Manufacturer and product information

Introduction: Philips, DVD recording, and the DVDR3480

As one of the original members of the DVD Alliance (the set of commercial interests overseeing the development of the ‘plus’ recordable DVD format), Philips has had a long-standing involvement with DVD-Video recorders. From the first consumer DVD recorder (DVDR1500 Mk I and II), followed by the DVDR70/75 series (which were a particular success in the USA with its 720p output), Philips blazed a trail in getting people switched over from their VHS recorders and onto DVD recording. However there rapidly followed a nadir in Philips reputation when a serious systematic component fault in the DVDR880/890 series caused them to offer an official acknowledgement and an extended guarantee to the owners.  Despite this, Philips began to concentrate more on making the most of their technological input to the DVD ‘plus’ format; leaving behind the manufacturing commitments and establishing the ‘Nexperia’ family of integrated circuits. These were designed as ‘all-in-one’ solutions for other electronics companies who were keen to manufacture standalone DVD recorders and thus obtain a market share, and subsequently the Nexperia chips found their way into a number of third-party DVD recorders which in the long term probably helped to stabilise the Philips commercial reputation.

Since then, Philips have kept their toe in the water of DVD recording with the release of a few technically innovative models; notably the HDRW720 with its 6-hour recording buffer, and then the DVDR7250 which was the first standalone to offer recording of DTS and Dolby 5.1 channel audio. However there has always been a feeling that it all generally it wasn’t a very focused approach to what consumers were wanting. Reasons for this could include the major HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray debate – of which Philips has a major parallel intellectual investment - or perhaps its multinational presence has an certain inertia in deciding what is going to happen with high-definition broadcasting across the world; and thus how to best record it.

Anyway some of us have been waiting for too long, and whether by accident or design of Philips we think that the recorder featured in this review - the DVDR3480 - fills a definite niche in the current market for a basic, high performance, yet value-for-money DVD recorder that should see you through until Blu-Ray stuff is as cheap as chips. Particularly if you are happy with DVD-Video resolution, have a terrestrial, cable, or satellite box that has its RGB SCART or S-Video outputs unprotected, and want to record the stuff that’s either playing or you’ve already recorded on the box’s hard drive.

Company info

Here is some of the more objective current information taken from the Philips website:

“Royal Philips Electronics is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest. It is a global leader in Healthcare, Lifestyle and Technology based product and service solutions. A substantial local activity supports Philips business and marketing operations in the UK.

The Consumer Lifestyle sector employs approximately 25,000 people in 49 countries and operates in the business areas Connected Displays, Video & Multimedia, Audio & Multimedia, Home Networks, Peripherals & Accessories, Domestic Appliances, Shaving & Beauty and Health & Wellness. It runs manufacturing operations in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Hungary, Austria, Poland, the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, China and Singapore.

Philips’ substantial investment in R&D has generated many breakthrough inventions, such as the Compact Cassette system and the laser based optical disc systems CD-Audio, CD-ROM, CD-R/RW, SACD and various DVD-formats.”

DVD Recorder  DVDR3480 Specifications

A summary of the recorder capabilities, as advertised on the Philips website and the manual, appears below:

Conclusion

First impressions