Panasonic DMR-E50 EBS Review

Overall Rating

Good for recording 2 hour max programs/movies that are meant to be played in the same unit

DVD-Rs recorded in this unit cannot be played back in PC or standalone DVD players

I was looking forward to useing this Panasonic DMR-E50 EBS DVD recorder to collect my favourite movies on DVDs and be able to play them in my laptop when travelling or in a standalone DVD player in another room. Unfortunaly this cannot be done so I am very dissapointed.

Fiddly and difficult to use also, more complicated than most VCRs.

Image quality is fine for SP and XP but recording cannot exceed 2 hours. LP quality no better than standard VCR.

Members' Comments onmats's Review

• m hodgson on 12th Apr 2004

  I agree. Thgere are many features but I am an end user I should not need to be familiar with so many complicated terms. I only want to insert a DVD and watch it.
  
  What is PCM or bitstream?

• MadDogX007 on 16th Apr 2004

  I just bought this DVD Recorder and recording is simple. I have a Tivo connected to it, and I can play a recorded movie or documentary, and simply hit the record button on the panasonic, and bingo! What more do you want.

• hotmetal on 16th Apr 2004

  I have not had any problems with DVDs made on this unit playing on another machine or a PC. The disks must be finalised first which will make them compatable with any unit. I have not found any problems with this recorder except it is a bit fussy as to what make of blank disks it needs. Once you have that sussed it is a delight to use. A great companion to Sky+.

• JOET78 on 30th Apr 2004

  What disc do you use? I tried a couple different disc and it would record about 15 min. and then it said error has occured check disc. Please help.

• I Sayles on 12th Jun 2004

  Try the Mirror DVD-R disks. I've found they are 100% reliable and you can get them from XLShop for less than 75p a disk.

• hotmetal on 14th Jun 2004

  Yes I agree that Mirror disks are good. In fact any that has Ritek G04 dye seem to work well. Try bigpockets for disks. Mirror ones are going at 19.99 for 50, around 40p a disk.

• mapdnx on 30th Nov 2004

  I find that the Panasonic can copy 6 hrs easy in better than VHS quality using a Input from my cable box for the source and using CHEAP DataWrite Red(V3) 4.7 GB General Perpose Disks DVD-R 4x Speed. 25 disks less than £5.00 on Spindle.
  I also Tried some Panasonic RAM Disks bought off Ebay, for Just recording stuff I want to watch once. These Disks are very good for Everyday General use, like Soaps and bits on TV. I may Get some DVD RW Disks to compare the difference and Price.
  
  Dose its Job Well, looks cool and has a Quality feel to it too.
  The Best thing I have bought in ages.

• mapdnx on 30th Nov 2004

  Ohh If you want to watch recordings on other players you HAVE to Finalise the DISKs.
  
  Why do people assume they don't have to read the Manual to things when they buy them, and Then wonder why it wont work the way they expect !!!!
  
  Brilliant Recordings
  Excellent Value
  
  Just spend an evening with it reading the Manual to set it up properly and You will LOVE IT.

• mats on 30th Nov 2004

  Well, I have totally given up using this machine to record anything. I did read the manual! I know it by heart after 8 months! 8/10 recorder disks will come out with error message: 'Cannot read the disk' - this does not allow you to finalize the disk. Tried 3 different kinds of DVD-R disks including Mirror disks that took me 2 months to get hold of (out off stock at the time). The 2/10 that can be finalized then usually work OK even if I have had a few that did give 'Cannot read the disk' even after finalizing. I use Video+ when I record and I can see clearly the unit recording at the correct time so the problem is not there. Also the programs that I recorded were shorter than 2 hours. - I have got even the 'cannot read disk' after recording on the Panasonic DVD-RAM disk. Might be something wrong with this recorder. I guess I should take it to be seen by Panasonic people before the warranty runs out. It is not even a very good player because it refuses any DVDs that are a tiny bit damaged while my £35 Ronin player in another room plays them without problem.

• cryellow on 9th Jan 2005

  I have had problems with the DMR E50 since the beginning too. Now it is saying "NO READ" (incompatible disk) for any disk I put into the machine... even a disk created and finalised by the machine previously!

• florrieman on 2nd Feb 2005

  I bought a DMR-E50 12 months ago & within 2 months it had to be replaced as it was not reading the RAM disks or any unfinalized disks that i still wanted to record on. Panasonic did replace the recorder but this 1 is doing exactly the same & my warranty has just expired by a few days so i will now have to pay for the repair myself or use it as a £300 player. Not good getting the same problem from 2 recorders within 12 months. A good recorder whilst it worked but I would recommend that people !!!DO NOT!!! buy Panosonic.

• cryellow on 3rd Feb 2005

  I had the unit repaired under warranty and it seems to be okay now. They said they changed pretty much the entire optical reader of the unit. I was told that Panasonic had upgraded the entire system. Supposedly the cost would have been US $300. If I had paid out of pocket!
  
  The first day I got it back the tray would not stay shut whether a disk was inside it or not. Anyone else ever have this problem?
  
  But, it settled down so I did not have to take it back in right away!
  
  I am fearful that it will fall apart again when the warranty expires in May, but if I have any problems at all I will take it in before then.
  
  I think all owners of this unit should ask if they have the upgraded electronics or not and if not demand that Panasonic repair the unit whether in warranty or not.

• tve on 23rd Mar 2005

  florrieman - RE your replacement player and warranty, I believe that if the player had to be replaced due to a fault, then the standard 1 years warranty begins again with the replacement - I studied Law as part of a college course. Have you got something which states the date it was replaced (like a courier / shipment note). Worth a try.