Philips 3595 --- shortcomings?

[wabjxo]

OK, got the manual and you can't DELETE a scene like on the 3575, only HIDE, and I haven't found any "secret" button for deleting a letter, EXCEPT step 2 below, which says use the up/dn arrows to change the character/number... maybe you can "change" a letter to nothing or something that deletes the entire space... far out if it does, tho... prob. can't. Guess you'll have to spell-check before exiting!?

1. Move to { Title name } in the menu and
press ��.

2. Use �� �� keys to change the character/
number or make an entry by using the
alphanumeric keypad 0-9.

3. Use �� �� keys to move to the
previous or next fi eld.

4. To switch between upper and lower case
characters, press SELECT.

5. To clear the title name, press the Red
button for { Clear }.

Press OK to confi rm the changes.

[Trollheart]

I sussed it, thanks!
What you do is put in all the letter as either capital or lowercase, and then you go back with the cursor keys to the letter(s) whose case you want to change, hit SELECT and if it's a cap it changes to l/c and so forth. Very handy, once you have it worked out: saves all that tedious mucking about changing cases as you go!
Still haven't sussed anything about deleting characters yet, though, but you can overwrite them by just changing each letter individually, so if it's a much longer title I now clear it completely and start again, if it's a short enough one with less letters than I intend it to have I change the letters one by one till it's right.
Also found out that the HIDE facility translates across to at least my other El Cheapo DVD player, so that's good.
Oh, and have I said I love the "Pause Live TV" function?

[Trollheart]

OK, here is the update, for those interested:

Some of you have seen my posts about buying the above machine, and after consultation and consideration I did, on Saturday. However, I have to admit to being less than impressed with it. Here's what I have a problem with:-

1. Editing. The only "editing" possible seems to be "hiding" parts, like where the ads come in? And to get a good cut at the end it looks like you have to divide, as the edit program once it reaches the end of the clip doesn't stop, but goes back to the default, leaving you unable to hit the "hide" key in time. VERY frustrating!

This is not as bad as it once seemed. In fact, the ability to both hide and divide in the same session is VERY helpful, so I usually go to the beginning of the actual prog, Divide (thus chopping off the intro bits, ads, promos, bits of other progs/channels recorded before the prog started etc), then hide/stop hide through the ads, then after the end credits Divide again, cutting off the bits after the ending. Go back and delete the two unwanted clips, and resave as a new title and I have my edited prog! Actually easier to do that on the Panny!

2. Although it says you can, I can't get lowercase letters on the remote to put in the title. When I hit SELECT, which it says is the control between lower and uppercase, it stops doing anything. So all my titles are now in capitals.

Have sussed this now, see later post. Not too hard once I stumbled upon the answer!

3. Again, although it says you can in the manual, when I tried to copuy three items to DVD it said that I couldn't do multiple items, resulting in my having to transfer each one separately.

This I haven't yet figured out, but since in SP mode a max of two 1-hour progs will fit on a standard DVD disc, it's not really a problem. Dubbing time is quite impressive too.

4. Picture quality on default setting (SPP) can only be described as shite, particularly when paused. Higher setting may improve this, but will shorten the amount that will go on the HDD. My old Panny used LP all the time, and the quality was fine.

Have upped the default quality to SP, and see a marked improvement. Less room on the hdd, but still about 70-odd hours, which is still twice as much and more than I could squeeze onto the Panny

5. This TSB thing (Time Shift Buffer) annoys me. If you've recorded a prog and want to edit it (inasmuch as it 's possible to edit!) you have to put the machine in standby first, to clear the TSB, otherise it doens't let you do anything until 6 hours later, when a new TSB is started!

I'm all turned round on the TSB. It's great! If the DVD recorder is just on, and I forget to set a timer, as long as the proper channel is on and six hours have not elapsed, it will record it anyway, and I can either watch it back later (provided I don't put the machine into standby, thereby wiping the current TSB) or record it to the hdd! It also means that for a lot of things that I'm never going to keep (soaps, Match of the Day etc), I don't HAVE to record them: I can just let them go to the TSB! Oh, and if I want to edit, I THINK I just have to put the recorder into standby (once I've transferred the prog to the hdd, of course, and voila!
6. It had trouble playing the only MP3 DVD I put into it (created with Roxio 9, and mt cheapo plays it no problem)

Haven't got this sussed, but my new Iomega Screenplay Media drive is up and running, so I no longer care!


In a nutshell then, after moaning so much about the machine, and making noises about trying to bring it back, I'm happy as a clam with it now!
Thanks to all you guys again for your help, and if anyone has questions, now that I'm a proud 3595 owner, don't be shy!
Other than that, it's fine!
Seriously, anyone who owns or has had one of these machines, I'd appreciate input. I really think I may have made the wrong choice. It may be too late, or not, but I'd welcome comments, particularly helpful ones.

Thx guys
TH

[Trollheart]

And now, a sad postscript:

The bloody machine is failing already!!!
Recordings are freezing, jumping, sound is coming and going and fast forward sometimes doesn't even work!
Oh, I spoke too quickly!
Wajxbo, I have the option of swapping it for a 3575, but this experience has really soured me on Philips. Do you think I should go ahead and do this, or look at another model? The only other one they have (assuming they just exchange/give store credit) is the Sony RDR HX750...

[wabjxo]

Trollheart, not sure what to advize but I love all three of my U.S. 3575's. The only recurring problem here is the QAM tuner on an analog caqble feed can lose tuning in ~38-40% of the units. OTA, Sat and digital cable users have virtually no tuning problems.

Not sure if your EU units are built in same place, but the 3575 seems to be one of Philips better units.

Have no experience with Sony but many people do write about Sony's penchant for copy protection.

I guess it might be worth the effort to try the 3575... at least there's lots of setup and op info in my thread here and on AVS Forum!?

[jjeff]

The only problem I see is that the 3575 is the US model and would therefor have a NTSC and ATSC tuner. Probably not work for you? Here in the US the 3575 is being replaced with the 3576, but from what I have read the only difference is the black color, and hopefully the 3576 may have firmware updates that the 3575 did not?
Really from what I have read 95% of the 3575 problems are tuner related(mainly related to QAM cable). 4% are related to splitting titles and such and the rest are odds and ends problems. Too bad it sounds like you got a lemon. I'd say to try and get it fixed under warranty, but it sounds like you're ready to scrap the whole thing. I agree with Waxjbo, at least in the US Sony is known for false CP warnings, among other things.
Being in Europe I believe you should have access to Panasonic's w/hdd's. I've seen postings from UK where they have some nice looking EZ series Panny's w/hdd's. Maybe they would be more to your liking, assuming they are available at your shop?
Note I had a bout with 5! bad Panasonic EZ-17's here in the US. They all died within 2 months of purchase. Finally by the end the shop keeper gave me my money back and basically said to try and find another shop.
I would never suggest a Panasonic EZ-x7 series DVDR anymore. I currently have a EZ-28 Panasonic which seems.............to be working fine. It's only a couple weeks old so I can't give any long term reliability findings, but I actually started having issues with my EZ-17's right away. It only took them a while longer to totally die!
So while I do have sympathy for you, you can see the boat I was in, and I'm glad to be off it, for now..........
IMO current DVDR's are quite problematic, which is why you may have been steered into the 3575. At least in the US it's the most reliable if a product that's not really that reliable.
Good luck with whatever you do

[wabjxo]

The only problem I see is that the 3575 is the US model and would therefor have a NTSC and ATSC tuner. Probably not work for you?

Trollheart will prob. get the DVDR3575H/31, which is the UK/EU version.

[Trollheart]

OK guys, well the tuner problem will not be a problem for me (NTSC or PAL), as I dont use an inbuilt tuner, and to be honest I don't think the 3595 came with one over here! Most people are hooked up to SKY or NTL, whose standalone boxes recieve the digital signal from a minidish on your house, so we don't need them. Freeview is not really used over here (I don't know anyone who uses/has access to it).
I've heard wabjxo say that whereas the 3595 editing features only allow you to hide ad breaks etc, the 3575 will let you delete them? That would be good. Does the 3575 have pause live TV? I quite liked that on the devil-spawned unit I bought (one of the few things I did like, really --- TSB was pretty cool too.
I know the hdd is smaller, but really, 160 gigs should be enough for anyone.
I'm certainy leaning towards this, since a lot of you seem to have had positive experience with it, and I've never owned a Sony machine (my last was a Panasonic DMR HS2, which was great till it started showing signs of senility and had to be permanently relocated in the living room, doomed to record endless hours of Jerry Springer and Most Haunted!), so your warnings about that are taken onboard. The one thing I did like about the Sony machine was that it would play DVD-RAM, which as I mentioned before was something of an issue for me, having quite a lot of stuff recorded already on that format.
I dont think there'll be a problem swapping the one for the other Philips. I'm definitely not letting them repair it. That I might consider after a few months, but two weeks? No way. Plus, what would I use while they took their time examining and maybe repairing it? And how do I even know that it would be repaired when I got it back? Might start showing up the samd defect.
No, I think I'll try the 3575. With all the good things said about it, it seems the wiser choice. Even though at the moment the word Philips makes me want to punch the wall!

[orsetto]

...I have the option of swapping it for a 3575, but this experience has really soured me on Philips. Do you think I should go ahead and do this, or look at another model? The only other one they have (assuming they just exchange/give store credit) is the Sony RDR HX750...

Just so you have additional info, the Sony RDR HX750 is similar to the Pioneer DVR-750. Pioneer and Sony have been co-producing DVD/HDD recorders since 2006 (the popular Pioneer 640 and later models have Sony burners inside them, and Sony uses some Pioneer-designed components in their units.) So far I have not seen any really useful reviews comparing the Sony versions to the Pioneer versions. About all I can glean is that the Sonys are somewhat easier to service but are over-reactive to copy protection signals, while the Pioneers are a bit trickier to service but somewhat more user-friendly and less zealous in reacting to CP. They both use the same Sony burner and source similar hard drives. They don't use the same encoders or motherboards. Its a strange marriage.

Despite sharing technology with Pioneer, the Sony DVRs currently have a less-than-stellar reputation in the USA, so stateside I would be more likely to gamble on the Phillips 3575. Every manufacturer has dog years and good years, the brand name doesn't always signify anything: i.e. Pioneers were usually great, then they really dropped the ball with their atrocious, poorly-engineered 2005 models, then they came roaring back in 2006 with the incredibly reliable 640 and later models. Phillips did the reverse: their DVRs usually had major issues that made them a poor choice, then out of nowhere last year they came up with the really decent 3575, and now they're back to selling junk again. The 3575 is a good bet and comparable in quality to most better-grade recorders.

[Trollheart]

Thanx man, that's a really interesting point. I just sort of always assumed manufacturer X was crap, while manufacturer Y was the biz, but as you say, they have "on" and "off" years. Sure does make it hard to stick with a manufacturer though, doesn't it?
I've reviewed the stats for the Philips 3575 and yes, it does have Pause Live TV, it has the TSB and you can delete scenes, not just hide them. It's slightlly cheaper than the model I paid for, so I can't really see there being any problem in my exchanging it for the dodgy one, and since I'm now familiar with the operations of a Phiilips DVR it makes sense (assuming I can grab the diamond in the rough!) to stick with them if I can.
So that's the plan. I'll let you know what happens.
Still is a pity about DVD RAM though --- guess I'll have to buy a DVD RAM burner/reader if I want to watch those programmes!
Thx again
TH, scourge of the DVD recorder retail stores!

[wabjxo]

Here's some info on Pause Live TV and the alternate, that works just as well or better, pressing REC then Chase Playing... a single-button Pause Live TV!

[Trollheart]

Here's the best yet! Now the bloody thing isn't receiving (or thinks it isn't receving) a signal from the TV! hen I try to record anything, it goes through its startup routine, then flashes a message "NO TV" and shuts off!
God, I hate this damned machine!