Panasonic DMR-E95HS Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [3.46mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 14 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002GU2XW
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,403 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #89 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > DVD-VCR Combos

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Panasonic DMR-E95HS progressive-scan DVD player/recorder features a built-in 160 GB hard drive and PC Card slot, making it the hardest-working home entertainment device around. Now you have the option of recording to DVD-RAM and DVD-R media, recording your favorite programs to hard disk, or recording from an external digital video camera to DVD media--all in one unit. The DMR-E95HS is also a progressive-scan DVD player, which means that you can experience extra clear images and higher resolutions on your high-definition or HD-ready television.

The DMR-E95HS can play back DVD-Video, DVD-Audio (2-channel), DVD-RAM, DVD-R (recorded on Panasonic units), Video CD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, and JPEG/TIFF discs, and can record to DVD-RAM and DVD-R media. It features selectable recording modes including XP, SP, LP, EP, and FR, and you can get 284 hours maximum recording time in EP mode. There is also the option for bilingual recording (to DVD-RAM only). The player has a playlist playback function, and also features aspect ratio control, dialog enhancer, frame advance and reverse frame step, slow motion playback, and a cinema mode for more cinema-like colors and improved resolution and contrast. Other features include two-channel Dolby Digital audio recording, and Advanced Surround (simulated surround sound from two speakers).

Recording to hard disk is easy with a multitude of special features, including a Time Slip Roller, simultaneous record and play, and a direct navigator. The Time Slip Roller (or Time Slip Button on the remote control) allows you to press just one button during recording to start playing back the scene recorded 30 seconds earlier, and you can search for scenes in units of one minute within the recorded section while you're watching the scene on a small onscreen window. Simultaneous record and play lets you record an episode of one program while you're watching another episode at the same. The direct navigator displays the list of programs recorded to disk so you can quickly see what's available, erase recorded programs, or select programs to watch.

A bevy of inputs and outputs lets you connect the DMR-E95HS to nearly any external home entertainment device you can think of. It sports three composite video, three S-video, and one RF input, along with one switchable component video, two S-video, and two composite video outputs. Audio outputs include two L/R outputs plus an optical digital out for DTS and Dolby Digital output. It also features a FireWire input for connecting to a compatible digital video camera (via an IEEE 1394 cable) for playback on your television, and also gives you the convenience of transferring your home movies to DVD media. A special PC Card slot is included for viewing of digital photos, and is compatible with most formats including PC Card, Memory Card, CompactFlash Card, MultiMediaCard, Smart Media Card, and Memory Stick.

What's in the Box
DVD video recorder with built-in hard disk drive, universal remote control, DVD-RAM disc, RCA cables, user's manual, and warranty information.

Product Description

free TV Guide® On Screen 8-day program guide (listings for local broadcast and cable TV) * built-in 160GB hard drive for recording/playback * digital video (IEEE 1394) input for use with compatible camcorders * records to DVD-RAM and DVD-R * plays DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, Video CD, DVD-Audio (stereo only), CD, audio CD-R & CD-RW, and MP3 CD-R & CD-RW *

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Potential - Little delivered, April 26, 2005

By 

Kathym (NH, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic DMR-E95HS Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive (Electronics)

I have an older version, DMR-E80H, 80gig, with the old navigator (pre-TV guide), which I love.
I bought the DMR-E95H, 160 gig, tvguide navigator, mainly because I wanted more disk space. I was going to sell my older one. Unfortunately, this is so unreliable that I have kept my old one to use, and I'm stuck with this very expensive lemon. I wouldn't feel right trying to sell this to someone else.

There is a lot of good ideas and potential here, but most of it doesn't work reliably, and what does is poorly done. Many nice features in the original navigator are gone.

What do I miss about the original navigator? I works like a VCR with some cool features. You program in a show (date, time, speed, repeat, etc), you can also add a title so you always know what you recorded. You can also set it for `renew' which means it records over the old space each day, good for things like the news, it won't fill up the disk and you don't have delete things to make space. You can go in and edit any of this, say a show is on a different time one week, just go change the time, and then change it back. And if one show overlapped another, you could select the one with priority, but the other would record the rest of the alotted time.

On the new navigator, you can manually set it to record instead of using the tv guide functionality, but you can't edit after the fact. If you make a mistake, you have to start over, if the time changes, you have to delete it, set a new record program with all the info, and then do it again to put it back to the normal time after. If you just want to change the record speed, you have to redo everything. If you want it start late, because the ABC shows are all running late these days, you can't edit it, you have to start over.There is no longer a renew feature. And if the first show overlapps with the second, you only get the first and nothing of the second.

Why do I use the timer record instead of tvguide, because it's a good idea but a useless unreliable piece of junk. The booklet tells you that you can't start a show the same time another show is ending, ie if a show ends at 9Pm and another starts at 9PM, the second won't record. On occasion it does, usually it doesn't, no rhyme or reason. So I set everything to end one minute early, requiring the timer setting.

Now, if you forget to turn the recorder off at night, or you're up late watching it, it doesn't pull down the programing and when you record something you get no title. But you can't just set the title you want when you set up the recording like on the old navigator. But the tvguide system doesn't even have all the main channels... it's missing some of the HBOs, SHOtimes, Starz, etc.

The tvguide interface is crap. I have hundreds of channels, and if I were to use that to see what was on it would take all day. You can't page through the channels, you can't hold the down button and just cruise through the channels. No! You have to repeatedly hit the down or up button to go through the guide. Talk about carpal tunnel syndrome. And to make matters worse, each time you go to a new channel it changes the station being viewed and freezes up while doing so, making the whole process take longer and making it impossible to view one show while looking to see what else is on. Sometimes if you hit the buttons real fast you can go over 4-5 channels before it happens, but it still happens. They should talk to Comcast about how to do an online shedule viewer. Even their worst versions where better than this. There is no search function. You can go to the alphabetical sort screen, but if you want something at the end of the Ms, you have to go through it one item at a time, over and over and over.

All that would be bearable if the system was reliable, it is not. My old system has only crashed a couple of times in 2 years, and went into "self check" as soon as it came on. This new system (less than a year old) crashes at least once a week, and I have to force it into "self check" to repair itself, usually twice, and then turn it off and on again, in order to get it to work right for awhile. It freezes for no apparent reason, not recording but on. You can't change the channel, cause it thinks it's recording, but it's not, and it's on the wrong channel anyways. They only way out is to go through the process of holding the on (on the recorder) down for at least 20 seconds so it shuts off. Then turn it on so it starts system check fixing what ever is wrong, again. I went away for a week, and came back to find it had frozen on the second show it was to record and had done nothing after that.

I bought this for more disk space, and I've discovered it acts the most unrealiable if I use more than 100gig, which is a little more than half the disk. It also acts up more if I record and watch and delete a lot of shows, the reason you'd have it to begin with. It also tends to crash/freeze more often if I leave a disk in the dvd tray. For a couple of months I could reliably make it crash by putting a ram disk in the system, and then it did it only every other time, but it looks like it's moving into every time again.

I wrote to Panasonic, who said to take it to an authorized repair dealer, but there are none around here. I bought it through Amazon, but through one of their third parties who doesn't take returns. So it looks like I'm stuck with this crap.

I regret having recommended Panasonics to so many people I know, but that was the old style of course. To say I'm dissapointed in the system is to say the least. To say I'm disgusted that panasonic won't replace it or refund, is really disgusting.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a piece of junk!, July 5, 2005

By 

L. Hatfield (Eufaula,AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic DMR-E95HS Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive (Electronics)

I bought this recorder from Buy.com and it worked for about 60 days. Then the U99 code started and the unit became worthless. I wanted it replaced not repaired. Now it is in the repair shop for a couple of months. I will never buy Panasonic again. What a piece of junk!

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I Will Never Buy Panasonic Again, April 29, 2005

By 

Mike Golobay (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic DMR-E95HS Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive (Electronics)

As I am writing this, my DMR-E95H is in continual reboot mode after I tried to burn a DVD and it apparently does not like the media. Panasonic's customer support is non-existent. They ignore emails and the toll free support number is always busy. After reading several different forums I find that I am not the only one extremely disappointed with Panasonic. Several others have unpacked their brand new unit only to find it DOA. Those who have tried to take their unit to a service center have horror stories of waiting weeks for a fix only to get it home and find that it still has problems.

When the unit is working it is slow, the menus are badly organized, the functions are awful. Sometimes one must press 'return' to leave a function, other times 'stop' is required. The program menu is a complete disaster and makes the user develop blisters to press enough keys to page through selections. This unit is simply the most horrendous piece of consumer electronics I have ever purchased.

Actually, considering all the problems and lack of support, I am considering reporting Panasonic to the Texas Attorney General and Better Business Bereau. Maybe TechTV. Heck, anyone! This is the most ripped-off I have felt in years. I paid enough for a top of the line product and am stuck with a total lemon.