Panasonic DMR-E80H Review

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Panasonic DMR-E80H
3.2 stars
Average rating for this product is: 3.2 out of 5

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dhsoxfan's Review of Panasonic DMR-E80H DVD Recorder

17th Nov 2005

Overall Rating

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

Built-in free TV Guide service
High-speed DVD dubbing
Easy & Convenient editing features


Bad Points

TiVo-esque


General Comments

I would agree that this Panasonic DVD recorder is quite buggy out-of-box. HOWEVER, since I updated the device's firmware, available off of Panasonic's web site, I have been extremely pleased with my purchase of this *refurbished* DVD recorder.
Although I consider myself fairly savvy using the PC, I value the convenience this machine has to offer when it comes to recording shows and dumping them to DVD. There were a couple of times I had to refer to the manual, but overall I have found the machine fairly easy to understand.
I love the ability to just select shows from the TV Guide menu that I want to record. But BEWARE - the TV Guide needs to update every couple of nights, and the only way to do this is to leave the machine off overnight.
The high speed dubbing is GREAT - I always record shows at the quality that I think I'll want them to be when I dump them to DVD. For instance, if I want to put four hour-long episodes on a DVD using LP quality, I make it a point to record the shows from the TV to the hard drive at LP.
TWO MORE BUYER-BEWARE POINTS
1. I do not own digital cable myself, but it is my understanding that, when hooking this machine up through a digital cable or satellite receiver, that many shows that are broadcast - such as HBO's line-up - are set to prevent you from the ability to copy the show to a DVD. Personally, I use the unit's built-in TV tuner and, when recording from classic cable as I do, there are no DVD-burning issues.
2. A DVD recorder like this one may not be suitable for high-definition programs. Even at the best picture quality, the unit only records at a 480-line resolution (low definition) - and I am not aware of a way to use all 480 lines of resolution when recording a wide-screen movie when I record a wide-screen program to the Panasonic.

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