Review by Hoser1510 - 1st January 2005
Rating: 8/10

I have owned this since Sept. 2004. My machine was made in July of 2004. I have found it to be one of the best investments I have made. The quality is great. There are some downsides that would NOT prevent me from buying it again. They are: You have to record to the hard drive first then you can archive to a dvd +R disc. This is not a problem for me as I always edit content before archiving. You can only archive to dvd (record) at the quality level that the original was recorded on the hard drive. This is not a problem for me. I use it to mainly record off air shows and find that the M4 speed is fine. I use the maximum speed 1x for original camcorder footage.
If you buy this machine, you MUST read the book. This is not for passive I know it alls. I still refer to the book for certain functions I have not memorized. I find this is no problem for me. The discs I record are playable on my other home dvd players including a panasonic dvd r31 (3years old which I did not expect it to work) a Mintek 2110 (some problems with fast forward and reverse but they play) and a Cyber Home 302 cheapie from Target. The machine has never given me any problems. I only locked it up once when I pushed too many buttons while trying to edit a progam ( my fault). All in all a good machine. Philips tech support stinks. I had a problem with programming the remote control to work my tv set. It appears my manual had a deletion and didn't list the complete instructions on how to program the remote. I called tech support which is routed to India and they claimed that my machine didn't quality for "warranty service". Well I didn't want service only how to program the ****ing remote!. Waited until October and found updated instructions on their website. This is worth buying if you have th patience to READ the BOOK!. I love mine and would buy it again since I see it on EBAY for about $400 US. ( I paid $600 US).
I hope this helps give you some info if you are considering this unit.