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More…If I were judging strictly on style, the Philips DVDR3455H would be my top choice: The sleek, super-low-profile machine was easily the best-looking unit I reviewed for our recent chart. Its $350 (as of 10/27/06) price tag is reasonable, too, even though the machine has a smallish 160GB hard drive, offers no electronic program guide, and lacks some other common features.
Philips PHILIPS DVDR3455H/37B Hard Disk/DVD Recorder
| Image quality | Very Good |
| Remote | Superior |
| Interface | Good |
| On-disc editing | Good |
| Write formats | DVD±RW |
| Hard drive | 160GB |
| Maximum rated dubbing speed | 16X DVD±R |
| Inputs | One S-Video, one composite, one component, one digital coaxial, one digital video, two analog audio |
| Outputs | One S-Video, one composite, two audio |
| VCR Plus | Yes |
| Electronic program guide | No |
| One-touch recording | Yes |
| Record modes | 1, 2, 4, and 6 hours |
| Supported media formats | DivX, JPEG, MP3, WMA |
| Media card slots | None |
Philips DVDR3455H
PHILIPS DVDR3455H/37B Hard Disk/DVD Recorder Review, by Jon L. Jacobi November 17, 2006
Philips impressed me with its usability improvements in this model. The minimalist remote, which is one of my favorites, fits in the hand better than previous models do. The company has ditched the small, description-less, often unintuitive icons that plagued the interface of some former units and opted for a more language-based approach that's easier to learn. I do have a minor quibble--the recorder's video editing feature could use more on-screen help--but overall usability is no longer a big complaint. I had to open the very nicely written user guide only once.
The DVDR3455H's recording quality is as good as it gets: The recorder earned a score of Very Good in our image-quality tests. Philips has addressed my biggest beef with previous models, namely the lousy live output while recording at lower bit rates. Now, while you're making a recording and watching it on screen, the live signal is unaffected by the recording compression.
However, the device omits several of the usual features: For example, it won't simultaneously record one program while playing back previously recorded material, and it won't copy video from the DVD player to the hard drive. The no-copy limitation is tolerable, if regrettable, but in addition the machine lacks a commercial-skip function (which usually jumps 29 or 59 seconds, so you still see a slice of each commercial)--that's usually a deal-breaker for me.
Stylish looks and ease of use are this Philips recorder's strengths, but its lack of a few common features weakens the appeal.
Jon L. Jacobi
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Reviewed by: DB_downtown
Strengths: Numerous features and friendly tech support
Weaknesses: No "DUBBING"
Overall: ONE MAJOR FLAW: I have had this unit [Philips DVDR3455H/37] for 6 weeks. Feature packed and menu navigation is ok [haven?t used others so I do not have anything to compare to] and Philips tech support has been very friendly and helpful. All this said, if you want a unit that will ?dub? [copy] from its internal DVD drive to its internal hard drive this unit is not for you. There are other similar units [Toshiba RD-XS52 or Pioneer DVR-520H DVD Recorders for example] that do offer this function and I only wish I had looked deeper before I purchased. I don?t know about Toshiba?s or Pioneer?s units or their tech support, etc. so I?m not recommending their products, just pointing out that their units will allow dubbing.According to Philips own presales personnel it does provide this dubbing feature, but speaking to their tech support it definitely does not and there is nothing in the owners/user manual referring to a dubbing feature. Tech support says this is to prevent copyright infringement. This seems somewhat ridiculous as it has copy guard to prevent copying [dubbing] copyrighted material from other sources to its inputs. I am able to copy to its HDD or directly to a blank DVD disc from my satellite dish [DirecTV], a VCR or another DVD unit. I would assume all of these sources? programming would predominantly qualify as copyrighted. Also, tech support says it does not know if there are any firmware updates planned [and doubts there will be any] to correct this. I purchased this unit believing it would dub from the DVD drive to the HDD but didn?t review the small print. Actually nothing was written about this feature and I suppose the reason I didn?t notice this is because this seems such an obvious feature [to me anyway] that I just assumed it would. It seems the only recourse is to purchase a separate DVD player to connect to this unit?s input. Alas, space required for yet another piece of equipment, more cables and remotes, more instruction manuals, etc., etc., etc. for something that this unit should do and the afore mentioned other units will do.I am very disappointed!
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