hurricane

Should I buy this DVD Recorder (Panasonic DMR-E30S DVD Recorder) ? I really would appreciate any advice.

matome

I would suggest waiting for the Panny DMR-HS2 to drop a little in price. Once you have experienced the conveniences of a DVD recorder with a hard drive, you'll never consider a burner only model again.

Pac-Rat

It might be easier, and more useful to you, if after you read about it you ask questions you might still have.

FWIW- 6ave has it for $394.00 plus S&H
Black- http://www.6ave.com/product.jsp?x=DMRE30K
Silver- http://www.6ave.com/product.jsp?x=DMRE30S

Shilex

I actually just got this unit today because I wanted a low price DVD recorder to burn off my TiVo stuff. I've been playing around with it a little, and if you want something to replace your VCR this unit ain't bad at all (especially for the price).

I'm currently playing around with burning stuff and seeing if they are compatible with other players. So far haven't had many problems (except setting up everything, but that's only because I have so many components I need to attach) The recorder works just like a VCR. You can watch live TV through the recorder and with a DVD-Ram you can pause live TV kinda like TiVo (haven't figured out how to do that yet though). I'm using the recorder like a base point, watching my TiVo and VCR through it's inputs. I like the fact that you can adjust picture quality through the DVD recorder (contrast, brightness, color, etc.) I also have a Panasonic RP62 DVD player, which I thought would conflict with the controller (turning them both on through one controller). But the recorder has a feature that lets you change the controller setting so that it won't interfere with other Panasonic hardware. Go to AVS forum or Home Theater forum and do a search and you will find out a lot of information on this DVD recorder.

Some minor problems I have with it is that if you are burning off anything from an input line (such as VCR, Tivo, or DVD) you can't make chapter stops between programs (assuming you put more than one show on the DVD-R). Once you finalize though, it will make 5 min. chapter skips automatically (which is better than nothing I guess). The manual is torture also. It's written really confusingly, and lots of questions I had about certain features were omitted. The remote could be better, but I can live with it.

Overall I think this is a good system to get if you want to start burning DVDs and don't want to spend a grand. If you want more features though, such as firewire, you'd be better off going with the Phillips 985 or the Panny Hs2, or just waiting a few months until the E60 comes out.

Pac-Rat

You can't really pause live TV, you can press "TIME SLIP" on the remote and it will pop up a box that will be about 10 seconds behind. The box will take over the screen, and then you can rewind and FFW or pause from there if you want, while it continues to record. Similar but a bit different. When you press stop once it will go back to live; press play and it goes back to the time slip.
If you press stop, the next time you press record it'll start a new title (vs chapter) and you can access each "title" by pressing "Direct Navigator" without finalizing. Workks more like a VCR's "index" feature than anything else.

hurricane

Thanks for the information. I think I will place my order today.

Shilex

Thanks for the info. I was really talking about the Flexible Recording mode. Do you happen to know if there is any way to do Flexible Record, like for 3 hours, with numerous shows and title stops? I'm afraid if I hit stop during flexible record it will just stop the flexible recording and mess up the DVD-R if I try to record something else (I usually just hit pause, and start a new program, but if I do it this way I can't get title stops). Kinda confusing, but is there any way I can stop a flexible record in the middle, start up with another program and still have the recorder maximizing the record quality for the time alloted while gaining chapter stops?

digitalfreaknyc

FYI...have fun with the wonderful Panasonic black level bug that washes out ALL of your recordings.

I returned my HS2 within 2 days of having it. It affects all panasonic recorders.

hurricane

What are you referring too? I read numerous (38) reviews from customers over the past few days on the DMR-E30S and no one mentioned your "black level bug".

Everything I've read has been positive. Maybe your problem was unique one with the HS2 .

Steve Phillips

No, actually the DVD-R Washout HAS been widely reported and discussed. I've got a Panasonic recorder, and I can notice it; but I didn't think it was as bad as others have said.

I also have a Philips DVDR985; and while early models had bugs of their own (creeping clocks) for one, it was easily fixed with a CD update. The recordings on DVD+R and DVD+RW are better, and yes, both types (even the erasables) are compatible with most all DVD players made since 2000; even though there are those who will stop at nothing to convince you they aren't.

DVD-R and Panasonic recorders are OK but I usually go with DVD+R or DVD+RW as the recordings aren't washed out.

hurricane

I'm still confused as to what you mean by "washed out" and where has this been discussed? On the DVD talk forum?

Also, what model do you own?

phraseturner

the black level that the recording are made at is set at an incorrect level. so, upon playback, the picture looks "washed out"--like turning up the brightness too much and the contract down too much. it is an issue with (i think) the frimware of the recorder and has not been corrected by Panasonic. in order to get the correct look to your burned discs upon playback, you have to fiddle with your brightness, contrast, etc. on your monitor.

fortunately, my toshiba players all have several memory picture settings--i have one set for manufactured dvd's, and another that is set for my burned dvd-r's from the panasonic recorder, so they look correct when played back.

digitalfreaknyc

Doesn't matter what model you own...it's a problem with ALL Panasonic models and also Toshiba as well.

I'm waiting for a corrected version.

Pioneer are all very good...but they haven't come out with a hard drive model yet.

This summer...supposedly.

if you want some more info...go to the avsforum.com. There's a HUGE article about this problem and about how Panasonic is doing nothing about it. I've always noticed it since I first saw my first DVD-r that was recorded on a Panasonic. Some people think it's not a big deal but as someone who wants to archive things, it seems like a waste of time to do it on something that is very sub-par in my opinion.

Good luck

hurricane

What model do you own? How are the quality of the recordings minus the "washout" effect?

Thanks!

hurricane

So this occurs with all DVD-R recordings made on ANY Panasonic DVD recorder, right? The reason I ask is because yesterday I saw a friend of mine who has a Panasonic DVD Recorder and he made a demo recording. I did not notice anything but a PERFECT copy without any adjustments to the TV's picture. So I'm at a loss as to whether or not this has not been corrected by Panasonic.

Steve Phillips

Did he play the DVD-R in the Panasonic recorder or did he put it into another player? They tend to look washed out in other players..

Shilex

I've noticed this wash-out effect also. I recorded shows off my TiVo and when played back it has a somewhat bleached effect. I also notice it while watching TV through the recorder (especially through the inputs). Most channels appear brighter through the recorder than it does when I watch regular television directly from my TV. It doesn't bother me that much since I'm not really recording anything really high quality. Just archiving. And since the recorder has picture settings, you can reduce the brightness during playback (unless you are recording DVDs for playback through other players). Since just about the only thing I'm recording is TV and I don't have digital cable, I'm satisfied (but a little annoyed). Overall, no big deal to me.

phraseturner

i have the dmr-e30.

hurricane

Great news to report the brand new 2003 model Panasonic DMR-E50S DVD Recorder has corrected the "black level bug" problem that caused recordings made on it to have a washed out look on other DVD players.

You will need to go to the menu section to manually make the adjustment but it does work!