# If only everything was as reliable as TiVo



## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

ARRGGHH !!!!!

Came home tonight to find that yet again the SKY+ box had got its knickers in a twist 

It said it was recording two things when it should only have been recording Eastenders. Looking at the planner is was claiming to still be recording "Dora the Explorer" (for the kids) and was using 17% of the disk!!!

Several other programs were showing as "CLASHED" so we had lost them. Waited for Eastenders to finish recording then pulled the plug.

Checked the planner..... Eastenders FAILED - Technical Problems. Now catching it from BBC3.

Wife suggested that tomorrow I archive some of the kids stuff to DVD to free up space which reminded me that I still had a couple of movies on TiVo to archive off.

As I can archive from Tivo to DVDR "in the background" whilst we watch SKY, I decided to start one going. 

My DVD recorder - Phillips DVDR 880 decided it was going to play silly buggars. It has basically been fine in the two years that we have had it apart from a couple of months ago when I opened a new box of disks. TDK 1x-4x

The first disk I tried wouldnt record and the machine would reboot itself after about two minutes. The previous batch of disks had been Samsung 8x and were perfect.

Tried a DVDRW (also a TDK) and that was fine so I tried a different disk from the box and it worked. The original disk that played up also then worked fine. 

I used all 25 disks with no problems apart from one disk that I turned into a coaster because SKY+ hung on playback TWICE which is why I now record movies on Tivo at Best Quality rather than using SKY+ 

Got ready to archive tonight, opened the new box of TDK disks (same batch as the previous ones). FAILED. Tried three different disks and it still hung and rebooted. Currently got the DVDR unplugged from the mains to see if it will work again in the morning when cooler and having been powered down for an extended period.

Oh how I long for an even better TiVo with Twin Tuners and built in DVDR


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## manolan (Feb 13, 2001)

I eventually gave up on my DVDR-890 as it turned almost every other disk into a coaster. Some of them (+RW) I could reformat on the PC and were fine there. Some were just lost. Got a Sony - much less intelligent editing options, but much more reliable overall and much snappier.


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

I also have a DVDR 880 - an utter waste of money and space! 

Haven't used it for anything except playback since I got a cachecard...


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## Ian_m (Jan 9, 2001)

The latest firmware on 880/890 fixed the funnies issue with some makes of x4 +RW's and x8/x16 +R disks. I have always used Infiniti brand probably over 150 disks now and no coasters.

Mind you since getting a cache card hardly used for recording now....


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## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

Ian_m said:


> The latest firmware on 880/890 fixed the funnies issue with some makes of x4 +RW's and x8/x16 +R disks. I have always used Infiniti brand probably over 150 disks now and no coasters.
> 
> Mind you since getting a cache card hardly used for recording now....


Hi Ian,

Did you upgrade the firmware yourself ?

If so, where did you download it from. I just tried and the machine starts to go through the process but fails at the VERIFY stage saying the file is empty 

Will buy some different disks to see if that cures it.

Thanks

Keith

*UPDATE !!!*

Two phonecalls later, one to Phillips and one to the people who deal with the warranties and it is being collected on Monday for repair under warranty.

Bacause of the problems with the 880/890 models, Phillips extended the warranty to TWO YEARS and I bought this as a clearance offer for £120 on 14th AUGUST 2004 so still under warranty for the next three weeks


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

katman said:


> I bought this as a clearance offer for £120


Nice one! I paid over £300 for mine and it's been less useful than the £25 DVD player I test my TiVo upgrade drives with 

Ahh well - at least my TiVos are still worth almost as much as I paid for them :up:


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## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

blindlemon said:


> Nice one! I paid over £300 for mine and it's been less useful than the £25 DVD player I test my TiVo upgrade drives with


Having saved money not replacing it I may well invest in a Cachecard and larger hard disk as I am seriously considering giving $KY the boot.


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## Ian_m (Jan 9, 2001)

katman said:


> Bacause of the problems with the 880/890 models, Phillips extended the warranty to TWO YEARS and I bought this as a clearance offer for £120 on 14th AUGUST 2004 so still under warranty for the next three weeks


Ah Ye Olde plastic laser problem. I had mine repaired under warranty in 2002, apparently there was an issue with some plastic melting in the laser unit.

Mind you paid £130 again in 2004 to get repaired. Different fault this time, but spent ages trying to find a modern just as functional equivalent to the 890 but found nothing.


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## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

Ian_m said:


> Ah Ye Olde plastic laser problem. I had mine repaired under warranty in 2002, apparently there was an issue with some plastic melting in the laser unit.
> 
> Mind you paid £130 again in 2004 to get repaired. Different fault this time, but spent ages trying to find a modern just as functional equivalent to the 890 but found nothing.


Well the repair saga is over, after a bit of hassle.

Unit was collected on Monday and on Tuesday I got a call to say that it had been in for repair in 2004 having been sold in 2003 so was out of warranty.

I pointed out that I had enclosed a copy of my sales invoice clearly showing that I had bought in on 14th August 2004 as an ex demonstration model and was told it had full warranty. Woman said she would call me back after speaking to her manager. Caled back and said that as they had already collected it they would repair it. I was primed ready for geting onto Trading Standards 

City Link turned up today and delivered me a different DVD recorder with a letter saying ....

Unfortunately we are unable to repair the DVD recorder you sent to us due to unavailability of certain parts. As it is our wish not to inconvienience you further we hope that you will accept our latest Philips DVD Recorder as a replacement.

The model they have sent is a DVDR3380 which I cant see on the Philips website!

PLUS POINTS

1. It works
2. It takes DVD+R DVD-R DVD+RW DVD-RW (old one was only +R +RW)
3. It has a DV input whereas 880 didnt (only on 890)
4. VERY visible recording indicator 

MINUS POINTS

1. Recording modes are different. Old machine could do 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 hours, new one is 1,2,4,6. The 2.5 and 3 hour modes were useful for the kids stuff.
2. No S-Video input as far as I can see which is how I was archiving from SKY+
3. Not sure if SCART input is RGB or not. Tivo quality looks OK as I am archiving but will tell when I look at the finished disk

Overall I think I have got a result. 
Lost some features, gained some other features. 
Above all I now have a working DVD recorder again. :up:


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