Philips DVDR72 Progressive-Scan DVD Player / Recorder

Judging from the bad reviews, I must have gotten a good one. I guess you should buy this unit used from a reputable seller so that you know what you are getting, because mine still works.PROS: 1. It allows you to record close to 2H30 HQ videos on 1 2H disc. Maybe that’s possible with other players, but I haven’t heard of it. Record in M2X mode. 2. It lasted me a long time, despite being old when I got it; it probably is still fully functional now(12-13 yrs old). 3. It has front and back connections to connect most of the devices that you could need(cameras; RdGrnBlue Video connections; S-Video; RdYelWht-AV; coax). All of the connections can be used all at once–flipping between Video feeds or channels; this allows you combine videos into 1 video from all these different sources.4. I can only speak for recording videos off of TV/VCR/DVDs and it will improve your video quality probably approaching a standard DVD-video movie that you can get from the dept store. If you need to make the sound louder(as with some store DVDs), then there is free software to do it. If you need to actually edit out pops/clicks/imperfections–you’ll need an audio editing software that will edit the audio within the video, you’ll probably have to buy that kind of editor. This is a rare thing to have to do unless you have old recordings at home; you have recordings that were done by amateurs; or you had a “mono” source for recording your home video collection. You can’t fault a recorder for those problems. VCRs never improved audio when you were recording, but they could improve the video if the original recording was done in SLP or LP(could be improved to better than those 2 modes using SP mode; thus, creating a hybrid). DVD Recorders are better at doing than that, but still can’t improve audio out of the box.5. The unit allows you to put a chapter in wherever you want simplistically and instantaneously(you might could train an average 5 year old to do it). I had a Panasonic that would only record with automatic chapters–a real pain when you want to skip ahead to a certain section when watching a video.CONS: 1. Rewinding and fast forwarding require that you pull up a dreaded menu to do it; this is instantaneously done on any other dvd unit that I’ve ever seen. 2. Unattractive blackish squares can line up and down the screen on the dvd you are creating and you cannot see them all at a glance(if they are probably as little in number as 6). Can use random chapters rather than titles to avoid that–requires that you have studied and know your movie well: Once added in a bad spot, there is nothing you can do but delete the section or start over or finish and change your chaps by doing another recording.3. Imation and Philips(look fragile) discs are the only brands that I’ve found to work fully. And I’ve tried a lot. Maxell and Sony produce a lot of errors and you’ll be lucky to finish 2 out of 25 on this machine. 4. There is an error code that comes across the screen every so often that requires only(If my memory serves me) that you power it off and back on; it very, very rarely(if ever) will cost you a disc.5. Remote control is not well designed. Do like the 1 button chapter insertion on the remote, though. 6. If your disc does not look NEW at the bottom(clear side), then you’ll probably see skips in the playback. If it is moderately scratched, then the disc may not read. Any more than that and forget about it. Basically, not for playing problem discs. One of the worst that I’ve seen at playing discs.7. The M1X mode is as pure a mode that you’ll ever see visually, but it only allows an hour of video and–more importantly–far less compatible than the other modes with other players. 8. The modes below M2X approach being awful or are completely undesirable. For M4X, it probably depends on the quality of the source video. To be honest, there is no comparison between the DVDR72’s secondary recording modes and a VCR’s: LP and EP(SLP) look far better than its counterparts and you don’t have the glassy digital squares that show up in your DVDR72 secondary mode recordings.