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Panasonic DMR-EH55S DVD Recorder (DVR, 200GB Hard Drive, HDMI)

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Very Good

Panasonic DMR-EH55S Review

by Jon L. Jacobi

- Panasonic's $500 (as of 10/27/06) DMR-EH55S features a spacious 200GB hard drive, a simple-to-use design, and the TV Guide electronic programming guide for easy scheduling of recordings. It's the only recorder we reviewed for our recent chart that will play DVD Audio discs. Like the Toshiba RD-XS55, it has a G-Link port for attaching an infrared blaster or controlling a cable or satellite box, and it includes an HDMI output (though it lacks the Toshiba's ability to upconvert to 1080i).

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User Reviews for Panasonic DMR-EH55S DVD Recorder (DVR, 200GB Hard Drive, HDMI)

  • Reviewed by: camphoneguy

    Duration of ownership: 8 Months

    Strengths: We've used Panasonic DMRs for six years now- and not had a faiure yet- and they're used commercially almost daily! Besides being durable we've also found them to be very compatible with our customer's DVD players- very few disks created fail to work in other units. We've used only DVD-R disks to date. The image quality at both 2hr and 4hr mode nearly match the video source, no complaints about quality ever. 6hr mode is not recommended. Panasonic even includes up to three remote control channels so that you can have up to three units around and have each on its own remote code.

    Weaknesses: There is a learning curve to working with the unit, but once down it is not that hard.

    Overall Evaluation: My overall recommondation is to use Panasonic units for video conversion in commercial applications. I know that may sound crazy, why not on a computer? Because these units DON'T crash! And I can train anyone to use them! I use one at home, too, instead of a TIVO in that I can record to DVD any show that I want to long term archive. I also base my recommendation on many years of owning- and daily using- Panasonic DMRs. I know that not all models of any product are the same but we've owned about four different ones and the first ones are still working fine over six years later and used all the time!

  • Reviewed by: bandreev

    Duration of ownership: 2 Months

    Strengths: + Easy to use device with great features and high video quality + No monthly fee (unlike Tivo) + TV Guide On-Sreen - great feature! + Regular recording of a selected show

    Weaknesses: - Cannot switch to watch DVD or other inputs while a program is being recorded. - Bad organizing capabilities of recorded shows. I got 70 recordings already that I would like to keep, but browsing through them is a pain. There is some sorting capability, but it would be great (and easy) if Panasonic just allowed users to make folders and place their content more organized. - TV Guide On-Screen shows/provides only the times when a show is scheduled to start and end. I've had one or two shows cut off at the end by a minute or so. You can, however, set up your recording to end 2 minutes later (guard band), but it is tedious to do for each recording. - Lack of 30 sec. commercial skip - No second tuner

    Overall Evaluation: Great product, changed significantly our family TV experience. I shopped for a while, but found this to be the most reliable DVR on the market today and a friend of mine got a previous model a few years ago (very happy so far). There are some things to be desired, but generally very pleased with the product. One note - a customer service guy in Circuit City kindly advised me not to buy this DVR (or any other) because all people who got one returned it within a month, not pleased with the user experience and possibly switching back to Tivo. After some consideration I bought it anyway. I also have one peculiarity - I don't have cable TV and don't plan to get one. I watch about an hour or so of TV programming a day and this DVR is a great tool to pick the stuff that I really want and watch it when I want, while spending quality time with my kids after work.

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