Philips DVDR3305
Product Rating  
Slim design with plug and play feature for easy tuning set up. Videoplus+ and PDC for easy timer recording. DVD+R/W up to 8 hours recording per side. Two way compatibility, the DVDs you create will play on DVD players and PC drives. Index picture screen. Enjoy your favourite movies and music. Plays DVD/CD/MP3 picture CDs.
Features of the Philips DVDR3305 include:
- Playable Disk Types - DVD Video, VCD, SVCD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD (Audio), CD-R, CD-RW, Picture CD
- Playable File Formats - MP3, JPEG
- TV Tuner
- TV Resolutions - 480i, 576i
- Video Output System - PAL, NTSC
- Video DAC - 10 bit / 54 MHz
- Picture Control - Zoom
- Dynamic Range - 90 dB (DVD)
- Surround Sound - Dolby Digital (Digital out only), DTS (Digital out only)
- Audio S/N Ratio - 105 dB
- Audio DAC - 24 bit / 96 kHz
- SCART Connectors - Output x 1, Input x 1
- Inputs - RF (TV) x 1
- Front Panel - Composite Input, S-Video Input, Audio Input
- Remote Control
- OSD - English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian
- Parental Control
- One Touch Recording
- Recordable Media - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW
- Recording Speeds - SP, EP, SLP, HQ
- DVD Recording Time - 6 Hrs. Maximum
- Recording Formats - MPEG2, VBR Supported
- Programmable Timer - VCR Plus+, 8 Events within 30 Days
Philips DVDR3305 Consumer Reviews
(8 reviews)
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Reviewed by rob on 05/04/2008
Turn the player off (standby mode), Turn it back on wait for "No Disc" Press 0 0 0 9 Press "OK" On the screen you can now see region and version info etc Turn the player off (standby mode), Turn it back on wait for "No Disc" Press 0 0 8 6 0 0 0 Press "OK" Now the player is now muliti region (Region 0) (The last digit in the code is the region for example 0 0 8 6 0 0 2 is region 2) This works with firmware version BT5 4. Not tried with the new firmware yet
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Reviewed by Brian B. Walters on 30/01/2008
Regarding the comment by JOHN FLEMING on 26/03/2006 no correct clock on turn on. An email to Philips confirmed my comment about the clock requiring setting every time the recorder is turned after a mains turn off.
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Reviewed by Peter on 20/09/2007
I recently transferred the contents of a VHS tape on to a DVD+RW disc in my Philips DVDR3305.Picture quality was as good as the original VHS tape. However when I tried to play it back on another DVD player it would not play. Same result on my laptop and on my desktop computer. The Philips handbook gives instructions on how to make a DVD+RW compatible so as to play on other DVD players. As instructed I went to the TOP MENU but found no 'Make Compatible' available for selection. The 'Helpful Hint' tells me that the absence of the Make Compatible option means that the disc is already compatible. Can anybody help?
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Reviewed by ben on 15/08/2006
Hacker Jack's hack works well for BT 5 5 firmware. Brilliant!! Thanks
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Reviewed by JOHN FLEMING on 26/03/2006
I was surprised at Brian Walters report on the clock.The day/date on my
DVD3305 was correct at first switch on, and has self corrected for Summertime, as the recorder has PDC it is most likely it derives time
from Teletext (the same source of Channel names ) if he hasn't an aerial
connected it could be the reason for his problem.
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Reviewed by Send on 03/03/2006
Despite being a very basic functionality recorder, the Philips DVDR 3305 difficult to use in comparison to my previous DVD recorder (LG-DR7400) and very difficult to use in comparison to VHS. The sometimes unresponsive remote control is dreadful and ensures that your interactions with the
Philips recorder will be an unpleasant experience. The buttons on the remote are very small and tightly packed in together, so the wrong button is often pressed by accident. None of the buttons have rounded off faces, so sharp 90 degree corners dig into the flesh on the thumb. The remote is also lacking many buttons relating to functions that make DVD better than VHS, such as bookmark, instant skip, zoom, repeat, etc. Indeed, it doesn't even have dedicated FF and rewind buttons, you have to use the left/ right cursor buttons, which are further up on the remote, a long way away from the other playback functions, which helps to make life all the more difficult. If you are in editing mode
or have zoomed in, the left/right cursor keys are used for scrolling so the only way to FF/REW now is to hold down the tiny Prev/Next buttons for more than 2 seconds every time you want to increase the FF speed. If you want to use DVD playback functions like zoom, repeat or slow motion, then you have to delve into a submenu of a submenu, unhelpfully named as trick-mode in a 20 button press combo. They are so
inaccessible, these functions might as well not be there in the first place.
The colours appear to be washed out especially when recording from a composite video source, such as VHS/Camcorder/some Freeview boxes, because the brightness or contrast has been set too high. Bright and pale colours burn out to total white, for example a pale sunny blue sky will appear as
white, so you would think it was cloudy on the recording rather than a clear sky. There is no manual brightness/contrast setting to allow you to change this, so it is useless for archiving precious VHS memories. The only time you get decent picture quality is if you record Digital TV via RGB Scart lead on the 2hr or 1 hr mode. The 4hr mode is simply too soft and blocky to be of any use, especially for VHS. There is no outline sharpening to improve the picture. Bizarrely, it doesn't have a 3hr mode, despite VHS tapes being 3hrs long, a 3hr mode would have been perfect for VHS but Philips has denied us that opportunity. So now I don't trust it for copying my old home recorded VHS tapes as the quality just isn't good enough.
The auto-clock set doesn't work properly. If you just leave it unset, it will sometimes skip at 13:00. Sometimes during a recording, it
messes up your DVD+RW as it will crash mid-way through recording for some reason and the word timer& flashes up on the display, despite the timer or clock not even being set. It then refuses to load the disc.
They have used pale blue text on a blue background in some of the menus, which can also be very small and difficult to read, if you have poor vision, you will have difficulty with this recorder. The user interface is un-intuitive and been very poorly designed, not something that I expected from a brand name like Philips. It operates more like how I would expect a cheap and nasty budget recorder would, with an ugly, drab, old fashioned,
non-graphical user interface. For example, when you press pause, a big blue banner comes up saying pause, which obscures a large portion of the screen and it doesn't ever go away, no matter what.
Also during pause, the picture flickers on moving parts of the image, ie someone's mouth when talking; which must be an interlacing problem.
DVD players are supposed to have a solid, flicker free-pause, but not the Philips 3305. When you press, stop, it DOESN'T go to the TV picture from the tuner/ Scarts, like a VHS or other DVD recorder will - it goes to this blank blue screen with Philips logo on it, so you have to press more buttons to get the TV picture up. You can't eject a disc whilst it's in standby, again, unlike VHS or other DVD devices. You have to wait like a lemon for 15secs for it to start loading the disc before you can eject it. There are many more example like this where the Philips DVDR3305 doesn't operate how a quality device should.
It's those small things that distinguish a really well designed, intuitive, easy to use award winning device, such as an iPod from the
dross, like the Philips DVDR3305.
The DVD disc drive can be quite noisy, especially during playback, sounding like a cheap electric motor on a remote control car. It is quieter during recording, but about 15-20mins, something else starts making a really unpleasant noise that sounds like the inside of a fridge!
This must be the internal cooling kicking in as it persists even after the disc has been ejected, but will stop during recording pause mode. It doesn't sound like a conventional humming fan, like on a PC, so perhaps its pumping a water cooling system? I'm tempted to take the lid off to see what exactly is making the horrible and rather loud
fridge-esque noise.
I wouldn't really recommend this, because it's just so unpleasant to use and the picture quality having washed out colours, especially on Composite recordings.
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Reviewed by Hacker Jack on 03/01/2006
Turn the player off (standby mode),
Turn it back on wait for "No Disc"
Press 0 0 0 9
Press "OK"
On the screen you can now see region and version info etc
Turn the player off (standby mode),
Turn it back on wait for "No Disc"
Press 0 0 8 6 0 0 0
Press "OK"
Now the player is now muliti region (Region 0)
(The last digit in the code is the region for example 0 0 8 6 0 0 2 is
region 2)
This works with firmware version BT5 4. Not tried with the new firmware
yet.
Rating:
Reviewed by Brian B Walters on 16-10-2005
Brian B. Walters PHILIPS DVD RECORDER DVDR3305/5 Philips is one of those mature, and well known modernised reliable European companies. Wanting to upgrade for some time, I was interested in the DVDR3305/05 DVD recorder, which came on the market in Aug. 2005, I wanted to upgrade and copy all my precious VCR recordings. The other important reason was it will copy to - and + DVD disc formats, and has the 'Video Plus' recording method. The Philips Recorder will record from the TV, Camcorders, and external VCR tape recorders. While recording to the impressive range of DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD-R. DVD-/+R discs, it can also finalise discs for playing on other DVD players. Audio discs can be played. JPG pictures with background music, and slide show function available. Philips make the point that this recorder will only play and record on Region 2 discs. I understand that a 'hack' for this was available for other Philips recorders on the Internet! It was not one of the cheapest on the market but I was able to purchase from one of the well known Catalogue suppliers who have stores in all the main shopping centres of the UK. Any problems and their return policies are second to none. I was able to order via their Internet connect, ordered on the Friday and delivered on the Monday as promised on their site. The box was delivered with the 3305/05 Recorder, Remote control, a pair of AA [R06] batteries, an RF TV to TV cable, a SCART cable and User Handbook with Quick User literature. An Addendum A4 sheet was also enclosed with the instructions to set the DVD for 'Ireland' and not 'UK' as the country of use. I live in the UK. An e-mail to Philips Consumer support to confirm this did not get a response from 3 e-mails. I then had to phone their 15p per minute consumer help to obtain confirmation. The hand book is very comprehensive but the print could be small for some. Philips web site has the handbook in PDF format for downloading, so the print font size can anything suitable for you. I printed mine to an A4 format, all 62 pages! The hand book leaves one in no doubt on how to connect up optional connections to other appliances. I have connected up my 'Sky' converter receiver, Combo VCR/DVD player, and the DVDR3305. Recording from the VCR to the DVD recorder requires careful button pushing to get the correct functions and required trial and error, plus handbook perusal to achieve recording to DVD+RW disc. As well as pressing the 'Rec Source' button to find the Record Source. Family events are now recorded to disc from the old VCR tapes. High quality recordings seem to be the same as the 4 hour VCR recording. In other words poor input then poor output recording. Recording from the TV, the images are exactly as seen on the TV screen. These days one expects things to work on switch on, I was not disappointed. Pressing buttons on the remote produced very slow reactions and at times I wondered if the remote was not working! I was able to confirm this by placing the remote in front of my digital camera and see the remote infra red blinking in the camera LCD viewer. The DVDR3305 has the usual editing and setup features. The left of centre DVD tray comes out quickly but has a slow reaction from the remote as you have to press the 'Stop' button for a count of 5, and the same for return of the tray! strangely there is no 'Eject' button. So reading the manual is definitely a must. The front image is quite subdued and not garish, without any flashing lights. The front controls are very simple, comprising the On/Off, Disc tray, open/close, Play, Stop, Previous, and Next. The record indicator lamp is quite large and cannot be missed when in the record condition. To the right of the panel is the pull down cover, which requires sharp nails, but easy enough not to snap them! Behind this panel is the Camcorder inputs. Video [Yellow] input phono socket, which Philips insist on calling 'CVBS' input. The white and Red phono audio sockets from the camcorder. Also is the S-Video socket. The remote control is not too large and has the usual buttons you might expect, except as mentioned earlier no 'Eject Disc' button. The back of the DVD recorder does not have many connections. It has two Scart sockets, Phono sockets for Video out, left and right audio out, Digital audio out, TV RF in and out, S-Video out, and permanent mains connection.. The hand book states tuner reception is on the PAL TV System. It has automatic channel scan and tuning, with the abilityn to move the channels to your preferences. I was impressed with the specifications published. It plays all the range of discs available, and has 4 methods of recording. 1 hour - High Quality, 2 hours - DVD quality with standard play, 4 Hours - VHS quallity - Extended play, 6 hours - VHS quality - Super Long Play. Erasing the disc for recording is quite quick and easy, requiring the use of the 'Disc Menu' button. The recordings do require a minimum amount of time for recording to ensure there is playback, e.g. 2 hour recording method will require a minimum of 10mins of recording to be seen on playback. Having seen that in the hand book, in practice I was able to do short practice recordings and they played back OK. It has OTR 'One Touch Recording' to disc. 'Video plus,' PDC 'Play Back Control' , Parent Control with ratings from 1 to 8. The down side to the recorder: Turning on the recorder and sitting back to read the manual, I then tried to insert a disc and was amazed to feel the front of the recorder was extremely hot. With my infra ray heat recorder, it showed 32C at the base and 34C on the top. So the first thing I had to do was construct spacers to lift it off the shelf, giving space below and on top of the recorder. While running cooler my experience in electronics gives me room for concern on the life expectancy of this item! The web site of Philips recommend a Software update. Entry to this location was confusing as the literture recommended a file to download but when I tried the down load, the file name was completely different. With no respnse from Philips to my emails expensive help line calls were made to confirm the suitability of this file for the 3305. The literature recommended the DVDR3355_BT5_4_CUB.ZIP, but the download file was dvdr3305_05_fus_eng.zip. The consumer help confirmed this was correct. For such a new production model I would have thought the Firmware Upgrade Literature file could have been updated on the web site. Being environmentally concerned, as well as the effect on the pocket, all appliances in the household are turned off at the the wall sockets, before going to bed. When I turn on my computer next day the clock is correct time. The VCR/COMBO shows the correct time. The 'Sky' box shows the correct time. At night I take the battery out of my mobile phone to stop draining. That also shows the correct time. The most irritating thing is the Philips DVDR3305 does not show the correct time, it comes up with 12:00 and has to be re-programmed every time a recording is required. That's every day! The only indicator when turned on is the clock, at least it doesn't keep blinking when not set up. E-mails to Philips are acknowledged but never responded in the 72 hours promised in the acknowlegement. In fact no reply has been received from them. An addendum A4 sheet was included with the Recorder which instructed to programme the recorder to 'Ireland' even if you live in the UK! Button functions are very slow and using the recorder for the first time I was concerned whether the control box was working. Other than my above concerns the recorder has functioned up to all my expectations. Recording from live TV and Video cassettes from my DVD player/VHS recorder Combo. The DVDR3305/05 cost me #149.94 plus postage from Argos, see www.argos.co.uk, and was an overnight delivery.
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