Yesterday I bought a Philips DVDR3390 to make DVD copies of programs recorded on my Dish DVR. This is my first DVDR. (I had originally planned to get an ILO but WalMart is no longer selling that model.) My planned usage was simple: to copy already recorded programs and to play DVDs. The DVDR is to replace a MGA SVHS in my setup.

I am encountering a number of usage problems. I'd appreciate comments, especially about whether these problems are typical of DVDRs today, or whether I am misunderstanding something.

I connected the Philips DVDR3390 between my DVR and my TV, using S-Video in and Video (yellow cable) out to TV. I have to select the EXT2 input source to route the incoming signal to the TV.

I've now recorded a couple programs in HQ mode and played them back on a DVD player successfully. (The player is also by Philips, so that's not much of a compatibility test.) I am able to play the DVD on the computer successfully and edit them with TMPGEnc DVD Author 2.

My problems/questions are these. Will other DVDRs present me with these same problems?

1) When I turn the DVDR off, signal pass-through from EXT2 to output stops. I expected the signal to pass through with the power off. The only signal that passes through with the power off is RF.

Are there any DVDRs that will pass through the signal even when the DVDR is turned off (which will be most of the time)? I prefer not to have the DVDR turned on all the time, even when I am not using it, just to get the signal through.

2) With power on, the passed-through RF signal shows interference. It's ok with power to the DVDR off though.

3) When I turn power on, the DVDR3390 always reports "no disc" and shows the Philips screen. The unit does not seem to remember the input source setting that was in use when I turned it off. While that's ok if I'm planning to play a DVD, it's a nuisance if I am planning to record one and have to reset the source each time. There is a "default recording source" setting, which I have set to EXT2, but I'm not sure what it does. Perhaps it sets the source for timed recordings (which I will not be using)?

4) When I try to make a backup of the DVD using Nero Recode, Recode fails almost immediately with a message of "Failed to seek within the file VTS_01_1.VOB."

If it helps, DVDINFOPro reports:
Code:
                            Media Information                            
 Disc Regions are                                          1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
 Media code/Manufacturer ID                                    YUDEN000ĚT0
 Media Product Revision Number                                         00h
 UDF Format Type                                                     V1.02
 UDF Volume Name                                                    DVD VR
 UDF Application id                                                   None
 UDF Implementation id                                        DVD_RECORDER
 UDF Recording Date/Time (mm/dd/yyyy)                   8/21/2006 18:04:01
 Format Capacity                                            4.10GB(4.40GB)
 Book Type                                                         DVD-ROM
 Media Type                                                          DVD+R
 Manufacturer Rated Speed                                          Unknown
 Data area starting sector                                          30000h
 Data area end sector                                              20C8AFh
 Linear Density                                                0.267um/bit
 Track Density                                                0.74um/track
 Number of Layers                                                        1
Question: How can I make additional copies or backups (to DVD) of DVDs written on the Philips DVDR? (I have Nero, if that will do the job.) I'm looking for a simple copy operation, and don't want to have to go through a conversion/authoring process.

5) Nero CDSpeed.exe gave me a quality factor of 95. Is CDSpeed a valid test? If so, what quality factor would I normally expect to see with a DVDR disc?

Thanks!

Guy