Home > Consumer Reviews > Philips CDR800 3-CD Integrated CD Recorder

i would like to know if you all going to get this item
any time soon if so let me now

I bought my CDR800 back in December of 2002. I have NEVER had a problem until yesterday.I had not until recently used it to burn Cds. I was rather afraid to use it. I'm not really comfortable using machines like this. I broke down and decided to let my daughter use it. The first CD she burned was fine. Yesterday, she used it again. Before the copying was done however she had left. I came home and thinking she had just left the machine on, turned it off. That's when my problem started. When I realized that there were CDs in it, I turned it on. I pushed to get the CDs out and the display said "trays locked". After unplugging it and everything else, I called Philips for help. I was told to take it to a store and have them get the CDs out. No mention about getting it fixed was ever mentioned. This upset me. I was told that the CDR800 was no longer in their system and that they could not instruct me any further. I was amazed. If this is what the company feels about their own product, then this is the last Philips product I will ever by.

I purchased this unit back in 2003 because of other philips' records I've owned. The 800 model is a pain where the sun doesn't shine. I purchase it as an "open box" item at Circuit City and luckily only paid a total of $199.00, after a $50.00 rebate, a portable cd player and 5 blank audio cds from Philips. (I have purchased other electonics as "open box" with out any issues) This machine was in the shop twice during the warranty period. I actually spoke to the technician who worked on it the second time, and he said, "He absolutely loved the machine" He has another thing coming. It has a mind of it's own and got worst after it came back. The carousel drawer won't open sometimes unless you unplug it. The cdr side won't play cds it has recorded, and during shuffle, it will stop after awhile and indicate open drawers. I used to use Maxell, TDK audio cds, but the recorder stopped wouldn't finalizing them. The tech told me that most blank cds have been reformatted and that I should use Philips or Sony cds. Again, I am sure it's aploy for one to purchase Philips' blank cds. Most stores don't carry them with the exception of Radio Shack. However, I have seen Philips cds at Best Buy and Circuit City, but x8 or higher speed. The philips will only accept x1 or x2 speed cds. It won't even play the original Maxell or TDK cds I recorded on prior to it starting to malfunction. I feel this is pretty shady of Philips to build a piece of equiptment like this. I never had a problem with any other Philips products. Basically, I would not purchase this model period if anyone is in the market. Personally, I feel any cd player or recorder with a carousel in it means trouble at some point. This has been my experience with other manufacturers too. If you want to purchase a component cd recorder, I would purchase the 765 or 770 model, which seem to be pretty good. Other wise, I read many good things about a Tascam 500 or 700, which cost more, but you can probably pick a used one up reasonably.

I first got interested in the Phillips CDR through a firend who had one, but after reading several reviews was reluctant even though my friend had no problems.
However I decdided to take a chance on a used machine and have never regretted my decision. I did have the problems of OPC error and Update, but an e-mail to Phillips solved my problem which was using Memorex and TDK tapes. They sent a list of others and I now use Sony or Pengo without any problems.
I have been able to copy cassette tapes I had compiled and old LPs without any further problems.
I am a satisfied customer

This review is probably moot, since Philips seems to be phasing out their cd recorders, but here goes. I purchased one of these from the "Scratch and Dent" section of my local Circuitous City, and I experienced the exact problem that others had, were the unit locks up during recording (extremely irritating!). So, I returned this unit and went to Best Buy and bought another CDR800 and this one seems to be ok. I haven't experienced the same problem and I've had it for nearly a year.

I need this unit because I still have a ton of vinyl and I wanted to commit some of my older LP's to cd. In this capacity it has worked wonderfully! The feature I really like best is the Track Increment button on the remote that allows you to break up the songs on an LP into individual tracks (I looked at a bunch of recorders and this one is the only one that I found that on). The 3 tray cd makes compilations easy to put together.

I hope this one lasts a while!