It is indeed time for that report Musukebba!

In response to an earlier post about Comet being expensive, I did buy this recorder as part of a package i.e only paid £1399 for the 32PF7521D TV and this recorder (Normally £1199 for the TV and £399 for the 7250H). I've looked around and you would be hard pushed to beat that online. Plus I can walk into a shop if there are any problems.

I'm actually very impressed with the recorder. Having previously used the Pioneer DVR420HS, Philips' approach to Hard Disk recorders is completely different. All TV programs must be recorded to the Hard Disk first. However you do appear to be able to record do a DVD directly from the I-Link DV input.

From the moment you turn the machine on, it starts to record everything you watch into it's 6 hour buffer. This is really useful, as you can look back and see everything by Program Name (taken from the EPG) and select anything you wish to save to Hard Disk, and subsequently DVD. (The buffer clears when you switch to standby).

Picture quality from the both the analogue and digital tuners are excellent. The digital tuner is actually a little better than the one built in to my TV to my eyes. We live in an area that has very strong Freeview reception, but to my eyes the recorded picture quality in the top 2 modes (XP and SP) are virtually indistinguishable from broadcast.

Guideplus took a couple of hours to install itself after leaving the machine in standby. We also have Sky+, but I have to say that I find Guideplus more readable, and I've done about half a dozen recordings so far that have worked without a problem. The machine also use the standard Freeview EPG for Now and Next Program information.

To be honest I actually prefer the interface to that of the Pioneer, which I never found easy to use. I actually think the recording quality is better on the Philips than the Pioneer too. I was considering the new Pioneer DVR540HXS, but the lack of a DV input killed it for me, plus the Philips has 5.1 audio recording.

Perhaps we should start a thread for this particular machine now. Sorry that I don't have any details of a multi-region hack. I probably wouldn't bother if I did, as I use an Arcam DV79 for DVD replay.

Oh, and yes Damian it does only show 90% free when the hard drive is empty, I am assuming the 10% is for the timeshift buffer.

Thanks for this.

I don't want to pee on anyones bonfire but mines gonna go. It's nice having 5.1 recording functions but any discs recorded in 5.1 only playback in Dolby 2.0 on any other DVD player.

Looks like Philips crippled this unit for a reason.

If you know any different then let me know, because at the moment mines going back to Comet tomorrow!

I'll check this out as soon as possible Damian, but it means linking through my AV amp to (hopefully) convert from the optical out of the Sky+ box to the coaxial in of the DVDR7250H.

A few thoughts spring to mind first though. On most DVD players there is a button to select/switch through the different audio tracks that may be present on a DVD, have you tried this? It is entirely possible that the default track will be 2 channel.

Secondly, have you tried writing out to a write-once disk and then finalising it, i.e. a DVD+R or DVD-R. This should give the highest level of compatibility.

Failing this it may be intentional, as I understand from a friend in the trade that one of the main reasons for the delay in the appearance of 5.1 audio recording was copyright issues, the other being problems with lip-sync apparently.

Try and hold on changing it until I can get back to you on this, because if we can get 5.1 channel recording to work, then I think that this Philips is currently the only machine that offers it.

Definitely. Maybe you could just c & p your post content as another new thread... and Damien too...

Hi chaps.

I've posted in the DVDR7250H thread now but its going back today as I see no way around it.

I'm thinking of getting an RD85DT, is it worth geting? do you connect it to an exteneral source such as sky or ntl. If so can you watch the external source and pause like you can with the inbuilt digital receiver?

philips FAQ says about the digital 5.1 recording....

Question
If 5.1-channel recording is made and then archived, can it playback in 5.1-channel on a alternative player

Answer
The 5.1-channel recording cannot playback on alternative player.


looks like its got its own 5.1 encoding/decoding chips...?

been waiting a couple of years for this too...

slocoll, yes you can. All you are doing is recording a tv signal from AV1 as opposed to channel 1, 2, 3 etc .. . .

are you still impressed and happy? this model seems very good value and many other machines are falling by the wayside!

Most definitely.

Last night I transferred some wedding video over to the HDD. The tosh has stacks of editing features so I can create DVD's with a variety of menu styles, and can create my own chapters, title them etc..

most excellent!

Hi Guys.
I have one of these Philips Recorders and I love most of it. I also have the matching 9000 Receiver. I multizoned it trying the various "hacks" in Digital Spy until I got one that worked.
I had to wait two months for mine but is was worth it as it is one of the few recorders that will reliably change the channel on our local set top box's. Unfortunately I cannot use a lot of it's features like the digital tuner, 5.1 sound and the pixel plus and some other features only work with a HDMI TV set which I don't have yet, but these will come. The remote has some "used a lot buttons" down near the bottom which is not good as it means resting the remote on the chair arm, or using two hands, but I would still give it a seven out of ten. Maybe even a seven and a half.
If you like Philips gear and are lucky enough to see one for sale then grab it. My friend liked it enough to buy it and lug it all the way back to Australia, where he was still waiting for it to be released. I have now recorded over 60 TV shows automatically via its scheduled record, and the hard disk is still 72% free. Great for going away on holiday knowing all your favourites will be ready to watch when you return. Sure it has a few faults but hey, nothing is perfect first time. How many patches has Microsoft XP had to date? Some of my faults may be fixed as the Philips firmware is upgraded?
If you have any questions I can try and answer them, but I am not an expert.
Last edited by 2TRP : 13-09-2006 at 11:06

Hi

I have one of the dvdr9000H recorders and was wondering which hack you used to make the recorder multi region.

Thanks

do you own DVDR9000H but are you live in the UK?? this recorder already withdraw by Philips last Jan as it not aviable in the UK.. Pioneer DVR540HX-S I own are great stuff and plenty of feature... Im much happy with it and it great with my Philips LCD TV. so you want to hack this into multi-region?? i dont think you may find any hack into multi-region for your recorder (my DVR540HX included multi-region that I didnt hack just bought as multi-region recorder)

Hi to the last two contributors.
These are the instructions to make the DVDR9000H multi-region. I know they work because I have done it.

On the remote control.
Press HDD Browser, ensure "Hard disc" is highlighted.
Press "play"
Enter the following numbers slowly on the remote control "159 (pause) 121212 005255"
Press "play" again
Press HDD browser before playing DVD disc.
The DVDR player will return to normal operation and allowed to play discs from other regions.

To mjt03. I live in New Zealand. The best feature of the Philips DVDR9000H is with it's Remote Infra Red sender, it will change the chanels on a "set top box". Sky TV or whatever.
Most of our country only receives three main TV chanels without a satellite box. It is therefore very important to get the satellite box to change channels to record all the other channels available.
The little Philips IR sender does a great job of this, and is able to be set up to control a wide range of set tops. (Pace, RCA etc.)
I know other Philips models also can do this as I also have their 720 model.

If the Pioneer does not have this feature then I would not even consider it.
2TRP

Hi

I am also from New Zealand and I have had the philips since 20/8/06 and I am finding it to be very good.
I can also comfirm that the multi region hack does work as I have tried it on mine.

Thanks

James
Last edited by jcoo : 28-09-2006 at 05:15

thanks I checked Philips in New Zealand and yes it avaiable as you can see /75 mean it for New Zealand, /05 is for UK but it not avaiable in the UK as Philips withdraw so I bought Pioneer DVR540HX-S with 160GB (455hrs) with GuidePlus and Digital EPG (Freeivew digital tuner).. nice one.. do you like your DVDR9000? I looked at the design that look nice but the feature Im look for digital tuner so Pioneer is one for me -- Im from NE Scotland

Hi

I do like my dvdr9000H I have found the picture quality is very good and the sound is also very good, I also have the matching receiver dfr9000 and the sacd/dvd player dvp9000s both of which I have had no problems with so overall this series by philips seems to be very good.
The dvdr9000H also has a very good tuner I can't comment on the digital tuner or GuidePlus as we do not have them available yet should be by end of 2007 hopefully.
The HQ and SP recording setting are very good quality and the 6 hour buffer is also handy when you switch the recorder on and after recording around 30 programs the hard disc still has 78% free space.
Last edited by jcoo : 29-09-2006 at 08:39

Hi jcoo
One of the key features of the Philips DVDR9000H is its ability to change the channels on your Sky docoder.
Have you set yours up for that yet? You do not need to receive GuidePlus.
2TRP

hi there

I havn't set up that feature yet but I intend to next week while I am on leave from work.
How do you find your receiver? I have found it to have excellent sound which is comparable to other well known brands

Thanks
Last edited by jcoo : 30-09-2006 at 08:23

Hi. From memory that is the bog Philips with the 400Gb hard drive. This recorder will change sky or freeview channels on the remote box itself using the little IR Blaster thing that plugs into he back of the recorder, and then sits in front of the set top box.
I sold my 9000 to an Australian, as the digital tuner in it will not work in NZ when we introduce our digital, later this year. We are to use MPEG4, whereas the 9000 and Aussie use MPEG2, so I have been told. I had to give him the IR blaster too of course, and he uses it to change Foxtel channels, and I managed to get another one for my present Philips recorder, a DVDR7310H. It changes Sky channels without any problems.

Ron