Early Adopters Pick: May 2003. This is the first DVD player with a built-in hard drive recorder, allowing you to record all your favorite shows onto digital disk as well as watch DVDs. Talk about “all in one”–the Panasonic DMR-E80HS not only records DVDs and stores more than 100 hours of audio/video programming on its built-in memory; it’s also a progressive-scan DVD player (for use with high-definition or HD-ready TVs) that also handles your DVDs, CDs, and MP3 recordable discs. With the DMR-E80HS’s 80 GB hard drive, it provides up to 104 hours of recording time, plus up to 6 hours on a removable 4.7 GB DVD-RAM disc (in Extended Play mode in each case). The DMR-E80HS offers the flexibility of recording on both DVD-RAM–perfect for instant chapter access and for multiple rerecordings–as well as DVD-R, widely regarded as the most widely compatible of the many DVD formats (great for sharing camcorder footage with loved ones). 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. In addition to recording new video content, the DMR-E80HS lets you transfer your favorite VHS recordings to durable, space-saving discs. Personal movie libraries and family videos can be archived, preserved, and easily cataloged and accessed. Picture-enhancing technologies include 3D noise reduction, block noise reduction, and mosquito noise reduction. With the Direct Navigator you can instantly 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. You can even perform simple non-linear video editing, such as rearranging the order of scenes, skipping over unwanted scenes, and creating custom playlists of (more…)
1.0 out of 5 stars
Manufacturer’s defect?
Based on a great many reviews that I have read both here and elsewhere on the net, it is my opinion that there is a manufacturer’s defect related to this unit.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent dvd recorder with hard drive
I had this unit for over 4 years and I never had a problem with it, at the time I bought it I knew that the tivo units were a lot cheaper but I also knew that with tivo I had to…
1.0 out of 5 stars
Yes, it’s great but…
This is a great product- We’ve been using ours for over 5 years, and it’s totally changed the way we watch TV- The machine records our shows per the timer recording feature, and…
3.0 out of 5 stars
how to resolve the recover issue
My recorder started going to self check mode and then says bye… left it like that for a while. Today decided to repair myself.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worked great since the beginning
I’ve had this recorder since 2004 and it’s never failed yet. I’ve probably recorded over 200 DVDs with it and hours of TV on to the HDD.
4.0 out of 5 stars
3 years hard use, repaired once.
I got my Panasonic about 3 years back to transfer all my home-recorded video tapes, and there were a LOT of them.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Been a trooper
I have had this unit for many years now. It has never failed me. We have watched thousands of movies and recorded shows weekly for years without the first problem…
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lasted almost 2 years… I expected more
This unit worked great for almost 2 years. Now, I cannot record anything from the hard drive to the DVD.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Equal to my TIVO!!!
I’ve had mine for about 4+ years and have loved it! The only problem I had was when I did a lot of editing and “gunked” it up. My only solution was to format the hard drive.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Get one of these and avoid cable/satellite TV!
I’ve owned this unit for about six months, and just yesterday I discovered that it is compatible not with just cable boxes, but also high definition TV tuners, like my…