch. This can all get pretty frustrating, and I wouldn’t expect anyone who’s not ‘technically savvy’ to be able to get to grips with it. If you’re expecting to record stuff to HDD then edit onto DVD (cutting out the adverts for example) then be prepared for a disappointment. This unit is nowhere near that clever. Dubbing from HDD to DVD is really just a straight copy. If you want to do anything clever with the results, then you’ll need to manipulate it on your PC afterwards using the likes of VobBlanker and DVDShrink. If your budget will stretch, then buy a better model. If it won’t, and you don’t mind odd quirks and firmware upgrades, then this unit is a lot better thn nothing at all.

Toshiba RD-85DT DVD Recorder with Digital Freeview and 160Gb Hard Drive
With the RD85DT player/recorder, you can enjoy digital television and archive hours of TV programmes on your hard drive. The RD85DT comes with a digital TV tuner, a 160 GB hard drive and allows you to enjoy advanced recording functions such as TimeSlip. The RD85DT is also equipped with the electronic programme guide, EPG. The RD85D player/recorder is a real digital video recording tool which will allow you to build your own personal video library.
Used Price: ?137.99
Customer Review: Dissappointed
Had the unit for a few weeks now, have found it OK as far as recording to HDD, but thats only if I’m not watching anything else at the same time! As it interferes with the TV station that I’m watching. It is very slow at start-up, seems like ages before I can do anything! and the drive is a little noisy. I live in an area where there is very poor digital signal, so dont have alot of channels to view via the set, no ITV or CH4, and sometimes no BBC!… hope that will change in the future. In the meantime I have to record via the satelite, which defeats its object really!
Customer Review: Dissapointing
Sorry, but I have to go against the flow here. I found this machine both difficult to use and unreliable. So much so that I had to take advantage of Amazon’s excellent return policy. I now have a sony RDRHXD560S which I find simnplicity itself to use and excellent quality.

Toshiba Rd-Xs24 Harddrive Multi-region Capable DVD Recorder 160Gb -Silver
Customer Review: Buy one, without doubt!
I have had one of these for about 6 months now, and I’m hard-pushed to fault it. The picture quality of the recordings to both DVD and the Hard Disk are excellent, I really can’t tell the difference between the recorded and the original. The timeslip function is excellent; if you’re watching something you just don’t want to miss and say for instance the phone goes, simply press the timeslip button and it starts recording from the moment you press the button. You can effectively pause the TV, and resume it as you wish, or you can rewind back to the start, as it will continue to record until you press the timeslip button again. I have yet to fill the hard drive, and so far there are hours upon hours of video on it, with more than enough room left. It only takes a few minutes to burn a title to DVD. When I bought this unit, it was a lot more expensive than it is now, but even at the old price (well over ?300) it is, in my mind worth every penny. It’s dead easy to use with virtually everything being menu driven, and if you have an external Dolby Digital Amp, invest in a digital lead, you’ll notice a big difference with the sound. If you haven’t got one of these and want to save space, upgrade your DVD player, dump the old VHS, you must have one. I wouldn’t be without one, not now.
Customer Review: very pleased
bought it a few weeks back, very pleased so far. currently recording my old videos onto dvd,excellent picture, havent used the timeslip yet. only moan is that it is too functional(150 page manual) but it will probably cook the tea as well!

Daewoo DF4150 Multi-region Capable DVD Recorder +RW & VCR Combination with MP3 and JP
A friendly menu system with graphical element, 6 hours recording, Video Plus +, NTSC playback on PAL TV, 430 x 91 x 354
Amazon Price: ?204.80
Customer Review: Daewoo DF4150 Sucks
I have read all the review on this lemon and can agree with most comments, good when it wanted to work but bad when it did’nt. It stopped recording on DVD and even eraused discs after recording,takes an age to start up,i have to press start walk away for 10 mins press off,then play and 30 secs later it should come on.Sent the machine to only authorised repair dealers in Cornwall to be told it would cost about ?200 to have a new chip board or something like that,basicly useless.Now only good enough as grainy VHS recorder or DVD player not what i got it for. Oh and the repair shop said Daewoo knew about these faults with the software but are prepared to do diddly, THANKS Daewoo and -V- who i bought it from.
Customer Review: Top Quality DVD/VHS Recorder
1 have owned one if these units for over 12 months now and haven’t had any problems, its very user friendly, it took less that 10 mins to set up. The DVD recording picture quality gets abit dodgy if you record from SKY/Digital and go over SP, for copying VHS,Analogue tv or B&W you cant use the full SLP. The only thing that annoys me about this is that it takes about 3 weeks to start up so if you every see yourself on TV and think “I’ll record that”……….Don’t even think about using this. As i have SKY+ this isn’t an issue for me but it may be for others. Definitely highly recomended though.