Panasonic DMR-E85 Review

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Panasonic DMR-E85
3.7 stars
Average rating for this product is: 3.7 out of 5

From 0 ratings and 3 reviews

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justinallsop's Review of Panasonic DMR-E85 DVD Recorder

20th Jan 2005

Overall Rating

4.5 stars
  • Value for money
    4 stars
  • Image Quality
    5 stars
  • Features
    4.5 stars
  • Time DVD Recorder Owned
    1 - 6 Months
  • Sound Quality
    4 stars
  • Ease of Use
    4.5 stars
Good Points

Excellent picture quality.
Chasing Play enabled (timeslip).
Excellent navigation system.
High speed recording (not enabled out of the box)
Multi region available (through PRC Direct)
Simple to use and creates DVDs suitable for other DVD players.


Bad Points

Uses DVD-R or DVD-RAM only.


General Comments

I took a long time before I ordered this HDD/DVD recorder. I looked at all the competition at the time, and went into detail about how you actually programmed the recorder, and how good the quality settings are.

In the end, I narrowed it down to this model, and a similar priced one from Pioneer. Although I bought it over the Net, I did make a trip to a local electrical store to see a demo before I parted with my hard earned cash.

The Panasonic won over the Pioneer both in picture quality, and in looks.

The unit is large, but not too deep. The first thing they say is not to put anything on it, or put it on top of anything else. This is to protect the hard drive from heat and vibration from other devices. This is essential, as a friend found out to his cost.

Once sited and operational it will interrogate your TV if it can, and automatically tune in the channels and set the time. This is not done down the aerial like a TV might be.

Using the recorder is as simple as using a VHS deck. It accepts VideoPlus+ numbers and also allows you to use traditional methods. I usually add a couple of minutes to the recording time and start it earlier. It does have PDC facilities, but I've not found it to be that reliable, either on this machine or on VHS machines, so I don't use it anymore.

Watching is as simple as turning the machine on, selecting the program you wish to watch from the screenshots that the navigator shows you. It helpfully titles the programs for you if it can.

Playback is broadcast quality on SP mode, and there is little point going to the higher XP quality for every day recording. That gives about 35 hours on the HDD and 2 hrs on a DVD-R.

I've yet to try my digital camcorder, but I would guess that it would benefit from the use of the XP mode, since the quality is better than digital TV.

I have yet to find anything that I would change about the recorder. Only minor niggles to do with the way you select things to dub to DVD, and that you can't erase one program while it is recording another.

Overall an excellent piece of kit and those who buy will never look back to VHS.

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