Philips DVDR75

The DVDR75 was a DVD recorder manufactured in Hungary by the Philips Corporation in 2002. The photographs in this article are of the version DVDR75/051. There were two main models DVDR75 and DVDR70, and each had three versions. The former consisted of DVDR75/001, DVDR75/021, DVDR75/051, whilst the latter DVDR70/001, DVDR70/021, and DVDR70/051. For AV2 versions, they used the VAE8020 CDROM Drive unit, however for AV3 versions it was VAD8031.

Review

Based on the Chrysalis PNX7100 CODEC, which processes MPEG-2 and AC3, it is still fast for on the fly DVD recording. Unfortunately, these recorders have an analogue tuner consequently making them obsolete technology. There are no HDMI interfaces and instead it has a pair of SCART sockets, however, one can record any audio/video fed through these socket, and therefore it is still a very useful piece of equipment to have. An advantage of these early DVD recorders is that they allowed the user to record on the fly, which is very useful if you need that functionality. The early CDROM drive units were also much more robust allowing very high quality CD burns. The 660 nm wavelength laser output is 20 mW for writing DVDs. In addition, it has a large cooling fan that keeps the laser and the disk cool during the burning process. In its time, it was one of the best DVD recorders on the market. Over time, people have come to realise that hard disk drives are not very reliable, and something stored on a DVD will at least be around for many more years.

This model had some very interesting features such as powerful on-board diagnostic software that can test almost all of its subsystems. It also has a service connection allowing an engineer to connect it to a PC for diagnostic and firmware update. It has extremely good engineering and design, which is why many people still use it today.

Price/eBay

It was ahead of its time and still desirable to have even today. A unit in good working order with the remote control can fetch around thirty pounds or more on a good day. A broken unit with burnt laser would not be worth anything as replacement parts are very expansive making repairs prohibitive.

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