With hard-disk recorders now dominating the market, standalone DVD recorders aren't quite as fashionable as they used to be. But the latest deck in Philips' line-up has the enviable distinction of being the slimmest model ever to land on our test bench. It's also gorgeous, boasting a reflective fascia with a splash of silver that makes it instantly appealing.

Features 

Surprisingly, this is the only digital recorder in Philips' current range (including its HDD models) to feature a digital terrestrial tuner that gets you the full Freeview channel package plus digital text and a seven-day EPG, enabling you to plan your week's viewing and set timer recordings with minimal fuss.

The deck also upscales DVDs and TV recordings to 1080i or 720p and pipes them to your hi-def display via the HDMI output. Alternative analogue video connections include component video outputs and an RGB-capable Scart output, which is supported by an RGB-enabled Scart input for recording from external digiboxes.

If you're hooking this up to a surround sound system to take advantage of the Dolby Digital and DTS support, bear in mind that the digital audio output is of the electrical (coaxial) variety.

Flip the deck 180° and you'll find a few handy connections on the front panel. There's a DV input for lossless transfer of digital camcorder footage, plus a USB port that turns the deck into a conduit for your digital media files.

When recording you can select from seven recording modes - HQ, SP, SPP, LP, SLP, EP, SEP - offering between one and eight hours of recording time on a single layer disc, or between two and 14 hours on DVD+R DL.

Editing flexibility has never been a forte of Philips recorders and, despite the appearance of DVD-RW support, we're left wanting yet again. The most sophisticated function on board is the ability to create chapters and hide them so they're skipped when the recording is played back. You can also split titles in half, but there are no playlist editing or chasing playback facilities as they are on other -RW recorders.

Elsewhere, there's an analogue tuner, should your Freeview reception not be up to scratch, and a full complement of DVD playback features, such as repeat, zoom and slow-motion.

Ease of use

We've been critical of Philips' digital recorders in the past for their sluggish operating systems. Happily, the DVDR5500 is slicker and more responsive than its predecessors, with no pauses when calling up digital text, menu options or changing channels.

The main menu is easy to follow and the remote is well laid out and ergonomic, with all the crucial playback and menu control buttons within easy reach of the thumb. The EPG is nicely presented too, listing what's on now and next for eight channels at a time, and coloured keys on the remote makes it easy to navigate.

There are a couple of quirks though - frustratingly you can only change recording mode by entering the set-up menu, and whenever you playback recordings a display obscures the picture until you press the 'info' button.

Picture 

Viewing Freeview live through the HDMI output reveals that the DVDR5500 is a generally solid TV receiver, with powerful reproduction of strongly saturated colours, tightly contained edges and assured handling of textures and patterns. We did spot some noise in places that made areas of the image seem grainy, plus, the image judders uncomfortably from time to time with quick movement.