Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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400 of 407 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great machine, easy to use and worth the money., September 30, 2004
You should read the manual to get all the best features of this machine.
You can high speed burn a 2hr show recorded in SP mode in 20 min or less on a 4X DVD-R disc.
You have to turn this feature on before recording the show.
That is so the show is recorded onto the hard drive in a format that can be high speed burned.
You can record 29 hours of shows onto the hard drive in SP mode.
The only two recording modes that have good picture quality are XP and SP. It is recommended to record the show in SP if you want to burn to a DVD because it has a better chance of being playable on other DVD players after it is FINALIZED.
The DVDs I have made have played fine on my Playstation 2 and the DVD player on my computer.
Some great features of this machine are DIVIDE TITLE and SHORTEN
DIVIDE TITLE lets you take shows that were recorded together at the same time and divide them into individual pieces so you can burn them to separate discs.
SHORTEN allows you to cut out commercials. It is easy to use.
There is screen that the show plays on that you can fast forward, rewind and pause.
When the show goes to a commercial you press Pause and and then press Enter.
This selects the start time.
Fast forward through the commercials til right before the show is back on.
Press Pause and press Enter .
This selects the end time.
Press Enter to SHORTEN.
This cuts out the segment between the start point and the end point, removing the commercials.
Continue to do this till all the commercials are removed.
You can name each episode of a show and also name your DVDs too.
You can watch a show you have recorded while the machine records another show.
You can watch a DVD while the machine records a show.
You can watch a show from the beginning while it is being recorded.
If you don't want a show any more just delete it. This increases the memory so you can record more shows on the hard drive. Cutting commercials out also increases your recording time.
You can connect a VCR to the machine and record shows to the hard drive if the tape isn't copyright protected.
You can record shows from a DVD if the DVD isn't copyright protected
The TV guides only works if you leave the machine off for 24 hours so it can download the program guide.
This isn't a real problem if you MANUALLY PROGRAM in the shows you want to record during that time.
The machine will record these shows even when it is off.
You can only program 8 days in advance if you use the TV Guide.
Manually programming your shows works best.
I have 13 shows programmed to record on my machine.
There is no limit to how many shows you can program in manually.
Just made sure there is enough room on the hard drive to record them all.
LIMITATIONS OF THIS MACHINE:
You can only burn to DVD-R and DVD-RAM discs.
DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+RAM WILL NOT WORK.
The TV guide system will not work with TV Guide On Screen Systems broadcast by Satelite.
If you program in 2 shows where one show starts at the same time the other show ends the machine will stop recording 15 seconds before the first show ends and will start recording 15 seconds after the other show begins. This is on page 21 of the manual.
If the 2 shows come on the same channel, programming the show in manually will bypass this problem.
Here is an example:
You have 2 shows that come on channel 10 from 8PM-9PM and from 9PM-10PM.
Programming the machine to record from 8PM-10PM solves this problem.
If the shows come on different channels you can record the shows yourself by pressing record when the show starts and stop when the show ends. Then switching to the other channel and pressing record.
You can not burn a show to a disc when the machine is recording a show.
You can not edit a show when the machine is recording a show.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
If the power goes out at your home due to lighting or the machine displays a error message.
You will have to press and HOLD the POWER button on the machine itself for 10 seconds.
The machine will test itself and restart.
If you have a CABLE BOX the machine come with a IR BLASTER it plugs into the back of the machine.
The other end has a electronic eye that is placed in front of the cable boxes electronic eye.
Follow the instructions when you set up the machine and the IR BLASTER will make your cable box change to the channel you want when you use the DVD RECORDER REMOTE or when you have a show programmed to record.
If you have a TV that only has coaxial hookup in the back and no red, white and yellow plugs you will have to buy a RF Modulator to use this machine.
Even with these limitations this machine is a great buy.
I have burned 75 DVDs with this machine and haven't had any problems yet.
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250 of 256 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great potential but flawed by TV listings, October 29, 2004
Although purchased elsewhere, here are my notes on the device so people can decide if it's for them. My observations should also apply to similar Panasonic Hard Disk Drive DVD Recording units.
GOOD
* Programs can be recorded to hard drive at best quality for MANY times longer than allowed by a tape-based VCR. Although promoted as being able to record for 213 hours (in EP mode), 26hr. (XP) and 52hr. (SP) modes have the most acceptable quality. Anything with lots of detail or motion recorded below SP mode has noticeable distortion (blurry, blocky images.)
* Material can be edited out of a recording (shorten) and recordings can be split into separate segments.
* Programs recorded to hard drive can be edited and transfered to DVD while maintaining original quality (using high speed mode dubbing and using 4X DVD-R media)
* TV guide listings are free (but come with a BIG tradeoff, see BAD below.) When it does work, however, selecting a program to record from the listing is very easy.
* TV listings can be sorted by type, alphabetically, genre, etc. and then chosen for recording.
* A program can be watched from the beginning while it is still being recorded (time slip), or watch previously recorded programs while the unit is recording.
* Some customization is offered in making DVD-Rs: set index points, chapters, image thumbnails, several standard menu looks (the latter is chosen when "finishing" a disc.)
* The unit can record to rewritable discs, DVR-RAM media, although they can be hard to find.
Summation: the unit has long recording times, good editing features, and the ability to transfer to DVD-R or DVD-RAM without losing quality.
BAD
* The TV guide listings are free, but implemented so it is uncertain the listings will actually feed in. Put another way, actual use of the product prevents the TV listings feature from working. Here is why: The listing is taken from the broadcast signal twice a day at unknown times (depending on your zipcode, the actual station and its feed-in time varies greatly.) The unit must be OFF and NOT RECORDING during those times. If it is, then "No Listing" will appear in the schedule for days until the programming info is collected. Using the unit makes it questionable if the listings will feed in (and again, the feed in times are unknown.)
* The TV listings information is only as accurate as the listings service (the service used is from Gemstar/TV Guide.) The unit can't follow programs which change their time or have incorrectly listed times. You will sometimes need to visit a TV station's website for the most up to date program schedule, then set a manual recording so you won't miss it.
* It's not obvious how to back out of certain situations, like totally canceling out of the direct navigator or disc setting (try the TV Guide button there.)
* Some tasks, like manually recording or modifying programming info for a scheduled recording, have lots of steps and use arbitrarily chosen buttons. As an example of the latter, the functions for buttons named "blue" and "green" are not self explanatory!
* The manual is detailed but not put together well. You must thoroughly read it several times to understand how to do things: again, lots of steps, arbitrarily chosen and named buttons.
Summation: Be prepared for the TV listings not to work at times, manually set program recordings at times, and read the manual many times (keep it handy for a month or so at the beginning.)
NOTES
* DVD-R discs must be "finished" before they can work in other players.
* It takes about 15 minutes to transfer an hour of material from the hard drive to DVD-R (using high speed mode dubbing and 4X DVD-R media)
* To use high speed mode dubbing, enable that option before recording anything.
* When making DVD-R discs, only titles (not chapters) will have thumbnails in the main menu.
* A DVD-RAM disc acts like a smaller, removable version of the built-in hard disk drive.
* Manual recordings can only be named after they have finished recording, not beforehand when setting a manual recording.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Only buy this unit if you are prepared for the TV listings not working at times, accept that manual recordings will have to be made, and double-check a TV station's Website to be sure the listing information is correct.
If you are not OK with this, hold off purchasing this model (and similar ones) to buy future models which CAN load TV listings when the unit is on or currently recording.
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93 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is my favorite piece of electronics., May 30, 2004
I have used the previous model E80H for almost a year with no problems and bought this new model E85HS as soon as it became available. I should add, I bought both DVRs right here at Amazon.com and have not had any problems at all. I did read the manual before I unpacked the unit as I do with anything complex. This model is more intuitive than most but knowing idiosyncrasies like the reset button mentioned in an earlier review are important to know. You can also do some things the manual doesn't cover like record from a DVD to the hard-drive. Like all consumer DVRs it will not copy a copy protected DVD which is just about all US releases. However, copying a personal VHS tape is a breeze. It is easy to do edits and make a very useable menu for your DVD version. The programming function is also simple to use. I programmed 16 different TV shows to be recorded while I was on a five week trip and it recorded them all perfectly. I highly suggest you use the SP speed so instead of 284 hours of theoretical recording time you really have about 55 to 95 hours max which is still great! I only use the fastest XP speed when it is important to see fine details (i.e. swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated video;-) or I am going to make a permanent copy of a less than 2 hour program to a DVD-R. Then by using the variable speed recording choice I end up with the best possible DVD-R copy. With Panasonics filters the finished copy can indeed look better than the original source but do not expect miracles. I often use DVD-RAM for temporary storage of programs I do not want the rest of the family to see and the high speed transfer is a great convenience. Playback is excellent even with an older TV but your TV works with progressive scan this model will display a very high quality image indeed. This new model plays a wider variety of VCDs (the E80H did reasonable well) and it you like to play music through your TV entertainment center it play CDs and CD-Rs fine. I have found the DVD-Rs to be viewable in a wide variety on DVD players as I am the one that converts the family movies to DVD-R and distribute them all over the country. I also sell some travel movies I made on my website and have not had any returned. No coasters and between my two units I have made well over 100 DVD-Rs. I have only used name brand blank DVD-R and DVD-RAM disks, so that probably has been a factor. Features like time-slip and one button switch to TV only makes viewing a pleasure. Yes, you can really watch a program while still recording it or watch a different program from the hard drive or DVD tray. The remote control takes a while to get used to but has it all at your fingertips. Enjoy!
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