Panasonic DVD recorder with Freeview £130

gizmoleeds

http://ws1.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PANA-DMRES20-R2&SID=b3b78e997052acac116cbf93ca861de1

Just a few weeks ago I was recommending the non-Freeview version of this recorder for the same price.

It is a top-rated recorder which includes support for the top DVD-RAM format, which allows you to watch programmes which are still recording (or "pause" live TV).

More info on the features etc here: http://www.panasonic.co.uk/dvd-recorders/dmres20d/index.htm

dc

Is it region free?
Instore only, so I suppose Leeds has a few?
Was thinking about the ES10, at Tesco, but this is better value.

dc

rizla01

I note the previous model is now £120.00 Here too.

dc

Not really previous model but lesser (in the scale of cost{ rrp.}), and cheaper at Tesco Extra. (£110),

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=147058


Another grabbit post that sank like a brick. post 2 days old.


dc

NJWUK1967

I was also interested in the DVR with Freeview too get fewer boxes under my TV.
The Panasonic DMW-ES20 looks like a good deal esp at the price from Richer Sounds.
I did read a review of the machine (I've lost the link) that said it was an excellent buy but does have a sensitive digital tuner so if you are in a weak area it might be a problem.
But then again try buying a DVR this good for £130 even without the Freeview option.
The only other DVR with freeview built in at a price close to this was a Sony model at over £230 online but £299 instore.
I'm off to Richer Sounds very soon.
Neil

suniil

Just picked up one from liverpool street (city) branch, but no stock in london bridge / west end / swiss cottage

More stock expecting on friday, as per swiss cottage manager

Advantage of freeview built-in: Save considerable cost of good quality scart cable if you use external freeview box. Also i believe can feed another source via scart input (eg. SKY)

seth

Good Player, Great recorder, has BOTH analog and digital tuners, No DV in. Read the bit about QAM64 channels like ITV, Channel 4 and Five in the review if you are in a medium strength marginal area and want to record these!

Great player well built amazing price.

Review here
Panasonic DMR-ES20 DVD/HDD Recorder Review September 2005

" ...Panasonic’s auto set-up system is largely flawless, tuning in both digital and analogue channels and placing them in the right order. And this is where we came across our only real problem with the ES20. Despite multiple attempts, it failed to find and store QAM64 channels like ITV, Channel 4 and Five. Thinking something was wrong with our aerial, we plugged an old Thomson DTT box into our TV and forced it into a channel search. It found everything – including the channels missed by the Panny – and so we can safely conclude that the ES20's DTT tuner is perhaps not the most sensitive around. We had to rely on the analogue tuner to timeshift these channels – which, admittedly, is something you can't do with the DTT-only Sony competition. "

Unlock via remote or get Richer to offer the M Region cheaper, or buy a MRegion player for non Region 2 disks. Or get a free removal tool http://www.dvdidle.com/free.htm and a cheap DVD Drive (around £25 for a NEC drive)

redzak

excuse my ignorance but does this have a hard drive like a PVR. I want to record stuff off the telly so am i best sticking to a pvr or can yuo get dvd recorders that do that?

Towner_2

Redzak, No hard disc, but uses DVD-RAM discs.

Jenny_Wren_3

Redzak - it is posible to get a box which has free view, dvd recorder and a hard drive. Both Panasonic and Sony make one. We have just brought the Sony one which had the best reviews. Expensive though and hard to get, not many in the country yet.

Searcher2

I had the issue of PVR versus DVD Recorder... after being dragged into the market as a result of the Aldi 101 disaster PVR. I then bought a Fusion 200 PVR which didn't work. I have just bought the ES20 for various reasons a) seems more reliable than PVR's b) is quieter in standby mode than PVRs (and probably in general) c) replaces my freeview, DVD and VCR in one d) easier to transfer stuff to PC for authoring.

If you record a lot of TV a PVR may be more use as you can only record 4 hours of good quality TV on a DVD-RAM - plus on a PVR generally you get 2 Freeview tuners ... but I don't watch a huge amount of TV. The reliability issues on PVR's also concerned me - if your hard disk fails you lose everything. On the DVD recorder at least you still have your collection on DVD-RAM if the machine fails. I did find the PVR more intuitive to use though.

It maybe that DVD recorder owners are less fussy - but there are not many unhappy ES20 owners around it seems. I will no doubt venture back into the PVR market when they become more reliable... though it probably won't be too long before PVR's combine with DVD recorders anyway at a sensible price.