After years of sterling service I retired my Philips DVDR70 DVD recorder for a newer model. As I had recently updated my TV to a HD-Ready 1080i LCD panel I thought I would opt for one that offered both video-upscaling to 1080i and HDMI connectivity. I chose to look among those models of DVD recorder manufactured by Philips, after all they did invent the CD/DVD technology upon which all players and recorders are based together with my great experience living with my first Philips DVDR70 DVD recorder.

The DVDR 5500 not only offered a built-in Freeview tuner but also one for analogue TV reception, until the analogue "switch-off" looming in the upcoming years, making recording both analogue and digital TV so simple. The Freeview has a full 5-day EPG for you to review the upcoming digital schedule as well as program the recorder direct from the programme listings allows the recorder to oversee all the channel switching and timers. Unfortunately, they still have not found away to pause the recording process to eliminate recording the adverts! The onscreen display guides you through all the functions available on this recorder and creates attractive menus for playback of your TV recordings. In addition, the recorder features USB Direct for quick and easy transfer of photos and music. This allows me to connect both my USB multi-card reader and my digital camera directly to the DVD recorder for viewing on the TV without using the computer.

My Virgin cable service box connects to the DVDR 5500 via SCART and to then recorder then the TV connects to it using both SCART and HDMI cables. This allows me to watch my Cable TV service on the SCART loop through connection to the TV when the recorder is switched off or upscaled to 1080i via the HDMI connection when it is switched on without the need for an HD cable subscription. You could sacrifice the SCART loop through to upscale a second SCART source.

S-Video connectivity together with composite video connection affords any reasonable connection to his recorder. This recorder records and plays all your movies and music in a mind-boggling range of formats (DivX, MP3, WMA and JPEG) on most DVD media (DVD+-R/RW, DVD+R Dual Layer). You can choose to record video in a range of quality settings allowing you to tyre-iron up to eight hours of VHS-quality video onto a single DVD. This recorder will handle everything from audio CDs, to DivX DVDs. I have even played a DVDR crammed with MP3 music files from almost 80 albums. This is a truly remarkable recorder from the true innovators of the art. Originally these were sold for around £180 but I secured a new one from an e-bay shop for £75. The recorder is currently available (26 January 2009) from Debenhams.com for a price of £99. So bag yourself a real bargain!