Panasonic DMR-ES40 DVD Recorder / VCR Combo

The very first VCR I purchased was a Panasonic. It was the first unit ever sold and was expensive. It did a great job .

This unit is also good. The manual shows how to get started step by step. However, once I turned on the TV, the unit pretty much set itself up. If something didn't set up correctly, you can go back and manually fix it. It took me a little while to understand the manual but once I caught on, I think it's pretty well written. Through out the manual it shows pictures of the remote, what all the buttons are for, and each picture has highlighted buttons for each procedure.

The units plays and records VHS tapes and DVD-R, +R, RW and RAM disks.

You can of course watch TV while recording or finalizing a disk. Disks have to be finalized before playing on another unit.

It's approximately 17" x 13" x 3 1/2 ", larger than my old VCR

DVD

Does a great job of recording. Will record 8 hours on a disk but the quality is bad, 6 hours is acceptable.

It has a rewind and fast forward for both tapes and disks as well as pause. I like pause because it freezes a frame and I can take my time looking at a room when playing back a decorating program or any other show.

You can dub (transfer) from a tape to DVD. I thought it would be like dropping pictures from my computer to a CD but it's not that fast. The tape plays on your TV and the DVD part records it. A 2 hour show will take 2 hours to transfer.

You can also transfer from a DVD to a tape. It uses the same procedure and works fine.

I have a problem transferring from tape to DVD. Tape was 4 hours and the unit stopped after 2 hours. Never transfers more than 2 hours. Don't know if that's all it will do or I just didn't find the right instructions .

It has a direct navigator so you can see what's on a disk. It automatically puts a date on each program I recorded. It lets you add titles.

It has parental controls and requires a password. I had a problem with that one. I was just looking at all the controls and functions and went into playback to see what was there. I must have highlighted "parental controls" and the unit stopped playing all DVD's. It kept asking me for a password. I finally calmed down and found a solution in the back of the manual and fixed it.

I also had a problem setting up recording in advance. I just didn't exit properly (need to press enter, then schedule)

There is an occasional problem with advance recording and I can't figure out why. When I set it to record every day at a certain time, it sometimes shows the wrong date, Monday as 8/1 instead of 7/31 . Very strange.

VHS

Works just like a VCR unit, instant record, record in advance, has a rewind and fast forward and you can transfer from tape to a DVD. The picture quality is good.

CD's

The manual says it will play MP3's and CD's with JPEG formats. I inserted a CD with pictures of my dog. It gave me thumbnails , and when I clicked a picture it filled my TV screen, pressed right arrow on remote and got the next picture. Very impressive. Manual says you can do a slide show but I haven't tried it yet. Now everybody can watch slide shows of my dog before dinner.

Update: Unit worked for exactly one year and quit. I could use my TV but not the unit. Nothing showed - no pictures, no function, nothing. It just quit and I really loved this unit. Called Panasonic and they agreed to repair my unit under the warranty so I shipped it to them. They left a message on my answering machine one day, and informed me it couldn't be fixed and they were sending me a new unit. I received a DMR ES46V last week. It's basically the same with some additions and improvements. Didn't cost me a cent and I've very pleased with Panasonic.