Customer Reviews

Panasonic DMR-EZ48VP-K 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD Recorder with Built In Tuner

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(60)
3 star:		(46)
2 star:		(37)
1 star:		(70)

 

 

Finally a DVD recorder that actually works and is pretty easy to operate. Thus far I have tried recording from VHS to DVD several times with out any problems. One just can not beat the two button recording sequence. You press the specified VHS->DVD record button located on the front of the unit then you either press the record button to play until the DVD is maxed out and finalize the recording automatically or the play button that will allow you to stop the recording, finalize at a later time, add VHS content from another VHS tape, etc. My pops that is not tech savvy at all has managed to work the unit. He is smiling that he can now convert his 20 year old VHS tapes to DVD

A must have is DVD-RAM discs. Allows one to tape broadcast content to view at a later time then delete and record again. I am still trying to find a PC program that will allow me to take DVD-RAM content and edit it on a PC. I have tried Adobe Premiere without any results (does not recognize the file format. If anyone knows please advise.

Update 11/21/2008 After many months of use I can say that the unit has worked very well for the purpose that we purchased it: Transferring homemade VHS tapes to DVD. First the footage is transferred to a DVD-RAM disc. (I purchased a pack of 5 and have only used 2 that still work). I have used with great success the authoring software called: TMPGEnc Authoring Works. It allowed me to take the raw unedited footage that was transfered from the VHS to the DVD-RAM disc then using TMPGEnc Authoring Works to edit footage and then burn it on a regular DVD.

It is also a decent VHS and DVD player.

The auto scan flawlessly found all the analog and unscrambled digital channels offered by Comcast in my area. It does not have an HD tuner but does capture the widescreen 16:9 signals. If you record on DVD-RAM (not -R, -RW, +R, or +RW) it will record the widescreen picture. Three added bonuses for using DVD-RAM are "Chasing Playback," which allows you to watch a program from the beginning while the machine continues to record the remainder of it; more editing options; and the ability to selectively erase individual programs from the disc and then record new shows in the deleted space. You can find 10-packs of Panasonic DVD-RAMs online (item #LM-AF120LU10) for about $19; Amazon has a 5-pack (LM-AF120LU5) for about $10. The discs are rated for 100,000 re-recording cycles, versus about 1,000 for R/RW! Don't expect to find them in stores (which baffles me).

I found the menus and remote control to be quite intuitive. This is also the quietest DVD recorder I have used. The machine is loaded with features, including upconversion all the way to 1080p if you use the HDMI connection. One of its best capabilities is that Panasonic engineered the 4-hour LP recording speed of the DVD drive to provide the same playback quality as the 2-hour SP speed! No, the VHS recorder does not record digital broadcasts, but who cares with the great playback quality of the DVD drive? I'm using the VHS to dub my old tapes over to DVD.

We interrupt this review for a helpful note...a couple years ago I learned from personal experience (and a Comcast technician) that digital signals are more "fragile" than analog ones. My first lesson occurred when I was connecting my new Panasonic HDTV. Some of the digital channels were very unstable and would cycle between displaying and going to black, or showed significant digital artifacts. That problem was caused by my brand new high end surge suppressor, which included f-jacks for cable protection. The suppressor's internal cable protection circuitry altered the signal slightly, causing the problem. The tech connected the TV directly to the cable wall outlet, bypassing the suppressor, and the signal was perfect. (Note: always plug your AC power cords into a surge suppressor!) I had to recall my second lesson when hooking up my DMR-EZ48V. At first, a couple of the digital sub-channels in my area (21.1, 33.3) could not be received. I remembered that I had used an existing push-on type coax for my cable connection from the wall outlet to the machine. My bad. I replaced it with one of the cables the Comcast tech had made for me for future use, with screw on f-connectors, and all reception was perfect! We return now to my review of the DMR-EZ48V...

I have not seen any digital artifacts during playback on my Panasonic HDTV. The instruction manual gives you details for tweaking the machine and fixing many possible problems (I had none) by using the large array of accessible menu options. This machine may not be right for a technophobic individual, but for an enthusiast it is great!

I purchased this mainly to transfer home movies. Unfortunately, Panasonic has decided that it knows better than you do. They have programmed the machine to divide recordings whenever a break in the video occurs. This means that your two-hour home video is going to be automatically divided into about 16 parts and there is no option to disable it. Each division causes a loss in the beginning of the next part.

You will have to plug a separate VCR into the unit to be certain of uninterrupted recording. Of course, you might as well buy any DVD recorder if you are going to do that and pay much less. The DVD recording quality is good - as good as just about any other recorder.

Too bad: Panasonic built a good concept, but they forgot to give the consumer the freedom to decide how to record.

...and we've owned three different brands in the last 5 years.

This machine plays ANYTHING we throw at it (stuff recorded on two other DVD recorders---a year-old Liteon model, and a four-year old phillips dvdr75 which died two years ago!): dvd+r, dvd+rw, dvd-r, dvd-rw). Of course, retail DVDs look great too.

It has an awesome ATSC tuner (auto-set-up worked and found all channels), and receives dozens of HD channels here in the Los Angeles area. Timer function works great---no faiulures.

We've had it for about two months, and made over 65 recordings---not a single "coaster" ever.

We use the HDMI output (this machine comes with its own HDMI cable--a real value).

The XP (1 hour speed) looks very clean, the SP is very good, and the EP (6 hour) is a little pixelated, but not terribly.

We've copied DVDs to VHS, and I've made direct VHS recordings---all look as good as one would expect VHS to look.

I think We'll buy another DMR-EZ48, so that when this one wears out, we'll be assured of complete compatibility and interoperability of all my discs.

Pansonic introduced this DVD recorder a year after its predecessor, the EZ47VK. The EZ47VK had almost the same feature set, but suffered from overheating problems. So Panasnic added a cooling fan with the EZ48VK.

I bought this recorder to transfer VHS tapes to DVD and to record programs off cable TV. In both these respects this player works just perfect, with one flaw which I will touch on below.

The auto-tune feature tuned all the standard (non-pay and non-premium) channels from my cable company and even set the clock time based on the local PBS station. The ATSC tuner picks up over-the-air HDTV and DTV programs. I am using this player with an Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna. It picked up local HD channels and some from as far as 40 miles away. A minor annoyance is that when you switch between antenna and cable (I use an external A/B switch) you need to auto tune the channels all over again.

Transferring VHS to DVD is a cinch. The resulting DVD is often better than the source VHS tape due to the noise reduction. I've also had excellent results recording my favorite TV programs (particularly movies from AMC and TCM). In the two months I've had this player, I've recorded just over 40 movies for personal use.

As others have suggested, DVD-RAM disks are a must-have for this player, particularly for recording TV programs you want to later delete. DVD-RAM disks give you a Tivo-like experience, and you can pause and rewind the program while the rest of the program is being recorded. And DVD-RAM disks allow you record over and over thousands of times.

Caution about dual-layer DVD+R disks:
The only problem I had with this player is with dual-layer DVD+R disks. When recording multiple programs in sequence, the player can get "confused" with the layer change in the dual layer disk. It corrupted two disks, making them unreadable. And it required me to power off and power on in order to eject the corrupted disks.

Anyway, I found that that recording dual layer DVD+R disks works perfectly when I recorded a single long program that spans both layers.

Overall, I have high praise for this player!

In 1989 I bought what turned out to be Panasonic's top of the line VHS player/recorder. It lasted 20 years before finally reaching a point where they didn't have parts to repair it. But I had kept up my customer care plan (aka extended service plan) and Panasonic sent me this little baby. First of all some of the complaints are legitimate, yes the clock doesn't keep time so I just adjust it as necessary. The main thing most people don't seem to understand is that this doesn't work like conventional dvd/vcr's, IT IS A COMPUTER type mechanism and works as such. What this means it that it takes time, up to a minute to boot-up after being turned on, and it has to shut down. You cannot jab away at the buttons either for this reason, this will cause the device to freeze-up just like a computer. Once you understand this it makes using the player much easier. I haven't learned all of the features yet, but I have recorded tv programs, turned a vhs into a dvd. The manual could be infinitely better, but then it's rare for most instruction manuals, I've discovered, to be written well enough to avoid confusion. Take your time and read all of the sections slowly and carefully then, take a week to play around with things and get familiarized with the different aspects of the player. I hooked into my cable box using component cables, as I have a region free dvd player hooked up with the premium cables, without help from a techie, or a guy. So if I can do this anybody can; as I said--it works like a computer and if you keep that in mind you'll find it's not that hard to use. I'm looking forward to getting 20 years of use out of this little beauty.

Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD Recorder with Built In Tuner

I was looking for a VHS/DVD combo unit to replace an older Sanyo combo unit.

After searching around, discovered the Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK. It was a toss-up between it and a Sony RDR-VXD655. The Panasonic was a little less
expensive and more readily available in my area - Detroit.

The DMR-EZ48VK seemed to have all the bells & whistles required: VHS & DVD recording, dubbing, USB port, SD card port, NTSC & ATSC tuning.

I recall other reviewers noting the instructions were difficult, but wasn't dissuaded. They were right, however. It was even worse for my wife and two kids who were totally frustrated with the machine.

I managed to work through all the various functionalities, but there were
some annoying issues that came up.

1. The only way to view the current time on the display was when the unit was turned off.
2. During DVD playback, a DVD icon box kept appearing in the upper right area of the TV screen every couple of minutes.
3. Every once in awhile the tuner would go screwy. After entering the desired channel on the remote, more of the same digits entered would appear on the display. In order to get to the actual channel I wanted, I
had to shut the unit down and try again.
4. Forget about channel surfing. There is too much of a lag between pushing the + channel key and the channel actually appearing. If you press the + key three times in a row for example, to go up three channels, the unit seemed to get 'confused' and stop at the 2nd channel up. This seems to me like a software/firmware issue.
5. If a channel was selected by the numeric keys, the channel icon box
would appear showing the channel selected, but then show another channel,
then go back to the original channel selected. Again, seems like a software/firmware issue.

When the unit was working reasonably, the sound was good and picture quality was very good.

After three weeks, I gave up on the unit and returned it to Target.

It seems the combo units with digital tuners are a bit too new to be buying right now. Perhaps in another 6 months, before the Feb 2009 digital station deadline, will be the time to look for other units on the market.

While well intentioned, I think Panasonic jumped the gun in order to put
something in the market, rather than putting through rigid testing and
quality controls.

A "fully loaded with features" piece of electronic equipment, I found the Panasonic VHS/DVD/Digital Tuner combo still easy to setup and program. I'm definately not a techno-wizard-buff so easy setup was important.

I bought the Panasonic DMR-EZ48V Recorder unit for several reasons.

First, it seemed like a good value for the price and I have had good luck with the reliability of Panasonic electronics. I have only had it a couple of months but look forward to a long history with it.

Second, an older VCR had crashed so I needed a way to play the tapes. I like the way this handles the older tapes and that I can easily transfer them over to a recordable DVD. I have dozen of family tapes, recorded TV programs, and older movie tapes that are being transferred to recordable DVD.

Third, I like the fact that the Panasonic talks nicely to my Sony Bravia XBR LCD HDTV when playing both tapes and DVD's.

Lastly, if my Comcast's digital signal ever goes on vacation (would that ever happen? Heheh!) I can easily switch over to the antenna and receive a digital signal.

I'm sure there are other VHS/DVD Recorder/Digital Receive combo units from other manufacturers that are as good or maybe even better than this one. But, it does everything I wanted it to do.

I bought the DRM-EZ48V about 14 months ago and the DVD recording bit the dust, 2 months after the manufacturer warranty expired. On the average, I used it everyday for about 1 hr. of recording and 1 hr. of playback. I continued to do the recording using the VHS for about 3 months and the HDMI interface failed yesterday. I am totally disappointed about the reliability of this product. If you are thinking about buying this DVD/VHS recorder, I advise you to seriously consider purchasing the extended warranty, either from Panasonic or from the store, inorder to have a piece of mind.

What I wanted was a DVD Recorder/VCR with a T.V. Tuner. I went to three major electronic stores and all three had a the same LG, Sony, and Panasonic model. I had known about the copyright protection foibles with the Sony and I don't know much about LG so I chose the Panasonic. My setup is quite simple, I have basic cable (channels 2-70) with no set-top box or anything, and the T.V. it's hooked up to has broken A/V Jacks so the built-in RF Modulator is nice to have. The multiple I/0 is very helpful because I do capture VHS tapes with a USB device that has a S-Video input. And I could see how one would find the SD Card, USB, and DV inputs helpful. Some could find that the extra speed on the VHS drive to be pointless (VP, offering 5x the recording time of SP) but I liked it even though the picture quality isn't very good even by VHS standards. Finalizing DVDs to be played on all players is a cinch, the device says it takes 15 minutes but it takes about 15 seconds. And the disc played on an 8-year old DVD player fine. Another great thing is it supports DVD-RAM recording which is like Tivo; you can watch the disc while it's still recording and record multiple things at once. The 9.4 GB of storage space allows 16 hours of recording time on EP mode!

Now for the cons; the auto channel setup is horrendously slow. And somehow it defaults DVD-RAM recording to be on 16:9 aspect ratio (it is changeable to 4:3 but annoying). You cannot channel surf, it's just too slow. One time when going from playing a video game on input 2 going back to normal T.V. the machine thought that every channel was #29. I went through the auto channel setup twice and it said it couldn't find any channels, when I unplugged/replugged the machine it somehow fixed itself. Another weird thing is that if you open up the disc tray while the DVD is still playing it goes into some diagnostic thing and freezes. I did the unplug/replug thing and it was fine.

Consumer Reports states that this is the best DVD recorder with a VCR. Trust me, the model is good but not great. But if this is the best DVD recorder that's pretty sad. Too bad the Sony isn't better because that's what I would've bought if it could record T.V. shows and knowing Sony it's probably over-priced.