My Philips DVDR, model DVDR3576H (160 GB), only 3 years old, stopped
responding to my remote.

Replaced the batteries. No better.

Used the universal remote that doesn't have all the commands, only
on/off, numbers, play, stop, etc. No better. That remote still
works fine with a tv it's also set up for. (Up for which it's also
set.)

Turned the DVDR off for hours, no better. (The remote has nothing
to do with any logic circuits that can get confused, anyhow, right?)

Moved the factory remote around 1/2 inch from the IR window and kept
the 1 button down for a while and finally got a 1 to show in the
channel display. Got a 5 the same way. Can't make an 11, and no
other buttons work either.

Could the problem be the thing behind the IR window, which I can
probably buy or scavenge and already have one in my used-parts drawer
too? Or is it more likely to be some small part on the circuit board?

Is this fixable at a reasaonable price, or even under 100?

Is it fixable by me, who used to fix a tvs fairly successfully before
they went to IC's and propietary boards

Thanks.



Background:
After 3 years, they are making no improvements to this model and there
is no other model quite as good with a digital tuner and harddrive. I
use only the harddrive 99% of the time. I don't foresee anything
better for years to come, since they concentrate on cable and sat.
customers.

IS THERE SOMETHING NEW i DON'T KNOW ABOUT? (The other brand starts
with M, iirc. Magnavox?)

I paid 300 or a little more, and 20 refurbished previous models are on
ebay new at $205! There's a used one, my model, on ebay at $76 with 4
more days to bid. I could buy one of these and when it breaks in a
few years I might be able to use the IR sensor or the board it
connects to to repair this current one.

Deep, deep background, that is, unneeded info for the curious. There
are a lot of flaws in the design of this, but this is still the best
model for OTA, one of the 2 latest models I know of DVDRs with an ATSC
tune and hard drive.

But: It doesn't save the program name or description, only the time
and channel and length that it was recorded. It doesn't let you look
at the program info when you're recording the program. The live info
display doesn't show what time the progrram starts or ends, like the
set-top box I have does. If program scan includes channel 2.1, it
must also include 2.2, 2.3 etc. If you set it to record for two
hours, but you have a pre-set recording starting in the middle of
that, the pre-set takes preference, unlike my good VCR. And lots of
smaller things, all of which could be corrected I think with a
firmware upgrade, but they only wrote one firmware upgrade for one big
problem at the start, and no more. As to physical stores, these were
only sold at Walmart, because everyone else has cable, I guess. (It
does permit editing that I will never do.)

There is even a still older model, broken, that he wants 120 inc s&h
for parts!!!