Philips HDRW720

The HDRW720 was a hard disk and DVD recorder manufactured by the Philips Corporation in Hungary, in 2004. There was also the DVDR725H that had the same build and design with slight differences. The HDRW720 consisted of three model versions HDRW720/00, HDRW720/02, and HDRW720/05, whilst DVDR725H consisted of DVDR725H/00, DVDR725H/02, and DVDR725H/05. The main difference between the HDRW720 and the DVDR725H was in the DVD ROM Drive Engine, where the former had the VAD8031/01 (AV3) and the later VAD8041/01 (AV 3.5).

Review

Compared to today’s standards, this is an extremely old DVD Recorder without HDMI or Digital (DVB-T) reception capability. It has a pair of SCART sockets, S-Video, component video, and an analogue tuner for which there is no service in the UK. However, it was a very well made piece of engineering that burnt DVDs to a reasonable standard. Even though it cannot receive digital broadcasts, it can still record any video fed through the SCART socket, which still makes it very useful to have.

Since earlier DVD recorders had on the fly recording capability that often resulted in wasted disks, this recorder had a new system where the owner recorded onto the hard disk drive first. Once on the hard disk the system allowed the owner to edit the video, and then burn it onto a DVD for permanent archiving if required.

Factory Reset

1. Unplug the recorder from the mains
2. Depress Standby-ON button
3. Simultaneously, plug the unit into the mains

Price/eBay

The HDRW720 worked relatively well and is still useful for burning reliable DVDs. Spare parts are extremely difficult to find for this unit, and therefore a broken one that requires a new internal CDROM Drive would be virtually worthless, as it is impossible to find replacements. However, a brand new one, or one in mint condition, in its original box and packaging might fetch a considerable sum on a good auction day.

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