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

Panasonic DMR-EH55S

DMR-EH55S DVD Recorder (DVR, 200GB Hard Drive, HDMI) Review, by Jon L. Jacobi November 17, 2006

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• Latest User Reviews 2 reviews
• 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: 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: 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.

• Reviewed by: diamantj

  Strengths: VERY nice size hdd

  Weaknesses: VERY hard to find

  Overall: I am not sure why Panasonic (and other manufacturers) pulled the dvd recorders with hdd off the market, but these are incredible.This is the only one, to my knowledge, that has this size hdd and all the editing features but ALSO an HDMI output for the absolute best picture/sound quality that you can imagine.If you can get your hands on one of these units, I highly recommend it.

• Reviewed by: mascaras1

  Strengths: Large hard drive. TV Guide.

  Weaknesses: Hard to find.

  Overall: Large hard drive can hold large number of recordings at very good picture quality. TV Guide works great in my area. It makes program recording very easy. Burning DVD is easy with flexible adjustment of the length. It may take some time to get used to use the machine. Once you learn, it is very easy to use. However, it is rare on the market because HD/DVD recorder combo is not sold by major manufactuerers due to a lawsuit with Tixx.

• Reviewed by: mouseissue

  Strengths: 200GB HDD

  Weaknesses: Only one High definition output thru one HDMI jack. The manual could be better organized.

  Overall: I've been using this unit for over two months now and have mixed feelings about it. . The 200GB HDD will hold a lot of recordings. Once you get used to it, the unit is reasonably easy to use. . The high-def output thru the HDMI jack is very good. The audio quality is also very good. Be sure to buy a high quality a HDMI cable with 24k gold contacts... Although pricey, you won't regret it. . If you don't want to use the built in TV Guide Onscreen or your cable / satellite provider does not send TV Guide information, this feature can be easily turned off. This way, you can use the DVR like a VCR. . It's major drawback is that high-def output is only available thru it's one HDMI output jack. So, if you have a home theater system with a high def TV, you can only get high-def output either directly to your TV -OR- to your home theater system's receiver. I opted to connect the HDMI to my receiver and a composite video output to my TV. This means that to watch recordings in high-def, my receiver must also be turned on. . If Panasonic had allowed the High-Def video signals to pass thru both the HDMI output jack -AND- the Component Video Output jacks, I would give this unit a much higher rating. . If this high-def output limitation does not matter to you, you should be very happy with this unit.

• Reviewed by: barkerdt

  Strengths: Attractive specs

  Weaknesses: Almost no sellers

  Overall: I'm not sure what's happening with HDD DVD recorders. Sony no longer lists any. This Panasonic model has only one seller on PriceGrabber @ $700, which is $200 over MSRP. The Pansonic website does not have it available for online ordering, lists no online vendors and shows the closest vendor to be 156 miles from my Houston home. Until this situation is clarified, I'm holding off on buying a DVD recorder. (P.S. no response from Sony website on why they have stopped selling HDD units.)

• Reviewed by: alexkakis

  Strengths: 200 gb 300 hours programing

  Weaknesses: tv guide

  Overall: is amazing you can watch 300 hour of you best programing you can recor several hour with high quality this record have one hdmi i connect to my plasma 32 inch i have good quality the only problem is tv guide i have 3 days and only i have download 2 is very slow the first time i hope have the full programing this week very easy to used