Panasonic DMR-ES10K DVD Recorder , Black

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [3.89mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 3.1 x 16.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0007WKB0U
• Item model number: DMR-ES10K
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,352 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Panasonic DMR-ES10K DVD recorder offers a low priced, user-friendly DVD recorder. Record from the television signal, or dub from a connected VCR.

Technically, the unit rivals its higher-priced pals. The 2x LP horizontal resolution recording captures 500 lines of resolution-in quality terms, the resolution is superb, even in LP mode.

The interface stands out too. Come home mid-stream? Chasing Playback lets you start to watch a program already in progress while you continue recording it. Other smart features include Time Slip, which lets you record the current episode while you watch last week's episode.

The physical design is user friendly too. Front A/V inputs, including S-video and composite, make connecting other components quick-and-easy. Hid away in the rear are a host of other connectors: more S-video and composite inputs; and component, S-video and RF outputs. Optical digital output for DTS and Dolby Digital surround sound provide yet another connectivity option. Of course, a remote control is included.

For the combination of features and price, the DMR-ES10K is hard to beat. If you've a large tape collection to transfer, or want to better manage your television viewing, this should definitely make your short-list.

Product Description

Panasonic's budget-friendly DMR-ES10 lets you capture your favorite TV shows and save your precious home movies on compact, durable DVD discs. This recorder's user-friendly features make it even easier to use than your old VCR, with DVD's superior picture quality and playback conveniences. You can record to permanent, write-once DVD-R discs or erasable, rewriteable DVD-RAM discs. Use DVD-Rs for programs you want to keep forever, like a favorite TV series. DVD-RAMs are perfect for shows you want to watch once or twice and then erase. Chasing Playback Simultaneous Record & Play Direct Navigator with thumbnails ProgressiveScan compatible Built-in NTSC CATV tuner MP3 JPEG & TIFF playback on CD-R/RW VCR Plus+ timer, and manual recording Optical digital output / 1 set A/V outputs (composite, S-video, component) / 1 set A/V inputs (composite, S-video) / RF input/output Unit dimensions - 16-15/16W x 3-1/8H x 10-13/16D Panasonic USA 1-Year limited warranty

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

330 of 333 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highest quality at Low Price, April 15, 2005

By 

NYSOFTWAREMAN (NEW YORK CITY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic DMR-ES10K DVD Recorder , Black (Electronics)

Panasonic DMR-ES10 DVD Recorder

Pros: Great low price. Excellent recordings ,even in the LP (4Hr) speed.

Cons: PIP & Commercial Skip wont work on Finalized DVDs.

Full Review :
Unlike all previous Panasonic DVD recorders. Besides being able to record on DVD-R and DVD-RAM. This new model will also record on , DVD+R , DVD-RW. This is a much needed and smart move by Panasonic.

But a word of caution. Due to strict new copy protection laws. Some broadcasts now contain Copy Control signals. They may have one of three signal types: Copy-Free, Copy-Once, or Copy-Never. The recorder limits the recording according to the copy protection signal. Copy-Free encoded signals can be recorded at any time with any compatible blank disk type.Copy-Never encoded signals can not be recorded on this unit. Many of your premium cable stations(HBO,SHO)are Copy-Once programs. This means you may record the program to a disk. But you are not able to take that disk and then make a copy of it. According to the manual copy once programs may only be recorded using DVD-RAM. However I did not have any problems recording HBO using all types of DVD disks.

Being that this is only a $200 unit. It is not made as sturdily as some of the previous models. But the many important new features and low price make up for that.

Panasonic made alot of bold claims about this unit.I was hesitant about them , especially since this is only a $200 unit. While other DVD recorders like the SONY sell for nearly $400.00. But I am happy to report that all the claims are true. The unit works great. Panasonic really backs up all thier claims about this DVD recorder.

All the DVDs I made recorded played back with very high quality. I also found no problems with compatibility when playing those DVDs back on other DVD players. Recordings made in the four (4) hour (LP) speed looked identical to those made using the (2) Hour(SP)speed.The VCR Plus feature is fairly useless if you have it connected to a CABLE box. But if you have it connected to a standard antenna then VCR Plus is a useful feature.

The remote control also controls your TV. It can also be adjusted so that it wont control any other Panasonic equipment you may own. Among the important new features is that all the new Panasonic models for 2005 now have improved horizontal resolution. In the LP (4 Hours) mode, this DVD recorder has images twice as sharp as last year's models. It gives up to 500 lines resolution. This is double the horizontal resolution compared to the 250 lines of conventional LP mode recording. Thanks to this, you now have high quality four hour recordings as sharp as the Two Hour (SP )speed.

Another new feature is what Panasonic calls "VHS Refresh". This feature offers improved quality when Dubbing VHS to DVD. When connecting a VCR and the DVD recorder to record VHS videotape images onto a DVD disk. Something similar to a "Time Base Corrector", helps reduce jitter and also performs signal conversion to create a stable signal.

The unit also has 3D Digital Noise Reduction which detects and virtually eliminates randomly generated noise and color errors to help minimize flicker. This 3D DNR works on any video input source. Thanks to these two technologies, the video input signal is automatically detected and optimum processing is performed to provide an easy way to even more beautiful digital pictures. There is also a Digital Noise Reduction for playback. This helps clear up recordings made in the EP 6 hour speed. This unit has an option to allow up to Eight (8) hours of recording time. Although I really don't recommend recording with the 8 hour speed due to quality issues.

One of the most important new features is the nearly instantaneous response time in start-up and recording. It is as quick as five seconds from the DVD-RAM insertion to Play or Record. The unit has nearly as fast times for other blank DVD media. Disk finalizing takes about four minutes which is a bit slow.But that's a minor trade-off for the very quick disk recognition. The Panasonic DMR-ES10 DVD Recorder also has a "One Touch Record" button. Each press gives 30 Minutes recording time up to 4 hours. The unit then powers itself off after the recording time has finished.

All Panasonic DVD recorders offer all the benefits of the DVD-RAM format. Which include " Chasing Playback". -- This feature lets you view a program that you're currently recording from any point that's already been recorded, while continuing to record the live program in progress. So you no longer have to wait for the entire program to be recorded before watching it from the beginning to the end. Simultaneous Recording & Playback are also possible using DVD RAM. This way you can record a live TV program while watching any other program that's been previously recorded on the same disk. Time Slip Button -- Just press the Time Slip button once during recording on a DVD RAM, to start playing back the scene recorded 30 seconds earlier. You can also use the cursor keys to return to any point from 1 to 360 minutes earlier.

The Panasonic DMR-ES10 DVD Recorder offers a PIP(Picture-in-Picture function) and commercial skip during playback.

Please note : These two features will NOT work after the DVD +/-R/W disks are finalized. These features also wont work on pre-recorded (store bought) DVD movies. They do work on on DVD RAM disks. Since those disks do not need to be finalized.

The unit has a new layout with finalize and disk setup which makes it alot easier to use. Also new is that it goes into record mode and loaded blank and pre-recorded DVDs so much faster. Both are major improvements over earlier units. I also liked the smaller size, and large easy to read numerical readout. Total ease of use is also much improved. But novices will still need to read the manual thoroughly. I like the new sleek look. This model seems very user friendly and priced low enough. So if you haven't already purchased a DVD Recorder. Then this is the unit that may make you put away your VCR. For those who like their components to match. This unit also comes in Black. I have only one minor complaint. There is no disk time remaining display during a DVD movie playback. The time remaining display is viewable during all recording modes to view the recording time left on disk.

Connections - 1 RF(TV) Input/1 RF(TV)Output, 1-Front Panel Audio/Video(S-Video)3-Rear Panel Audio/Video(S-Video),1 Rear Panel component video input. 1- Audio/Video (S-Video)Outputs,1- Digital Audio Optical Output.

If you need even more features than the DMR-ES10 offers. There is the DMR-EH50 model ($500) which features a 100GB hard disk drive. This gives up to 177 hours of recording time using the hard drive.

The Bottom Line :
Low Price with great Quality LP speed video ,new user friendly features. All adds up to an excellent DVD Recorder

62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'll give it four stars, May 4, 2005

By 

HedFone - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic DMR-ES10K DVD Recorder , Black (Electronics)

I'm not going to say what's already been said so I'll just give my pros and cons about it.

Pros:
Renaming recorded titles on discs is easier because you can press certain buttons like number 1 to take you to a row of letters & numbers with the onscreen keyboard. (example: push 1 to take you to the row with ABCD abcd 1234 etc.)
Auto time and date set.
Three S-video connections two in back and one in front.

Cons:
No auto chapter skip markers until after the disc is finalized (which is only 5 minute markers). But this isn't much of a big deal because with the "time slip" feature you can quickly get to the end of a disc to make sure everything recorded ok. And after its finalized you can just input the chapter number. So let's say you want to go to 3 hours into the disc just punch in the chapter number like 10 for example.

All discs have to be finalized in order to work with other DVD players including -RW which can still be "formatted" and used again of course. I don't like this much because the Liteon I had recorded discs that didn't need to be finalized before they would play on any other player at least for RW.

Disc speed (quality) is not displayed onscreen so you'll have to look at the recorder to know what speed you're in.

No zoom for DVD movies.

No DV link for people with those type of camcorders that use it.

Not really a con but this unit has no fan in back. It has one air vent in back and two on the sides. I wonder if heat could become a problem later.

Other then all that it seems like a pretty good recorder despite it won't record macrovision VHS. And for now there is no hack for it.

Update: Last Thursday 2/12/09 it officially died. Too bad. I was expecting it to last longer.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome DVD Recorder At Resonable Price., June 17, 2005

By 

THE AUTISTIC WEREWOLF "Wolf D." (Baltimore, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic DMR-ES10K DVD Recorder , Black (Electronics)

The actual DVD recorder is awesome. Solid crisp clear play back on recorded media I tested. This unit is VERY Easy to program and use once you figure it out. Instructions on how to use the unit are almost useless making what should have been straight forward simple directions badly writen, overly complicated and pitifully incomplete. The directions jump, skip, bob and weave from subject to subject explaining nothing in detail. The directions assume so many things that they are laughable. Also this unit lacks a quick start guide which is usually better at explaining the unit than ponderous bloated confused instruction manuals like this one.

The Grits N Gravy of the issue is how well does the actual DVD recorder work. I tested it on may DVD types and found the recordings to be solidly good on all DVD types tested. This recorder makes a better quality recording on EP Extended Play 6 hour mode than any DVD reorder I have seen. It is a work horse, as I have been recording many of my videos to DVD and this recorder has been nothing less than flawless.

I have burned 26 DVD's thus far and not a coaster in the bunch. This unit takes a long time to finalize a disk but when it is done it Finalized it is done right. I could care less how much time it takes to Finalize so long as it is done right. The format for navigating the menus is well thought out and intuitive. Anyone with 2 brain cells should have this DVD recorder player all figured out in a day.

My only negative about this DVD player is its lack of an onscreen indication of the currely selected record speed. You have to look at the unit itself to figure out what record settings you have really selected. It is really a dumb system but after you get used to this quirk you can start burning your heart out on this machine because it loves to work well.

For the little bit of money this DVD recorder costs it is a steal at this price. This DVD recorder does not have all the bells and whistles of higher priced units but neither does it have lots of useless crap that can too easily screw up a DVD. This is a good honest hard working DVD recorder for a good honest low price more things should be this good!

I am seriously considering buying another one of these in the near future.