Rating: 
Summary: The Best DVD/HDD Recorder Yet...
Review: First of all, kudos must go to Panasonic for insisting on sticking to the far superior DVD-RAM technology for re-recordable discs since the discs physical surfaces are fully protected and the data is apparently better organized.I have to say that I absolutely love this device! Record to HDD, then burn what you want to keep to DVD-R or the far superior DVD-RAM, and finally erase what programs you don't need. The only limitation is that the DVD-RAM's will only play back on Panasonic DVD players, however, the DVD-R recordings in my experience will play on all modern DVD Players. The remote control has been fully perfected as opposed to the one they had for this model's 40 GB predecessor which was a horror show. I liked the look and design of the earlier 40 GB unit a little better and it also had a few more plug in ports for memory sticks and the like, but this one is far more functional in terms of button location, ease of use, and the remote control. Realistically, you have to use SP or XP speed for best visual clarity so the 106 hours of storage it claims to record at EP speed is not something you'd really be using. However, with the HDD to DVD-R or DVD-RAM transfer capability (It does this at higher-speed rather then playback speed) you can record, transfer, and wipe. The next model should have more drive space but this will do nicely for most of us for now. I will never record to VHS EVER again!
Rating: 
Summary: Three Items of consideration
Review: 1) The titles that you attach to a program allow a certain amount of characters. The dubbing process truncates the field reducing the amount of visable title. 2)Some DVD-R's of lower quality do not dub properly. Error message on the T.V. "Error has occured, please press enter" then the unit shows the message "recover". Not all the programs get copied and you cannot finalize the disk. Another disk in the garbage. Verbatim DVD's gave me problems. Only half the disks allowed sucessful dubbing. I have switched to Maxell DVD's today. 3) My digital cable box looks worse than regular cable and therefore only use it on the higher chammels. The lower cable channels are better quality by using the cable splitter direct to the unit and using the tuner. 4) Avoid having your [risque] movie as the last item taped. When starting the HDD it automatically plays being the last item on the list. Not a good thing with the kids around. Other than that I am sold on the unit
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, there are smudging problems. Blotchy picture.
Review: There are indeed smudging problems, as an earlier reviewer commented. When an area of one color, particularly black or dark blue, remains still, it turns into a set of blotchy blocks. It wonder whether the unit is trying to re-compress and then uncompress a feed (Comcast digital cable signal) that is already compressed? Overall, the image quality is not much better than that of a really good VHS VCR from about 5 years ago, before those machines became the very cheaply built, throwaway commodities that they are now. When an image area melts into a blotch, the quality is actually worse than good VHS. I spoke with Panasonic's customer support people, who told me that the problem is a problem with the unit. I have had it for less than a week, and I experienced the problem immediately. I'll try different cables and a few other things, but I expect I'll end up returning this to Amazon and just wait for the DMR-85H, which I've heard will be available in May 2004. Perhaps the problem will be fixed in that upgrade. Many of the unit's other features are quite nice. The hard drive and editing software are fabulous. Setup and operation are very easy; I had it up and running in less than 30 minutes. The manual is pretty poor, but if you work with it, you can figure things out. The unit had never rejected or failed to write correctly to the TDK DVD-Rs that I've been using. The programming interface is very nice, as are the other software features. Unfortunately, the value of all these truly great features is ultimately squandered on the production of a substandard quality picture. And even when I am not recording, the signal that runs through the machine ends up looking worse than it does when I run the same S-VHS cables directly from my digital cable converter box to my excellent TV. It's a real shame, because there's so much to love about this product. But I can't justify spending this amount of money on something that 1) actually degrades my existing viewing setup and 2) produces a recording that barely matches (or in some case can't even match) the quality I could get with a $150.00 product five years ago.
Rating:
Summary: The Future is Brilliant!
Review: This DVD Recorder is exactly as it should be. It's better to record to the HARD DRIVE, the acceptable quality of LP speed is about 70 hours - enough for most people. You do have to use the remote but you can trim off the beginning and middle of shows (commercials). After editing, you can the transfer to a blank DVD-R (you can fit 2-4 hours on 1 disc). Other thanthat, it works exactly like a VCR but there are some additional great differences. For instance, with this Panasonic, you can be recording something on the air now and start to watch something you recorded last night or you can even switch and watch a DVD and it does NOT affect the recording going on (be careful - some recorders do NOT have this feature!). It has a great 100x forward and back so you can skim through a movie in a 5 minutes in perfect clarity. If you want a more indepth review, click on the info about us - metroxing and there's an url with a more indepth review (I'm guessing Amazon doesn't like outside urls in the middle of reviews). But now, to answer some of the questions for people unclear on what they're getting. If you have premium/digital channels - yes, this unit cannot change channels on your cable/satellite box - not Panasonic's fault - it's the cable/satellite company! Picture quality - just because it's a DVD recorder does NOT mean you will achieve the quality of a retail DVD movie. You will essentially get a reasonable facsimilie recording of the exact reception you are getting now - which is actually pretty good. Yes, your cable/satellite reception is compressed - most channels are 5 to 8:1 - most premium movie channels (HBO/Showtime are only compressed 3:1 so they always look better). And yes this DVD/HDD recorder compresses a little bit more - store bought DVD's are also compressed from the original film - on the major releases, they go through frame by frame to adjust it - buy a cheap DVD disc and you can see where they save money. As with compression, you will not get perfect blacks - in a perverted twist, it's because the quality is better, you can see it, VHS tapes with their much lower quality obscures this. So, yes, it's not as good as a major studio DVD but on the other hand, with blank DVD-R's costing about $1.00 each, that's about $.25 per hour for a pretty nice quality disc with all the functionality of a DVD (fast searches, etc ...). I'm not sure why some people believe they would get a better recording that what they're watching - it's just NOT possible with any machine! But keep in mind you are either taping something because it's cheaper than buying retail or because it's not available, what better way that a tiny disc that holds 4 hours of footage?! It also has lots of plugs - a set on the front is perfect for hooking up your camcorder and transfering to disc. If your expectations are in line, this is a great machine and really well designed in setting up recording and using ... it's not a miracle machine, it's just a great DVD/HDD recorder!
Rating:
Summary: The Best DVD Recorder on the Market
Review: The Panasonic DMR-E80 is the best DVD recorder on the market. This is the only DVD recorder that can replace the VCR and do much more. There are two great features on this unit that make it stand out: ·Hard Drive: You can record all your favorite programs to the hard drive without fussing with changing tapes. It is even better if you are on vacation and you want to record more than six hours of programs. This unit has an 80 MB hard drive that can store up to 106 hours of programs at slow speed. More importantly, you can edit the recordings on the hard drive. For example, I am building up a play list of my favorite songs that I want to keep permanently. I record all the shows and edit each one to save only the tracks that I like. To save space on the hard drive, I transfer my favorite songs to a DVD-RAM disk for temporary storage. When the DVD-RAM disk is full, I burn the whole disk to a DVD-R disk for permanent storage. While the songs are in the DVD-RAM, I can still edit them. Another example: I am recording the whole third season of 24 and Alias to be watched during the summer months. With this new technology, I can now watch the whole season of each program from front to back as long as I'm willing to do some work and wait out the season. To save space on the hard drive, I edit out all the commercials every week. It will also make watching these two programs more enjoyable later on. It might be more work now, but I enjoy doing it. ·DVD-RAM: The DVD-RAM is just like the VCR tape in that you can record over it when you are done. It has more features than a VCR tape. You can edit the content. You can create a play list. You can go to any point on the disk as long as you have created a play list. More importantly, you don't have to rewind it when you are done. I use the RAM disk mainly as a temporary storage area. If there is something I want to keep permanently, I transfer it to a DVD-R disk because DVD-RAM disks are expensive. The only downside to this type of disk is it can only be played on certain Panasonic players. But this is no big deal. If you want to share some of the recordings with a friend, you can always burn them to a DVD-R disk. I am very happy with this unit. We have used it continually since we bought it last fall. I only give it four stars because it doesn't have surround sound decoding capability. In order to enjoy a surround sound movie, you need to have another DVD player. Another minor issue is the remote control, which is not as effective as I would like. You have to point it at a special angle to make it work. Possibly my viewing area is a little far away. On the plus side, the remote control has a commercial skip feature. Every time you press it, the recording is advanced by 1 minute. Overall, this is by far the best gadget that we have bought for our house.
Rating:
Summary: DMR-E80H and Directv
Review: April 2004: This is targeted mainly toward Directv owners. I am about to buy this unit and was going over the reviews trying to learn how it would interface with my Directv system. From what I can tell it will not change my Directv channels so I was a little confused and frustrated since I want to be able to record to the HDD from different channels while not at home. The solution I discovered is that Directv allows you to set up to 16 timers (hit Menu then Timers) to switch channels on your Directv system. I can then tell the DMR-E80H to record at the same times and it will record while Directv changes the channels. Problem solved. BTW, Directv is fantastic! I switched from a C-Band system and am very happy. I especially love the NFL Sunday Ticket and other sports packages they offer. Hope this helps. I will write another review after I get my E80H and let you know how it really works.
Rating:
Summary: Great addition to my home video system
Review: I've had the Panasonic E80S for about 3 weeks now, and have had the opportunity to record over 50 programs and movies on it. I have it hooked up to a regular Toshiba 32 inch TV, using Directv (I also have a broadcast antenna), and a Panasonic VCR. I time shift about 50% of the stuff I watch on TV. Anyway, I have very few complaints with this unit so far. It has done just about everything I've asked of it. The unit records in 4 modes - XP, SP, LP, & EP. The XP mode records a picture which is virtually indistinguishable from the original, as far as I can see. The SP mode is nearly as good. The LP mode is probably good for most things, except maybe fast action like hockey or basketball, and probably gives you picture quality similar to SP on your VCR. The EP mode looks terrible and is useless, as far as I'm concerned, so I wouldn't use it. You can record approximately 17 hours worth of video on the hard drive using the XP mode, approximately 36 hours using the SP mode, 73 with the LP and 106 with EP (which I wouldn't use). A DVD will hold 1 hour in XP mode, 2 hours in SP mode, 4 hours in LP mode, and 6 hours in EP mode. This unit programs similar to a VCR, so if you can program a VCR, you should be able to program this unit. It has 3 line inputs, which also have S video, I believe, and also it has component video outputs, which I'll use when I upgrade to HDTV. The line inputs are labeled L1, L2, & L3, and then you cycle through your regular channels - in my case that would be channels 2, 3 (Directv), 4, 5, 9, 11, 30, & 50. I also have my Directv hooked up directly to L1, to try to get the best picture possible, using S video, and a pair of audio cables, and it does a very good job, in my opinion. The nice thing about this unit is that you can play something else you've recorded, while you're recording something else, and also can walk in, say 20 minutes late on something you're recording, and watch it from the beginning, without waiting for the entire program to record. I'm sure it has plenty of other features, which I've not had time to investigate yet. I was very pleased this past weekend, when I was able to copy a VCR VHS recording of an old holiday classic from the 1940's called "It Happened On Fifth Avenue" onto the hard drive of this unit, edit out the commercials, and make a DVD-R out of it. This VHS copy was 17 years old, & I was always worried that something would happen to it, and you can't buy a copy of it. IMO, it looked every bit as good as the original VHS recording, and maybe a little better (if that's possible). One of the drawbacks I see to this unit, is the speed of dubbing from hard drive to DVD-R. For instance, it took me approximately 51 minutes to dub the aformentioned movie to DVD-R, and the movie was 1 hour & 57 minutes long...and I haven't finalized it yet, which can take up to 15 minutes more. So, dubbing to DVD can be time consuming. The other drawback is that my Mintek 1600 dvd player in my bedroom, which plays a lot of different formats, won't recognize a DVD-R made on this machine, even after finalizing it. FYI, I just bought my brother a Panasonic S25 DVD player, and it plays the finalized DVD's fine. All in all though, it's just a great addition to my home video system. One final note, someone down below had asked if it recognizes channel 503 on Directv and no, it doesn't. You hook Directv up to one of your line inputs, and can see it on that input channel(L1, L2, L3). So, you have to set your Directv to the channel you want to record...that's probably the one "Pro" that Tivo has over this unit.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Archiving Tapes
Review: I am constantly searching for a machine that can digitize my 10+ year old tapes since I need them for repeated viewing. I use a VCD recorder from Tarapin before but the picture quality is not good at all and sometimes the video and audio do not synchronize. When DVD recorders start to be available in the market, I definitely want to get one and preserve my tapes on DVDs. This machine does everything I need and more. The harddrive let me dub the program into the HD, edit it, add text titles, and re-dub it to a DVD-R. XP mode is definitely the best. However, I find the SP mode is still very acceptable. Frankly, I cannot tell any difference between the original (new) tape from the DVD-R dub in SP mode. In additional, the recording process is much more stable than the Tarapin VCD recording. For editing, it's very simple. Playlist is very easy to compile. Cutting and deleting portions of a program are also very simple. Entering text may not be the most enjoyable part of the process, but certainly faster than fiddling with your cell-phone text entering. Overall, it suits everything I need to do. So far I have only tried DVD-Rs by TDK. For compatibility, the DVD-Rs can be played on my Daewoo DVD player and my friend's Apex DVD player, but not on my no-brand DVD-ROM of my PC. I will test them with more DVD players later. For TV recording, this machine works pretty much like a VCR with no "VC." Because of the hugh hard drive (80GB = about 35hrs in SP mode; 6hrs max for each program), I don't think I need any re-writable media... [BTW, my PC hard drive has only 60GB...] Overall, it's just about 100 dollars more compared to the basic DVD recorders with no hard drive, but the machine really worths every penny!
Rating:
Summary: I Love this thing!!
Review: I purchased my E80h from Amazon in February of 2004 and have had no problems at all. I love being able to record the shows I like, edit out the commercials and burn them to "DVD-R" discs which, when "Finalized", work in my Philips DVD player.
I have also burned "DVD-RAM" discs with no problem too. I have it hooked directly to the A/V ports of my cable box and set the record timer on L1 so I can get surround sound on my recordings, both the cable box and E80h are hooked to a small UPS in case of power failure(Which seems to happen here alot! for no reason!).
The manual is a little challenging to understand but once you figure out how everything works it's a snap!
I'm actually thinking of buying a second one for when I finally wear this one out as the newer ones are going to have Microsoft involved somehow. The one thing I would like to see is a real keyboard for entering titles.
Rating:
Summary: I love it but...
Review: I've had my E80H for about 4 months now and love all the features. It has done all that I expected and quite easily. I didn't find the manual hard to read and hooked it up quickly. My concern now is that after four months my hard drive was almost full and yesterday all the saved programs disappeared. No warning or error messages, just turned it on yesterday and all is gone. Started recording to the drive again and it worked fine. We'll see how well they stand by the warranty when I contact them. Other than this issues it's been a dream.
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