Panasonic DMR-EZ17S DVD Recorder with ATSC Tuner Silver
By: Panasonic Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 19
More Information
 On: 2008-03-10
Was hoping someone could help me out... I live in the Philippines and would like to purchase this to record some educational shows from the Discovery Channel and National Geo that my children miss while they are at school. Im not knowledgeable with regards this matter. Would this electronic work just the same in the Philippines?
On: 2008-02-15
I bought this unit as a replacement for my previous Panasonic recorder that had stopped recording. I was very happy to see that the learning curve was almost non-existant as many of the controls were similiar or exactly the same. I was also happy to have something that worked so easily without problems. I like the slimness of this model too. It has to fit on top of my old VCR and TV and it does perfectly.
 On: 2007-12-31
Got off to a good start with this unit, mainly got it to replace my old Panasonic DVD player that had stopped working after 5+ years, figured I might as well get a recorder. I hooked it up, and it easily tuned in all my cable TV channels, was able to get the remote to also control my TV. But then I was watching a regular, commercial DVD this morning, and midway through the show, it inexplicably froze.
I ejected the disc, power-cycled, and even unplugged it, and I even tried the "freeze" reset suggested in the manual. After all these resets, it would still not play ANY disc I put in it. I get a "No Read" error. I never even got a chance to try out all the recording features. And this happened on the first day. Seems to me like it has a lot of nice features, but is way too delicate and easy to break. I guess you get what you pay for, cheaply-made electronics that are neither durable nor reliable. Im returning this and replacing with something else.
On: 2007-12-01
I have had this for about a month now and have been very pleased. I have transferred home movies to dvd and it was very easy. I have also recorded shows from the television and that was pretty easy as well. The best thing about this machine is that it accepts all formats of dvd, so you wont go wrong when you buy dvds at the store. You probably will want to check any other dvd players you have to see what formats they will accept so you dont make a bunch of dvds that you cant play on any other players.
The only downside I have experienced is that some of the stations (major 3) show on the screen with black bars on all 4 sides, so it looks like a little picture in the middle of my screen. I have tried to adjust the aspect ratio, but it doesnt change anything. I suspect it is probably the format the stations are broadcasting in that is making this happen.
Many others have mentioned that this unit takes a long time to turn on. If you go into set up and turn on Quick Start, your unit will turn on immediately. It says it increses energy consumption slightly, but if that is not a problem for you (its not for me), then you can solve this problem.
On: 2007-12-01
I received this unit from Panasonic after another Panasonic DVD recorder broke down after six months. I have had it for three weeks and now the eject button does not work. Panasonic want me to send it in for repairs. My advice, after many years as a loyal Panasonic customer, is to at least avoid their DVD recorders. Their customer service department is as unreliable as their products. Perhaps Panasonic is slipping in quality overall.
 On: 2007-11-23
I bought this unit for the digital tuner. It replaces my similar Panasonic DMR ES15. Basically except for the tuner, setup, operation and remote are the same, so for me it was easy and works beautifully. I use only DVD-RAM and had no problems, although I havent tried to format it and play it on other players. The reason Im only giving it 3 stars is I cant help comparing it to the less expensive ES15 and even to an older Panasonic VCR. The S15 is idiot proof. No need to remember to turn the power off so itll record, it just records. If youre watching something on the disc, it warns you and starts recording. When setting up future programs to record, the unit indicates by blinking that there is a time conflict if you overlap 2 programs. Even my VCR did this! When searching forwards and backwards the unit displays where you are minute/sec. wise. None of these things are true on the EZ17. If you forget to turn the power off, are watching something else or overlap programs, youre screwed. The unit wont record. Trying to search for something? Forget the convienience of a time indicater. It just shows a + or - 1. My advice is if you dont need the digital tuner go for the DMR ES15.
On: 2007-11-22
I bought this unit for the digital tuner. It replaces my similar Panasonic DMR ES15. Basically except for the tuner, setup, operation and remote are the same, so for me it was easy and works beautifully. I use only DVD-RAM and had no problems, although I havent tried to format it and play it on other players. The reason Im only giving it 3 stars is I cant help comparing it to the less expensive ES15 and even to an older Panasonic VCR. The S15 is idiot proof. No need to remember to turn the power off so itll record, it just records. If youre watching something on the disc, it warns you and starts recording. When setting up future programs to record, the unit indicates by blinking that there is a time conflict if you overlap 2 programs. Even my VCR did this! When searching forwards and backwards the unit displays where you are minute/sec. wise. None of these things are true on the EZ17. If you forget to turn the power off, are watching something else or overlap programs, youre screwed. The unit wont record. Trying to search for something? Forget the convienience of a time indicater. It just shows a + or - 1. My advice is if you dont need the digital tuner go for the DMR ES15.
 On: 2007-11-10
I have a Panasonic DMRES-15, that had given me great service, but felt that it was time to purchase another. When I received the DMREZ-17, I discovered that it could not format an already formated, and copied to, +RW. At the time I did not have a -RW copied disk to try, and assumed it could not format a RW at all-a mistake. I contacted Panasonic three times, and spent hours moving around wires, and settings, and I cant remember what! Finally, it seemed as if I had a bad recorder. I went on line to Amazon, and was truly amazed how easy it was to return my machine, at NO COST to me! They even sent out a replacement (as I requested) without charging my credit card! I cannot fully explain how wonderful I felt dealing with a company who respects their customers in such a manner. In all my dealings with Amazon, I have never been disappointed. Back to Panasonic. They had sent me a firmware upgrade, but it returned a message update not needed. I received my replacement, EZ-17, and had the same trouble. This time, I borrowed some -RWs, and went about testing what seemed to be countless combinations of disks, settings, and the like. I should mention that on my ES-15, I would get a message that my +RW was of a wrong format, and would I like to format it? But the ES-15 could not play the disk (only format it). The EZ-17 could not format the disk, but only PLAY it! I could format the disk on my computer (or my ES-15), and THEN my EZ-17 could record to it, but was not capable of formatting it by itself. Im trying to shorten this, but believe me, there was a lot more going on, and hard to keep track of everything. A fourth call to Panasonic netted my another firmware update (which did update), but changed nothing. To recap, it seems (but I wouldnt bet my life on it.)that the EZ-17 cannot format an already copied to +RW. (there might be a difference between DVD manufacturers.)Since I was able to format the disk on my computer, I elected to overlook this shortcoming, but I would like Panasonic to fix this aspect. On the box, it is stated that the EZ-17 can handle +R,-R,+RW,-RWs. I believe the machine should be able to format the rewritables as well. Its stupid to have to prepare a RW with a computer, or an older model ES-15, in order to be able to record to a +RW. I like the Panasonic for quality of recording, and ease of operation. The Panasonic support group tried, and were cordial and respectful to me. I imagine theirs must be a very tiresome job.
On: 2007-11-05
This item a a really good choice if you need a device for record from TV, is easy to use an have a good performance, excellent signal reception and the turner work pretty enough. The bad thing is the time to turn on is 10 or 15 sec
On: 2007-11-02
I read several reviews of this product and knew it had shortcomings but after trying this out upon arrival today, I was surprised that Panasonic could offer such a poorly designed DVD recorder. Wait thats not all, they have crippled so many features I dont know where to begin.
Well, first off, it will only play store bought DVD movies so I am assume it is defective and am sending it back, but as others reviewers noted, it lacks many features that even the "cheapie" $30 DVD players all have such as a zoom feature, eject button etc, I cannot imagine what they were thinking of!
Even though it has a ATSC tuner built in, it only picks up about half the available channels in my area. My other two HDTVs easily pick up those channels so I know they are there
I would guess that this is now an obsolete item that has been replaced by something better and for good reason.. Panasonic blew it big time!!
Dont be tempted by the low price on this, it will only disappointed you.
Personally, I think Panasonic are risking their reputation with this, I am now hesitant to buy the same brand again!
On: 2007-11-01
I read several reviews of this product and knew it had shortcomings but after trying this out upon arrival today, I was surprised that Panasonic could offer such a poorly designed DVD recorder. Wait thats not all, they have crippled so many features I dont know where to begin.
Well, first off, it will only play store bought DVD movies so I am assume it is defective and am sending it back, but as others reviewers noted, it lacks many features that even the "cheapie" $30 DVD players all have such as a zoom feature, eject button etc, I cannot imagine what they were thinking of!
Even though it has a ATSC tuner built in, it only picks up about half the available channels in my area. My other two HDTVs easily pick up those channels so I know they are there
I would guess that this is now an obsolete item that has been replaced by something better and for good reason.. Panasonic blew it big time!!
Dont be tempted by the low price on this, it will only disappointed you.
Personally, I think Panasonic are risking their reputation with this, I am now hesitant to buy the same brand again!
On: 2007-10-20
I bought this, along with a new TV set last month, had it professionally hooked up. I use it mainly to record daily shows I like. I found it complicated to program, but what do I know, Im used to a 10-year-old VCR recorder. So time to bite the bullet and learn the new technology. Fine, but you know, the old machine did not take nearly as long to turn on. I hit the power and I had lights! Numbers! A picture! Not with this. Black nothing. Wait. Up to a minute. Maybe something will happen, maybe not. Because heres the other thing - it freezes up. When it does, we (my much more geekish son & I) would shut off the power strip, then turn it back on. I got sick of doing that, got out the manual. Absolutely the right thing to do - the manual addresses the fact that the unit freezes up in on two different pages. No, this is not an abnormality; this is what it does.
I had a very busy week this week, came home this evening and sat down, ready to watch some of my favorite shows. Oh oh, the DVD recorder is frozen. Do the power thing, get it running again - oops, its been frozen for 2 days, and the last 2 episodes of the shows I had set to record are, of course, not recorded.
This is nuts. Im taking it back and not buying another Panasonic product.
On: 2007-10-19
I bought this, along with a new TV set last month, had it professionally hooked up. I use it mainly to record daily shows I like. I found it complicated to program, but what do I know, Im used to a 10-year-old VCR recorder. So time to bite the bullet and learn the new technology. Fine, but you know, the old machine did not take nearly as long to turn on. I hit the power and I had lights! Numbers! A picture! Not with this. Black nothing. Wait. Up to a minute. Maybe something will happen, maybe not. Because heres the other thing - it freezes up. When it does, we (my much more geekish son & I) would shut off the power strip, then turn it back on. I got sick of doing that, got out the manual. Absolutely the right thing to do - the manual addresses the fact that the unit freezes up in on two different pages. No, this is not an abnormality; this is what it does.
I had a very busy week this week, came home this evening and sat down, ready to watch some of my favorite shows. Oh oh, the DVD recorder is frozen. Do the power thing, get it running again - oops, its been frozen for 2 days, and the last 2 episodes of the shows I had set to record are, of course, not recorded.
This is nuts. Im taking it back and not buying another Panasonic product.
On: 2007-10-01
Well worth getting. Can record to Dvd -/+ RW and Dvd-Ram. Use Dvd-Decrypter to edit out commercials or unwanted footage on the RW disks. Use Nero to burn to Dvd -/+ disks. Unfortunately, Panasonic does not provide software to allow computer editing of their .VRO Dvd-Ram files which is a drawback.
On: 2007-09-30
Well worth getting. Can record to Dvd -/+ RW and Dvd-Ram. Use Dvd-Decrypter to edit out commercials or unwanted footage on the RW disks. Use Nero to burn to Dvd -/+ disks. Unfortunately, Panasonic does not provide software to allow computer editing of their .VRO Dvd-Ram files which is a drawback.
On: 2007-09-16
Just about flawless. I wanted a machine that I could use on my cable without needing the cable box. Most of the recorders I found do not have a built in tuner anymore, like they did in the past. My only minor complaint is that it takes about 15 sec to turn on, but Im kind of impatient anyway!
 On: 2007-09-14
I needed a replacement for a Pioneer DVD recorder that died after only 2 years of great operation. This unit replacement was actually for my mother and not myself, so it needed to be at least as user-friendly and capable as the Pioneer.
I was reading various positive reviews on Amazon and other sites about this Panasonic unit. The DMR-EZ17S boasts of its many DVD format capabilities, including DVD RAM - and it looks very nice, so I ordered one. The DVD RAM appealed to me since my mother uses the unit exclusively to record TV shows - usually over and over on the same media.
My expectations were dashed into pieces when the unit arrived. I set it up while going through the manual. The problems I found with it that make it very inferior when compared to the previous Pioneer unit are as follows:
1. New/Blank DVDs must be formatted prior to use/recording. This takes anywhere from 15 - 70 minutes, depending on the media, says the menu guide.
2. The recording schedule did not appear to have a means of either weekly or daily execution of a TV recording session. So all recorder programming would need to be individually done for each time slot.
3. The remote has only the "power", "ch up", "ch down", "vol up", and "vol down" (arrow buttons) to control the TV. Therefore, you cannot comfortably use the remote as an "all in one" for both the DVD and TV.
For example, you cannot directly access a random TV ch number from the key pad but must arrow up/down, one at a time. Same with the volume - You have no mute button, etc.
This makes it bad for using this unit with CATV, you still need your TV remote close by. In our situation, the integrated ATSC tuner did not benefit, since my mother has cable and only a std. definition 4:3 TV at this time. Additionally, local HD stations are available on CATV and SATV in our area, so over-the-air tuners are not required if you are a subscriber to either.
The order of the user manual was illogical to me and hard to interpret, leaving holes in the basic info. (one small example: The unit tells you formatting is a must for new DVD media, but showed "SP" speed for formatting - even though the recorder recording mode was set to EP. No explanation of this is given, nor does it say if that even matters).
You might have to search several different sections to glean bits of info on the same topic. Basic setup info is strewn all over the manual instead of beginning with the basic ops and then progressing through the pages to the more sophisticated ones.
However, to set up the time, do quick recording, program a single TV show, or other basic one-time functions, it seemed to be OK and relatively simple. But coming from the Pioneer menu system and setup, (which I have no loyalty to, other than to say it was MUCH more logical, intuitive, and friendly to use) the Panasonic unit was painful and this unit will be returned, if they will give me a refund.
Personally, I prefer a DVR (hard drive) unit for TV recording. I do my DVD recording on my PC. But to each his/her own.
I must admit I am baffled by so many positive reviews for this unit. Being in electronics for most of my life has perhaps set the bar very high for my expectations of "user friendliness" in consumer electronics. My HD hardware at home, (Toshiba, Denon, JBL, etc.) is all "no brainer" stuff when it came to setup and operation.
I am not against Panasonic or the other reviewers of the unit, but this is my unbiased opinion of this recorder and I offer it only as a possible help to others considering it for purchase.
On: 2007-09-07
got this DVD recorder yesterday, after simple setup, it auto-tuned 15 digital channels, and all work while other Sony HDTV cant receive some digital channels, or unstable (in and out), I never tried recording capability yet
pro
excellent tuner reception
pretty simple setup/operation
con
long startup time (up to 1 minute)
very strict HD recording rule (DVD+/- R/RW wont work as stated on manual, requires DVD-RAM, though my desktop can play, this is a hassle)
if you want this DVDR for HD OTA TV upgrade if you want to keep current TV, go for it, you wont go wrong
On: 2007-09-06
I had hundreds of hours of home VHS tapes that I wanted to copy to DVD and purchased this recorder to do the job. It works great! All of my vacation videos are now on DVD. I have played them on my DVD player and on my notebook without any problems. I hooked an amplified set of rabbit ears to the recorder and I am now getting several local digital broadcast stations that look as good as cable. It has a very good digital broadcast receiver built in. 2 thumbs up!
On: 2007-09-05
I had hundreds of hours of home VHS tapes that I wanted to copy to DVD and purchased this recorder to do the job. It works great! All of my vacation videos are now on DVD. I have played them on my DVD player and on my notebook without any problems. I hooked an amplified set of rabbit ears to the recorder and I am now getting several local digital broadcast stations that look as good as cable. It has a very good digital broadcast receiver built in. 2 thumbs up!
On: 2007-07-20
Ijust bought this recorder at the great price of $160.00 with free shipping. I was surprised at the quality! It is very easy to use. I recorded 2 movies the first night I had it using DVD+RW media and they came out great! I highly recommend this recorder, you cant beat it especially at this price!!
On: 2007-07-13
I have use this product for a month and its very good. It comes with an ATSC Tuner so you doesnt have to buy a new TV for a few years. The recording is smooth, no noise, if you close the recording session it can be played in other dvd players. Better if you use the component cables for a nice picture quality.
On: 2007-06-27
Let me first say that my tv is older than the sales person who sold me the DVD recorder. After setting up the recorder and playing it through the svideo input of the tv, my old Zenith was suddenly playing over-the-air HD channels. Quite amazing. I then watched a movie and the picture quality and sound quality were great. I played the audio through a Nakamichi receiver and a pair of Beyerdynamic headphones and the audio was amazing.
The remote is also reasonable, though not perfect. I still have to turn the lights on in the room to see what Im doing. After entering the correct code for the TV set, the remote was able to control the tv to the extent of turning it on and off, control the volume, and change the channel, as well as change the active input to the tv. That makes it possible to use one remote for the TV and the DVD Recorder. Not bad considering I bought the tv in 1984.
Caveats:
There is no hdmi output, but that isnt important to me since I dont have an HD TV.
I havent tried to record yet, but for a couple hundred dollars Ive already got my moneys worth. An HD tuner alone is more than that. Ill get back to you when Ive tried recording and some of the other features.
So far so good.
On: 2007-06-01
I believe the previous poster had a deffective unit because the quality of this Panasonic ATSC/QAM tuner is exceptional! I compared with Sony, and Panasonic clearly could find several channels that I didnt even know that existed before.
Most importantly, picture quality was excellent. I thought changing digital channels in a Panasonic was much shorter than any other competitors, including LG.
On: 2007-05-31
I believe the previous poster had a deffective unit because the quality of this Panasonic ATSC/QAM tuner is exceptional! I compared with Sony, and Panasonic clearly could find several channels that I didnt even know that existed before.
Most importantly, picture quality was excellent. I thought changing digital channels in a Panasonic was much shorter than any other competitors, including LG.
On: 2007-05-19
Unfortunately I did not have a good experience with this product. My product had a defective tuner and was not able to pull in analog or digital channels. I had better luck with an LG DVR with tuner but that product had other issues. Bottom line, there is some risk with being an early adopter...
On: 2007-05-18
Unfortunately I did not have a good experience with this product. My product had a defective tuner and was not able to pull in analog or digital channels. I had better luck with an LG DVR with tuner but that product had other issues. Bottom line, there is some risk with being an early adopter...
|
|
