Rating: 
Summary: Excellent product.
Review: This is a great electronic component. The recorded picture quality utilizing the SP mode is excellent. The XP mode is even better, with virtually no difference from the original source. I have not found the need for recording in the XP mode since the SP mode is superior, but it's there for anyone who may require it. Just remember, you get approximately 1 hour of recording time in the XP mode as compared to approximately 2 hours in the SP mode.If you are recording movies from your satellite (or cable), this unit is capable of editing out commercials or any other unwanted up-front and rear "garbage" that gets recorded before and after each recording. Just record to the hard drive, edit, then dub to DVR -R and your done. In addition, the DVD -R recording you just made can be copied over as many times as needed just by hooking up a second DVD player to the inputs. One reviewer below mentioned "You cannot copy a DVD, copy protected or not, to the hard drive unless it is a DVD-RAM disk." Well he is just plain WRONG. In fact, not only can you copy a DVD -R to the hard drive, you can also copy it to another blank DVD -R and utilize the flexible recording mode to get the best possible (highest quality recording). I have done it and have tested the recording in the three other DVD Players I own. Each one is a different manufacturer: Sony, JVC, Samsung. This unit is not TIVO. It's much better. You cannot edit out "stuff" with TIVO and you cannot make a DVD with TIVO. Look at the consumers report on this unit. It is ranked #2 (right behind the Panasonic dmr-e100h model) in the DVR/DVD Recorder Combo Category. It received an excellent rating for Hard Drive/DVD recorders and these guys are the experts. According to their 12/3/2004 report on DVD Recorders, this unit scored excellent in DVD Playback Picture Quality, Recording Picture Quality and DVD Playback Ease Of Use. Very good in all others categories. If you are looking quality playback, recordings, sound, etc... in a recording unit, look no further. I have recorded approximately 70 movies with this unit, with only one failure due to a bad DVD disc. I have used a number of different DVD disc. Sony, Panasonic, Memorex, TDK and Maxell disc. All work fine, so just pick the least expensive. My preference are the Sony & Panasonic brands. You can tell the difference in the quality workmanship. The manufacturer recommends using Panasonic disc. But of course, they would. GAC
Rating: 
Summary: SAME THING WRONG!
Review: This item is crap!
I've had the SAME problems with it as many of these reviewers. It lasted about six months...but the thing keep saying "bye" and then "recover", wasting tons of blank discs.
What a rip-off! Do not purchase! I did not get the extended warranty, which should be unnecessary if the company stands behind its product.
This item is crap. I don't know what I'm going to do with mine. What a horrible WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: great while it lasted
Review: This was a Christmas present last year and just over the one-year anniversary the laser part of the DVD reader gave out. I was told it would be $200. plus to repair it.
Pretty steep price for a one year lifespan.
Rating:
Summary: The most BEAUTIFUL electronic item I have ever owned!!!!
Review: I have had the Panasonic DMR-E80H for 9 months now and have successfully organized my media collection creating a total of 44 DVD's doing about 3 a day and three DVD RAM's! I am sorry to hear of all the trouble other people are having and hope they get things settled soon!
I did read somewhere that the instructional manual was difficult to understand and in places it is a bit on the complicated side but for the most part I got it out of the box, set up and burning my first DVD in a matter of an hour! I knew I couldn't record one channel while watching another for I have DISH network and could never do that before so no biggie! Same with copying a DVD that is write protected. I figure I will either buy the DVD or record what I can.
I have finalized my DVD's and have given a few to friends and they can play then on their units with no trouble. As for the media I was sold a 10 pk of Memorex DVD-R so that is what I look for or of course Panasonic DVD-R and both gave a fantastic picture in playback though I will mention the 6 hr mode gets a touch choppy looking so I stick with 1, 2 or 4 hour modes!
I will be using the hard drive very soon for I have made a few DVD RAMS and am eager to test them out to see how fast they will copy to a DVD-R blank!
An interesting tidbit! I have a friend over in England and he also owns a Panasonic DVD player and I sent him a DVD and didn't finalize it and he was able to play it but not finalize it of course! Alas, when he returned the favor my machine didn't recognize the DVD!
I have noticed that a new Panasonic DVD recorder is out with a larger hard drive and 200$ less that the DMR-E80H. It would be interesting to hear a bit of feedback for when this unit gives out I will go for a Panasonic again
Rating:
Summary: Great recorder........ when it worked
Review: The product worked great for two days. Then when the unit is powered on the display reads "recover" and then reads "bye" and powers off everytime. I took it back to the store and it was sent off for two weeks. Got it back and it worked great for four days and it is now doing the exact same thing ( "recover" "bye" ). I will be going back to the store tommorow for my money back . I have only had this unit for about 24 days and now I will be saying "BYE!!!!!!".
If you have a unit that works you got lucky. If your unit is giving you trouble, get rid of it fast because it will always give you trouble. NO MORE PANASONIC FOR ME!
Rating:
Summary: Buy the extended warrantee!!
Review: They have NOT perfected this technology yet. This is my third machine. I sent back the first and second and kept the third. It has been to the repair shop for a month of repair because it took so long ordering parts. Now I find myself needing to reformat the hard drive every two weeks or so, losing everything I have on it. If you buy this, have plenty of patience and buy the extended warrantee. You are going to need it!!If you are planning on using this to put your movie VHS on to DVDs, don't buy this model either. The copyguard that is built in will prevent you from using this for most professional videos. Buyer beware!
Rating: 
Summary: Failed Hard Drive
Review: I have had this item for 14 months and have just had similar problems recently to others. The unit has totally locked up. When reset, it reboots continuously and displays replace disk or system error. I have just sent it to be services but it is now out of warranty.
When the unit was working it was great. Each function worked as advertised and was reliable. I am waiting to see how long it takes to get it fixed. I have given it to an authorized service center for an estimate of cost.
Rating:
Summary: Worked great for 3 months
Review: Bought it in May and recorded Monday thru Friday for 5 hours a day. In August it started to mess up. I had to format the hard disk and lost all my shows. Had to unplug and let it recover. The last thing I saw it say is, "Replace Disk". Now it want run at all.
Rating:
Summary: Problems of other reviewers are real
Review: This sounds like other reviews on Amazon.com. After about six months of use, my recorder started losing the ability to recognize commercial DVDs. Then, it locked up while dubbing from HD to DVD-R, went into Recover, and made the disk useless--at $1.50 or so a pop. Then, it stopped working altogether.
The repair place that Panasonic sent me to said that they couldn't get a new "deck" from Panasonic for about six weeks. I called Panasonic, got the part expedited, but, when the repair part was installed weeks later it turned out to be defective. That was weeks ago. New repair parts are still weeks out. The parts guy at the repair place told me that these things break constantly, specifically that they were released to the market before the technology was right. So, the Panasonic DMRs are piling up at the shop. It takes a long time to talk to someone at Panasonic (I'm on hold now and have been for about 20 minutes). The people I've talked to are nice but refuse to connect me to anyone above them and essentially are not permitted to do more than pass on the problem to their bosses. The most recent one even said this was my fault because I didn't call every few days to see if they had done anything about the part. When I told him that this was corporate responsibility, he just got evasive and continued to make it my fault.
So, if you buy this, expect it to break, expect that there are no parts, expect to get the run around.
I paid a lot of money for something that doesn't work and can't be fixed.
Anyone for a class action lawsuite?
Rating: 
Summary: EXTREMELY Pleased Despite a Few Limitations
Review: First, the limitations I've run into:
1. Can't copy copy-protected DVDs from the player to the hard drive.
2. Can't play DVD formats unless they are DVD-RAM or DVD-R.
3. Can't record one show while watching another if you have Dish Network or DirectTV. (You can, however, do this if you have cable.)
Next, the strong points of the unit:
1. Recording quality is fantastic. Couldn't be more pleased.
2. Editing software is simple, but effective.
3. Great progressive scan player.
With that said, you should consider this unit if:
1. You're interested in recording tv shows--series, movies, sporting events. I use the unit EXTENSIVELY to record Alias, Seinfeld, kids shows, etc. I also record a ton of sporting events.
2. You want to move digital video from a camcorder to dvd without using a computer. I use this with my Sony HCR-DR40 camcorder, and it works extremely well.
Bottom Line: If you don't care about being able to rip DVDs or play DVD+ formats, this is a wonderful unit to use for recording tv programs.
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