Cannotsetorplaydvdorvcrtapes philips MODEL dup334ou/17

Please recheck the model. It looks like it is the DVP33040V/17 model.

You said you cannot set or play DVD/VCR tapes.

1. Is this unit hooked up properly to your TV?
2. Is your TV set to its correct viewing channel?

This is the tunerless model so the very basic way of connecting this to the TV is using the composite cables (yellow/red/white). Then find the correct viewing channel on the TV. Note:IT IS NOT CHANNEL 3 OR 4. It depends on your TV make. Most of the time it is called AV, VIDEO, INPUT, SOURCE, EXT, AUX, GAME,etc. Most of the time, the TV remote control has a specific button with those labels. You can also check your TV manual how to get the VIDEO channel when using the composite cables.

Furthermore, if you would do recordings, you will need an extenal tuner (cable box or satellite box) for this unit. You have to connect an external tuner box using another set of composite AV cables - that is:
AV out from the cable/satellite box to VCR IN on the DVD/VCR.