Philips HDRW720

The Philips HDRW720 DVD recorder/hard disk combination lets you adjust your TV viewing to suit your everyday life. You'll have the option to record up to a staggering 192 hours--8 straight days--of television directly to the built-in 120 GB hard-disk drive (HDD) to watch and delete programs at your leisure. Or you can save programs to DVD for life. Your choice. The HDRW720 also offers the easy-to-use TV Guide onscreen electronic program guide (EPG) so you can just point and click to record your favorite programs.

Viewed programs are automatically stored on the adjustable 6-hour HDD buffer, from which you can retrieve them, watch them again, transfer them to the hard drive, or simply record them onto a DVD+R/+RW disc. A feature called FlexTime lets you watch the beginning of a program while it's still being recorded. And, with the touch of a button, high-speed archiving will copy a recording from the hard disk to recordable media. Thanks to Instant Replay, you can immediately repeat exciting or memorable TV moments at the press of just one button.

You can also use the HDRW720 like a traditional VCR, burning televised programs directly to disc using helpful VCR Plus+ programming data. A DVD recorder is perfect, of course, for archiving your home videos, and the HDRW720 features a front-panel i.Link digital-video connection for easy DV camcorder hookup, perfect copies, and 2-way camera control.

Recording functions include safe record, one-touch record (OTR), track append, track divide, automatic/manual chapter marker insertion, Smart Chaptering, favorite scene selection, and Selectable Index Pictures.
The HDRW720 is also a first-rate DVD player, featuring progressive-scan video outputs, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround sound passthrough, MP3 CD playback (CD-R/CD-RW), and compatibility with most DVD media (including video-mode DVD-R and DVD-RW).

Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the HDRW720 will deliver the full potential of your DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.
Top-of-the-line component-video inputs and outputs help minimize digital and line-scan artifacts on compatible advanced televisions, while composite-video, S-video, and RF coaxial video inputs and outputs bring compatibility with nearly any video component and television monitor. Audio inputs consist of 2-channel analog jacks.
Two sets of left/right analog-audio outputs channel audio to Dolby Pro Logic receivers and stereo televisions. Both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can be routed through the player's digital-audio outputs (1 each of RCA coaxial and Toslink optical) for direct connection to a full-featured audio/video receiver.

What's in the Box
DVD recorder/hard disk, a universal remote control, remote batteries, a channel blaster (IR extender cable), a blank DVD+RW disc, an AC power cable, a composite-video cable, a stereo audio cable, a coaxial RF antenna cable, an S-video cable, a component-video cable, a digital-audio coaxial cable, a user's manual, and warranty information.

Product Description
Philips DVD Recorder w/120GG Hard Disc, up to 192 hours recording, On Screen Elec. Guide, I-Link,

Amazon.com Product Description

Philips HDRW720

Report

A Winner, April 22, 2005 Reviewer: Richard L. Milton -
It took a week and a half for me to get up the nerve to try it-I shouldn't have waited so long. I think it's a great machine for what I want to do-archive movies. It's smart-it knows which cable company I subscribe to-I have 2 in front of the house and the TV guides are different for each. I like the feature that I can select the quality, recording to DVD's on a 1 to 6 hour format-normally I use the 2.5X which gives me 2-1/2 hours. It really is a cinch to use once you get the hang of it. I can't answer for other uses, but for what I want-it is dandy!



Philips HDRW720/17 is very disappointing, March 23, 2005 Reviewer: C. Patterson (NW WA US) - This unit has some serious firmware bugs. It can/must be upgraded, but I suggest you obtain the CD from Philips as you may be making multiple CD's and still not have success (they offer the upgrade software on their website but you must burn your own CD).

My unit had serious "freeze-up" issues. While archiving (the process of writing a DVD from the recorded video on the Hard Drive) it often locked up. Finally it locked up so tightly that the disk would not eject and even the hard reset would not free it. Needless to say the unit was shipped back to Philips for repair. They had the machine for longer than I had and returned it today.

It looks as if a child had worked on it. There is something loose inside, probably a screw. The metal case at the top is bent as if someone either pried it open or bent it while re-assembling it. They returned it in a single box with minimal padding whereas I had sent it back double-boxed and at a cost of $35 - not to be refunded.

The customer service line is poorly run and most people at their call center cannot effectively help you. For instance they have no way of telling you where your unit is nor can they give you a tracking number when it is shipped.

I am asking them to replace my machine with a new one, but I can tell that initially they are not going to agree to this. They may need to be convinced it is a lemon - which it is in my eyes as they have ruined the looks and have left things loose inside. I certainly don't want to pay to ship it back again.

By the way, if you are even remotely thinking of buying a Philips product, read the reviews here at Amazon on the DVDR80. They speak volumes.



Great, Great Product!!, February 17, 2005 Reviewer: Thomas W. Talbott -
The Philips HDRW720/17 is by far the best DVD processor I have ever owned or used. I own 20 DVD processors, of which 8 are burners. And this Philips unit is in a completely different class. (The others are NEC, Philips, RCA, Samsung, Apex, Kawasaki, Liteon, Pioneer, and others)

But the Philips HDRW720/17 I have has changed everything! And I can't even use the TV Guide function because I have Satellite reception. I just can't imagine how perfect, simple, and easy the concept of TV would be if this unit worked with satellite like it does with cable!!.

Anyway, this unit has changed the entire concept of recording TV programs. Review your TV schedule for whatever time period you desire, enter the recording times, walk away, and whenever you want to watch something you know you're interested in, turn the unit on and pick your desire from the hard drive. And if you really like the program you chose, just archive it to a DVD +R!!

It's really that easy...Choose what you like for the upcoming week, set it to record those programs, and when you come back choose among your favorites to watch, not just what's available right then on cable/satellite! You always have something you're very interested in watching. And don't worry about watching from the hard drive when a scheduled recording is happening. This unit will do both at the same time. You can even burn (archive) a DVD while you're recording on the hard drive. Just set your recordings for the week, or for whatever time, and go about your business! Watch prerecorded movies from the hard drive, record to the hard drive, burn from the hard drive...all at once. And you can save it to disc if you really like it after watching it from the Hard Drive. Like they say elsewhere...Set it and forget it! It will be there at your convenience!!

Virtually all editing is done on the hard drive before the movie is archived to the DVD. And the burning process is about 3 times as fast as with other DVD burners I have used. This has to save a lot of wear and tear on the laser of the DVD burner. I have a Philips DVDR985 which has caused me fits with repair. But other DVD burners I have suffer from the same problem. The laser head burns up according to how much it is used! The HDRW720 minimizes this time.

There have been other reviews of the HDRW720's functionality here and I will not repeat them here...other than the product does what it claims and more. The manual is painful, but the info is there if you're persistent enough. This product works...Period!!

And a word about Philips customer service...They don't seem to know much about this product. It's a pretty complicated piece of mass merchandised product. Anybody willing to buy it probably very well knows more about DVD recording than anyone in the Philips customer service department.

I must say though, the Philips customer service people, despite their lack of knowledge of these higher end mass merchandised items, has been most courteous and helpful to me. They stand behind their product 100% and they have resolved all problems I have had very well.

Sure you have to wait a little while on hold to get one of their "advisors," but you do that with anyone you call regarding computer based technology. But they are there and they have tried very hard with me.

As far as the big picture, think about what Philips is doing, and has done for as long as I have known and used their products. They bring leading edge technology to the mass markets. Want a bullet-proof recorder? Then buy a unit costing 3 or 4 times as much as you paid for this unit. Philips is trying really hard and I just love the HDRW720. It's changed the way I see TV!!

Tom




Slapdash effort by Philips, October 28, 2004 Reviewer: William H. Coffin (Berkeley, CA USA) - This product seems to have been hastily slapped together and shipped with very little quality control. I spent a total of 2 hours on the phone with their tech support, and found that I knew more about the machine than they did. They did, however, have a better user guide - mine was clearly an earlier, incomplete version. They also agreed to send me a CD with a software update, but by then I'd decided to return the unit.

Here were some of the problems:
· It wouldn't properly play several DVDs that played fine on my old DVD/VCR deck and on my PC's emulator, as well as many other DVD players out there.
· Several buttons on the remote didn't behave as documented. (To exit one system menu, you have to shut down and restart the machine because the documented procedure just doesn't work.)
· Documentation is full of typos and is not clear. The user guide is not indexed. Info is missing; for instance: the info on getting the remote to work with your TV was not there (it is there in newer versions of the User Guide.)
· Poor user interface. The remote buttons are small, close together, and not clearly labeled. There are color-coded function buttons; a clever idea, but impossible to differentiate in a dark room. And most of us watch TV in darkened rooms...
· No online support. The website didn't carry the software update, email queries are bounced back with a request that you use the phone, etc.

I'll be trying a different product, and I won't buy Philips products in the future. I did learn something: most of the vendors have PDFs of their user guides online, so you can see for yourself the quality (or lack thereof) of the docs and of the user interface design. I wish I'd thought of this earlier...


Oct 19, 2004 Review UPDATED, November 25, 2004 Reviewer: Mr. Lawrence E. Doyle (Marriottsville, MD) - In my original review I stated I would reorder - and the new unit is now in use with NO PROBLEMS. (There is still a sheet of paper in the box advising you to order the software upgrade so you have the latest features.) The recorder does everything I wanted and I am pleased with all the features. I did learn something new today: You are always watching TV from the Hard Drive Buffer when you watch TV with this recorder. Due to that feature you can go backward in the program to catch something you want to see again. HOWEVER, the quality of what you watch is determined by the record setting you have used for the Hard Drive and DVD recorders. One setting controls both paths. If you have set the quality for 1, 2, 2x you will see a great picture, if you have used 3, 4, 6, or 8 the picture will be reduced in quality. Learn the features with the remote control in one hand and the owners manual in the other to highlight the important stuff as you go. If you purchase: Good Luck and ENJOY

An expensive paperweight, November 29, 2004 Reviewer: Andrew (Boston, MA) - My wife and I received a Philips DVD recorder/payer (DVDR985) for a wedding present from my family. Two months before the 1-year warranty ended, the device could no longer play or record DVDs. It froze when playing and would stop in the middle of recording. Unfortunately, I procrastinated contacting Philips until it was 2 months after the 1-year warranty period. I contacted two of the service dealers they told me were in my area. The first said they did not work on DVD players. A waste of time that Philips should have known about. The second said he knew about similar problems with the machine and said it would be at least $400 to fix! The device cost nearly $750 new. I could not believe it could fail so catastrophically. I called Philips several times letting them know about the issue and pleading with them to help me on the fix. They refused to go beyond their policy that they were not responsible for items after the 1-year warranty regardless of the scope of the repairs. I wrote a letter to customer service hoping someone would help and it's been nearly 5 weeks without a reply. I understand that sometimes there are repairs but this one basically turned my device into an expensive paperweight. I erred in missing the warranty period but Philips could care less about their product, their customers and their reputation after they get your money. Buyer beware.




© 1996-2004, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates

Philips HDRW720

© 1996-2007, Amazon.com, Inc.