Panasonic DMR-ES40 DVD Recorder / VCR Combo

We bought this unit because we needed a new DVD player. But the primary reason we wanted it was because I have lots of old VHS tapes of family members. Many of the VHS tapes are at least 15 years old and I'm sure they are not going to last much longer. I used to film my sons when they were small carrying a very heavy video camera around on my shoulder. They are treasures to us because they show the boys when they were very small and also our grandmother who has since passed on. I had the idea to transfer these old videos onto DVD's.

(By the way, I should mention that I had taken a couple of the videos into a place downtown that advertised they could do this work transferring. I took two videos there and it worked out fine, but it cost me $30 each and I had at least 10-12 videos I wanted transferred.)

To do the actual transfer is extremely easy. (If I can do it, anyone can!) You simply put your video into the left side of the machine, which is obviously the video slot side. Then you put your blank DVD into the DVD side of the machine. All you do is hit the remote control DVD DUBBING feature button. You merely hold the button down for 3 seconds and the transfer begins.

We have now completed transferring all of our old tapes into DVDs, I feel, just in time. There is no way of knowing how much longer they could or will last, but I feel better knowing that now we have a DVD backup. We are also planning to make copies of the DVD's for other members of our family.

We paid $279 for this unit at Costco, which might seem high, but what you get is a VCR (you never know, you still might rent or watch an old VHS movie!) and a DVD player. We have also watched dozens of rented movies since we bought this several months ago and definitely feel we've gotten our money's worth. If I had used the VHS/DVD transfer service for 12 VHS tapes, it would have cost us in the ballpark of $360+. Yes, you can purchase DVD units for a lot less, but if you are like we were and had lots of old VHS family movies, or even just VHS movies that you would like updated, this is the way to go.


For recording you first press channel to select the Channel (usually Channel 3). The next step is to select the "Rec Mode" to choose the recording mode. (In both VHS and DVD there are the speeds, SP, EP and LP.) . All you do next is to press the red "Rec" button to begin recording.


Our old VHS tapes are no longer in the best condition, due to age and other factors (ahem, when I recorded them, I sometimes made human errors!), but the DVD quality is just as good as the VHS. That is the picture looks just as good as what it came from, no loss there. Of course, with a better quality VHS tape, the DVD quality is also better. In other words, there is no reduction of quality in picture during transfer.

OPTIONS:

You can transfer (dub) from VHS --> DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW + R

You can also transfer (dub) from DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW + R --> VHS.

Last, but not least, you can transfer (dub) from DVD-Video TO VHS, but not if they have been treated to prevent copying, such as movies you might rent. Almost all pre-recorded video tapes are copy protected to prevent illegal reproduction, therefore, in theory, you can't copy them.

On the remote control, you select the drive of the type of medium you are using, DVD or VHS. The unit will light up to indicate which one you have selected. All of the other buttons are there for you to use, including, the play, pause, skip and search buttons.

Panasonic DMR-ES40V DVD Recorder Features

One touch VHS dubbing (transfer) to DVD
1 second quick start for Recording on DVD-RAM
2x LP Horizontal Resolution [500 lines] with DIGA Engine
Unit itself is a Silver (Argent) color
TMs Dolby Laboratories
"DTS" and "DTS 2.0 + Digital Out" are trademarks of Digital Theater Systems, Inc.

This unit can play CD-DA format audio CD-R and CD-RW. Please know that the unit might not be able to play some CD-R and CD-RW which would be due to the condition of the recording and not the unit itself.

NOTE: "To enjoy a progressive scan picture, a TV with progressive scan capabilities must be used."



Made in Malaysia

www.panasonic.com

Call: 1-800-211-PANA (7262)



~thanks for reading my review~



©gkm.


.