posted about 2 years ago
I can only comment from doing my Masters with the OU - I found it to be very good and it certainly opened the door for me to do my PhD.
As far as I know, for PhDs with the OU, you need to be there in person some of the time just as you would with a PhD anywhere else. I would think that the important thing is to get the right supervisor for your project, regardless of whether that is with OU or a traditional university.