You Get What You Pay For

Author's Rating:

Pros: Fantastic flexibility and quality reproductions

Cons: Hard to find, costly

The Bottom Line: 
Seemingly kid proof, super recording capability across multiple formats, outstanding performance, all in a stylish enclosure

Author's Review
Having the ability to make back up copies has always been important to me. I started out dubbing my reel to reel and 8 tracks back in the 70’s. I even followed suit with cassette tapes, VHS / Beta Max tapes and finally CD’s. (I know… some of you young’uns are scratching your scalp going what are 8 tracks?)

With the high cost of DVD’s today, it only makes sense to protect your investment. Enter the latest Philips DVD player recorder – the DVDR80 DVD recorder.

Philips has been the industry standard in the DVD business…. And they still shine true with the DVDR80 DVD.

While I have used many different machines, I find myself coming back to certain manufacturers due to proven reliability and performance. Philips has my loyalty with DVD player / recorders – that is until they burn me.
The Philips DVDR80 DVD recorder has the best quality reproduction that I have seen to date. The output is crisp and clean on small tv’s as well as larger Plasma displays.

By installing several additional filters in the recording circuitry, Philips reduces input noise that usually is associated with analog input data. As a result, the DVDR80 compensates for uneven motion and formatting. What this means is you can take your old VHS tapes (Beta Max, * mm, Super* or whatever) and copy them to a DVD. The out comes is a slightly better recording that will last longer than the previous media. We have taken several old (and I mean OLD!) tapes and copied them to DVDs. I can now enjoy my Abbott & Costello “Who’s On First” anytime, without the scratchiness or fuzzy lines I am used to.

The DVDR80 is not limited to just copying tapes. There is a superabundance of input and output connections. Do not be surprised to find ours with any number of installed cables (each one labeled for the specific device) laying behind it. We can easily copy from our digital cameras (movie and stills), cd players, stereo, mp3 player and the satellite system (or cable if that’s what you have). We are hoping to catch a winning Jaguar season this year…or at least provide some documentation for the coaching staff to make a better run at it next year……

Philips’ DVDR80 can record all of the following formats: DVD (RW & R), Super VCD, CD (RW & R), Video CD, Audio CD, and MP3 CD.

UPDATE

I have had several emails, comments and phone calls concerning the DVDR80 and it's abilities.
After further investigation and research, I find that this unit can not WRITE CD formats. I have managed to ruin several blanks in the process. I have managed to dub CDs and MP3s throught the input connections onto blank DVDs. But you can not read DVDs in a standard CD player... so what's the use in this??

I apologize for any confusion that I may have generated. I have had great success in recording DVDs and storing datat in DVD formats. All in all, this is still the best DVD recorder I have used to date... good luck all. LaFeet.



As with any recording device, the more information you try to cram onto the media, the lower the quality of the recording. Sadly, this holds true for DVD recording. But with the DVDR80 you do not see or hear any degradation until you put more than 4 hours of video onto a disc. The DVDR80 can record up to 8 hours of video….which is a lot more than I am willing to sit through. We have found that any length movie (up to 3 hours) produces a superb recording. And these disc will play on any other DVD player in the house.

Philips has been able to provide a superior recording through the incorporation of their Variable Bit Rate (VBR) recording system. The circuitry recognizes the requirements for recording, assigns needed corrective factors for the input and uses what ever is necessary to produce the best possible output. I still do not know (completely) how this works… but I am trying to geek it out as fast as I can. It is like having a security monitoring system watching the input data and making corrections for any degradations.

Philips also uses their .LINK™ system for digital copying.

Watching recordings, originals, the DVDR80 is a pleasure. It features a progressive scan output that utilizes a motion adaptive system (licensed through DCDi™ by Faroudja). This capability monitors the output video signal and tweaks it for the maximum effect. It actually corrects visual glitches and provides sharper picture performance.

Philips’ has included the Point and Click programming by means of an on screen guide. This makes programming simple enough for the 8 year old girls as well as Mom and I (we all know that the teenagers have this stuff mastered – cosmic radiation or something).

The built in software has a disc manager. This provides a simple and snappy viewing of recorded discs of various formats. You can even pull video off those old (80’s) video CDs. I still have my Lou Reed and Prince video CDs…… nuff said. Also tucked away inside is the VCRPlus® timer programming. With this feature you can record up to six hours of video from the tv input (satellite or cable).
Originally, Philips was going to include an hard drive to allow on screen playback (like Replay-TV or Tivo). I was sad to not have this, as it would make our interpretation of the referee’s calls easier this NFL season.

And the DVDR80 does not lack in the audio department. I have replaced my venerable Denon CD player (now in our bedroom)with the DVDR80. The only problem with this is when the kids can not decide between a movie or music...that's when I step in and decide on a Steve Martin comedy. The sound output is outstanding. The 16 bit analog to digital converters (A/D) and the 24 bit digital to analog converters (D/A) suffer only a 1 kHz signal to noise ratio at a thumping 95 decibles (even the teenagers like it).

So what do you get for a paltry 700 dollars. You get a DVD recorder that is able to scan, store and record all of your favorites onto DVD format. You get a DVD player that is probably the best on the market today. You get what you pay for.

Philips is pushing their products with a Bond series DVD collection as a rebate….I’d rather have the 150 dollars as a check thank you.