Product Description

DVD Recorder, Dual Media format (DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW), play and record, DivX 3.1, USB 2.0, Yes DVD to easily manage your data, iLink for direct front panel connect to your digial camera or camcorder, Plays CD, CD-RW, MP3, DVD+/-R/RW, JEPG pictures, Wind

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41960 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Silver
• Brand: Philips
• Model: DVDR3400/37
• Dimensions: 1.70" h x 17.10" w x 12.70" l, 10.50 pounds

Features

• DVD Recorder, Divx 3.1, Mpeg 4
• Dual Media Fromat, DVD+ and DVD- formats, record and playback
• USB 2.0, play music or digtal picture files
• DVI, Component outputs
• Windows Media

Customer Reviews

Finally A Great DVDR that records Dual Layer Discs
Now that DVD-DL Discs are affordable, you would think that more DVD recorders would be available with this option. Well, this is it. Philips has made the DVDR3400 recorder consumer friendly, easy to set up, and free from the bugs of machines past. I had been using the Lite On LVW-5005X, which is another incredibly reliable machine.

The Philips records at 6 speeds, plays MP3 DVDs, DivX, and has a front access panel that includes RCA inputs, S-video, USB (input from flashdrives) and i.LINK DV.

No freeze ups, you don't have to finalize RW discs, auto chapters, nice looking video quality and a TV tuner. I personally haven't used the cable input to determine the audio quality of television shows.

Drawbacks: There are small buttons on the remote control and the hand held must be aimed exactly so double button pushing can be avoided. The Menu screen includes only 3 titles at a time on your home recorded discs.

With all the bells and whistles, and inexpensive price, you can't miss with this.

Not perfect, but gets the job done for low cost
Over the holidays I decided to move up and get a DVD recorder as I've hundreds of VHS tapes that I want to get rid of, upgrade to DVD, and save space. This Philips model is actually the third one I've purchased in just days, the other previous two turned out to be total garbage and were returned to the stores I purchased them for refunds...one was a cheap generic brand which I cannot recall the name, it was no surprise it only copied two tapes before completely conking out...the other was actually a $300+ Sony model, Sony a brand I religiously swear by which unfortunately only turned on and off and nothing else...though I did buy it at Best Buy and figured it was a defective return re-boxed and put up for sale, something Best Buy is notorious for. Well I went with this Philips model and I'm very satisfied with its performence. Other than some VHS tapes which are Copy Protected (anything put out by Disney, HBO, nearly all MCA/Universal, and most 20th Century FOX) I've had no problems transferring VHS to DVD-R and it'll let you know on screen when a tape is copy protected and will not record. This model also plays and records to DVDR+- and DVDRW+-. Taping from TV is virtually the same process as programming a VCR, I use DVD-RW for that so I can use the same disc over and over and you can use different recording modes from 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, and 6 hour length. Playback with regular DVDs or CDs is better than any DVD player I've owned. My only complaints which happened to be shared by other reviewers are the slow response remote control...on the bright side its slow response makes it impossible to make mistakes such as finalizing a disc before you're finished recording but it is somewhat aggravating that you have to press each button 2-3 times. Also this is a device that you have to have patience and be delicate with as when you turn it on, it has to update to see if there's a disc in the unit or not, and if so it has to check to see what kind (DVD, DVD-R/RW, mp3, etc.), etc. For example yesterday the machine was off and I just hit the eject button to take the disc out and the machine went crazy as it was lost in the updating, eject, starting, and menu modes...so you have to first turn it on, wait to update, then eject. Other than that everything's perfect, highly recommended for anyone like myself who is just starting out with DVD Recorders.

Hard to use, slow, and buggy, not ready for prime time.
I got this DVD Recorder as a gift. Initially, I was impressed, its sleek, has a modern looking iPodish remote, and some really neat features and can handle a ton of formats.

Unfortunately, my excitement was short lived. The interface is the worst I have ever used, it looks and behaves like its still in beta testing phase. its slow, often requiring several seconds to boot up, eject a disk, or take any type of command from the remote. It is confusing to use and the manual is poorly written. I was hoping for a firmware update, but non exist as of yet. Fresh batteries and still the remote often requires 3 tries to get it to respond, and when it does, there is a massive delay.

I was able to play a USB memory stick, view photos, play WMA and MP3 music. But again, its so slow and buggy to respond, its flat out annoying. It was able to play DVDs, CDRs, that I had burned on my PC, but again, the controls are SO slow, its painful. I was also able to record to a DVD-R and play back a store brought movie. It has a nice picture.

Its a shame, I think this could be a great unit, but it looks like it was rushed into production with the user interface as a total afterthought. I liked the USB idea, and again, its got great features but its just too slow to use.

I returned it, and got a Panasonic DMR-ES15S, and I might say, its 180 degrees better then the Phillips, while it does not have the same features, the fact that its FAST, EASY to USE, and just does what its made to do without any hassle was worth the extra $'s I paid for it VS the Phillips.