Issues with European Philips DVDR359xH series

[W00fer]

Most of the folks on the net use the USA Philips made DVDR3575H 160GB HDD.
I have the DVDR3590H with internal 250 GB HDD. PAL Region (Netherlands).
It's the same as DVDR3595H, only that has HDMI out, or a black color (3597H)

Very important to know is:
-Latest firmware is 3.08
-It records in DVD+VR format
-With AC3 sound, so if you don't have the codec's it won't play on pc
-If less than 5% HDD space, machine autmatically deletes recordings, starting from the LATEST, or the one on top (depending on view). Lost important stuff through this.
-Cannot forward MP3 files, both on HDD or on disc. A shame Philips!
-Cannot writeback multiple < XX min files. If recorder displays 6 min left and i try to burn a 5 min file, won't work. Seems to be a restriction or something.
-Has weird playback on 16:9 conversion to 4:3 tv's. Not always letterbox is displayed, but only scweezed image (small rectangle heads of humans).

-WAIT WAIT WAIT on this latest 3.08 firmware. If you don't wait before the thumbnail is playing in HDD list mode, then the final recording on the disk is NOT working. See screenshot below.
-Filenames can be very long. IF you edit after burning to disk, it says "UPDATE DISK". Most standalone DVD players have errors if the disk is edited.
-Not all dvd players can skip the hidden chapters. On 3575H USA model, they can be removed, on this European models only HIDDEN (blue).
-Some DVD players display time code (recorded by videocamera) on the right bottom side. Cannot be turned of, is depending on your dvd player.
-Windows Media Player, VLC, and others have playback issues with the dvd's made on this recorder. VLC is crashing, WMP doesn't display menu titles and so on.
Screenshot:



-USA firmware hotkeys to display service menu's won't work (As described on AVSforum.com)

-Please someone send the service manual to me.

Have a screenshot right here:

Spot the X thumbnail. That title doesn't play, or takes upto 15min to load.