Great! (Philips DVDR 3480)

Member Name: stellaandjoey

Product:	Philips DVDR 3480
Date:	17/03/08 (719 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good quality playback, sound quality and recording

Disadvantages: Have to watch the channel you are recording if on a cable channel

After owning a dvd/vhs player for about 4 years and the dvd player finally deciding not to work at all, after a period of it sometimes playing dvds and sometimes not depending on the mood it was in, it was decided it was time to get a new one. As we now don't own as many films on vhs after replacing them one by one to dvd it was also decided that there would no need for another combi player and just a dvd player would suffice. However it was after much decision making we decided that a dvd player and recorder would be better so we had a look at ones available and chose to purchase the Philips DVDR3480.

The player in terms of style is very sleek - it has a black finish on the cover wih the dvd slot on the left hand side and the display bit next to this. On the far right hand side is a small flap that covers the ports for the usb, audio and the connections for the scart to connect to a games console or camcorder. To install is very simple with a quick set up guide supplied in the box - the only thing is you'll need an extra scart lead if connecting to a cable box as well as a TV. A remote is included in the box along with batteries which makes a nice change as not every electrical items seem to have these included lately! The remote is also easy to use with simple buttons that state the use rather than tiny little pictures to guess what they are for.

The dvd recorder can obviously record dvds and also plays wide range of different formats of recorded dvds. The full features is listed below:

Plays CD, (S)VCD, DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R DL

Plays DivX, MP3, WMA and JPEG digital camera photos which can either be directly from a USB connection or from a recorded cd

Dual Media records on DVD+R/RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R/RW
Multi-format playability allows you to play most file formats for maximum listening and viewing pleasure, including MP3, WMA, JPEG and the popular DivX digital media format. DivX playback enables you to play and share compressed high quality DivX video content beyond
your computer.

DivX Ultra Certified for enhanced playback of DivX videos

DivX Ultra combines DivX playback with great features like integrated subtitles, multiple audio languages, multiple tracks and menus into one convenient file format.

Record up to 12 hours on double-layer discs

i.LINK digital input for perfect digital camcorder copies

USB Direct plays photos and music from USB flash drives

Philips DVD Recorders support 'dual media'TM recording - the ability to create recordings on DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R DL discs. Now you can buy any disc and the Philips 'recorder will always create fully compatible recordings, which can be played by any DVD player.

We haven't had the chance to try out such things as connecting a camcorder to check the quality of this feature but have used the USB port to view pictures taken on a digital camera and this feature is very good. The pictures load almost immediately and it is just a case of selecting which pictures you want to view.
The dvd recorder is great with excellent picture quality. The only downside for us is that if recording a program from the cable channels we cannot change the channel it is on. This may be due to the way we have set it up though but, we couldn't find any other way of doing it. However for us it's not really a big problem as we tend to mainly use the record function if going out so not something that is a major issue.
The player itself is absolutely brilliant. The picture is excellent and we can really tell the difference from our old player. The images are so much sharper on it and the sound is also excellent.

Overall this is a good choice for those looking for a multi feature dvd recorder and player. It has enough to keep everyone happy and the cost is decent too. The whole player is very easy to use with simple to follow instructions if you do get stuck.

We paid £99 for our player but his is slightly higher than what you can get on the high street as we ordered our player from the catalogue.

For more information on this product go to: www.philips.co.uk

You can write to the Philips company at:
Philips Electronics UK Ltd
The Philips Centre
Guildford Business Park
Guildford
Surrey. GU2 8XH

You can telephone the company on: 01293 776675

Summary: A great recorder and player for the price.

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