TV Guide On Screen 8-day program guide (listings for local broadcast and cable TV) * built-in 120GB hard drive for recording/playback * records to DVD-RAM and DVD-R * plays DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, and Video CD * plays DVD-Audio (stereo only), CD, audio CD-R & CD-RW, and MP3 CD-R & CD-RW *
Panasonic's top-of-the line, fifth-generation DMR-E85HS DVD recorder packs a built-in 120 GB hard drive capable of storing up to 213 hours--more than 11 straight days--of audio/video programming in EP mode. So whether you're seeking the time-shifted TV viewing abilities of a VCR-like DVR or you want to archive your home movies to long-lasting DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs, this is the recorder for you.
But it doesn't just slice and dice. The DMR-E85HS is also a progressive-scan DVD player for use with standard and high-definition or HD-ready TVs. It handles your DVDs, CDs, and homemade MP3 discs, as well as high-resolution DVD-Audio discs, which specialize in multichannel music mixes with quality surpassing that found on commercial CDs.
Just like with a DVR, you can schedule the recording of TV programming through the DMR-E85HS's user-friendly onscreen guide.
| The DMR-E85HS offers the flexibility of recording on both DVD-RAM--perfect for instant chapter access and for multiple rerecordings--as well as DVD-R, generally regarded as the most widely compatible of the many DVD formats. DVD-RAM offers high storage capacity, high-speed data transmission, exceptional picture and sound quality, fast random-access memory, and rewritability up to 100,000 times. DVD-RAM recording time extends to 16 hours per disc in EP mode on 9.4 GB double-sided media. You can program the recorder for daily or one-time broadcasts much as you would a VCR. To simplify programming, the DMR-E85HS includes the TV Guide On Screen Electronic Programming Guide. With DVD-RAM, you can even perform simple nonlinear video editing, such as rearranging the order of scenes, skipping over unwanted scenes, and creating custom play lists of favorite scenes on a disc.
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One touch of a button is all it takes to record data from the DMR-E85HS's hard disk drive to a DVD-RAM or DVD-R disc at high speeds. You can blaze along at a quick 12x normal speed when writing to DVD-RAM, or 24x normal speed when going from the hard disk to DVD-R (in EP mode, both cases). For example, you can burn a one-hour program to DVD-RAM in just 5 minutes, or to DVD-R in just 2.5 minutes.
Panasonic's Time Slip feature lets you use your DVD recorder like a personal video recorder, or PVR. Because of DVD-RAM's extremely fast transfer rate, you can view the recorded portion of an ongoing program from the beginning, while still recording the program in progress.
With Chasing Playback, you can view the recorded portion of a live program, from the beginning, while continuing to record that program until its completion. Simultaneous record & play lets you view a previously recorded program on either a DVD-RAM disc or the hard disk drive while simultaneously recording a different program. Relief Recording automatically checks the remaining disc space when recording to DVD-RAM or DVD-R. If there's not enough space, the video recorder shifts the balance of the recording to the hard drive. | 
The Chasing Playback feature lets you watch the program you're recording from the beginning while it's still in progress.
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In addition to recording new video content, the DMR-E85HS lets you transfer your favorite VHS recordings to durable, space-saving discs. You can archive, preserve, and easily catalog and accessed your personal movie libraries and family videos.
| | The recorder comes with a new Direct Navigator that simplifies the process of previewing recorded programs, letting you access recorded material from an onscreen menu that lists recording dates, times, channels, and titles. Finding and viewing recorded material is simple because there's no need to search, fast-forward, or rewind.
DVD-Audio offers super high-fidelity (192 kHz/24-bit) sound. DVD-Audio discs providemultichannel and stereo sound, incredible storage capacity, and unique bonus materials not available on regular audio CDs.
What's in the Box
DVD player/recorder, a remote control, remote batteries, an RF audio/video in a stereo analog audio/composite-video interconnect, an AC power cord, a user's manual, and a registration card. |
1 When it's good, it's very good, but when it's bad, ...
The editing works very well, allowing the user to edit down to a single frame. The hard drive has good capacity. It is marvelous with DVD-RAM disks.
Now for the bad stuff. If you push the eject button when the machine is powered down, it will get ready to eject the disk, but it will lapse into a coma. I've had to pull the plug to snap it out of its catatonic state. If you are in a hurry to get the disk out, you will have to wait a few minutes while it checks itself out. To add injury to insult, unplugging the unit will cause it to forget all programming you have put into it, requiring you to start over. At that point, don't think you can use TV Guide to help you, because the unit will have forgotten all Guide information, as well. It downloads programming from TV Guide only in the wee hours of the night, leaving you with the choice of manually entering the times and stations, or waiting until next morning to use the Guide.
Writing to DVD-R disks causes the machine to crash 40% of the time, turning your disk into a coaster. So, don't erase any programs you have copied onto a DVD-R until you have successfully written all of them. My advice is to use DVD-RAM disks as much as possible, keeping in mind they are five times more expensive.
Remember that scene in Apollo 13 when Jim Lovell was challenged to a race at a red light? He was driving this cool sports car that looked like a million bucks. When the light changed, the car stalled, making him look like an idiot. That's how it feels to own this machine.
If there is someone on your gift list you don't like, you might consider giving them one.
2 released before its time
I bought this unit in Feb. The first month, I blamed the issues we were having on us thinking 'user error'. But we have come to realize that this unit has lot of 'bugs' that have not been worked out before releasing to the general public.
WE do use the TV Guide feature although the guide does not match our area. Thus we had to custom match to channels....that was 'extremely cumbersome'...took 3 hours to set up. If I unplug, I imagine I will have to start over. They could have made this feature much easier.
The unit periodically 'locks up'...will be working one minute, try to move to a different feature and no buttons on the remote nor the unit will work. The only way to get it back it to hold down the on/off switch for 10 seconds to reset the unit.
Many times, when going from the guide to watch a pre-recorded show, the screen will double up....meaning the original TV Guide image is still showing while the recorded show comes up as well....and the screen displays a colorful 'mess'. Again, the only way is to RESET the unit and start over.
I will admit that when this unit is working (and all set up), it is really easy to record and view. The recorded picture is not quite as good as the original (we can view them side by side) but the picture is okay.
My biggest complaint is the inconsistency....works, locks up, reset, then works again for a while. It will record the preset shows for a few days and then all of a sudden lock up. YOu come back from vacation and it did the first 2 days but missed the last 4.
Amazon has a 30 day return policy. The first 30 days I really believed I was not doing things correctly. I would continually read the documentation trying to figure out what was wrong. It takes alot of playing to figure out how to use this without locking it up. I should have shipped it right back then..but am trying to work with Amazon to see if they will take it back.
It has a note right on the unit from Panasonic 'if you are having problems with your unit, please call us before returning this unit to your retailer'. This should have been a signal to us. But alas I have been trying to call Panasonic all day to see if have newer released units that have the bugs worked out, all I get is a busy signal. I will keep trying.
3 Old Style better, tvguide navigator is crap
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.
4 Very Nice Machine
I read through all the reviews on here and other websites. I wanted a Panasonic since my VCR, which I got in the 80's is still working well. I did all the stuff it said to do and I had a few problems in the beginning. However, it has made up for the minor issues I had in the beginning for what it is capable of. I got some help by reading the reviews here on some of the operations. Some good hints:
Turn off the TV guide so it doesn't appear as soon as the machine boots up. I think this was causing a problem and since it tended to freeze before I did this. You can still active the TV guide by pressing the "TV guide" button on the remote.
Go into setup to make sure you can copy in the high speed mode. Another reviewer explained it very well so I won't repeat it here.
While it says that it can't record on spindle disks I have had luck in recording on them. You have to be careful that you do not bend the disk at all before recording on it. I made the mistake of recording on the disk and then wrote on the disk what it was. When I put it back into the machine to write a name of the disk the machine freezed up. It did allow me to finalize it. Lesson: If you are recording on a disk, record and finalize in the same step. Don't write on the disk until it's finalized.
I get great quality at the EP mode (6 hours) and have been able to play it on my Sony Playstation and my Sony DVD player.
I just bought a Panasonic DMR E10S for my living room. This way I can record programs on a DVD-ram and view them in the living room and then record over them.
5 A downgrade from the E80H
The good things about this recorder is that it can burn a DVD in up to 8x faster than real speed and that the database can hold 54 and a half hours in the SP mode as compared to 36 and a half the E80H model did. The bad things about this recorder which makes this a terrible purchase is that the TV Guide listings have never worked even after shutting off my recorder for 36 hours, since the TV listings they had were incompatible with my cable service. Also the machine frequently freezes making this machine idle. You can not record two programs back to back since the second program will never record since the machine records the first program for a minute extra which overlaps the second program and cancels the recording. A best bet is to hunt down the E80H and buy that and buy the E85 if you want an expensive time piece.
6 Great in the beginning, but you will end up unhappy
From the minute we setup this unit, we fell in love with it. The progressive scan playback was supurb, the remote was well made and functional and the TV guide worked fine for us after the 24 hr wait time per the manual.
After a couple of weeks, we noticed that you could not exit the TV guide as it would be "stuck" on the screen. As others said, you had to unplug the unit even to get it to work. Well this continued to the point where it was not usable anymore.
I tried calling Panasonic, but didn't want to wait the time on the phone. I'm VERY glad I bought it from Amazon because they took it back with no questions asked and are refunding my money.
It's really too bad that this unit has issues. Since most of these components are integrated, I would not risk getting one of these and "hope" it works since repair of the unit isn't really an option. Either it works or it doesn't.
7 Great when it works
I purchased my unit in December and had relatively no problems until March. It turns out there are some known problems Panasonic is addressing. My unit has been at the repair shop for about a month. Very responsive Customer service when you speak to the right person. It appears the TV Guide/Gemstar had done a patch on their software that caused all sorts of problems for this unit. Supposedly this has been addressed and is fixed/being fixed. My units TV Guide would not activate each morning unless I physically unplugged the unit. There was an upgraded firmware as well as some of the units would not completely reset (pressing power button for several seconds) Another way to reset (soft reset) is to press channel up and down at the same time. These are some of the things I have learned with this unit. My unit is due back on Friday and I will update this review once I get to thoroughly test the unit.
8 This Unit Has Issues
After using this unit for 5 weeks, I encountered intermittent recording problems to the hard drive. Further, the unit would delete future scheduled programs I wanted to record. It would delete them regardless of whether I utilized the TV Guide feature or manual recording.
After taking the unit to a authorized repair facility and returning to pick it up, the repair person informed me he had discussed these issues with Panasonic and was informed that due to the vast number of features in the unit, it should have sold for about $1,500.00. In other words, the hardware inside simply will not support the features the unit proclaims.
The "fix" for my unit was to re-set the microprocessor and this did temporarily correct the recording problem but several features in the main Set-up menu were disabled.
It will go back to the shop but based on the Panasonic's tech's description of the hardware, I not only agree but suggest you avoid purchasing this unit.
9 Can't change time
I have owned this guy for four months with many of the problems mentioned by others here. I am ready to throw it out. I just found out today from Panasonic customer support that you cannot change the time, it only updates through TV Guide which they claim no support for. I am using DirecTV connection only and without a cable or antenna it will not update or let me change the time. What an excellent design! (Not).
10 Perfect for 2 months, now it freezes
My E85HS worked perfectly for a little over two months, and then it developed the freezing problem that has been reported here. It may be a coincidence, but it started soon after I first used it to transfer material from the hard drive to a dvd-r. The first time it happened, the unit simply refused to power on until I unplugged it for a few seconds. The second time, I noticed that it was not recording a show that was scheduled. It did power on, but when I checked the schedule, and tried to leave that screen, it froze with the garbled colors. It would power off and on, but the garbled screen remained. The only cure I have found is to unplug it. This "cure" has been good for 8 hours to four days so far. The only good thing is that I have not lost anything from the hard drive, but the possibility that it won't record shows while I am away makes it pretty much useless to me. I bought this unit from Amazon almost three months ago so my only option is to take or send it to an authorized repair facility. Please don't buy this model until Panasonic has addressed this problem.
11 2 units were DOA
I was so excited about my new electronics purchase. I hooked it up according to the quick start manual and it was never able to obtain my guide information. I have Adelphia in Ventura County California. I got an error message on the screen that read R54:34 or R:34:54, I dont remember exactly. I tried calling tech support and couldn't get through. I had to wake up 6:00am PST in order to call the tech support when it first opened and I finally did get through. The guy on the phone had me press the channel up and down buttons simultaneously that was supposed to reset the hard drive. Of course it did nothing. I told him of the error message I was getting and he said he didnt know what it meant and that the unit was probably bad. I returned the recorder and got a replacement one in about 10 days. I hooked up the second one and the exact same thing happened. I double, triple and quadruple checked the way I hooked it up and it was correct. My conclusion is the model is a piece of S**** and sent it back, this time asking for a full refund. I HIGHLY discourage anyone from getting this unit. For now I'm going to get Adelphia's DVR for $13 a month and do without a DVD Recorder until I can research it some more. Theres nothing worse than to be excited about a new purchase then to have it not work......TWICE.
12 A Great Machine With A Slight Problem
I just returned my DMR-E85H recorder because of a problem that many other people have experienced. It locks up occasionally and various things happen mysteriously. I found out that this recorder acts much like a pc running older Windows software. After performing a variety of different functions, it becomes sluggish. Response times to commands become slow, or it just locks up and sometimes I can't even shut it off with the power button the recorder itself. The recorder that I just returned is a GREAT machine, except for this defect.(probably in it's software or operating system).
I just ordered another one of these machines, hoping that the next one will be bug-free. I do want to mention one thing that will be helpful to those of you who are experiencing these problems occasionally. I believe you can have trouble-free operation with this machine if, before you power it on, unplug the unit for 4 or 5 seconds. When you re-connect it, it will do a self-check and when it is thru with that, you can start it and it will run glitch-free for a while. Mine would go as much as seven days, and then suddenly, it would do something goofy. (not always the same thing). If you notice any changes in operation such as response time slowing, try shutting it down, unplugging and re-plugging, and when you re-start the unit it will run great.
Actually, I could have lived with the unit that I sent back, but why should I? That recorder shouldn't act up after a lot of usage. It wasn't any particular type of usage that caused the problem, just doing multiple various tasks over a period of time. Once reset, it works great again. I don't lose the time of day or the contents of the TV Guide. I've never lost anything from the HardDrive during these episodes.
Overall, it's a great machine and, like I said, I just ordered another one. Once you learn how to edit the programs on the HDD and remove the commercials, you can watch the average half-hour show in about 21 minutes. Movies that you record on a commercial TV station can be reduced about 1/3 in time. A 3-hour movie, minus the commercials, will run in about 2 hours.
This is an update to the above.
I have my second machine now for a few weeks and it is great! I did have to re-set it by unplugging it for a few seconds (5), then plugging it in again. It re-set itself and I didn't lose anything. All my recordings were on the harddrive as they were, and the TV GUIDE listing was still intact. I really believe that this is a great machine even if it has to be re-set once in a while. I can't imagine being without it. I no longer sit and watch all of the commercials that are on TV today. There are at least 18 minutes of commercials each hour and sometimes more than that.
If you have difficulty programming a VCR, maybe this isn't for you, but if you are adept at figuring out how to operate things, then this machine is worth a try. It is Great!!! It does so many things, and it does them well. I am really amazed at just how good this machine is, and all of the things it is capable of doing.
Good recording is just the start. You can pull out the commercials; re-title the segments; divide the segments any way you wish; dub any of the segments to a DVD-R in any order; Copy your VHS tapes to the harddrive, edit them or divide them into segments any way you wish; delete any segments that you don't want; etc. The TV GUIDE is great too. When you record a TV show, it is already named for you, or you can change the name if you want. I intend to keep this one. If it breaks down after the warranty, I'll probably just buy another one. By that time, they surely will be improved and have even more features.
One thing about recording.... If you are recording two shows that are on the same channel and running consectively, set the recording up manually. Otherwise, as example: a show running from 9:00 to 9:30, then another from 9:30 to 10 or later, you will lose approx 15 seconds from the end of the first show and another 15 seconds from the beginning of the second show. By setting manually from 9:00 to 10:00 or later, you won't lose anything, and you can "divide" the two shows later into separate shows. You will also lose about 15 seconds as above from each show if they are on different channels, but end and start at the same time as above.
13 Works Great - Manual needs tweaking
I received the E85H and hooked up the cables between the unit and the cable box which were pretty well described in the manual.
The remote has some neat functions, by pressing the Direct Navigator button I can see thumbnails of what I recorded - they are playing! I can combine "chapters" (what you record) or split them up or recombine them.
I have only had this setup for a few hours and I can see I am going to be happy with it.
BTW, the frustration I had when 1st setting this up was setting the unit to the correct channel. The manual says ch3 but mine is actually ch91 on my cable box plus the remote won't change channels on the cable box but that is a minor annoyance since I can use my other remote
14 So near, and yet so far
This machine infuriated me because I loved it, but two different units failed within the first two weeks.
First of all I want to say that I am not one of those people who are technically challenged, so believe what I say. I have two degrees in electrical engineering and have designed (not built, designed from the gate level up) computers and for the past twenty years have earned a good living writing commercial software. I mention this only to dispel any possibility that the problems I experienced with this model will be dismissed as "pilot error".
I am not going to bother describing the nice features of the unit. Many others here have done that. I am going to describe my horrible experience with it.
I bought my first DMR-E85HS at Circuit City around February 24th, brought it home, set it up, turned it off for 24 hours as recommended so the program guide can download, and then turned it on and starting getting to know it. Everything was fine for the first day or two. Then, I found that if I was in the program guide view and tried to exit to watch TV, I could not do so. Instead, the program guide display remained on the screen but with garbled colors. The unit locked up and had to be reset to get out of this state. From this point on whenever I went in to the program guide this would happen.
I had read the reviews here and so was aware that other people had experienced similar problems with some units of this model. Hoping that I had just been unlucky enough to get one of the bad ones, I returned it to Circuit City and took home another unit of the same model.
This one worked beautifully for about a week and a half (although I never tried burning a DVD during that initial period). Then, it too began malfunctioning. It refused to change channels, go into the program guide, or do many other functions involving watching TV. Resetting the unit (by holding the power switch for 10 seconds) restored normal functionality, but after a few hours it stopped working again. This continued to happen for several days until I got fed up and decided to return this one too.
However, I had recorded a couple of programs on the hard drive which I wanted to keep, so I wanted to dub them to DVD-R before bringing it back. When I tried to do so I experienced an even more severe problem. When I started dubbing, the unit reported that dubbing was in progress, then within about 30 seconds turned itself off and displayed the message "SELF CHECKING" on the display panel. I reset the unit, and tried this a total of three times, and each time got the same results - a very nice white coaster. I never did get the unit to burn a DVD. I was, by the way, using TDK discs, not that that should matter. At that point I wanted to put a hammer through the thing, but I restrained myself so Circuit City would give my money back, which they very agreably did. Incidentally, there were two other DMR-E85HS's on the shelf behind the return desk the day I brought mine back, and the clerk allowed that yes, a lot of them had been coming back.
The frustrating thing is, if this unit ever worked I would have been very happy with it. Yes, it is not a perfect design, as others have pointed out. But it certainly fulfilled my wishes in a DVD/HDD recorder. Too bad. It's hard to understand how Panasonic, which I have always found to be a supplier of high quality electronics, could possibly have produced such a flop.
By the way, before I returned the second unit I called Panasonic tech support to see if there was any way to do a more thorough reset/reboot of the thing, or if there were any firmware upgrades for it. I had to wait on hold for an hour. When I finally got through to someone he denied that there were any known issues with this model, even after I pointed out that many people had reported problems here on amazon. All he suggested was that I try plugging it directly into the wall outlet instead of into the secondary power outlet on my cable box. (I did try that, but of course it didn't help.) So I have to give Panasonic support the same grade as the DMR-E85HS: useless.
15 Panasonic DMRE85HS Well Worth the Money
This unit is very easy to set up and use. I bought it for converting Family VHS movies to DVD. I wanted to preserve our children's formative years to a better format. The picture quality and recording quality is the best on the market! The ease of use is definately a 5! One other feature that is a huge bonus is having the 120 GB Hard Drive it acts like a TIVO but without the subscription FEES! All in all I don't think you can go wrong with this unit. It's a DVD Player, TiVo, Analog to Digital recorder and if you have the old VHS tapes it is invaluable to preserving your precious memories!
16 AMAZING! THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!
I had been researching HDD/DVD recorders for several months, and finally decided on this unit for five reasons:
1) TV Guide On Screen feature.
2) Panasonic's reliability record.
3) Adequate number of good reviews.
4) Unit is physically very compact.
5) Low price for what it does.
You must read the manual. Let me repeat: You must read the manual. So that my manual wouldn't get mutilated from excessive handling, I downloaded the pdf version from Panasonic's website. Actually did this prior to receiving the unit, so I could get a head start on knowing how to use it. If you're the type of person who hates reading manuals, this unit is not for you. A lot of functions and buttons are NOT intuitive. I'm guessing that most of the trouble people have with this unit is due to impatience and failure to read the manual.
This is like FOUR devices in one:
1) Records like a VCR, but without tape or discs.
2) Plays and records DVD's.
3) TV Guide provides TiVo-like capability.
4) Editing machine.
Hooking it up is straightforward following the diagrams provided. Some people report trouble with the TV Guide feature, but both its setup and usage were great for me. I should point out that I'm a techhead, so I have an aptitude for these things. Also, I have cable but no cable box, which simplifies the arrangement. For the initial TV Guide setup, you have to answer a few easy questions, such as: What's your zip code? Do you have a cable box? Then you must turn the unit off and LEAVE IT OFF for 24 hours so it can download the TV Guide listings. A few minutes after turning it off, I noticed that the clock had set automatically, which is a good sign. Any channels that aren't downloaded automatically can be entered manually. In my case, the only channel I noticed missing is a local public access channel which I never watch anyway.
Before you do any recording, make sure you turn on high speed dubbing, so that any copying done from HDD to DVD will happen quickly.
I find the TV Guide feature to be a huge improvement over manual programming or VCR Plus. Not as sophisticated as TiVo, although some users might actually find it easier than TiVo. An obvious limitation is that the listings only go for 8 days, but if you want to record something beyond that timeframe, information can be entered manually or via VCR Plus. Remember that although its scheduling isn't as advanced as TiVo, overall this unit does much more than TiVo.
Recording shows to the HDD (hard disk) is a joy! No more time spent aggrevating over which shows are on which tapes, no more endless rewinding and forwarding, and no more concern about accidentally recording over a favorite show. I've recorded several shows, and even though I used one of the slower speeds (LP), the quality is good. Once a recording is on the HDD, commercials and other unwanted segments can be removed (this is called "shorten"), with frame-by-frame precision if desired. A "title" (recording) can be renamed, and can be divided into chapters. And impressively, chapters can be combined. So if you break a chapter into two, but then decide you divided at the wrong place, just put them back together and split again. I'm building an "online" library on the HDD, which includes newly recorded shows as well as recordings transferred from VHS and eventually camcorder. Copying from VHS to HDD is easy and gives great results. Of course, since this unit can't play VHS directly, you'll need to connect a VCR to use for copying. I plan to do all my recording onto the HDD, and only transfer to DVD if it's something I want to save permanently, view somewhere else, or give to somebody.
Pressing one button on the remote takes you into the title list, which consists of a thumbnail picture of each recording on the disk. Underneath each thumbnail is the name and date of the recording, and conveniently, a recording can be renamed. Use the arrow buttons on the remote to scroll through the thumbnails, the press the enter button to watch your selection. If you prefer, the thumbnail display can be changed to a list format.
Transferring from HDD to DVD is fast and easy! Not surprisingly, the manual suggests Panasonic blank DVD's, but those are overpriced so I took a chance with off brand "Velocity" (from Amazon). So far, three successful DVD-R burns with no coasters! Discs must be finalized to play on other units, but prior to finalization, additional titles can be added. I don't see any reason to bother with DVD-RAM discs, as they cost more and have limited compatibility with other DVD players.
Like most remote controls, this one is less than what it should be. Because of its poor layout and small buttons, some tasks that should be doable with one hand require two hands.
Despite the remote's shortcomings, this device is remarkable! After using the TV Guide and the HDD, I can't imagine buying a DVD recorder that doesn't have both of those extremely useful features. Things have improved quite a bit since I bought my first VCR, for $700, back in 1982!
To Summarize:
- Pro
o Hard Disk revolutionizes the entire TV and video experience.
o Allows the user to have an "online" library of favorite recordings.
o Good picture and sound, even at lower LP speed.
o Impressive editing capability.
o TV Guide On-Screen.
o Inexpensive for what it does.
o Compact size.
- Con
o MUST read the manual.
o Requires time and patience to master.
o Some remote buttons are small, inconveniently placed, confusingly labeled.
I recommend!
17 Much Patience required, but worth it
This machine has changed my life in terms of allowing me to take total control of my TV viewing. However, if you don't have patience and some tech sense, then this may not be the best machine for you.
First, as many have pointed out, the Users manual is confusing, and by the looks of all the inserts that were added along with the manual I sense that Panasonic knows this and has been trying to address the confusion by including periodic updates. Trust me that the updates don't necessarily make things better. [NOTE: Why not just develop a whole new manual] Also be prepared to read the manual often. And even with that, you will discover many things the machine does on your own, as it was either poorly covered in the manual or not at all. You will know you've mastered the machine when you no longer have to refer to the Users Guide and/or you stop contemplating throwing the machine out the window.
The remote control is not the most wisely layed out, and transitioning between live TV and what you have stored on the Hard drive is cumbersome. The TV Guide set-up is the worst thing about this machine. It takes forever to figure out and a long time to initially download. It took almost a week for the TV Guide to completely update, which is longer then the 24 hour period Panasonic describes. I also don't like the delay when changing channels. Other than that, this machine is great for the money, it is quiet, and it offers great features such as Pic in Pic and editing capabilities.
18 Nice recorder - but TV Guide listings cause unreliability
This is a nice machine for the money, considering the features and hard disk size. I've had it for a couple of months and have found that one day per week for the last two weeks, my TV Guide-selected timer recordings failed to occur. I gather that this is due to the TV Guide listings trying to download at that time. This happened again today and apparently the listings did not update at all because most of the TV Guide screen shows "No Listings Available".
As this appears to be a common finding, considering some of the other review, I would hope efforts are being made with the technology to somehow improve this.
It appears the way to avoid such failure may be to do a manual timer recording for those programs you really truly want to record. And, only count on the TV Guide-selected recordings for those you won't really miss if they don't quite happen.
19 How did I live without this!!
For taping shows it is incredible. I have never had TIVO, and am only comparing this to a VCR, an archaic piece of equipment whose time has gone, but I don't have a montly fee to pay. I was a little leery after reading reviews about the problems of the TV guide feature, but I did not run in to the problems that others have had, although it did leave out some channels. I was however able to manually put them in by using a station unavailable to me and inputting the channel number. If these were not unimportant channels (for me anyway) such as a Spanish channel, I would probably have needed tech support to fully fix it. I have not run into the problems other reviewers have reported, such as the first or last 15 seconds being cut off, and I have found the TV guide feature a breeze to use. Regarding the former, losing the last 15 seconds doesn't affect the program which does not go off on the hour anyway, and losing the first 15 only happens if you are recording successive shows to DVD-R (according to the manual - and for me, using the hard drive, this has never happened). Regarding the latter, find the channel, press ONE button, and it is set to record. Press another and it will record daily or weekly. With the Direct Navigator you get a thumbnail of all your recorded programs and the date they were recorded. Hit enter and your chosen show starts from the beginning. No fast forwarding, no rewinding, no searching for the right tape, no guesswork, no accidently copying over something you wanted to see. Setting up the channel order was, as another reviewer noted, tedious and time consuming, but it is a one time deal.
I have not recorded on to discs yet (having so much fun with my new toy, I forgot that saving home video was the reason for the purchase), but I am hoping that it goes equally well.
I do not have a cable box, so I can't speak to the problems others may have encountered here. But for my uses, this is a joy.
ALL GOOD THINGS OFT COME TO AN END!
After about a month of use, I lost one show I had set up to tape with the bizarre message that it could not record from a protected disc! Another attempt resulted in the wrong channel taping, although it indicated the correct show title. Tech support told me that the unit was defective, so I sent it back. After that I tried dubbing three times, with two failures! The new unit has a tuner problem with half the channels coming in blurry. Normally, I would chuck the whole thing at this point, but am reluctant to do so (I'm still undecided) as I know if I can ever get a unit to work correctly, it will be beautiful thing.
20 It works just fine, once you figure out the owner's manual
This is far from being my first Panasonic built product, and I'm sure it won't be my last.
It is fairly typical for Panasonic: Well constructed, good quality, and once you figure out what the typically incomprehensible Panasonic owner's manual actually means, it is pretty easy to use. Especially considering the fact it is performing some fairly complicated multi-tasks.
It just makes sense to record all off-air programming directly to the hard drive. That's obviously what Panasonic has in mind. And in the "SP" recording mode (that's the next-to-best mode) you will get picture quality virtually indistinguishable from the original broadcast. In this mode the hard drive will store around 55 hours of material. Surely that will give you enough space to time shift all those fabulous shows you didn't want to miss.
I agree with others that the longer-record modes offer very compromised picture quality. But who really needs to get 200 hours of time on the hard drive?
As for dubbing from hard drive to a DVD-r or DVD-Ram, it's fairly uncomplicated. Especially after you've done it a few times so you can say to yourself "Oh, that's what the owner's manual meant - but didn't really say". Because it is a TV set-top accessory rather than a computer add-on, you have to use the remote for just about everything. It is a bit laborious until, again, you get the hang of what it is you are supposed to do. Gee, a keyboard option would be so great.
As for the TV Guide On Screen option, the only problem I've been able to find is that it seems to take a very long time for the info to download and, of course, since the function actually involves channel scanning, it can only be done when the machine is not in use. And, by-the-way, it is also dependent on the information being fed it by the individual channel. Therefore, you may occasionally have listings at a particular time of day for most, but not all, your channels. The conundrum is Panasonic has designed the machine, what with it's Time Slip feature and all, to be used practically your every waking hour. But, and this is a big "but", you don't have to use TV Guide On Screen to program the timer. You can program it in the usual manner, or use VCR-Plus, just like any VCR.
And, something very nice: If you have a repeat program scheduled, say, every Tuesday at 9PM, and it isn't running on a particular week, the machine automatically skips it, and reschedules itself for the next week. However, unlike Tivo, it doesn't search out different times and days that program might be on. And, also unlike Tivo, it is absolutely free.
So, in conclusion, I am very pleased with this machine. You have to use it to understand how to use it, because Panasonic, as is their tradition, is not especially helpful with their owner's manual. I could certainly never go back to video tape.
Oh, yeah, in response to someone who said it won't record on DVD-r's from bulk spindle packs, yes, you guessed it, pure horsehockey. Just buy a quality brand like TDK, Maxell, etc, and, like me, you'll have no problem (over 30 so far without a hitch).
Have fun!
21 An Amazing Machine
Pros: Tivo like system, editing capabilities, and easy to use.
Cons: Manual could use some work and editing capabilities could be improved a bit.
What an amazing machine. I bought this just to transfer some home movies to DVD. Having the 120GB HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is great to store hours of TV programing thats on to late. Not to menchin its a wounderful place to edit out some of those "user errors" while running the camcorder. When recording from the camcorder to the HDD or DVD its as simple as pressing a button. All and all, once you figure the basics out, its a really easy operation. For me personally, I wish this came in black. Oh-well.
22 what I think
1. It hates spindled dvd's ,you know the cheap ones, it will not record on them , I have tried several different brands If it comes on a spindle forget it.
2. Its unbelieveably complex, I don't mind it but if you have any problem using a VCR this is not the product for you.
3. Its not designed to work with a satelite box , like dish,or direct tv, it is set up to work with a cable box.
4. The Lowest quality for recording , the 8 hour mode is almost unusable , I am willing to compromise on video quality more than most will be but the 8 hour mode is truly terrible almost useless even on a small screen where you notice it less.
Over all I like it , the price was fair and it seems to work like it should
23 Quick Q!
can i play my music cds and actually save it on the hard drive? or can i play my video DVDs and save it as well? some one help! 'cause i really wanna purchase this item! thanks
24 Mine broke down 2 times for less than a year.
The reason I chose Panasonic DVD recorder over other brand is that product is still made in Japan. Most of other DVD recorders now are made in China. I really fell in love with it when I first received it. This is my dream machine I have been yearning a long time ago, so I can retire my vcr. But six months later the machine broke down, I took it to Panasonic to have it service. The machine is still under guaranteed so I don't have to pay anything. Panasonic has good service. And a week ago my machine broke down again. I don't know if I can trust Panasonic DVD recorder anymore.
25 Great unless it breaks!
PART 1 -- SERVICE: One of the biggest factors for me in purchasing an expesive piece of electronics like this is service. On that point, I have to give Panasonic a ZERO.
There must be a LOT of these breaking because the parts have been back-ordered for mine for 60 days and they tell me it will be another 30 days until the parts come in.
So, let's do the math... you have a one-year warrantee, but if it fails, you don't get to use it for 3 months of that one year. Assuming the parts come in when they say they will. Ouch!
PART 2 FEATURES:
It's a great machine when it works. The TV guide listing, while not as powerful as TIVO is really nice if you don't need all of TIVO's features. You can edit out commercials fairly easily. Entering titles is a pain, however on a remote control (nothing beats a keyboard and that is simply not an option on this machine). The harddrive holds plenty of shows, but be sure you back things up you want to keep to DVD (see bad service part, above).
PART 3 VHS CONVERSION:
This thing rocks at converting old VHS (or, in my case, old BETA) tapes to DVD. The quality on SP is great and the TBC does a great job.
PART 4 PROBLEMS:
WAY too many false positives saying that a show is copy-protected. I had to get a MACRO remover to copy some of my 20-year-old BETA tapes that were filmed by me! In short, if the machine says you don't have a right to copy a video -- even if the call is WRONG! -- it simply won't let you burn it to DVD. So, I plunked down another two-hundred bucks for a good external TBC and MACRO remover. Problem solved.
PART 5 CONCLUSION:
If you're like me and need to preserve those old tapes before they degrade any further, it's a great machine. Don't expect reliability, however, nor good service. I can only give it two stars because a 4 for the machine, averaged with a 0 for service and reliabilty, equals a pathetic score of 2...
26 Great for everyday recording
I ordered the Toshiba RD-XS32 on Sunday, Jan. 30, and it was estimated to ship in one to two weeks. As excited as I get about having new electronics as soon as possible, I kept checking every day to see if it would ship early. I'm glad I checked back.
On Wednesday, Amazon unveiled their Prime service, so I once again looked at the other DVD recorders to see if any were cheaper, knowing that I could inexpensively get it quick with a Prime membership. Lucky for me, this one went down to $400 that day. I cancelled the Toshiba and ordered this one because I trust Panasonic with video equipment more than Toshiba, it has more space, and I could get it faster.
First of all, Prime is a wonderful service. After paying the $79 annual fee, I only had to pay $3.99 to get this one here by Friday (I ordered after the one-day deadline on Wednesday). It came very promptly and there were no problems with the shipment.
Now on to the recorder. My main intent for this product was to use the hard drive for everyday recording; I wasn't too concerned about the DVD capabilities. I basically wanted a VCR replacement, meaning I didn't need a guide to depend on - I know how to set a VCR.
120 GB is plenty of space. Even in the default recording mode (SP), it holds 55 hours. When watching broadcasts, the recording time left for the media selected is clearly shown on the display. That's much better compared to the 6 hour tapes I had to juggle before.
TV Guide - I gave it about 18 hours to download and it worked. Again, I bought it to manually program times, so it won't affect me too much if it quits working.
The guide has a few quirks: The default listing didn't sort in channel order. If this happens to you, you have to follow the directions under "Customizing the channel line up" on page 23 of the manual to fix the order. Also, the guide downloads all the channels your provider has to offer, meaning if you don't subscribe to the package with everything, you may have to deal with moving channels past a bunch of channels you don't have.
Helpful Hint: To move each of the channels you don't have to the bottom, select each unwanted channel and type position 999 and hit enter instead of using the green/blue buttons. After you have done that, then sort the channels you have using the green and blue buttons.
Also, while looking at the guide, the window that shows the current broadcast is by default set to change to the channel you are pointed to in the guide (meaning if you're originally on ESPN and want to see what's coming up on ABC, it will by default show ABC in the window while you're scrolling through the ABC listings.) You have to select "Last Channel" (the name itself) and press the blue button to "lock" the display window on the current channel.
If TV Guide doesn't provide listings for a channel, it won't be included in your channel lineup. The local sports channel on my cable network doesn't have listings in the TV Guide, so I couldn't get to it by using the channel up/down buttons - I had to type the number. I just took a random network I didn't have and assigned it to that channel number, even though the listings would be wrong.
Remote - compared to what the Toshiba's looked like, this one is well-designed. However, the most-used channel-changing buttons (the number pad and channel up/down) are smaller than on an average remote. Also, I don't think there is a previous channel/flashback button.
Noise - Overall, it is quiet, but I don't know exactly how the fan runs. It usually runs for two or three minutes after the machine is turned off, but after that, the fan seems to turn on and off randomly. It may be synchronizing the clock or updating the listings at those times.
Editing - Plain and simple: Read the instruction manual before trying anything. I accidentally deleted the actual show and left the commercials that were recorded just before and after because I wrongly assumed how the shorten feature worked.
DVD-R writing - I tested it using a Philips 1-8x DVD-R. Since I didn't turn on high-speed dubbing mode in the setup menu before recording the programs I dubbed, it wouldn't dub at high speed. I dubbed in SP mode, and it played fine on the Panasonic, our Sony downstairs, and the DVD+RW burner in our Dell computer.
I don't intend to use DVD-RAM unless I get another DVD-RAM recorder, since there is more than enough space on the hard drive.
Overall, I have experienced no problems that could have been avoided by reading the manual beforehand. It can get a little tedious to get all the channels in the order you want them, but when the guide works, it is very convenient.
I highly recommend this product.
DISC COMPATIBILITY UPDATE: IT IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH LIQUIDVIDEO 2x DVD-R's from Circuit City! It will reboot the machine and do a self-check. This occured once when one disc was put in and once when I tried dubbing to another disc.
27 Am I the only person around who uses a zoom function?
The unit is great at everything it does but like (almost) every other DVD player/recorder made it does not have a zoom function.
I apologize for appearing sexist and insensitive but I do zoom in on stock car crashes, cheerleaders, ladie's tennis, basketball games, ladie's figure skating, hockey games, etc.
Toshiba makes a recorder with a zoom but it does not have a hard drive. They also make a recorder with a Hard drive but it doesn't have a zoom function!
I've checked and haven't found any HDD dvd recorder that offers zoom capabillity. Oh well. If I want to zoom I'll finallize a DVD-R and view it on my old Toshiba player (10x zoom).
28 Good recorder rough install
I could not get the unit hooked up properly without using a VCR!!Panasonic customer service was no help. After contacting them the Rep. said he would email a diagram to hook up the unit only with a T.V. and call back. This never happened.Must have spent 10 hours trying different configurations. Well its finally working and I'm learning how to use all the features.
29 Great in concept, but a shaky implementation
First, I'd like to give a rave review to the Amazon return policy. Requesting a return could not be earlier, and if you use the UPS option, there is likely to be a convenient drop off location near you.
And I'd also like to praise the functional design of the E85HS. I found it to be easy to program, and the functions to be well thought through. For example, I was please to discover that I could stop the 'chasing playback', then resume at the stop point. Of course, as with anything, it's easy to think of additional features that would be useful, but that wouldn't stop me from giving a 4 or 5 star rating.
What does stop me is the reliability of the DVD recorder portion of the device. My first unit experienced a massive failure while trying to read a DVD it had just written (DVD-R, from Sony). The unit stopped responding to any control (front panel, remote) other than the on/off switch on the front panel. My second unit is only slightly more well- behaved: it will not write a DVD-R in high speed mode, and Memorex DVD-Rs written in normal mode often fail to finalize (a step necessary to make the DVDs 'more' compatible with other DVD units). I have had more luck using a DVD-RAM, but I'm not sure that these are supported by other DVD players. I also had luck with the single remaining Sony DVD-R. So, I'm going to buy and try some more of these, hoping that the Memorex media is slightly incompatible, but I suspect I will be returning this second unit as well, possibly for a refund this time.
30 Great recorder
The unit does a great job with very good quality in recording shows. We like everybody likes raymond and the gilmore girls so i went on the channel guide to find when all of these are on and set up the recording accordingly. The problem is that since this recorder can record so much I have too much to watch.
The channel guide is nice I just wish they would have some faster ways to navigate. As you scroll through the programs there is no easy way of getting back to the top of the page that i know of so i have been quiting the guide then coming back in.
The channel skip is great to! what a nice feature just to be able to advance 30 seconds at a time. I wish they had one that went back in time also!
The one thing i learned with some pain was the high speed dubbing mode (that needs to be set up before you do anything). I had recorded about 20 hours worth of family videos from my vhs tapes and then when i went to burn dvd's I couldn't burn them in high speed mode because i didn't realize this had to be set up first. So make sure you set this mode up first!
I have yet to use a dvd ram disk, don't understand why panasonic didn't throw one in.
Its also nice to have more than one video/audio in/out capability.
31 Great Machine!! Worth the effort to learn it's features
I debated over whether or not to buy this machine. I already have 5 SVHS machines for taping material I want to keep. But after using the DMR-E85S for a couple of months, I'm glad I bought it.
The maching works very well. It delivers all that the description of it promises. If you can program a vcr with not much fuss and are familiar with routine computer applications, then you are way ahead on the learning curve this thing requires.
Watching a recorded show with this is nice, since playing it back is like getting around through your favorite movie DVD. The fast forward & reverse is quick to respond to remote commands. This make regular viewing or editing very easy. The playback quality is very good to excellent. I usually use the 2nd or 3rd fasted speed. No need to use the fastest. Playback quailty is like live tv--no snow bars or flashing of different colors until the tape tracks properly over the playback head on a vcr.
Also, I'm glad I bought the unit with the built in hard drive. No looking through tapes to wonder "what's on this one" when trying to record a show. The hard drive will hold more information than I will ever need it to.
Burned & finalized DVD's are as good as live tv. I like the flexable recording speed that let's me tell the E85S what I want on the DVD-R, and it adjusts the speed to exactly fill up the disk. No wasted space & the recording was performed in the fastest possible speed to get the best quality.
The TV Guide works for me. Others posts tell of folks that had a problem with it. It has listed the shows correctly & made recordings of what I wanted without any trouble.
I highly recommend this unit. I'd get one before buying another blank video tape for a vcr. You can put 2-3 hours of high quality video on a disk that costs about 40 cents a piece. You wont' regreat it.
32 Well Designed PVR with no monthly fees
This is a great product: no monthly fee for a TV guide, No phone line needed, easy to use and well engineered. We have had the DMRE85H for 4 months now and love it - highly recommended.
The Remote
This is the best remote I have from a manufacturer. It is well laid out and organized. It has buttons at the top to operate the TV. You can turn the TV on, increase the volume, and change the channel with this remote. Also the remote has a TV/Video button to change the input source for your TV. This way you can use one remote to set the input to the Panasonic or back to the cable signal. It has a very attractive silver metal top with a black bottom; very sturdy and seems to be well built.
The High-Speed Dub
The high-speed dub is very nice. I am able to dub two hours of TV onto a DVD-R and take it on trips and watch them on my laptop. I have a 4x burner on my computer but I have never burned anything as fast as the Panasonic does. Be sure to turn on the High-Speed Dub in the settings! It is a very simple process to select the programs to dub and then select a menu template for the DVD. The one thing I forgot the first time was to finalize the disk. You have to do this to view the DVD on other players. It is a separate step after burning the DVD.
The Guide
I read through the manual before the unit arrived and had no trouble getting around the unit. My wife who had not read the manual starting navigating with only a few questions. It was taking a while to get back to the top menu of the guide once I had scrolled way down in the listing. I realized that pushing the submenu button takes you right back. I love the Program Navigator to view recorded programs. You get a thumbnail image of the show and once you highlight it, it begins to play.
The Bad
As others have mentioned it does take a couple of days for it to completely download the TV guide for a week. Once you are aware of this, it is not a problem.
I have cable with no cable box so the guide works great for us but if you have satellite, you will not be able to use the TV guide feature.
As other have also mentioned, the unit only writes to DVD-R and DVD-RAM. It would be nice if you could burn a DVD-RW.
Has basic search features for programming, which works fine for us but it does not record programs it "thinks" you will like as the Tivo does.
Overall the DRME85H has far surpassed our expectations.
33 Only 1 major problem
First let me say, I love everything this can do. The 120G hard drive has more space then I'll ever need. And the editing functions are awesome. Great job of playing DVD also.
One little problem is that re-writtable DVD format is RAM, and that's not supported by most other DVD players. So I can't use my DVD-RAM dics in other DVD players in my house.
The big problem is the TV guide fuction. It just flat out does not work for me. I did everything in the instuctions (several times). And did everything their support department told me to do. You're supposed to leave the unit off overnight, and the cable box on. It then cycles through the cable channels and downloads the TV Guide info. The Panasonic does read the cable box fine, as I can change channels through it, and it does go through all the channels overnight. However, it is not picking up the tv guide info. This means that everytime I turn the unit on, the screen has the "NO INFO DOWNLOADED" message on, and I have to exit from it.
Now if I want to record a show, I have to set the timer of the Panasonic, and then set my cable box to make sure it's on the proper channel at that time.
All the other functions work as advertised and are wonderful. But this is a MAJOR selling point of the unit, and doesn't work.
I have Comcast cable, with a HD Motorola cable box. This feature probably works for most other people, but if it doesn't, it's a big problem.
Easily 5 stars if the TV Guide function worked.
34 Any region hack for US-bought DMRE85HS?
One sticking point for me now is if it can play other region, e.g. Asia. My US DMRE85HS from Amazon is on its way. I just realized there may not be any region hack after I did some research. It appears there is a hack remote from UK for European version to make it multi-region. However, the maker indicated I can not use it on US DMRE85HS to view Asia DVD. Any one knows a work-around? Much obliged!!!
35 A DVR too far
Panasonic has bitten off more than they could chew with this product. It's got too many features! The TV Guide function will not work with a cable box. (Their customer service admitted they were having big problems with this.) This makes it almost useless since you cannot even set it up to record while you are away. My advice, buy a TIVO.
36 Very Pleased
I bought this unit a couple months ago. I have to say I am extremely happy with it. One thing I was concerned about was fan noise, or the vibration coming from the unit during operation. I keep my TV and DVD player in a teakwood cabinet and if any of these components is prone to vibration then it will have the whole cabinet resonating, which can be an unnerving sound if, as is the case in my apartment, my desk is right next to the unit.
This unfortunately happened with the Pioneer DVR-510-H-S DVD recorder. When I set up the Pioneer and plugged it in I immediately heard continual fan noise and, worse, a sort of low level hum like a transformer, which permeated the room. I had to take the Pioneer back, which was unfortunate because otherwise I really liked the look and operation of that unit.
So when I brought the Pioneer back, it was back to the drawing board. I knew I wanted a DVD player with hard drive recording capacity, and that led me next to the Panasonic DMRE85HS. I read the reviews and would say they were positive on whole, and with no conspicuous mention of fan noise or excessive vibration, so I took the plunge. I saw the Panasonic at CompUSA for about $600 and I also saw them online at NewEgg.com for $485. I printed out the NewEgg.com ad and brought it into my CompUSA and showed it to the manager and he knocked $100 off the CompUSA price, so I got the unit for $500 (unfortunately plus 8% sales tax--thanks City of Atlanta!) and got to walk out with it that night.
Got it home and set it up but couldn't do much with it after running through the setup menu because you need to let it sit overnight (and several days would be even better) once you plug it into your cable, to enable the TV Digest programming to download. I've seen many complaints about this in the online reviews but I have to say it seems mainly to be a problem with people's patience rather than with the unit itself. If you leave the thing alone long enough when you first buy it and set it up (say, at least for 8 and as many as 24 hours) you will be well on your way to having most of the full 7 days of TV Guide programming info downloaded, or at least that was the case with my unit (of course, I don't have a cable box--my cable goes right into the wall). At that point, further downloading will just happen at night when you are not using the unit. Since those first few days of watching the programming gradually fill in, I have had no problems with missing programming info when I needed it.
Anyway, now that it is up and running, I LOVE the thing. I am not a huge tv watcher (I can spend as much time online as on TV) and one reason I often get irritated with TV is that you have to watch what THEY want, when THEY want you to, and sit through the commercials THEY want you to see. Well with this thing, I just go on the TV guide menu for instance, especially under the "SORT" command, under which all programming is listed alphabetically, and I go to the shows I know will be on and that I want to watch, and I tell the unit to record them, and then when I get home from work at night, I don't have to sit through Larry King or Bill O'Reilly or whoever--I can watch that episode of Apprentice that I really wanted to see or last night's The Daily Show, which comes on after I'm headed to bed. The fact that I never have to get up and insert a VHS cassette--i.e., the hard drive does it all, with the remote as teh control--well that's just awesome to me.
I've already recorded some shows that I thought my father, for instance, would enjoy, then burned those shows from the hard disc to a DVD-R, then brought the DVD disc over to my parent's house one night where we all watched the shows on their Phillips DVD player--all with no problem whatsoever.
This is cool too: I bought an extra-long S-video cable to hook my computer to the unit (it has an S-video input on the front panel) and then used my tv as a monitor while I worked on my computer. While I was working on the computer with the TV as monitor, fed through the Panasonic DVR, I hit "record" and the Panasonic's hard disk then started recording the monitor as I was working. In other words, all the movements of my mouse, my opening and closing of programs etc. Not sure just how practical this capacity is, but for instance, if you needed to show someone how to do something on the computer, you could create a DVD-R instruction video of the steps you take in operating a particular piece of software or in accomplishing a particular computer task (or create a video record of having done some particular thing on the computer if needed for work, for legal purposes, etc.).
All in all, from my perspective, I highly recommend the Panasonic DMRE85HS. Are their improvements that could be made to it? Absolutely. Someone mentioned that the "commercial skip" button is pre-set at a certain interval that doesn't always match the length of the commercial break. Yes, this is an inconvenience, but overall the commercial skip button is still a breathtakingly powerful and wonderful button for someone who's been at the mercy of commercials all his life. Someone else mentioned that you have to scroll through the program listings--that you can't just jump from one channel to another when you use them--which is true and an annoyance but not enough of one for me to hate this unit. And of course, as others have said, the manual is a bit confusing at times, but mainly in terms of finding the right page for your problem--once you find the right page, the instructions I think are fairly straightforward.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
37 How to decide if this Panasonic's right for you
The current bunch of DVD recorders seem much the same - until you get down to the reality of what some of the features really do. This unit's a good package that works well - but still, it's important to be aware of how important some of the features are to you.
Panasonic, and the `TV Guide Onscreen' program guide it uses, fall in the `not Tivo' camp. The Tivo-based units benefit from the souped-up program guide, but come with surprising restrictions: you can't edit out commercials before you save a program to DVD, and you can't move things back and forth (record on hard drive, save off to dvd, bring it back in later).
If you get a hard drive unit, an on-screen guide is important. Recordings get stored along with the name of the show, picked up from the program guide, making it easier to find what you're looking for later. TV Guide's offering doesn't work if you're on satellite, and might not work if your cable provider or local broadcasters don't pass the signal. But given the odds are it will work, you're likely to get a lot without the Tivo monthly charge. Yes, there might be setup work; yes, it takes several days before it fully `fills up'. But it does tell you what's on, often has detailed information about shows, and ends the wondering what-show-is-this when you tune in partway through a show. (If the guide doesn't work for you though, trade it in-it's pretty integral to having the machine work well.)
Having a DVD recorder means never accidentally recording over something you wanted to save; much faster access to whatever's been recorded, and of course a lot less shelf space needed for tapes.
Add the hard drive to the same box, and you don't have to run out of space when you forget to change tapes/discs or are gone for a few days; if the hard drive's getting full, you high-speed-dub `saver' shows to the removable DVD's; and you can edit commercials out before saving shows to disc.
If you have home movies & VHS recordings you want to edit before turning into DVD's, having both hard drive and DVD recorder in the same box makes the job faster & easier than it would be otherwise. Be aware, though: you don't get quite the same degree of precise editing capability you'd get on a computer (you can't always cut out sub-second snippets).
One last cautionary note: this unit brings together a lot of features, and for about the first week, a lot of things aren't going to be immediately intuitive. If you weren't terribly happy getting to know VCR's, this machine will bring back those memories. But if you like to drive your gadgets a little harder, this is probably a good choice - and a good value at the Amazon price.
38 Not as good as the older DMR-HS2.
I bought my unit because I needed a second for my other home and wanted a DVD-RAM compatible machine. I thought about buying another HS2 as I have found it to be almost perfect and easy to use. I can even describe to my non-techie wife how to program it over the phone, it is so intuitive. And, I thought such a sharp company as Panasonic would make nice impropvements to the HS2 in the current models. WRONG!!!
The aforementioned intuitive programming was trashed, replaced with a goofy TV Guide screen that is useless and requires many more steps to program a show. 8 days of programming is woefully innadequate. I have shows set up 30 days in advance so TV Guide is an empty suit for me. In addition, I greatly resent the innability to hold down the button to scroll quickly. Also, you cannot input the name of a show when programming it. Am I missing something here?? TV Guide appears to name it after it is recorded. Also, if you make an error in the programming steps, you cannot simply correct it, as with my older unit, but have to delete and redo it. Also, after programming a month's 15 or 20 shows, you have to hit the up arrow 15 or 20 times to get back to the window to set the next show. It would be so nice, like my old DMR-HS2, to simply hold down the up arrow and rapidly scroll back to the top. Aggravating.
Conclusion: I would like it to record HD and exile the obsolete TV Guide interface to Siberia. I like Panasonic and am about to get one of their new Plasma TV's with cable card. Without the programming/TV Guide issues, it's a 10, or 5 stars.
39 Easy to use DVD recorder
This Panasonic DVD recorder is very easy to use. The only prerequisite is you know how to use a VCR. Just pop in a DVD-R blank, pick the source, and hit record. It's also a piece of cake to dub between the DVD and the hard drive. I bought this after seeing a very positive review on cnn and I'm glad I bought a high quality namebrand.
40 it would be pretty nice, if it worked...
I got one of these but it was defective. The arrow keys on the remote didn't work, among other things. Tech support said it was clearly defective, so send it back. I did, and got another one. The second one had bad audio on one of the commonly-used channels. Tech support was baffled; a reboot didn't fix it.
The features and design are fair-to-good, but obviously Panasonic has trouble with quality control. I won't be trying a third unit. (I'd give it 3 or 4 stars if I found one that worked.)
41 Depends on what you want to do with it
This machine is clearly aimed at the TiVo crowd, and probably works well in that application--timeshifting TV shows. It's less expensive than comparably equipped machines from Pioneer and Philips, so if that's your application, it's a good value in today's market (late 2004).
However, it's not so well suited to what I wanted to do with it: create DVDs from existing movies on tape and laserdisc. Yes, the recorded image and sound quality are excellent, although the user interface is needlessly complex. But there's a fatal flaw: it's impossible to create a chapter menu of the type seen in every commercial DVD.
Oh, you can add chapter stops--that's pretty easy--and when the disc is played on a conventional player, pressing the chapter skip buttons will jump you from one to the next. BUT if you press the "Menu" button, what you get is not a menu of chapters, but a "Title" menu that shows a single title listing (the movie's name) and a bunch of empty listings.
In short, chapters can never be shown on a menu, and you're only going to have one title showing if it's a movie you're dubbing. This is perfectly useless for my purposes. (Again, your needs may be different.)
Now, you can split up a movie into separate titles (just as you can split it up into chapters), and then use the "playlist" feature to combine the titles into a single disc. That way they WILL show up on the disc's menu. BUT if you do this, there will be an audio/video dropout between titles! That's unacceptable in a movie that will normally be watched straight through.
Bottom line: if you have a movie you want to transfer to DVD, you need to 1) add chapter stops and 2) have them show up on the DVD's main menu. With this recorder you can accomplish the first task, but not the second.
By the way, I find it baffling that in a $599 list price item, Panasonic omitted the ability to record audio CDs. The optical drive they used certainly has that capability, and it would have cost them nothing to include the feature. Not having it means that I must continue to do that job (dubbing CDs from my LPs) with a separate standalone CD-audio recorder.
All in all, buying this unit felt somewhat like buying an audiocassette deck...and then discovering that for no good reason, it can only record from the radio, but not from a turntable. Frustrating!
Andy Baird
42 Great potential but flawed by TV listings
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.
43 From lemon to lemonade!!! UPDATE (DVD Techie please read)
PREVIOUS REVIEW....
I would love to give this machine a high rating because I think it probably deserves it but I just can't....at least not the unit that I got. The features are fantastic, the picture quality is great and the high speed dubbing is superb. The finalized DVD-R disc even played on my other DVD player that is only supposed to be able to play the +r/+rw discs. So why the 2-star rating? Well the darn thing would freeze up EVERY SINGLE DAY and had to be reset. One day it had to be reset 3 times. When I would try to use one of the menus like the navigator menu or the programming menu it would lock up at least once a day. A couple of times I had to go through the entire "initial setup" before it would work. Once it was reset it would always work great once again but it would only last until the next day. This was EXTREMELY aggravating and shouldn't happen right out of the box. I had a similar problem with a TiVo unit that I used to have and eventually it led to a hard drive failure so I'm not waiting around for that to happen. It also didn't download any of the TV Guide On Screen service information even after 6 days but that was something I could have lived with. Like I said in the title I'm pretty sure I just got a lemon. I'm sending it back and Amazon is sending me a new unit ASAP. Hopefully I can give the next unit the 4 or 5 stars that it deserves.
UPDATED REVIEW......
In my previous review for this item I suspected that I had probably received a lemon and my suspicions were correct. I first gave it 2 stars because it wasnt working correctly and I now give it 4 stars. After notifying Amazon about my defective machine they sent me a new one 2 days later and it works GREAT!!! I absolutely love the machine and have no problems with the new replacement. The only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars is because of it's limited disc format. You're only able to record on DVD-ram or DVD-R discs. The DVD-ram discs are great for re-recording, editing and even watching a show from the beginning while its still recording but they dont play on most other machines so you can't record something for a friend on this type of disc. If you want to record something to be played on another machine you can use the DVD-R discs but the only problem with that is they can't be re-used. Once you record on them and "finalize" the disc thats it. So I wish they had made it possible to use one of the "RW" discs which are more compatible on other machines than the ram discs. Other than that my only suggestion would be to make it possible to scroll faster or skip through the channel listings instead of having to scroll one channel at a time. You cant even hold the button down for continuous scroll, you have to hit the button to go through each channel on the listing page. One feature that is nice is that you can rearrange the channel listings in any order you want so that the channels you would most often like to check are right at the top of the list.
DVD Techie, your machine is doing almost exactly what my first one was doing. I would suggest that you return it and get a new one. When you run the setup make sure that you TURN THE MACHINE OFF FOR 24 HOURS like it says in the manual. I think this is an important step even though it also says that you can use the machine during this time period. Just turn it off and leave it for 24 hours and hopefully you wont have any problems. My new one works great and I love it.
44 Maybe another lemon
Well, I love the machine, except it crashes more than an old windows 95 machine. What happens to me almost daily is the ONSCREEN menus do not fade out properly and a jumbled color overlay of the TVGUIDE menu is left. It requires a complete reboot of the machine, then it seems to work ok. I will point out that I DO NOT have anything on the machine or near it to block it from proper cooling. No idea why the unit does this. I would like to hear from overs who have the unit longer. Maybe I should consider returning it.
If it didnt "crash" all the time 4 or 5 stars for sure.
45 Great machine, easy to use and worth the money.
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.
46 Panasonic DVD Recorder w/ HD - Worth the Effort to Learn
After two weeks of trying to program the VCR so that the TV Guide downloads I finally had success and am now very pleased with the way the system works. My setup was simple as I did not have a cable box but the system just never downloaded the TV Guide even though I had left it off for an extended period, including two weeks while I went on vacation. The manual leads you to believe that the programs will download in 24 hours. In actuality it takes a week to download the 8 days of programming that the system stores. After the first week, you continue to retain 8 days of programming.
I was told by the Help Desk at TV Guide that the downloads occur faster if you leave the recorder on the "download" channel when you turn it off. The download channel is a big secret and can be obtained by calling TV Guide at 1-800-386-7380. Now that the 8 days are downloaded, the system is capable of downloading the TV Guide programming irrespective of what channel I leave the DVD Recorder on when I turn it off.
I have not tried any dubbing yet so I can not comment on this feature but I am very happy with my ability to use it in lieu of the VCR.
I should add that you can not delete a program while recording another program.
Would I but it again - absolutely I love it.
47 works very well
I read all the reviews and checked out local stores for a hard drive video recorder. I bought this one from amazon because it was a much better deal than any of the local stores after I decided that this one was the best fit for me. I had a concern because I had a Panasonic 5 disk DVD/CD player which was a pain to use. Nevertheless, this machine worked great. It took about a week for the TV guide to fill out but after an overnight hookup I could program the next day's programs. My cable is just the expanded basic so I didn't have to worry about a cable box. My only complaint is that the TV guide listing is slow. I went through and deleted all the cable channels that I don't ever plan to record from (Fox Right-Wing News, Cartoon Channel etc) so that the listing is shorter and easier to get through and it helps somewhat. My wife likes it because it is easier to view DVDs than on our older DVD/CD player. The remote is fairly intuitive so I haven't had to spend much time with the instruction manual. Overall, it replaces our old VCR very well and I don't have to listen to commercials anymore.
48 TV Guide On Screen Does Not Work
Despite hours spent trying to correct the problem with technical support people (at TV Guide On Screen), I have never been able to download the programming data to my unit. The tech support person was very patient and friendly, but this function of the unit has never worked. My cable provider does provide the information, but the machine can't accurately read it.
Every other aspect of the unit seems very good. Picture quality, ease of dubbing from hard disk to DVD, total capicity of hard disk... all good. The remote is easy to use. Ability to "slip time", ie, watch a program from the beginning even though the program is still being recorded, is a very nice feature of this (and other digital recording) unit.
However, I must manually input recording parameters (time, station, duration...) since TV Guide doesn't work.
49 Unsuitable if you are builiding a digital library from VHS
I bought this unit to convert my massive VHS tape collections into a digital library. After a month of experimenting, I concluded this was not suitable for my project. The critical factor for me was to record analog tapes to the unit?fs HDD, and eventually to DVD as efficiently as possible. I owned close to 10 VCRs in the past and never had trouble figuring out how to use them, but this E85H was an exception. I had to read the manual from cover to cover for a couple of days to get started. Operation of this machine is not user friendly, although it feels okay once you get used to it.
Setting up the TV channels was troublesome from the beginning to the end. It has TV guide recording, but in order to use this feature, you need to run automatic channel scan. It kept skipping a channel that I needed most, while picking up useless channels that do not have any signals. I could run manual channel scan to add the channel, but then timered recording by TV guide system does not work.
I wanted to record 6 hr VHS tapes into the HDD by one shot. The idea was that I let the VCR and E85H running while I am absent from home so that I can edit when I come back. That did not work, not always, but many times. The recorder stops when it encounters no signal condition for 10 seconds or so. Chances are that you have no signal conditions or interrupted signals in your VHS tapes in several places if you taped over programs a few times. Also, the recorder has a guard for copy protected materials. It stops recording when it senses copy guard signals. The unit stopped many times by error saying ?gcopying of this material is not allowed?h while I was recording my own home videos.
The quality of pictures was problem for me, too. I found that recording mode SP (2hrs/4.7G) was good, but LP (4hrs/4.7G) was unacceptable for too much noise. I was thinking that I would need one and half DVD disks to convert one VHS tape, but turned out that 3 disks were needed to maintain the quality. I could get much better quality when I capture VHS by my computer for the same bit rate. E85H has a flexible recording (FR) feature if you choose not to use SP/LP/EP, such as 3hrs/4.7G or whatever the odd rate. You can transfer videos from HDD to DVD at high speed using these preset modes, but to use FR, the video has to be transferred at normal (1:1) play speed. The high-speed transfer is quite painless, but FR is too SLOW.
It is strange that this machine does not let you use DVD-RW. It only takes DVD-R and DVD-RAM. DVD-RAM disks and RAM compatible drives are so rare to find now. My unit refused to format DVD-RAM (made by Panasonic, so it is not a compatibility issue) disks. This essentially took my options to use re-recordable media away completely. That was when I concluded that I had enough frustration with this machine.
I completely agree with other reviewrs' frustrations. I don?ft say it is a bad recorder, but it was not suitable for my kind of use. At least it did not meet my expectations.
50 Remote Relief
While everything about this recoreder has met my expectations, it's the remote that's given me the the greatest relief (considering I made my decision based on a handful of good reviews) It's a sound remote; very solid buttons that don't don't jiggle and miss when you punch one (and you WILL be hitting these buttons alot) This recorder is complicated (56 page manual!) but if you're patient it does everything and again, the remote seems to be one that'll take a beating and not bite the dust years before the player.
51 Terrible Implementation!
Wow, did the Panasonic DMR-E85HS unit ever spark my ire! As others have pointed out, the TV Guide integration is highly problematic, and it has to be active in order to control the cable box. There are many highly annoying idiosyncracies that reveal themselves when using this unit. The list is long, but other reviewers have already covered them in detail, so see below. Yes, the TV Guide data downloaded overnight, but not for all stations, and things only got worse from there. We returned this DVD/DVR recorder the next day after much swearing and frustration.
The unit we now have and love is the Pioneer DVR-520H-S. It's very easy to use and it is exceptionally well designed, except for the Sharp TV tuner card inside, which has somewhat mediocre picture quality and introduces a bit of interference on several stations. A proper cable box control would have been nice, as the auto-on function didn't work with our Comcast Motorola DCT5100. Everything else is pretty much terrific about the box. The remote is MUCH better than the Panasonic's, and editing programs and burning them to DVD-R(W) is a breeze compared to using the Panasonic.
Note that the Pioneer TIVO and Panasonic TV Guide DVR's have not had the best implementations, so going with the Pioneer DVR-520H-S is probably the best bet at the moment. I doubt there's a better DVR on the market!
52 An Unworthy Successor to the DMR-E80h
The DMR-E85H ("E85H") is a lemon. I say this as someone who dearly loves its predecessor, the DMR-E80H ("e80h").
On paper, the E85H looks to be an improvement over the e80h. Not only does the E85H have 50% more hard-disk capacity than the e80h, but also the E85H, unlike the e80h, comes with an infrared blaster that can change the channels on some cable boxes. When I purchased my E85H, I believed that I was getting something better than my e80h.
Was I wrong! The E85H is a step backward.
1. DIFFICULTY SAVING YOUR PLACE
It's not always possible for the E85H to "mark" a spot on a program and easily return to the same spot. In contrast, when I stop watching a TV program on my e80h, I can always "mark" the spot on the program, and easily return to it later.
Although the E85H does have a marking capability -- which, on the E85H, is called the "chapter" function -- the E85H cannot mark a "chapter" when in record mode. That is to say, if you are watching one program and recording another (or watching and recording the same program in "time-slip"), you can't mark a "chapter" on the program you are watching. (Although the E85H temporarily saves your "place" when you briefly stop watching a program, it eventually loses that "place.")
When you lose your "place" on the E85H, you are forced to fast forward through the entire program trying to figure out where you left off. Needless to say, this is highly inconvenient.
2. VERY LIMITED "MANUAL" PROGRAMMING CAPABILITY
The "manual" programming capabilities of the E85H are so limited as to be almost useless. This makes an E85H user entirely dependent on the "TV Guide On Screen" function, which (as I will explain later) is something of a mess.
On my e80h, I can set recording instructions for one-time, for daily, for weekly, for Mon-Fr, or for Mon-Sat. Furthermore, I can instruct the e80h to put a label on all programs recorded. For example, with a single programming instruction, I can have the e80h record CBS every weekday from 11:35 p.m. to 12:45 a.m., and have all those programs labeled "Letterman."
In contrast, it's not possible to program the E85H to record on a repeat basis or to assign labels in advance of recording. The E85H can be set manually to record a program once and only once. Any labeling must be done after a program is recorded. For example, in order to manually record the Letterman show on the E85H, I would have to manually set five separate programs each week, and then go back and label each ome after it is recorded.
3. ILL-CONCEIVED "TV GUIDE ON SCREEN" FUNCTION
Do not be deceived. The E85H's "TV Guide On Screen" function is nothing like Tivo. At best, it is something like "VCR Plus," a programming function for those who lack the mental capacity to program a VCR manually.
The first problem with "TV Guide On Screen" is that it works only if your cable provider broadcasts the required information. If you don't have cable, or if your cable provider doesn't participate, then "TV Guide On Screen" won't work for you.
The second problem is that "TV Guide On Screen" does not necessarily allow you to program all the channels available to you. Among the channels that I found I couldn't program with "TV Guide On Screen" were WFDC (a local Spanish-language channel), Discovery Health, Style, TV One, Speed Channel, GAC, and Comcast SportsNet. And those were only the analog cable channels that I could not program. Many more "digital" cable channels were not programmable.
The third problem is that the "TV Guide On Screen" interface is very slow to navigate. I found it faster to manually set programs on my e80h than to set them with "TV Guide On Screen." The slowness of the interface also makes "TV Guide On Screen" an impractical means of determining what will be on TV. It's far easier to check TV listings elsewhere, such as in the newspaper or at Zap2it.com.
The fourth problem is that "TV Guide On Screen" offers little more programming capability than that offered by the e80h's manual programming capability. When you click on a program and set the programming for "frequent," the E85H records that program if the program is scheduled for that time. If the program is moved to a different time, it doesn't get recorded. If the program is super-sized, or otherwise lengthened, the additional time is not recorded. In short, it's no better than setting the e80h manually to record at a particular time on a weekly or daily basis. It's a far cry from Tivo, which records a program even if the program is moved to a different time, and which can be set to skip reruns.
The final problem is that "TV Guide On Screen" is much less flexible than the e80h manual recording function. For example, on my e80h, I record NBC's "The Apprentice" and "ER" as a single block of time from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., because the end time of "The Apprentice" and the start time of "ER" varies. After the programs are recorded, I can use the e80h editing function to split the recording into two parts. In contrast, with "TV Guide On Screen," some "ER" will usually be recorded at the end of "The Apprentice." If you try to compensate, you may find the end of "The Apprentice" at the beginning of "ER." The E85H cannot remedy this by taking a piece of one recording and adding it to the beginning or end of another recording.
4. DEFECTIVE
My E85H was defective. The "End Late By" function, which should have allowed me to run a program (set with "TV Guide On Screen") past its scheduled time, did not work. This was absolutely unacceptable, if only because sporting events often run past their scheduled time.
This defect was not mechanical. It almost certainly was in the software for the E85H. As such, there is a high probability that other E85Hs in the same production run have this same defect.
Immediately after finding this defect, I returned my E85H to the store and bought a second e80h.
53 Great advertising, but, short on honesty
Were I to do it again, I would save myself several hundred dollars and insure the unit does not have the TV Guide BS. The hard drive recording sounds good, but what Panasonic does not tell you is: you MUST set up the TV Guide system, even if you do not have this feature, in order to use the manual timer recording; you will be without a television for 24 hours, if all your cable goes through a cable box while the recorder attempts to download the TV Guide; you can manually set up channels (although the set up guide gives poor instructions on doing this) but still not be able to timer record. It plays and records beautifully, but, I think better satisfaction could be had for less money.
54 A welcome addition and a very good recorder
I have thought about buying a DVD recorder for sometime, but always wanted one with a hard drive. The costs were prohibitive compared to other options, however. After my VCR finally broke, I couldn't decide whether to replace it or go for the gold and buy a recorder.
I did some research, including Consumer Reports, and based upon features, capacity, and price purchased the Panasonic E85HS. Before it arrived I downloaded the manual (PDF format) and read it from front to back. When it arrived, it took only a couple of minutes to set-up and twelve hours to download the TV Guide (note: As much as I wanted to use it immediately, I follow the set-up instructions). After that, I was off to the races and every day of use makes me a greater fan of this product.
The product is easy to use, provides many features (some I will probably never use), and gives me everything I wanted in a recorder and more. I wanted VCR+, on line TV Guide, a large storage capacity, and commercial skip - it has it all. The instruction manual is well written, easy to use, and provides plenty of pictures to help you through the first few days of use. You will need to reference the manual initially to learn how to take advantage of all the options and features.
So far there hasn't been one problem, and even more important, no frustrations. If it continues to perform like it has, I will be quite satisfied and one of the happiest campers around when football season starts.
My only warning to anyone buying this product is to follow the set-up instructions. If you do, I think you will also have a winner.
55 Very good
I have been using this recorder for three weeks , and I am very pleased. I like the flexible recording mode. If you have three hours of video, it will record it to a single disc and waste no space.Excellent picture quality.Recorded Discs will play on all dvd players. Panasonic is the leader in DVD recorders. They have more different models than any other brands at this time. This dvd recorder is a good solution for all you DVD recording needs.
56 Perfect So Far
I've been using the product for about a month and have been very happy with it so far. So flaws to speak of. Both the hard drive/DVD-R work well. It's great not to have to switch tapes. Recorded the entire Tennis Master Series games and still have 29 hours of taping capability (with high quality) left. Highly recommend the product who's looking to make a move into the DVD recording mode.
57 Bloody marvellous
Best thing since sliced bread. No idea why other reviewers whinge and whine. Granted the TV guide feature does not include ALL channels, but that is not the fault of the hardware; more likely a channel or cable supplier specific shortcoming. Of course, then you have to spend 5 seconds more on the recorder set up!
Although I am not an avid TV viewer (life is too bloody short) this device has ensured recording of sporting events and quality movies/dramas (etc. - add as appropriate) a breeze.
58 Superb even for us amateurs
After our 8 year old DVD player finally began to have problems, I decided to get this DVD recorder despite my fears of quirky behavior in fairly new technology. All my fears were unfounded, and I love this new piece of electronics. For us cheap guys with just basic cable, the TV Guide feature worked immediately to provide us with both great show info and great ease of recording shows. It's just as easy to watch the recordings, and the DVD player quality is wonderful with our home theater setup. I highly recommend this Panasonic to anyone who can afford the price (nicely improved upon by Amazon, of course).
59 A verynice unit. Watch out TIVO!
This Panasonic DVD/digital video recorder is great! I haven't had the problem described (concerning the TV guide feature)--but note that this feature only works with the cable directly attached to the unit (cannot be hooked up to a digital cable box). The TV guide feature does not work with satellite either. TV guide feature is awesome...and you don't need a phone line (like TIVO). See epinions.com for my expanded review http://www.epinions.com/content_143539670660
60 Great while it worked
Just returned this. I bought it because it offered the TIVO-like experience without the monthly subscription fees. Unfortunately, the TV Guide On Screen didn't work well. I purchased it, hooked it up to my cable, set it up using the on-screen guide, and as the instructions stated I turned off the power overnight to download the cable listings. I was expecting the listings to appear the next day... but nothing. 4-5 days passed before the listings came in. While the listings were there, it was pretty nice. I could simply select the show I wanted to record and click the record button to set up a timer recording. Unfortunately, after a week all of the listings disappeared. I waited 3 full days... but nothing appeared so I gave up and sent it back to Amazon. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with my local cable service. I live in Darien, Connecticut and my cable provider is Cablevision. I did manage to create one DVD of mainly cartoons and it showed fine on our other DVD player. I was very disappointed that it did not have an I-1394 input. The only way to copy DV from your camcorder is through the S-video input. Will now probably wait for the new Toshibas coming out in August with TIVO basic built-in.
61 This is my favorite piece of electronics.
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!
62 An Excellent DVD Recorder.
First things first...I had a similar problem with this unit.
I came home from work picked up the remote and attempted to turn on the unit and nothing happened. I then tried to turn it on via the power button and still nothing. I unplugged it, waited 5 minutes, and tried again and still nothing. The time was being displayed properly but it would not power up. I called Panasonic, described the above, and they directed me to return the unit. I brought home another unit and a day later had the same problem - but this time I read the manual a little closer and on page 50 across from "The unit is on but cannot be operated" it instructs you to reset the unit by holding down the power switch for 10 seconds. When I let go it began running a self test and was then fully functional again. I had the same problem again but this time was home to see the cause. It turns out that whenever there is a sudden loss of power (from the electric company) the unit will not power up without running the self test. I was upset that Panasonic did not tell me about the "10 second power button reset".
And now....
This machine is a dream come true for me. I have been able to transfer all my non-dvd media (laser disc, vhs, and camcorder footage) to dvd-r. Never a problem with any recordings. It was so easy to transfer these recordings to the hard drive, edit them, and then burn to dvd-r with virtually no loss in picture quality. Take the time to read the manual and then just experiment, you will find it's not difficult to use. You can record to the hard drive and watch a dvd at the same time. The TV Guide Listings make timer recordings a breeze.
63 Do Not Buy this product!
After finally deciphering the product manual, I found this unit fun to operate, probably 'cause of the excitement over a new toy. I bought this unit mainly to record old VHS tapes to DVD. I had recorded about 12 hours of vhs tapes onto the hard drive and had started to edit by creating titles, erasing commercials, etc. when the unit froze up and wouldn't respond to the commands in the manual. I exchanged the machine for another of the same model. Again, with about 18 hours of material on the hard drive, I began the editting process once again. And once again, the unit froze and wouldn't respond to commands to rectify the situation as stated in the manual. Called Panasonic, they knew from nothing. Returned this product for a full refund. Both units had only been in use for 2 days before shutting down.
