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Philips DVDR75 review and performance
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ronnybuck
Junior Member
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22. August 2004 @ 15:43 |
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I noticed the same problem but think the problem is the video signal from some vcr's is not high enough. I ran mine through a signal conditioner that has a higher video output and doesn't look too bad. I have not had time to use a camera as the source yet. My Cyberhome did a pretty good job for this and I duplicate the DVD with my computer. As soon as I can I will do some more testing. The first tape I used was so bright it was washed out. I have to get it back from a friend who borrowed it. It is a training tape and I was given permission to put it on a DVD as the company was not planning to do so. The cyberhome did a pretty good job of it but I had used a different VCR when I did it on the Phillips. I will pass on what I find as soon as possible. As to the firmware upgrade where did you get it. I am having trouble even finding anything on the DVDR75 upgrades at the Phillips site.
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ralfdog
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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22. August 2004 @ 16:24 |
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ronnybuck--
It was a little confusing for me when I found the adware. I'm not even sure I remember how to get there. I tried to download it and had all kinds of problems. I would recommend calling them and getting the disc free of charge.
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ralfdog
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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22. August 2004 @ 16:31 |
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RolandL
Newbie
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23. August 2004 @ 05:05 |
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Ronnybuck - where do I buy one of these signal conditioners? How much do they cost?
I just called Philips to have them send the firmware. How long does it take to get it? I live in Connecticut. Has anyone upgraded with the firmware and noticed that it fixed the brightness problem?
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ronnybuck
Junior Member
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23. August 2004 @ 09:03 |
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For Rolandl: There is a signal conditioner made by Sima that does remove the copy protection. I am using something similar and it does help the brightness situation. I am in the process of doing a Tape on the Phillips and will do the same on the Cyberhome for comparison. I will use the info also to see what I can find out from phillips. I saw the Sima unit at a Circuit City store yesterday and it is $129. They say the Feds may make them take them off the shelf so you may want to go to get one asap. Good Luck
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bobhvb1
Newbie
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23. August 2004 @ 09:15 |
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I am able to record on DVD media using the DVDR75 & am able to see the FINALIZE menu option. However when Finalizing discs, it gives me a DISC ERROR message & the disc is then permanantly damaged.
Anybody else experience this? Frustrating as I spend time editing up home videos only to have the Finalize function not work...and yet the recording works & I am able to play the unfinalized discs in the recorder.
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RolandL
Newbie
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23. August 2004 @ 09:37 |
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For Ronnybuck:
I bought one of those "Signal Conditioners" years ago and I think it was Sima. $99 and it also allowed you to adjust red, green, blue, contrast, brightness, etc. My only problem is I have to find it! I looked yesterday and could not find it. I moved into a new house 10/03 so it should be in a box somewhere. I hope and I can find it tonight and it fixes the problem. The only thing is, the tapes I'm using are not copy protected. They are just blank tapes that I copied movies to.
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ralfdog
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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23. August 2004 @ 09:48 |
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bobhvb- I only experienced losing a disc in the finalizing process only once. I haven't had that problem ever again, so I attributed it to a fluke. Does your's do it all the time?
RolandL
In regards to correcting the brightness problem, I tried the Sima filter, with color adjust and brightness adjust. I didn't like the results, as I never could match the color and contrast quality of the original VHS. Even when I turned down the bightness those washed out areas were still present. I sent it back. If you want to find the device, just do a search for Sima. You may get better results than mine.
I did finally solve my problem, but I had to switch to a Panasonic DVD recorder.
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bobhvb1
Newbie
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23. August 2004 @ 10:13 |
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Yes I am losing about 50% of the discs upon finalizing. Very very frustrating. If anybody has had this problem & knows a fix please advise!
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ronnybuck
Junior Member
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23. August 2004 @ 10:35 |
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So far I haven't lost a disk yet but I will check 3 I just finished to be sure. I have a LASONIC player and if it plays in it without too much trouble it will play most other players. I have a 3 year warranty 100% on mine and if it starts giving me coasters I will exchange for a Panasonic. Mo money but I have had Panasonic VCR's for years. All work except for one that had lightning run in on it. They repaired it and lasted for another 3 years and now will not take a tape. Makes a good tuner for the cyberhome. I have bought some cheap VCR's and they lasted about a year.
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RolandL
Newbie
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27. August 2004 @ 05:41 |
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ronnybuck:
I bought the Sima GODVD and it helps if I set it to dark but, you loose some of the details. I'm going to return the Philips and the GODVD and buy a Panasonic. Amazon.com has the DMR-E55S model for $249.94 with free shipping. $50 more than the Philps but, hopefully no brightness problems.
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dmelgar
Junior Member
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27. August 2004 @ 05:57 |
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You may also want to checkout the Pioneer DVR-220, its $248 at Walmart. Its an excellent unit. It has several video adjustments including black level. I wouldn't buy a DVD recorder mail order. Too many of them have issues, too hard to know until you try them out. Need to get it somewhere with a good return policy.
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RolandL
Newbie
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27. August 2004 @ 13:34 |
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I recording now using the Panasonic. No brightness problems. Another stupid problem the Philips has is when you hit the fast forward on the VCR while it's playing a tape, the Philips shows a blank screen. The Panasonic does not do this. I should have bought the Panasonic first! The Philips is a piece of junk!
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ralfdog
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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27. August 2004 @ 17:33 |
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RolandL--
Ain't it so true! I've compared the Panasonic with both the Philips and Zenith and found that it's so far above the competition. Zenith had a lot more features for reading other formats, but in my opinion, the Panasonic had a clearer rec. I took the Zenith back, but it was too late to return the Philips.
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ronnybuck
Junior Member
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27. August 2004 @ 19:56 |
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to all: Well I am glad I bought the 3 year warranty for the Phillips at circuit city. I am seriously thinking of taking mine back and get a Panasonic too. I am presently recording some Scifi Channel stuff and did not like the way it started up. If I don't get it my son will be mad just need to wait. I had been doing it simultaneouly with the cyberhome but have been sucessful the last several weeks with the Phillips and they worked for my son in Japan. My son agrees I should get a panasonic from his own experiences in Japan. Or I may got back to VCR tapes. They always worked but more expensive to mail. I did call Phillips about the brightness problem and they are sending a CD. I understand it is a waste of time to fix the brightness problem. For now I am copying all my VCR Tapes with Videos my son made on a Sony digital Camera and the results are not bad at all.
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celo48
Newbie
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4. September 2004 @ 14:20 |
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Hello,
What is the latest firmware for this player? Where can I download it? Is there any instructions how to upgrade the firmware? I am new to this so I would appreciate the help. Thanks!
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ralfdog
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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4. September 2004 @ 20:34 |
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Celo--
If you are talking about the Philips 75 firmware, go up about 14 or 15 threads and you will see that I provided a long link to the Philips site. You can follow instructions from there and find the firmware.
Personally, I was unable to get the download to work, so I ordered the disc from Philips. That might be a better alternative for you.
As to the latest version, I'm not sure which that would be. I would guess that would be the one on their site and also the one they send out.
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celo48
Newbie
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4. September 2004 @ 22:48 |
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celo48
Newbie
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4. September 2004 @ 22:56 |
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OK, finally I found it, thanks!
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ralfdog
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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5. September 2004 @ 05:34 |
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celo--
Glad you were able to find it. I tried to find the old download page on the Philips support and noticed that they no longer had the firmware listed for the DVDR75. Did you have a new link to that?
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celo48
Newbie
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5. September 2004 @ 05:57 |
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celo48
Newbie
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5. September 2004 @ 05:59 |
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celo48
Newbie
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5. September 2004 @ 06:00 |
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I am sorry for the double post, did not mean to.
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Buddy304
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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7. October 2004 @ 11:34 |
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I have a Phillips DVDR 75 stand alone DVD player/recorder.
My problem is I purchased new disks and they do not work. no disk is the read out I get. Is thre a firmware
disk that I need so that I can these 2X DVD RW disks.
Thanks
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ronnybuck
Junior Member
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7. October 2004 @ 17:58 |
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I have had good luck with my DVDR75 so far. I use the 4X made by Memorex. The new 8x ones work but had a couple to fail. It gave a "Unexpected Data" error. Not in the book either. My Cyberhome believe it or not uses the 8x OK. I am trying a Panasonic and believe it is the way to go. The Phillips will not play any DVD's made by the Cyberhome. It starts and after a few minutes it stops and shuts off. DVD's by the panasonic it plays but now and then it will pause and go again. Kind of irritating. I believe they will come up with newer technology to record with before they ever get the DVD players standardized. The old VHS units are hard to beat, just bulky media and more expensive to mail especially overseas. By the way I understand Cyberhome will replace all 1500 models even if out of warranty with another model. It's a shame as it is a well built unit. I will try the firmware upgrade first. The timer will only do one program at a time and the sound is muffled because the tuner is Mono. I put a fan in and have been using a VCR as the Tuner and works in a pinch.
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