Customer Reviews

Panasonic DMR-E100HS Progressive Scan DVD Player with 120GB Hard Disk

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this unit to archive old S-VHS tapes, VHS tapes and laserdiscs to DVD, and this it does admirably. I also bought it to time-shift weekly TV shows to HDD and at this, it is better than any S-VHS VCR I have owned (and I have owned a lot of high-end units). As others have mentioned, it cannot dub FROM its own DVD drive to the HDD, but how relevant is this since this is probably a second player/recorder for most purchasers? You will not be able to copy macrovision-protected DVDs or tapes either (without the appropriate third party copy enhancer box). But respecting macrovision copyguard is pretty much the rule on all consumer electronics in the US so this should not be "news" to anyone.

Yes, if you want to archive VHS tapes or DV tapes to DVD, you WILL need a device to play back the tapes (duh). I'm not exactly sure what the earlier reviewer was complaining about, with the "lack of firewire input" - the DMR-E100HS most certainly *does* have a firewire input, as well as 3 analog inputs (S-video and composite video on each). So if you have a digital camcorder, you will be able to plug your camcorder into the E100's firewire input and make a digital copy. Very few DVD/HDD recorders actually have firewire inputs (the new Panny E85, for example, does not have it, nor does the Pioneer DVR810), so if you are going to use your DVD recorder to convert DV camcorder tapes to DVD, then the E100 is an excellent choice.

Also, the SD card port is actually really cool - you can dub any material from DVD-RAM or from the hard drive directly onto a tiny Secure Digital (SD) card in MPEG (MPEG4) encoding so you can then import it directly into a PC from the card. The unit can also read images from SD cards, as well as PCMCIA cards, which is interesting, but less useful to me.

My only gripes (and they are minor) are that there is limited control over the DVD menu when finalizing a DVD-R (you get a user-selectable thumbnail for each video segment, which is nice, but you can't select a custom background for the menu - just one of a list of 8 stock backgrounds; and the text labeling is a bit awkward. Also, I have had some compatibility problems with off-brand DVD-R discs, though Panasonic, TDK, and even cheapo "Liquid Video" blank DVD-Rs have worked fine. Plus both Panasonic and the cheaper Optodisc DVD-RAMs work great in this unit.

I love that you can use a double-sided DVD-RAM in a cartridge to fit twice as much material on the disc than you ever could on traditional DVD-R (yes, you DO have to switch sides if you use double-sided media). I send my sister in Germany copies of several US shows and this unit allows me to put 10 episodes of a one hour show on a single double-sided DVD-RAM disc at actually very acceptable quality (one hour shows end up about 43 minutes long after editing our commercials).

Speaking of editing... editing out commercials, or editing home made video segments is a breeze on this unit. Mark the start point, mark the end point, click twice and you're done.

As a demanding videophile with an extremely high resolution monitor (Loewe 38" HDTV-cable widescreen monitor) and a penchant for recording a lot of TV, I have to say I've been quite happy owning this unit for the past 8 months. Picture quality in XP and SP modes are better than S-VHS without the annoying tape glitches that can happen. And the unit has a "flexible recording" mode that can squeeze the absolute highest quality out of the available space on a blank DVD. It's not perfect, but it's among the cream of the crop of DVD/HDD recorders on the market today. If you buy one... you won't be disappointed.

Not only does this unit play all 5 DVD formats (DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM) but it also supports 1-4x DVD-R media and 1-3x DVD-RAM media!! This means that you can high-speed dub onto DVD-R at 4x and DVD-RAM at 3x!! I've been running this unit for a month now without any problems. If you can tolerate the high price than this unit is the one to get. Otherwise I would suggest the Panasonic DMR-E80H but it won't play back those DVD+R/RW discs nor will you obtain the 4x DVD-R speeds or 3x DVD-RAM speeds but the price is a lot cheaper.

This machine just made all my other 4 VHS Recorders obsolete! I have Satellite-Dish, Cable-TV, 1 security videocameras, and my Sony DV Portable Rec/Player connected full-time to this machine! And it works like magic. Everything is a snap, if you follow my advise: Download the User-Manual in advance, and start reading it so you know how to handle the machine the moment it arrives at your home.
I did that, and using high-light markers, I've converted the nerd-like Manual into a very useful one.
Why didn't someone invent this machine in the 80's or 90's? I am in the process to dub a lot of Betamax tapes onto DVD. I also recommend to put a UPS-Power Supply on this machine, so if any power-blackout occurs, your contents are protected.
I think, we should be grateful to Panasonic, that they did NOT get into bed with that awful "Tivo" platform. If you can setup a Satellite dish yourself... then the setup for this Panasonic machine will be no more difficult.
Now, after exactly 1 week, even my wife can already handle the time-shift recording, entering title, cutting out commercials, and 'managing' the program files on the HardDisk.
Again: Download the User Manual, and read it thorougly BEFORE you purchase the machine. You will then understand it completely.

I have had this unit for about 6 months and I absolutely love it. I have successfully used it for the following:

- Setting up the HD to record TV shows like a TIVO without the monthly fee. For example, there are reruns on every weekday afternoon of an old show I like and I have set up my unit to record from the same channel at the same time every weekday. I also automatically record Saturday Night Live every week while I am out. Although the DMR E100H is not able to control the channel switching of a cable box (for instance, you are away for a week and want to record 5 different programs which all come on at different times and on different channels), there is an easy work-around for this. Almost all cable boxes nowadays allow the user to separately program the cable box (with the remote usually) to switch channels according to a timed schedule for many weeks in advance. So once you have programmed the DMR E100H to record what you want it to and when, you must then program the cable box to channel switch with a corresponding schedule (the cable companies built this capability in originally to facilitate VCR recording of cable TV). This practice is not quite as easy as using a TIVO, but is still very simple to do (sounds more complicated than it is I am sure) and no monthly fee is necessary.

- Backing up VHS tapes onto DVD - I have transferred all my old VHS tapes to DVDs with great results. Clearly, you need a good VCR for this as well.

- Backing up DV tapes onto DVD - great for preserving home movies.

- High speed dubbing of HD content onto DVD. This is a fantastic feature, but this HD content must first have been recorded in "high speed DVD" mode (this must be manually switched on in the "Setup" menu - no reason to ever switch it off after this). For example, you may program your unit to record an HBO movie onto your HDD at a certain time. You can then edit slightly to trim off anything unwanted in the beginning and the end and then make as many DVD copies (in high quality - SP mode has been very impressive to my eye) as you wish at high speed. A two hour movie on your HD can be copied at high speed to a DVD-R and finalized in less than 20 minutes.

- Making copies of DVDs. Note that you will need another DVD player as the input, but I have been able to make excellent copies of existing DVDs (even copies of commercial DVDs can be made if you have certain available devices which counter copy protection - obviously such copies are illegal other than for personal use (acceptable under "fair use" laws).

- Looking at pictures I have taken with my digital camera on my big screen TV. I simply take out the compact flash card from my camera and plug it into the DMR E100H (I did need to buy a $10 adapter to do this - the compact flash card inserts into the adapter which mimics a PC card and is then inserted into the PC Card slot of the DMR E100H (SD cards can be inserted directly).

Pros
- Good compression quality in real time
- Burn upto 6 hours of video on one DVD-R
- Fast forward upto 100x while diving and shorting programs
- DVD-R has good compatibility with all of my DVD players

Cons
- Cannot record date/time information with DV connection
- Cannot dubbing finalized DVD back to HDD to burn more copies
- Cannot play DVD+R and DVD+RW (I couldn't play them on other players either)

I agree with all the great things that everyone has been saying about the unit, but If you are looking forward to copying some of your own DVD to the HDD, you better think twice.
Almost at the end of a poorly written operating instructions manual, there is a small little line that says "Cannot Dub from the Disc" this should be in bold letter on the top of the box. instead the hide it in the back of the manual.
I ending up hooking my old sony DVD to the AVin, and that did the trick, so I hope this help those of you who are looking for the function that does not exist in this unit.

I bought this unit based on information ...., which states the DMR E100HS's ability to read images and video from analog VHS, DV connections, SD or microdrives etc...however all is not true, which I would have known sooner, if I had downloaded the manual.

Basically the only way it can read MPEG4 videos on SD [not pc cards]is when the unit has actually written the file itself. It can only read JPEG-TIFF stills from pc or SD cards. The only way to import any video into the HHD for editing is by connecting VHS, S-VHS, or a direct feed from your digital camera, or TV.

The unit it easy to work, and does a nice job with the DVD's from VHS. You can also hook it up to your TV and record shows onto the HD.

However, I would advise anyone interested in this unit to download the manual and read carefully so you undestand it's limitaions BEFORE you spend the money.

OK, the manual is pretty dreadful, but once you succeed in translating it, you've got the best of the crop of the current DVD recorders. It enables you to do just about everything you'd want to -- with one irritating exception. In an effort to kow-tow to the Hollywood interests, Panasonic deliberately prevented dubbing DVD disks to the unit's Hard Drive. That's a significant nuisance, because it prevents the perfectly legal transfer of ones own DVD content. (To do that, you'll have to use a computer and DVD drive.) But you can dub back and forth from DVD RAM disks -- an excellent media -- and, of course, you can create DVD-R disks.
It's easy to transfer Camcorder tapes (via either the unit's Firewire or analog inputs) though editing them is limited to fairly basic possibilities.
Overall quality of video is excellent, and (once you surmount that manual) the unit is easy enough to operate. Now go bury that VHS recorder (once you've transferred all your tapes, of course.)

Update -- one year later. No buyers-remorse whatsoever and the (noted) small shortcomings remain small and the pluses get larger.

This has become an indispensable unit in our house! If you watch (and archive) favorite TV shows, you can (fairly) easily strip them of commercials and enjoy them without annoyance. Makes ALL the difference! "Desperate Housewives" shrinks from an hour to 42 smooth minutes.

This one WORKS!

Wish it had a IEEE connector in the back instead of just the front. If my HD Receiver had IEEE output, I'd be in heaven. However...

I record from my Sony SAT300 Hi-def receiver. No, the Panasonic doesn't record in HD, but the digital pic via s-video makes for the BEST and CLEANEST recordings imaginable. It even records widescreen! Then I trim the beginning and end of fluff, and remove the commercials. Now I can make my own "edited for tv" movie dvd. It is frikken great!

Modes: XP ~ 10 mbit. Similar to Superbit-DVD.
SP ~ 5 Mbit. Pretty much the rate all DVD movies play.

Do the math. Record a 2 hour TV movie in XP (Best mode). After editing you have a 90 minute XP movie. Record to a DVD in FR (flex recording mode). The variable bit rate means your movie is about 6 Mbit. 25% better than the store bought DVD!

Also recorded lots of old family VHS to DVD, and mini-dv. Editing is great though there is no "undo", so be careful.

I can live with the little quirks about it. It lets me edit and burn dvd's without relying on quirkier pc's!

I purchased the E100HS primarily to archive many years of vacation videos. I decided I needed a large hard disk drive to do all the necessary editing before writing them to DVD. All in all, it works as I had hoped.

However, I am gradually starting to use it as a VCR, as well, time shifting TV programs, even viewing the beginning of a program before the end has been recorded. Picture quality for this is great and it's nice to know that if I really like the program, it can be stored on a DVD with or without editing.

I am disappointed that the Panasonic DMR-E100HS doesn't have a Firewire input so that my newer digital videos must be copied with an S cable. There is a noticable loss of quality (to me, anyway) from the original digital tape, even when recorded at best quality (XP). I have been recording all my archived videos at XP to assure no loss of quality, but this speed allows only one hour per DVD, which adds up to lots of disks. Even at this speed, the DVD does not quite match the digital original.

Some small gripes: the on-screen counter to indicate the lengths of video segments stored on the hard disk displays length only in minutes. When you are trying to fit lots of separate video segments on a disk, one-minute intervals are not nearly precise enough.

Also, the menus that you can create for your DVDs scrunch up the titles into little rectangular boxes that cut off words in each title, turning them into nonsense. What would it have taken to format the titles into lines instead of boxes?

FInally,there is the price.

But, overall, I am very happy with this product.

By the way, I originally bought the E80, which has a smaller hard disk, but I had to return it when something went terribly wrong and it began to write garbled copies to my DVD blanks just a week after it arrived. The E100 has been completely reliable.