Panasonic DMR-E55K Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder/Player , Black by Panasonic
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Digital camera reviews of Panasonic DMR-E55K Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder/Player , Black
Digital camera Review: EXCELLENT RECORDER IF USING THE RIGHT BLANK DISCS
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this player for several months and had nothing but good experiences uses it. I used Sony, TDK, and Panasonic blank DVD-Rs. Recently I purchased some new TDK blank DVD-Rs and had my first problems. The unit was flaky and would not record most of the time, while giving the Self Check indicator for several minutes. I read a review below and it mentions that 8x discs are not recommended for this recorder. The TDKs I bought are 1x-8x speed, so that appears to explain my problems.
I had used the Sony DVD-Rs mostly for the past several months and went back to them for this reason. However, a couple of days ago, I inadvertently bought a box of 1x-8x again, as I never really even paid attention to the record speed. The great news is that these new 1x-8x Sony DVD-Rs are every bit as stable and viewable as the older 1x-4x version of the same Sony DVD-Rs I was previously using. Therefore, I highly recommend going with the Sonys, as I have never had one lockup on dozens of DVD recordings using them, whether the speed of them is 1x to 4x or 1x to 8x. If you can find Panasonic DVD-Rs, I would assume they would be safe also. When the discs are compatible, the player is the best $250 investment I have ever made. For the money, there is no better performing DVD recorder out there.
Digital camera Review: Easy to Use
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first DVD recorder. I have made copies of many VHS tapes and have recorded a few TV shows. The DVDs I made look and sound great. This unit also plays DVD Audio discs in stereo. DVD Audio discs put CDs to shame. I have had my Hafler preamp and power amp and my Boston Acoustics tower speakers for almost twenty years, but they never have sounded as good as they did when I played some DVD Audio over them. I am very pleased with my Panasonic.Digital camera Review: First entry into the world of DVD - VERY PLEASED
Summary: 5 Stars
Normally I don't write reviews about electronics, I'm not an electronics expert nor have I used lots of DVD recorders. I'm making an exception with this piece of equipment. I did my research (reading reviews like this one) before purchasing this machine. I'd been waiting until the price of a quality machine came down to a price I felt was reasonable. This machine has been a jewel. I needed to archive a considerable collection of VHS tapes for my personal use (over 200 tapes, most of which were in excess of 1.5 hours each.) So far I have completed over 100 transfers and made only one frisbee, not bad. The quality of the transfers is all I could have hoped for, in fact it's exceptional. For anyone who wants to move a collection from VHS technology to DVD technology I will make 3 suggestions. First, purchase the SIMA GoDVD! unit. It enhances and cleans up weak signals, you'll thank me for this suggestion. Second, get a good VHS cleaner and use it regularly. Last, don't shoot yourself in the foot using the cables that come with these units. Go out and purchase monster cables or their equivalent. Using the skinny little things that come with the unit will keep you from getting the best possible information transfer. If you're watching your dvds on the new generation of television you WILL notice the difference.
Last but not least, normally I don't believe in extended warranty contracts. With this unit I made an exception. I bought an 3rd party contract since I learned that Panasonic will keep your unit for months if you utilize their contract. The lasers in these things are pricey and in my opinion worth spending a little money on insurance. Oh, one last thing, be very careful that you DO NOT move your recorder with a DVD disc in the tray. The repair technician I spoke to regarding the contract said that this is the #1 way to screw up a DVD recorder.
As to the quality of the user interface. My wife, one of the truly great technophobes of the 21st Century was able to use this machine with a minimum of coaching. It's really pretty easy to use, but like everything it takes a little reading and time to get the hang of it.
I'm posting this review as a way to thank those of you who have posted reviews that have helped me make good purchases. What a great way for us to help each other, very empowering.
Digital camera Review: GREAT recorder in the low price class
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm overall very pleased with the picture quality. The variable bit rate encoding is just terrific and the source filtering does quite a good job on ugly VHS tape sources. An especially useful feature is an adjustable quality mode. You tell it how long, like a 2 hour 18 minute movie, and it records with the maximum quality that will just fill the disk. The ability to edit when using DVD-R media is extreemly limited. All disks get a standard menu format with slots for half a dozen titles per page. You can set the preview thumbnail and the title name. On DVD-R media you can't set chapters or edit out anything (like commercials). Chapters are automatically created about on 5 minute boundries, or if you press pause during recording. A title is created each time you press record. After recording a DVD-R, you need to run a finalization process which makes the disk compatable with most DVD players and prevents any further writing. You can set the disk, before finalizing, to play the first title, bypassing the menu (which may only have one title on it). The device does not write to DVD-RW, DVD+R or DVD+RW media. DVD-RAM media (either with or without a protective case) can be used, and greatly expands the editing capability. Unfortunatly DVD-RAM media is not supported by most DVD players, although it did work in another fairly new Panasonic DVD player I own. DVD-RAM also does not work in many (most?) computer DVD drives. DVD-RAM does allow better than VCR functionality though, but does cost more than a VHS tape (but has better quality that a S-VHS tape). Using DVD-RAM media, it's super easy to cut out commercials or other undesirable material. You can also make playlists which allow assembling sequences of scenes into a new virtual title. You can set scene boundries very easily, just play the video and hit a button on the remote. Using pause/slow allows fairly accurate scene positioning. I can also verify the copy protection system prevented recording when trying to record from a commercial DVD played in another DVD player as a source. This was the case for both DVD-R and the DVD-RAM media I used. Some brands of DVD-RAM are supposed to allow a single copy if the original content producer allowed it, but don't know how you can tell if this should be allowed from a specific source. I record most things from a 3 year old DirecTV TIVO source, instead of using my VCR. If you need to edit content to put on DVD-R media, this is not the machine to get. For serious editing, I use a computer. For cutting out commercial from a weekly TV series you want to keep, one of the DVD recorders with a hard disk might be a better choice, as I assume you can edit before writing to a DVD-R. Tests I've read say DVD-R media is the most compatable with DVD players, so think DVD-R media is the one to use. I have 20 year old VHS tapes, so assume I will collect DVD-R's for 20 years.Digital camera Review: Good Buy
Summary: 4 Stars
This was a very good thing to get. i just wish that there were 2 of me .it takes along time to get all of my old tapes on DVD. good price but the only thing is that it is too picky about what kinds of blank disc it will record to.you have to be carefull what kinds of blank disc to buy.