PHILIPSDVDR3575H/37 1080p Upscaling OTA HDTV Hard disk/DVD recorder with Built-In Tuner

While the picture quality is good, and everything seems to work okay, and the price is right, actual usage leaves much to be desired. Let's say you just recorded the highlights of your favorite sports event onto the hard drive, and you ended up with 20 "titles", that is, 20 separate clips, and you want to burn them to DVD. The good news is that you can edit each clip, split each one up and delete the stuff you don't like. But each time you do it you have created a new clip. Now you have, say, 30 clips. There is no way to combine them. Why does it matter? Because now that you are ready to burn to DVD, you have to create an "add" list, which means clicking on "add", then scrolling through each and every clip to find the one you want, and then starting at the beginning for the next clip, until you have the list complete. This is a very slow and unnecessarily cumbersome process. They do have a way to batch delete unwanted titles, where you just go through and mark them as you go. They should have done this for the burning menu, because the way you have to do it takes forever. Now that you are ready to burn, pray to God that it allows you to select the high speed option (sometimes it doesn't), because as slow as the high speed option is (quite slow), the other options take FOREVER, and of course leave the unit useless in the meantime.You can also dub from DVD to the hard drive. This also takes forever, in fact it is done in real time, it simply plays back the DVD and copies it to the HD. Now, my computer can copy a two hour DVD movie in less than 15 minutes, so why should it take so long? If it were not for the eternity it takes to go from HD to DVD or vice versa, I'd give this unit 5 stars. Very poorly laid out and S-L-O-W.Another annoying thing is that when you record from TV to DVD and stop your recording, the unit writes to DVD (again slow) and then automatically switches to the DVD menu, interrupting your show, forcing you to hit stop to get your picture back. I haven't found a way to disable that one. Also, on the other DVD recorders I've used, LP is 4 hour mode. Here it is 3 hour mode. There is a 4 hour mode, called SLP. Disappointing that this thing is so slow and hard to use.

This excellent unit is truly powerful and capable. It's a real bargain. It combines 3 different functions in one slim package, any one of which alone would have cost more than its $300 price not so long ago: a 160 GB hard disk recorder, an ATSC digital tuner (and an analog NTSC tuner too), and a DVD recorder. Additionally, it breaks the DVD + / - format war by its ability to record on both.This unit is one of the surprisingly few hard disk-plus-DVD recorder devices available today that has a digital tuner. It eliminates the high cost of monthly charges for a TIVO. No monthly charges at all!(Note added in May 2008: there is now an updated version, model DVDR3576H, which say it has a tuner that receives HDTV, but doesn't appear to be able to record as HD, so is otherwise like this model. A slight improvement.)It can do two things at once, allowing playback from either DVD or HDD programs while recording to HDD. It has a fan but it's quiet, and turns off about a minute after turning the unit off.Recording TV programsI use a roof antenna, and receive both analog (VHF and UHF) and digital (they are on UHF) TV signals. Programming to record TV shows is very similar to programming a VCR manually (there is no automatic programming system, but it's really not that hard to do manually). It records HD signals as SD (standard definition). Of course, to record in HD will require much bigger hard drives. Indeed, it can't even show them as HD when you watch live. You will have to switch to your TV's digital tuner for that. So you can't use this unit to watch HD on an "HD-ready" TV that lacks its own digital tuner. The digital tuner does not pick up the same set of channels as my Sony TV--it gets some that the TV missed, but misses some that the TV can get. Strange.The listing of programs ("Titles") that you have recorded are clearly shown and easy to navigate to. But it is best to put a rudimentary title on the TV programs right after you record them. Otherwise all you have is the date, time, and channel of the recording. You have to add titles by a clunky texting method, requiring multiple presses of numbers 1-9.PlaybackI use an HDMI cable between this unit and my TV. It's the way to go if your TV can accept HDMI.Playback from HD is a joy. Access is immediate. The unit remembers where you left off watching last time on each program individually. You can manoever around the recordings with a skip forward/backward button, or with an adjustable-speed fast forward/rewind, or with a chapter-jump ("next") which uses the (optional) 10-minute auto-chapters that are inserted.Playback from DVD is fine, but loading a DVD is slow (perhaps because it can handle so many different DVD formats?). It's also a little slow to change from analog to digital channels (but so is my new Sony TV).Aspect RatioFiddling with aspect ratio (4:3 vs. 16:9) is a hassle that we will be dealing with for years. This unit, unfortunately, records digital programs as 4:3, even when they are transmitted as 16:9. Translation: when displayed on a 16:9 widescreen TV, you get black borders at top and bottom AND at the sides. This is satisfactorily fixed by zooming the picture on playback. You can do this either from this unit (with multiple button presses on the remote) or from your widescreen TV. I find it much easier to do it from my Sony TV. You have to cancel the zoom the next time you watch a 4:3 program, however. It's a nuisance.User-friendlinessMost functions are well thought out and the software is good. But you will have to read the manual.The remote control has the buttons needed, but several important ones are very badly laid out. The STOP button is tiny.Since it's a multifunctional device, you have to tell it what component you want to use. If you have been watching a TV show recorded on HDD, then insert a DVD, if you just press "play", it will resume playback of the HDD unless you press "DVD" first. It's not smart enough to realize you want the DVD now.The 122-page instruction book is detailed. It is fairly well written. Mine is very well-thumbed and dogeared. To get the most out of this complex unit, you will need to read it carefully.EditingFor copying from old VHS tapes or home DVD's, I find it best to record first onto the HDD. Then use "deleting a scene" to remove unwanted sections. The software for this is pretty user-friendly. Then transfer the cleaned-up version to DVD. You can in theory record directly to DVD from VHS, and delete unwanted sections using "Hiding Chapters" but this is clunky (first you have to define the section as a chapter). The name "Scenes" is used for HDD, "chapters" for DVD--the same result, but different methods. Confusing.You can set up chapters on your DVD's to highlight scenes, songs, etc. after you have recorded it (you also may wish to delete the auto-recorded chapters which are put in every 10 minutes). These work just fine when played back on this unit. But all those carefully-inserted new chapters were completely ignored when I played back in another DVD player. Very annoying.DownsidesIt can't record HD programs.It's slow to load a DVD.The remote buttons are poorly laid out.Widescreen format shows must be zoomed on playback to fill a 16:9 TV screen.Titling tracks is tedious.Edits of chapters may be ignored in other DVD players.SummaryThis is a really fine and extremely versatile unit, at a bargain price. It is a leapfrog into the digital age. Finally here is a device with the versatility to fully supplant S-VHS VCR's. I'll keep it for a good while.The next step will be when this device is upgraded to record HDTV on its hard disk AND to record Blu-Ray DVD's. It will take some time till then, and it will cost a lot more when it comes.(Now that the newer DVDR3576H model has come out, that's the best choice).