Panasonic DMR-E75VS Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder/VCR Combo
By: Panasonic Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 40
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 On: 2008-03-09
After having owned this for just over a year, the unit rejects nearly 3 quarters of all my Dvd discs due to the proverbial cannot read disc error. I tried recording several vhs tapes to various dvd media without any success. This may simply be an isolated problem, but nonetheless, my previous combos (other than panasonic) lasted years longer, under rigorous use. Im currently shopping for a new brand because it would
be cheaper than repair. Fair or not, I cannot recommend panasonic.. in fact, Ill actually enjoy tossing this one.
 On: 2007-12-24
I have had this over 2 years and still can not make out most of the directions which are very confusing. Nothing is strait foreword always referring to another page instead of continuing the sentence. The recorder is good and I am not knocking it only the directions. I remember reading in an earlier review that this was a problem. Customer support is good.5 stars the recorder is good.
On: 2007-03-13
This unit might be able to make a Mars trip....far more flexibility than I need but it is there for the taking....the performance is excellent and surprisingly it plays most of the newer tapes so well they are hard to tell from a CD....sometimes impossible to tell the difference....dubbing is easy enough and provides good viewing of the dubbed item..............buy this again? Yes I would......
On: 2006-05-08
Ive had this machine for over a year and have had no problems with it. Once you get used to the process for dubbing from vhs to dvd it is easier to use. Ive burned many dvds and have only had trouble with a couple the machine was unable to read to be able to record on. Thanks to other reviews Ive read I always finalize the dvds so they can be viewed on other machines with no problem. I would buy this unit again.
On: 2006-04-03
I have had this unit for approximately a year now. For the first 6 mnths it worked fine. After that time period we would be watching a dvd movie and half way through the picture will go black, but you could still here the sound. If we rebooted the system, and jump scenes to where the trouble began, it would generally resume and work fine. Over the past couple of months this occurs 3 to 4 times each movie. When we finally get too frustrated and take the same disk to the back of the house and put it in our cheapo GE player...it plays fine. I would not waste my money on this product.
 On: 2006-01-17
Unit # 1 functioned briefly, returned for replacement . Amazon service excellent.
Unit #2..functioned 4 months then deteriorated in both VHS and DVD circuits . Repeatedly tried on-line service with Panasonic with no response . Provided S/N a number of times; Panasonic continued to re-request it . Tried phone service..NEVER- got to a human voice . Waits 45 " . Located Panasonic service in Charlotte ; returned unit twice before successful operation . They claim bad quality parts from Panasonic .
Basic problem : when playing back a dubbed RAM disk , unit would stop and reverse at 2min. 52 sec playback time . No one had a technical explanation for this ! "Fixed" it by reversing all dubbed disks to 00, then playing . Local technician says, "somethings wrong" but still no real solution .
I have been faithful Panasonic customer for 30 years and this is the worst ever. Very,very disapointed . I wont hold by breath awaiting a call from Panasonic Customer Service...but am apprehensive how long the unit will operate .
On: 2005-12-30
This product does for me what it was intended to do. It easily makes DVDs from old videotapes. Pretty much you put a recorded tape in, a blank DVD in, and you press "DUB." Its that simple. The only trick is to remember to finalize the discs, and this does take a little investigating through a somewhat confusing manual in order to do so. Once done, Im sure they will play on most machines. I have yet to have a problem playing the DVDs on either of my two computers or my tv. I am using Memorex 16X DVD-R discs. In order to use 16X discs, you have to go to the Panasonic website to download a firmware upgrade for the machine(easy to do).
The VCR and DVD play smoothly and work quickly. I have owned Sharp, Magnavox and JVC, and the Panasonic easily outdoes any of them in the quality department.
The only minus is the inability to create thumbnail chapters on the DVDs when using a DVD-R disc. You can skip 5 minutes up to the next "chapter," but you wont find that chapter in a thumbnail.
Overall, for the price, it is hands-down a good recorder. For what you pay someone else to do, you can have your recorded discs AND the machine that recorded them.
by: videofile2100 On: 2005-10-28
I CANNOT SAY MUCH MORE THAN WHAT THE OTHER REVIEWERS SAID.MY UNIT HAS ONLY ONE TV TUNER.THERE MUST BE TWO VERSIONS OF THIS UNIT.MAY I SUGGEST YOU CONNECT THIS UNIT TO A GOOD SURGE PROTECTER.A LOT OF THE NEGITIVE ISSUES MIGHT BE CAUSED BY POWER SURGES.THIS APPLIES TO ALL SENSITIVE ELECTRONICS AND COMPUTERS. 4 STAR RATING
On: 2005-10-13
After reading an earlier review of this machine, I had to write. I had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. Ive burned about 60 DVDs and for those DVDs that have not been completed (finalized) at least one-third end up being DESTROYED by the machine!! Ive lost episodes of TV series, my home movies that I converted (luckily I have saved the original tapes), and priceless events that I wanted to record (like the Olympics). It is VERY frustrating to spend HOURS on recording the DVDs and then go to finalize them (burn them so they can be played in other machines) and have ERROR pop up or UNREADABLE or CANT BE PLAYED. I wrote to Panasonic to see what the problem might be and all I got was a computer response as to where I could buy accessories.
This is very disappointing for a company like Panasonic. They clearly have a bug in certain of these machines and their poor customer service is genuinely disappointing.
On: 2005-10-12
After reading an earlier review of this machine, I had to write. I had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. Ive burned about 60 DVDs and for those DVDs that have not been completed (finalized) at least one-third end up being DESTROYED by the machine!! Ive lost episodes of TV series, my home movies that I converted (luckily I have saved the original tapes), and priceless events that I wanted to record (like the Olympics). It is VERY frustrating to spend HOURS on recording the DVDs and then go to finalize them (burn them so they can be played in other machines) and have ERROR pop up or UNREADABLE or CANT BE PLAYED. I wrote to Panasonic to see what the problem might be and all I got was a computer response as to where I could buy accessories.
This is very disappointing for a company like Panasonic. They clearly have a bug in certain of these machines and their poor customer service is genuinely disappointing.
On: 2005-09-05
Have recorded literally hundreds of discs from every quality of tape imaginable, from SP, LP & EP(SLP)modes, and obviously recorded from every brand of VCR imagineable, still runs like a charm. This is used in our business where we transfer all formats of tapes to DVD. This machine will also transfer homemade DVDs to VHS, an uncommon request - more of a learning process, but once you get it, youve got it! Panasonic has the unique flextime mode which allows you to set the exact amount of time for the DVD to record to match the source tape. Our other DVD recorders are a Sharp (consumer) which does well, an ultra expensive Pioneer professional, but older technology (one of the first) and ANOTHER Panasonic which burns U.S. NTSC discs and foreign PAL discs. The Panasonic reliability is unparalleled for the consumer. Only the Pioneer professional series could outdo Panasonic. Tried a Go-Video at one time, total nightmare! Was burning errors to the discs no matter what brand of disc.
On: 2005-07-26
Believe it or not I had blank DVD-RAMs shipped to me once by mistake (my bad I didnt know if it will work on my Desktop pioneer external dvd writer) I have the multi region/system version of this which sold only in Asia and Middle-East
I am glad that happened! This amazing Panasonic records in XP (Perfect picture) SP LP AND EP (8 hours worth of heavy video!) I converted close about 30 Tapes now and still running! Including (Grnadizer all the episodes in 19 tapes! )
Trust me I dont miss those days when I used to struggle with the computer and my cam to USB and Firewire hard drive space etc. etc. Standalone devices are the way. If your wondering how much editing u can do with this, well plenty. Provided that u use DVD-RAM (u can in DVD-R as well but u wont have as much flexibility in dividing the segments u r recording)
On: 2005-06-05
Pros: Features, Picture, Reliability, frame advance
Cons: Sound,Sound,Sound,Sound SOUND!!!!!!
This would be a perfect machine if the sound were as good as most of its sibling recorders.
I SAY DONT BUY THIS BECAUSE THERE ARE MUCH BETTER DVD RECORDERS (MAINLY PANASONIC) THAT PERFORM BETTER AND ARE LESS COSTLY
On: 2005-05-25
Be aware that if you wish to dub a VHS tape to DVD, unless the tape was originally recorded by the Panasonic unit, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE FLUTTER/EXTREME TRACKING PROBLEMS!! 90% of my DVDs look like crap because the VCR in this unit is cheaply produced and trying to resolve tracking problems only results in frustration. So, if you like to watch your DVDs flutter, go ahead and spend $400+ on this Panasonic trash.
On: 2005-05-25
the only reason i gave it 4 stars was due to inconsequential feature lacking. otherwise 5 star all the way. yes manual is difficult but with patience completely understandable. this is the first review ive ever written & really the only reason im writing it is to correct the misconceptions and to stop people from being scared off of this machine due to misinformation. first of all finalize. secondly,and this is the real reason im writing,all brands of 4x,sonys 1-8x, and in response to an earlier review my memorex 8x work perfectly. 4x is very hard to find now so ive been buying the 8x at first shyly now with confidence.
i use sony 1-8x,verbatim 4x,tdk 4x,memorex 4x, and now memorex 8x
which ABSOLOUTELY WORKS. buy with confidence. by the way have had this machine for quite a while and have dubbed & recorded 40+ discs so far.
On: 2005-04-27
Got this about a month ago. After reading the reviews, I was worried about the manual.
However, I found the manual to be just fine, after you get used to it. (But, I do read technical engineering manuals in my job!) This unit is very easy to set up! I like being able to record on both VHS and DVD now!
My only complaint is that the DVDs I bought dont record for more than 2 hours in EP mode. I bought the Panasonic DVDs, since there was an insert for free shipping from Panasonic. I thought the DVD cartridge would go for 4 hours in EP mode. However, you have to physically turn the cartride over; i.e. you only get 2 hours per side. So, I dont think the cartridge is worth the extra price.
Overall, Im very happy with this unit!
On: 2005-04-02
I had absolutely no troubles with unit, minor problem making sure TV input and Unit input matched,after that I recorded off TV and then I dubbed DVD disk from a VHS tape, No problems just remember to finalize after dubbing is finished, timer recording worked well I am getting ready to record TV to a DVD-R disk, if it works like everything else did it should be a breeze. I heard the manual was suppose to be very confusing, you do have to jump around a bit, but it is still no better or worse than other manuals I have used. This is the very 1st review I have ever written.
On: 2005-03-25
This panasonic DMR-E75S is a nice item, but beware it may only last for about a year before it turns out to be a surprise package and the owners manual booklet can be better too. I also must alert you that the customer care center by phone sucks just like a straw, nothing like a recording telling you that the waiting time for your call to get answer is about 55 minutes and will be answer in the order it came in and all that BS. Give it a year or so then it becomes a surprise package.
 On: 2005-01-29
Would I buy this again no and customer service is my major problem. Always a 30 minute wait time with the panasonic call # recieved with the product. I need to add that the vcr recording when playing back is of the poorest quality. I need to play with the tracking over and over.
by: jlyoung On: 2005-01-21
Just got this unit hitched up on Sunday and it has performed well so far. On Monday I discovered I had five minutes to record a movie I wanted and was able to grab the manual, find the instructions, and start the DVD on time. Recorded on 2-hour speed and it looked great. Husband did a dub of an old aviation film on video (no Macrovision) and he said the process was very simple.
I do agree about the manual--I think it was translated from another language by someone who needs a little more training on grammar and syntax. The instructions are there; its just difficult to wade through them. Lots of abbreviations used that could be confusing. I couldnt figure out where the finalize instructions were, either, until husband pointed out the page. Some color coding might help!
I am using Maxell disks I got on sale at Office Depot this week. They appear to work fine.
Both DVD and VCR play look fabulous. Were using component video and the picture just pops out at you (television is a Panasonic as well).
Update--October 2005
Crossing fingers; still okay. I have dubbed off the contents of at least 75 videotapes recorded at EP mode and am still going. Many of my tapes are very old (1980) and a few I have had to fiddle with the tracking, but its not a problem. Signal from VCR to DVD is *very* sensitive--I have a couple of things that I recorded from PBS that had a flutter on them and the recorder interpreted that as Macrovision and quit recording. I solved that problem by playing the tape on an old VCR nearby and using the line feed for the input into the recorder. This has, however, only happened on two tapes out of 75 or more.
by: jlyoung On: 2005-01-20
Just got this unit hitched up on Sunday and it has performed well so far. On Monday I discovered I had five minutes to record a movie I wanted and was able to grab the manual, find the instructions, and start the DVD on time. Recorded on 2-hour speed and it looked great. Husband did a dub of an old aviation film on video (no Macrovision) and he said the process was very simple.
I do agree about the manual--I think it was translated from another language by someone who needs a little more training on grammar and syntax. The instructions are there; its just difficult to wade through them. Lots of abbreviations used that could be confusing. I couldnt figure out where the finalize instructions were, either, until husband pointed out the page. Some color coding might help!
I am using Maxell disks I got on sale at Office Depot this week. They appear to work fine.
Both DVD and VCR play look fabulous. Were using component video and the picture just pops out at you (television is a Panasonic as well).
Update--October 2005
Crossing fingers; still okay. I have dubbed off the contents of at least 75 videotapes recorded at EP mode and am still going. Many of my tapes are very old (1980) and a few I have had to fiddle with the tracking, but its not a problem. Signal from VCR to DVD is *very* sensitive--I have a couple of things that I recorded from PBS that had a flutter on them and the recorder interpreted that as Macrovision and quit recording. I solved that problem by playing the tape on an old VCR nearby and using the line feed for the input into the recorder. This has, however, only happened on two tapes out of 75 or more.
On: 2005-01-17
I received this item as a gift for Christmas, began hooking it up shortly after. Turned it on, and got an error message - something about cant read the disc, even though I hadnt gotten past the point of pressing the power button. Now I realize that the few days after Christmas must be the busiest time for customer service, but the Panasonic help line left the message live help is not available, please send an email. I sent an email, got a response a week later - send the unit in for repair! They would not simply replace the unit with another brand new one, they made me bring it to a Panasonic repair center. Im sure its a great unit, if you get a working one. Beware.
On: 2005-01-15
Ive owned this equipment for about 18 days now and basically like it, having figured out many procedures simply by punching buttons and watching the guides on screen. However, I am completely disgusted with the manual. It is poorly written, and very illogical in the way it presents things. There is no reliable index or table of contents to guide you. For instance, one reason I bought this recorder was to transfer tapes from my digital video camera to DVD-R discs. There is one small information section about recording, but nothing about setting the format (SP, LP, EP, FR or XP). So, I followed what instructions there were, got the video running on the camera, hit the record button on the recorder remote. All seemed to be going fine until a message came up on screen an hour later saying the disc was full!! It had recorded in XP, which is fine quality, but the disc will only hold one hour! On top of that, I could not find any way in the manual to finalize the disc. The index had "finalize" listed with a page number, but when I went to the page, it had only a description of "finalize", and no instructions on how to do it. Ive read the manual from cover to cover and cannot find the procedure anywhere. I need to get about 2:45 on each disc to record all my vacation tapes, and now Im wondering if Ive made a mistake in buying this. Ive punched all the buttons, looked at all the onscreen menus, and theres nothing to help. I will have to call Customer Service and hope to get some info. The manual is really sorry!!!
On: 2005-01-13
This is a truly great product with easy to use features. However, it will only record to 4X DVD-R or 1X-8X DVD-R (and 3X DVD-RAM, but that costs $4 to $5 per disc!). It will not record to 8X DVD-R. I was amazed how difficult it was to find 4X media. All stores in my area (Fred Meyer, Ciduit City, Best Buy) stock only 8X, which causes this machine to crash into self-check mode. Even worse, all store employees said the 8X media would work. Panasonic was not help. They never answered my customer support e-mails and their site says nothing about this. I finally figured out that I could use 8X multi-speed media (usually labeled 1X-8X or sometimes 2X/4X/8X) although this is not mentioned in the manual. Once I figured out what media to use, the machine works flawlessly. This is confusing, since most computer DVD 4X drives will write to 8X media just fine. This needs to be clearly spelled out on the box and in the manual.
On: 2005-01-12
This is a truly great product with easy to use features. However, it will only record to 4X DVD-R or 1X-8X DVD-R (and 3X DVD-RAM, but that costs $4 to $5 per disc!). It will not record to 8X DVD-R. I was amazed how difficult it was to find 4X media. All stores in my area (Fred Meyer, Ciduit City, Best Buy) stock only 8X, which causes this machine to crash into self-check mode. Even worse, all store employees said the 8X media would work. Panasonic was not help. They never answered my customer support e-mails and their site says nothing about this. I finally figured out that I could use 8X multi-speed media (usually labeled 1X-8X or sometimes 2X/4X/8X) although this is not mentioned in the manual. Once I figured out what media to use, the machine works flawlessly. This is confusing, since most computer DVD 4X drives will write to 8X media just fine. This needs to be clearly spelled out on the box and in the manual.
On: 2005-01-06
The unit is not only slick looking, but also is very easy to operate. I did not even need to look at the manual that much to get it going. Dubbing is only one push of a button. If you have at least some general knowledge about technology you would not have any problems like reviewer: ElectronicsExpert "sheryl_i". I strongly disagree with her on everything she said. I find everything quite the opposite.
The only problem I have encountered, and I have had this recorder for 3 months now, is that you have to find the media which works for you. Some of the newer x8 speed Memorex and TDK cause my recorder to restart and that annoys me. So I use x4 speed media and everything works great.
I would recommend using Ritek x4, x8 speed dvd-r that work perfect for me (I have tried quite a few brands). And always remember to finalize the disk, so it can be played back on other dvd players.
I give this recorder 5 stars!!!
PS. Another feature I love is to record in flexible mode. If you need to record a show or transfer a tape that is say 2.1 hours thats when you use the flexible recording feature. No need to use LP(4hours) and get bad quality playback. With flexible recording you get a very decent qaulity picture as well.
On: 2005-01-04
This machine works great. It records to DVD like a VCR. I recorded a football game on ESPN in realtime and then played it on my Dell laptop within minutes. However, the manual is the worst document I have ever read!!! You will need to study it "HARD" to figure out what it is trying to tell you. I say BUY IT !!!
On: 2004-12-09
I picked up this unit after a lot of researching and Ive been very happy with it. The one-touch dubbing is very easy to use. I do have one warning though: most 2 hour tapes recorded at SP are actually from 2:00 to 2:06 long which means that you will lose that extra time. One Touch dubbing on SP will run EXACTLY 2:00. It may not seem like a big deal but there might be important family events on that last bit of tape. The solution? Fast-Forward through the tape to get the exact time on the tape. Hook up an external VCR and use the Flexible Recording option. After using this method you will get everything from the tape on to the DVD. The Flexible Recording option does not appear to be available with the one-touch dubbing feature so thats why you need to connect an external unit. There was some confusion on exactly how the Flexible Recording option worked when I called Panasonic. Their explanation did not agree with the one in the manual. It seems to record at SP and still get 2:06 on the DVD, at least thats what the tape stats indicate at the end. Also, if your TV does not have the right connectors on the back you can get around that with a $25.00 RF convertor. All in all, a great unit for saving all those home movies on tape to DVD. I highly recommend it!
On: 2004-12-09
This product is everything but what it claims.
I would suggest embarking on getting a PhD in quantum mechanics over trying to get this thing to work like it should. Bottom line is, after youre done trying like heck, you realize, it cant work because its a piece of junk, not because youre dumb.
Did you ever get used to being able to rewind those audio and video cassettes? Well, welcome to the age of "high-tech" (according to Panasonic), where you cant do that anymore! You can only go back until you hit the end of a track. Sure, theres a few speeds for jumping ahead, but they dont compensate for being unable to get to the end of the previous track. Better to buy a $50 DVD player that knows what rewind means.
Panasonic support is horrible. I dont live on the East Coast, so their 9-9 hours translate to 6-6. In the morning, any nonjobless bum is hectically navigating traffic to get to work, and only the soon-to-be unemployed dare stop working before 6. So, unless your boss likes you talking to Tech Support for personal items on company time, Panasonic has gotten itself out of having to waste a dime on your phone call regarding their lousy product.
If you dare to let a DVD-R record its entire time, and then you realize that dubbing is worthless because it doesnt provide chaptering (which is the only advantage over VHS besides saving storage space in my view (DVDs/CDs are a lot LESS robust than VHS no matter what a bunch of money-grubbers who want to lie in order to make money off of you say), you can forget it -- your DVD-R disk just became a piece of trash. Erasing the DVD-R only makes it unusable. The product says the "disk is full", though you just deleted everything off of it!
Youd think a standalone box that costs about 2 times what you could do it for with computer hardware and software would at least make things easier. Not so. Even just dealing with chapter titles makes you feel like taking a course in rapid text-messaging. Why didnt they just put a keyboard capability on the thing? It took me 1/2 hour to type in brief names for 13 chapters on a home video. I can type on a keyboard at about 50 words per minute. Just the amount of time youll waste without a keyboard will make it worthless compared to buying a whole new laptop and wireless network for the home, from which you can capture, edit and burn a DVD-R on your home desktop from anywhere in the house.
Lastly, if you think the box is cool cuz youre using DVD-RAM and you therefore manage to get some more functionality from the unit, youd better hope all those precious memories will be preserved forever by that same technology being around forever. How easy is it for you to transfer those betamax tapes? Not easy - Sony doesnt sell that equipment anymore. VHS? No problem! Whats the lesson? Its: Dont go with data archival methods that only one vendor supports. The marketing ploy of sucking you into their DVD format in order to be able to use features that should have been made available for DVD-Rs as well is as immoral as it is lucrative -- for them.
If youre buying this product mostly to "chase" shows, fast-forward thru ads, or anything like that, youre buying the wrong thing. Buy a "Tivo" (PVR) box instead of this DVR, and youll get all that, without having to hassle with any disks at all. If you dont like subscription fees, you dont need to subscribe to Tivo. Just use the "Tivo box" (PVR) as you would the Panasonic DVR. But, even a Tivo subscription is worth it -- unless you like setting timers on recorders constantly & acting like a home librarian for no good reason other than you like to keep busy with busywork. Their lifetime subscription (for the PVRs life that is -- a little gotcha to be sure) is dirt cheap for what you save in time. These PVRs have incredible functionality and ease of connectivity to your PC, so much so that saving anything permanently via a DVD burner on your PC (now <$100, or less than 1/3 the cost of the DMR-E75V DVR) is easier than a standalone DVR. PVRs fit up to 200 hours vs. 8 hours per disk on the DVR even on its worst quality setting (for the same quality, 1 hour!), but at the same cost or less! If you think you really need to burn all 200 hours to DVD, then PVR + PC makes more sense anyway because youve got a lot of work to do, and you can forget doing it on a system that doesnt work.
I only got the "dubbing" feature to work once. The other times, inexplicably it didnt work at all, though I had the simplest of situations, such as home videos (not copyright protected / encrypted!) and both VCR & DVD on SP settings.
The VCR works OK, at least (and yes, the rewind not only works on it but its fast), so if you dont mind paying 3 times normal price for a VCR, youre in good shape!
On: 2004-12-04
This is an excellent product. Its easy to set up and use. I love the thumbnail indexing, which makes it easy to locate chapters and create playlists. Finalized DVD-Rs play fine on my computer, as well as outside DVD players that Ive used. The one-touch dubbing makes it easy to edit. Picture quality is great. And for those with older tvs lacking s-video connectors or inputs for component video cables, theres no need to go out and buy a new tv. Just spend $10-20 for an RF modulator, which you can get at most electronics stores. My only complaint is that DVD-Rs are limited in editing options as opposed to DVD-RAMs. Otherwise, Im impressed with this machine. At last I can jettison my antiquated vhs tapes and home videos and preserve them on high quality DVD.
On: 2004-11-22
I have had the unit for a week now and transfered a dozen movies or so. The dvd-r format works fine on my other players and computer once it is finalized. I wish the dvd ram disks could be finalized and used on other machines as well. They work wonderfully but only play on ram machines, like Panasonic. (As far as I can tell.) The VCR is smooth and fast on the rewind. Manual tracking works great. All in all a good, quality machine.
On: 2004-11-20
I bought this unit,brought it home hooked it up and thought I had made a big mistake! After fooling around with it all afternoon, I finally called Panasonic support. After a long wait, they were very courteous and helpful. I had to call two more times and now everything works. I had the same problems as some of the others have mentioned,such as not responding to the remote or not ejecting and not working in other players or my computer. Panasonic Techs really impressed me. They went step by step and solved all my problems. I will say it can be complicated in the manual for an average person like me,but they made it work. I am satisfied with the results so far and would recommend this model for the price.
Most of the problems were in connections or settings and if you finalize your disks, they play in all my dvd players, two sonys, and a hp computer.
On: 2004-10-25
I just purchased this DVD/VCR recorder yesterday from Circuit City, spent several hours and ruined one VHS tape and one DVD-R trying to figure out the one touch dubbing process. I finally made a DVD that played back in this machine, tried it in my other two DVD players and couldnt make it work. I called Circuit City; the helpful salesperson went over the directions in the manual with me, and I realized I hadnt finalized the DVD-R. I did that, and now the DVD works in my other DVD players. The reviewer who was frustrated because the DVDs didnt work in his other DVD players did not follow directions, which specifically state that the DVD-R must be finalized in order to play in other DVD players. I think this machine is going to be just what I need for transferring family videos to DVDs.
On: 2004-10-24
I just purchased this DVD/VCR recorder yesterday from Circuit City, spent several hours and ruined one VHS tape and one DVD-R trying to figure out the one touch dubbing process. I finally made a DVD that played back in this machine, tried it in my other two DVD players and couldnt make it work. I called Circuit City; the helpful salesperson went over the directions in the manual with me, and I realized I hadnt finalized the DVD-R. I did that, and now the DVD works in my other DVD players. The reviewer who was frustrated because the DVDs didnt work in his other DVD players did not follow directions, which specifically state that the DVD-R must be finalized in order to play in other DVD players. I think this machine is going to be just what I need for transferring family videos to DVDs.
On: 2004-10-04
This vcr/dvd player is easy to use-1 touch dubbing is really just that! My main reason for buying it was to transfer (100s) of vcr tapes Id recorded onto DVD for long term quality-preservation. Id been putting it off as it seemed SO overwhelming....but this is easy to use and I cant believe the quality of vcr tapes recorded to DVD -as some (vcr tapes) are 20+ years old.Amazon had the best price (...). I did have to buy a new TV as mine didnt have the input/output terminals needed, but Ive been extremely happy with this product! Timer recording is also easy to set-and it has lots of wonderful features-many of which I havent explored as of yet.
On: 2004-10-03
This vcr/dvd player is easy to use-1 touch dubbing is really just that! My main reason for buying it was to transfer (100s) of vcr tapes Id recorded onto DVD for long term quality-preservation. Id been putting it off as it seemed SO overwhelming....but this is easy to use and I cant believe the quality of vcr tapes recorded to DVD -as some (vcr tapes) are 20+ years old.Amazon had the best price (...). I did have to buy a new TV as mine didnt have the input/output terminals needed, but Ive been extremely happy with this product! Timer recording is also easy to set-and it has lots of wonderful features-many of which I havent explored as of yet.
On: 2004-09-28
POSTED 09/27/04:
I purchased this unit about three weeks ago and so far, overall, I have been very happy with it.
Below are some things I really like and dislike about the Panasonic VCR/DVD Recorder.
LIKES:
1. DVD-RAM: CHASE feature. With this feature, similar to a DVR, you can start watching the program that is being recorded before it has finished recording OR you can watch another program on the same disc. Chase also allows you to pause live TV, backup to see something again, etc. Chase mode even works when dubbing tapes. If you are one of those people, like me, that is constantly backing up the tape to see/hear something again, this will save wear and tear on the VCR.
2. DVD-RAM: 1.33x playback. It speeds up the audio, but doesnt change the pitch. Not really suitable for movies or dramas, but it does allow you to quickly watch news and documentaries. With this feature and skipping commercials I can watch an hour long documentary in just over 30 minutes.
3. DVD-RAM: Easy trimming and editing of recordings allows you to cut out commercials and make more room on the disc. Shows can be divided too and chapter marks added.
4. DUBBING: Easy and clean dubbing VHS to DVD. Just cue and pause the tape and then when you hit DVD record it starts the recording and unpauses the tape at the same time. Only a couple frames of the paused image get recorded. Commercials can be removed this way too if you want to take the time. VCR on-screen messages are suppressed when recording, so you dont have to worry about a "PLAY" becoming part of your recording. I actually find this manual method of dubbing better than the ONE-TOUCH dubbing option, which doesnt give as much control. This also works for DVD to VCR dubbing, but the procedure is a bit more complicated.
5. You CAN record two shows at once, one to the VCR and the other to DVD. However, you can only do one TUNER (Channel ##) recording at a time, so one or both recordings must be via AV inputs.
6. Remote control of the VCR and DVD is mostly the same.
7. The clock seems to keep accurate time, having gained only about 3 seconds in 3 weeks.
8. VCR: A VP recording speed which is 5x longer than SP and doesnt look much worse than EP. With VP speed you can record 13h 20m+ on a T160 or 16h 40m+ on a T200. Not compatible with most other VCRs though.
9. VCR: 35x search mode. Clean picture with little noise too.
10. VCR: Super fast Rewind and also a Jet Rewind, both take less than a minute to rewind a T160 tape.
DIS-LIKES:
1. No digital zoom on DVD Player. I have poor vision and the zoom feature on my last DVD player allowed me to see small print without getting closer to the TV, so I really miss the zoom feature!
2. The manual is confusing and dis-organized (see 02/19/05 update), but it is also complete so I suggest reading it from cover to cover.
3. No frame advance on the VCR, just pause and slow motion. And the slow motion is awkward to use.
4. Many features only available on DVD-RAM. (Do download the manual from Amazon and look at the RAM DVD-R, etc. headers to see what recording formats each feature supports.)
5. CD-Audio playback is too loud and muffled and sounds terrible, at least on my TV. It could be my TV, but output from DirecTV as well as TV, DVD, VHS and MP3 playback from this unit all sound great on the same TV.
6. Quality of LP and EP DVD recordings is really bad during scenes with smoke/steam/fog. Scenes with fast motion also cause some digital artifacts too. However, these could be problems with all DVD Recorders in general and not just the Panasonic.
Anyway, despite the above problems I am really pleased with this unit. The pluses definitely outweigh the negatives. Unless something better comes on the market I would get another one if I needed a second VCR/DVD recorder
** UPDATE 02/19/05: **
Having used this unit for several months now I just want to add that I still find it to be an excellent machine. The Time-Slip (simultaneous record and play and chasing playback) have changed how I watch TV. I rarely watch a program live anymore, or when I do, I wait until it is about 1/3rd over so I can watch it in chase mode and skip the commercials.
The flexible recording mode has been wonderful for recording programs and copying tapes to DVD-R. Flexible Recording calculates the necessary bitrate to fit a recording on a disc at the best possible quality. Many recorders limit you to fixed rates, such as 2 or 4 hours. With FR, if a program or tape is 2 hours and 10 minutes long it can be recorded at near SP (or 2 hour) quality instead of having to be recorded at a noticeably lower quality. While Flexible Recording is not available for One-Touch Dubbing, it can easily be done manually. Just tune to the "TP" (tape) channel before starting Flexible Recording.
Ive found that many commercial tapes can be copied. Dont assume like I did at first that none can. Use a DVD-RAM disc or scrap DVD-R to do some test recordings of all your tapes and see which you can backup to DVD-R. More than 50% of the tapes I own can and dont give the copy protected message.
For time-shift recording I recommend you get some double sided DVD-RAMs in cartridges. The cartridge protects the discs from dirt and dust which can cause write errors. While you do have to flip the discs to use the other side, a double sided cartridge takes up no more room than a single side cartridge or two single sided non-cartridge DVD-RAMs.
If you need to record more than 4 hours and cant change discs and dont want to record to DVD in EP mode, you can use the VCR too. VHS may be a step backwards from DVD, but VHS-SP looks a lot better than DVD-EP. The VHS recording can then be copied to another DVD-RAM for editing.
Regarding the manual, if you buy this unit then be sure to download the manual from Amazon. You can then use the PDF viewer to search for the feature or function you need to learn how to use. Trust me, its a lot quicker to fire up the computer than trying to find what you want to know in the printed manual.
** UPDATE 10/6/05 **
The manual says that timer recordings cannot be executed on both DVD and VHS at the same time and that timer recordings can not overlap. However, I discovered recently that this is not true. Two timer recordings can be made simultaneously, provided they are not from different channels. You can record L1 and L2 at the same time or a combination of either L1 or L2 and a tuned channel.
Ive also discovered that if you are recording to DVD-RAM and are not playing a title then hitting Time-Slip will begin playback at 30 seconds from the end of the recording. This is a useful feature when you have the TV on in the background and have one of those "What was that?" moments. :)
On: 2004-09-27
POSTED 09/27/04:
I purchased this unit about three weeks ago and so far, overall, I have been very happy with it.
Below are some things I really like and dislike about the Panasonic VCR/DVD Recorder.
LIKES:
1. DVD-RAM: CHASE feature. With this feature, similar to a DVR, you can start watching the program that is being recorded before it has finished recording OR you can watch another program on the same disc. Chase also allows you to pause live TV, backup to see something again, etc. Chase mode even works when dubbing tapes. If you are one of those people, like me, that is constantly backing up the tape to see/hear something again, this will save wear and tear on the VCR.
2. DVD-RAM: 1.33x playback. It speeds up the audio, but doesnt change the pitch. Not really suitable for movies or dramas, but it does allow you to quickly watch news and documentaries. With this feature and skipping commercials I can watch an hour long documentary in just over 30 minutes.
3. DVD-RAM: Easy trimming and editing of recordings allows you to cut out commercials and make more room on the disc. Shows can be divided too and chapter marks added.
4. DUBBING: Easy and clean dubbing VHS to DVD. Just cue and pause the tape and then when you hit DVD record it starts the recording and unpauses the tape at the same time. Only a couple frames of the paused image get recorded. Commercials can be removed this way too if you want to take the time. VCR on-screen messages are suppressed when recording, so you dont have to worry about a "PLAY" becoming part of your recording. I actually find this manual method of dubbing better than the ONE-TOUCH dubbing option, which doesnt give as much control. This also works for DVD to VCR dubbing, but the procedure is a bit more complicated.
5. You CAN record two shows at once, one to the VCR and the other to DVD. However, you can only do one TUNER (Channel ##) recording at a time, so one or both recordings must be via AV inputs.
6. Remote control of the VCR and DVD is mostly the same.
7. The clock seems to keep accurate time, having gained only about 3 seconds in 3 weeks.
8. VCR: A VP recording speed which is 5x longer than SP and doesnt look much worse than EP. With VP speed you can record 13h 20m+ on a T160 or 16h 40m+ on a T200. Not compatible with most other VCRs though.
9. VCR: 35x search mode. Clean picture with little noise too.
10. VCR: Super fast Rewind and also a Jet Rewind, both take less than a minute to rewind a T160 tape.
DIS-LIKES:
1. No digital zoom on DVD Player. I have poor vision and the zoom feature on my last DVD player allowed me to see small print without getting closer to the TV, so I really miss the zoom feature!
2. The manual is confusing and dis-organized (see 02/19/05 update), but it is also complete so I suggest reading it from cover to cover.
3. No frame advance on the VCR, just pause and slow motion. And the slow motion is awkward to use.
4. Many features only available on DVD-RAM. (Do download the manual from Amazon and look at the RAM DVD-R, etc. headers to see what recording formats each feature supports.)
5. CD-Audio playback is too loud and muffled and sounds terrible, at least on my TV. It could be my TV, but output from DirecTV as well as TV, DVD, VHS and MP3 playback from this unit all sound great on the same TV.
6. Quality of LP and EP DVD recordings is really bad during scenes with smoke/steam/fog. Scenes with fast motion also cause some digital artifacts too. However, these could be problems with all DVD Recorders in general and not just the Panasonic.
Anyway, despite the above problems I am really pleased with this unit. The pluses definitely outweigh the negatives. Unless something better comes on the market I would get another one if I needed a second VCR/DVD recorder
** UPDATE 02/19/05: **
Having used this unit for several months now I just want to add that I still find it to be an excellent machine. The Time-Slip (simultaneous record and play and chasing playback) have changed how I watch TV. I rarely watch a program live anymore, or when I do, I wait until it is about 1/3rd over so I can watch it in chase mode and skip the commercials.
The flexible recording mode has been wonderful for recording programs and copying tapes to DVD-R. Flexible Recording calculates the necessary bitrate to fit a recording on a disc at the best possible quality. Many recorders limit you to fixed rates, such as 2 or 4 hours. With FR, if a program or tape is 2 hours and 10 minutes long it can be recorded at near SP (or 2 hour) quality instead of having to be recorded at a noticeably lower quality. While Flexible Recording is not available for One-Touch Dubbing, it can easily be done manually. Just tune to the "TP" (tape) channel before starting Flexible Recording.
Ive found that many commercial tapes can be copied. Dont assume like I did at first that none can. Use a DVD-RAM disc or scrap DVD-R to do some test recordings of all your tapes and see which you can backup to DVD-R. More than 50% of the tapes I own can and dont give the copy protected message.
For time-shift recording I recommend you get some double sided DVD-RAMs in cartridges. The cartridge protects the discs from dirt and dust which can cause write errors. While you do have to flip the discs to use the other side, a double sided cartridge takes up no more room than a single side cartridge or two single sided non-cartridge DVD-RAMs.
If you need to record more than 4 hours and cant change discs and dont want to record to DVD in EP mode, you can use the VCR too. VHS may be a step backwards from DVD, but VHS-SP looks a lot better than DVD-EP. The VHS recording can then be copied to another DVD-RAM for editing.
Regarding the manual, if you buy this unit then be sure to download the manual from Amazon. You can then use the PDF viewer to search for the feature or function you need to learn how to use. Trust me, its a lot quicker to fire up the computer than trying to find what you want to know in the printed manual.
** UPDATE 10/6/05 **
The manual says that timer recordings cannot be executed on both DVD and VHS at the same time and that timer recordings can not overlap. However, I discovered recently that this is not true. Two timer recordings can be made simultaneously, provided they are not from different channels. You can record L1 and L2 at the same time or a combination of either L1 or L2 and a tuned channel.
Ive also discovered that if you are recording to DVD-RAM and are not playing a title then hitting Time-Slip will begin playback at 30 seconds from the end of the recording. This is a useful feature when you have the TV on in the background and have one of those "What was that?" moments. :)
On: 2004-09-23
This machine has changed our TV viewing lives! Being able to watch a previously recorded show while recording one on a different channel at the same time is awesome. Not having to wait to start watching something until it is done being recorded is even better.
The only down side was the owners manual which is probably the most illogical document I have ever laid my hands on. The machine is flawless and easy to operate. The dubbing works very well and very easily...all in all, one of my best purchases in a long time!
On: 2004-09-22
This machine has changed our TV viewing lives! Being able to watch a previously recorded show while recording one on a different channel at the same time is awesome. Not having to wait to start watching something until it is done being recorded is even better.
The only down side was the owners manual which is probably the most illogical document I have ever laid my hands on. The machine is flawless and easy to operate. The dubbing works very well and very easily...all in all, one of my best purchases in a long time!
On: 2004-08-31
I am utterly disgusted with this product and with Panasonics "customer service". I bought this unit to copy home movies from VHS to DVD and also to record shows on DVD-RAM and do away with VHS tape. Not to pirate. However, I seem to be caught in someones paranoid piracy fantasy because the DVDs Ive dubbed from VHS will only work on this unit. I have 3 other DVD players on TVs here as well as on every PC in my home (5). DVDs created with this system dont work on any of them. Ive also tried them on about half a dozen PCs at work - again, no success.
To add insult to injury, Panasonic has not responded to my email queries about this product. Its possible Im doing something wrong, but Ive been through the manual so many times now I could probably write it from memory so I dont think thats the case.
My advice: DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY unless you think this unit will last forever because its the only unit that will play any DVDs you create with it. And if you expect any customer service, consider a brand other than Panasonic.
On: 2004-08-30
I am utterly disgusted with this product and with Panasonics "customer service". I bought this unit to copy home movies from VHS to DVD and also to record shows on DVD-RAM and do away with VHS tape. Not to pirate. However, I seem to be caught in someones paranoid piracy fantasy because the DVDs Ive dubbed from VHS will only work on this unit. I have 3 other DVD players on TVs here as well as on every PC in my home (5). DVDs created with this system dont work on any of them. Ive also tried them on about half a dozen PCs at work - again, no success.
To add insult to injury, Panasonic has not responded to my email queries about this product. Its possible Im doing something wrong, but Ive been through the manual so many times now I could probably write it from memory so I dont think thats the case.
My advice: DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY unless you think this unit will last forever because its the only unit that will play any DVDs you create with it. And if you expect any customer service, consider a brand other than Panasonic.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-18
Purchased this unit to copy home movies from beta and VHS tapes to DVD, it was very easy, just push 3 buttons and the machine starts copying. If you want to copy only parts of a tape then just press pause for the DVD. It does work with TDK DVD-R disks.
It comes with instructions on a disk, load this disc first and go through each chapter, even if you think you know it.So far after 2 weeks am very pleased with this dvd\\vcr recorder
On: 2004-07-13
- got mine thru buydig.com, $367 total, free shipping, took only 2 days to get to CA from NJ. very good buying experience. the unit I received is brand new.
- the documentation is horrible in terms of organizing the information. just had to dive in and learn by trials and errors. Seemed like a lot of nifty features (e.g., chasing playback) are only available when recording media is dvd-ram. this sucks since dvd-ram is not supported widely as dvd-r.
- easy one-touch-transfer from vhs to dvd. however recording via this procedure created a lot and I mean a lot of titles. I think it created one title for each pauses & stops signals that were on the camcorder which were later got transfered to the vhs tape. During the playback of this recorded dvd, there are annoying repeats of video and audio in between transition of the titles which last about half a second. I called Panasonic tech support and was confirmed that this unit didnt have the "seamless play" feature which would have eliminated these "hiccups".
- I used the external line 2 (located in front of the unit) to connect my hi-8 camcorder and transferred my home movies to the dvd-r disks. With this method, only 1 title was created. Cant create chapters out of it unless the used media is dvd-ram (was also told by the Panasonic tech support). One dirty fix is to stop the recording whenever I want to create a new tittle out of the whole tape, so if my 2 hours Hi-8 tape transfer was stopped and re-recorded for 8 times at the time of my choosing then I would have 8 titles to edit such as creating names/labels for the title thumbnails) instead of a single title.
- used dvd-r 2x (comp usa brand) - seems to work ok. However when I attempted to use a 4x dvd-r Platinum brand, the unit went into the self check mode, shut itself off and on after recording only for about 30 seconds. Not sure if this is a problem with this particular brand of dvd media or the 4x media in general. the documentation says it supports up to 4x media.
- has only S-video and regular RCA inputs, no firewire or usb for mini-dv camcorder transfers.
- the built-in tuners can only go up to 125 channels so using its remote control to tune digital cable channels (up to 1000 channels) is not optimal.
- playing back the recorded dvd-r disk on my dvd-rom drive in my computer is a problem. None of the disk can be read. However I can view them on my other stand alone dvd players (go-video, circuit citys AMW brand). I exteneded the recording time on 1 dvd-r to record more than 3 hours of video. the result is pretty grainy, bad. and the stand alone dvd players cant read it at all, except for the unit that burned it.- Not sure if other stand alone dvd burners are any better but if I had to make my purchase over again, I wouldnt choose this unit for its lack of features on dvd-r media and limited playback supports of other dvd formats (dvd+r, dvd +/-rw, etc.)
- I would rate this unit 3 out of 5 base on my expectation and personal experience with it.
by: krej On: 2004-07-12
1) Contrary to what the reviewer states, the unit does not contain twin tuners (at least not the one I got). You can only record one channel at a time (either on the VHS or DVD side).
However, you can record on one while playing on the other.2) The unit does not have a RF Modulator - so you cannot connect it to your TVs antenna terminal, only via the direct input jacks (assuming your TV has them).
Panasonic does this with all their DVD Recorders. (Really chinchy of them.) 3) Be forewarned - you cannot make copies of your store bought VHS and DVD movies that are copy protected (Macro Vision).
Also, there is no audio volume control that would allow you to compensate for tapes that are too loud or too low. 4) The new EP speed of 8 hours is backward compatible on older 6 hour machines. The quality is about the same as the 6 hour so you are effectively getting 1/3 rd more on the same DVD-RAM disc. All in all a pretty good machine, assuming you understand its complexities. The manual is quite elaborate and may at times be hard to follow. The remote is quite good and preset to Control Setting #1. It and the machine can be changed to #2 or #3 if you have other Panasonic DVD Recorders and wish to avoid a conflict.
On: 2004-07-11
1) Contrary to what the reviewer states, the unit does not contain twin tuners (at least not the one I got). You can only record one channel at a time (either on the VHS or DVD side).
However, you can record on one while playing on the other.2) The unit does not have a RF Modulator - so you cannot connect it to your TVs antenna terminal, only via the direct input jacks (assuming your TV has them).
Panasonic does this with all their DVD Recorders. (Really chinchy of them.) 3) Be forewarned - you cannot make copies of your store bought VHS and DVD movies that are copy protected (Macro Vision).
Also, there is no audio volume control that would allow you to compensate for tapes that are too loud or too low. 4) The new EP speed of 8 hours is backward compatible on older 6 hour machines. The quality is about the same as the 6 hour so you are effectively getting 1/3 rd more on the same DVD-RAM disc. All in all a pretty good machine, assuming you understand its complexities. The manual is quite elaborate and may at times be hard to follow. The remote is quite good and preset to Control Setting #1. It and the machine can be changed to #2 or #3 if you have other Panasonic DVD Recorders and wish to avoid a conflict.
by: gadgester On: 2004-07-07
No idea what the guy from Bethesda was talking about. Ive had this for about three weeks now and it works great. No problems at all. This is just like using a VCR but you can record more stuff and/or at higher quality. Be sure to get good blank DVDs, though, as that makes a difference in quality and storage shelf life. If you dont need the VCR go with the Panasonic models without VCR and you can save some money. (Although, good VCRs are hard to find these days, so if you have lots of VHS tapes this one is perfect.)
by: Anonymous On: 2004-06-20
This unit worked great right out of the box. DVD-RAM technology is awesome!! One-touch dubbing between DVD-R or DVD-RAM and VHS tapes is simple enough for anyone to use. This is superior technology and this player is unique in offering both VHS and DVD-RAM capabilities. Direct Navigator lets you record shows or tapes on DVD-RAM and, amazingly, creates thumbnail pix for each chapter, just like the DVDs from Hollywood!! You can then easily select the program you want to see, based on the scene shown in the thumbnail. RAM technology even lets you edit and rearrange scenes. You can instantly access anything on the disk in seconds, and watch one show on a RAM disk while you simultaneously record another program on the same disk, and "time-slip" live programming to rewind seconds or minutes earlier with DVR functionality. VHS functions are equally sophisticated with index search and a linear version of Direct Access to electronically label and keep track of your VHS recordings, as well. It even has a new VP mode that records 10 hours on a 6 hour EP tape. I have owned Panasonic VHS players for years and plan to buy Panasonic DVD players that are fully compatible with DVD-RAM in the future. I plan to use its more universal DVD-R functions to dub and archive family VHS tapes that anyone in my family can use on any DVD payer. All-in-all a very well thought out machine. Highly recommended!
On: 2004-06-09
This could be an interesting unit if it worked.The original unit power button, VCR eject button, and remote sensor on the unit did not work. The replacement unit could not read any DVD (regular movie DVDs) or DVD-RAM, although it did manage to go through the setup and play VCRs. The mulfunctions were verified by Panasonic customer service. There is nothing to do but return both units to Amazon.
Probably rushing to market too fast. Unfortunately, my recommendation is to stay away from this model until Panasonic gets it right. Amazon customer service was pretty good though.
On: 2004-06-08
This could be an interesting unit if it worked.The original unit power button, VCR eject button, and remote sensor on the unit did not work. The replacement unit could not read any DVD (regular movie DVDs) or DVD-RAM, although it did manage to go through the setup and play VCRs. The mulfunctions were verified by Panasonic customer service. There is nothing to do but return both units to Amazon.
Probably rushing to market too fast. Unfortunately, my recommendation is to stay away from this model until Panasonic gets it right. Amazon customer service was pretty good though.
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