Panasonic DMR-E80H (80 GB) DVD Recorder

This is my first DVD Recorder or Player (other than computer). I purchased the unit after some research. Generally most of the other reviews were fairly on the mark.

First Impressions: Easy to set up but complex to use. This is one device that requires reading of the manual. Much is intuitive but a lot is not. I get the impression that this device will do a lot more than I will ever need but that it also has some limitations. The unit also has a learning curve and some functions are complex to use. It is not a TIVO replacement or substitute. While both do a lot of the same things, they are quite different. The critical differences: TIVO will not create DVD's - a portability and archive limit; The DMR is much more complex to program the recordings, and catalog material.

What I have learned since setup: The Good Stuff:
This unit produces high quality video/audio and has some very nice features. The Extended Play quality is adequate for recording most TV programs and provides maximum storage capacity on the Hard Drive. It is easy to perform basic functions, once you have learned how. It provides information whenever you want it as to what it is doing, without interrupting a function. The entire unit can be controlled remotely. It has an easy to read front panel, provided you are not at an angle to it. While recording you really must be serious about stopping a recording to do it. An accidental key-press will not halt, interrupt operation or place garbage in the image. Skipping commercials is a breeze. Pause operations show excellent quality. Tuner is of good quality. Overall quality seems good. Front inputs can be handy for camcorders, etc. Component and S-Video out gives superior image quality over composite or broadcast to channel 3 or 4. For all it does, it seems to be good value for money. It does some nice checking to warn you if you have made mistakes, like inserting the wrong disk or a disk incorrectly. The manual does cover most functions, you just have to find it. If you get in a bind, you can call and speak to someone about it for free. The Time-Skip feature is also nice. You can watch a recording from the beginning while it is still recording, even if it has been recording for a while. You can also watch a different recording while recording. It has a high speed copy mode. You can copy (dub) a recording to a different media in a fraction of the time it takes to record it. It takes about 5 minutes to copy an hour long DVD-RAM recording to the Hard Disk. When recording from a VCR Tape there seems to be no loss of quality. What you see is what you get. This unit is ideal for Tape to DVD transfer.

The Bad Stuff: The remote range and angle is pathetic. You have to be almost directly in front of the unit for the remote to work correctly. Since this was virtually impossible with my setup, it almost caused me to return the unit.

The solution was to use the X10 Powermid. This is a $50 set of small AC powered pyramids (transmitter and receiver) that are wireless and work with most any remote. The receiver sits next to the unit to be controlled (DMR in this case). You place the transmitter at a convenient spot in front of you. The transmitter picks up the signal from your remote and sends it (radio signal) to the receiver, which reproduces the same signal in front of the controlled unit. The Powermid even works through walls.

With this problem resolved, I could continue to use the unit. As mentioned in other reviews, the manual is also pathetic. It is B/W on thin paper in an 8.5x11 format and bound by 2 staples. It is crowded, hard to find things, and has a weak index. Some of the descriptions can be difficult to follow or confusing. Some important things are buried in the text or are on different pages or sections away from main text. Few references are made between sections to assist the reader in finding things. Terminology is used without definition. I found myself reading the manual several times or a section over and over before finding out what I was looking for.

Initial Setup is complex. Lots of choices, not made easy by a bad manual. Thankfully it only has to be done once.

Support is not a whole lot better. While the phone number is free, long wait times are the norm - 15 minutes or longer. Then the person you speak to is unlikely to know much about the unit, other than what is in the manual, if that. Out of the 3 times I have called, the call had to be escalated twice.

This unit will not allow your to copy (dub) ANY DVD-R to the hard disk, including ones you have made yourself. You can copy from the Hard Disk to DVD-R or DVD-RAM. You can also copy from DVD-RAM to the Hard Disk. Panasonic states the reason for this is to prevent illegal copying of any material. It is also a great inconvenience. It can be bypassed by having another DVD-Player and copying from the second player, providing the material is not copy protected. This machine will not read or write to DVD-RW. Don't buy this material by mistake like I did. BTW: DVD-RAM disks are delicate and expensive. It also will NOT play Photo-CD's.

While the machine has editing capability, it will not combine two recordings into one. It will only divide and erase information. The procedures to do this are complex and not very user-friendly. Additionally the controls to do this are poorly arranged and lack functionality to accomplish this rapidly. There is a lot of hunting around, going back and forth, etc. to edit out commercials, for instance; but it will do it.

Adding titles can be a pain. It is NOT done automatically from the programming or the recording. It must be done separately, using a hunt and peck procedure on the remote, similarly to the inexpensive label makers. It takes a long time to enter a simple title. Individual scenes can be moved around in a different order or marked. This however cannot be done from the main listing. You must do it by creating something called a Playlist first. More titles and more frustration.

Another frustration is that when you view the index to a disk, it starts playing the selected item immediately. Going to the index always selects something. This means you have to stop the selection and go through several menus or buttons to get rid of the index and see the program from the beginning.

The Manual warns that some DVD Players will not accept the DVD-R format that this unit uses. That means that DVD's created on this unit may not play on all DVD Players. However this is currently the on affordable recorder on the market with a Hard Drive. Having the Hard Drive I would never consider not having one. I wanted the DVD-R format as it was compatible with my computers (Macintosh). Newer players are supposed to accept DVD-R formats. Newer players can also be as low in cost as $50. I would rather buy a recorder with a Hard Drive and a new player than be without the Hard Drive.

Finally, I have experienced a single total system lockup. The machine refused to turn on. Simply unplugging it, waiting a minute, and plugging it back in restored all functionality without any loss of information. I suspect it was caused when I tried to cycle through the Hard Disk functions too fast without waiting for them to complete fully. This machine does require some patience to use it.

Overall Impressions: The unit has some great features for a 2nd generation unit, but it is not perfect. It represents a solid unit that gives great value for your money. Areas that could stand significant improvement are the manual, the remote sensitivity, and technical support. The unit could also stand some improved human engineering. The Hard Disk make this unit a "showstopper' and a "benchmark" unit. This feature alone leaves its competitors in the dust. Given the Hard Drive, quality, features and price, there is no real competition right now. This on or its big brother at $1000 (larger Hard Drive) are the only ones to buy. If you want something that is easier to use, with a better remote or a better manual, don't buy anything now, but wait. I am sure that the competition will be adding hard drives shortly and that the next generation of this machine will be improved in the human engineering and remote area. However, given the history of Panasonic, I would not bet that much improvement will be seen in the manual or support.