Panasonic DVD Recorder

urban_fox

I came across this 1/2 price deal from Richersounds that appears quite appealing. What are your views?


http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PANA-DMRES10-R2

HankMcSpank

It looks like an old Betamax recorder in styling...suggest when using that you don a pair of massive Lionel Blairs, a shirt with a collar like Harry Hill's & an orange kipper tie.

d726t9

I've had one of these for the past year and it's absolutely fantastic. Used on a regular basis and never had a problem. Being able to use DVD-RAM disks is great as it means you can start recording a program and begin watching while it's still recording the end. You can also delete programs and record again really easily on these disks.

I like the styling (and I don't even think I've got a kipper tie in the cupboard!) - feels really well put together too.

I'm not sure it was ever £200, I just checked my receipt and I paid £135 a year ago but it's been worth it. I know you can get much cheaper DVD recorders but this is certainly a cut above the £60 supermarket ones - in my opinion anyway! I've even bought another to give my parents for Christmas so I don't have to keep recording their programs for them!

Steve

spuds_2

We have this exact model - we paid £120 last December for it. That was about the price they were everywhere. I have never seen it for £199; as usual Richer Sounds are a bit optimistic about the Typical Selling Price. We have been very happy with it - the recordings are good quality. You can record in various levels of quality but only the highest ones are worth bothering with. One feature we like is that if you set a timed recording it will automatically record at the highest poss quality for the length of programme. It has been very reliable - no problems at all. It seems to record and replay on any brand of disk we have tried, unlike some which only play certain brands. I have used Richer Sounds and found them very good about returning stuff - even if you just change your mind. I don't know how good a price this is though - it is an old model - and you seem to get dvd recorders from about £65 now, albeit budget brands. Hope this helps.

edit: Sorry, Steve, I'm repeating your info - you were posting as I was typing.

star1_2

It's a v.good unit - and features very highly in A/V magazine and website reviews. Allows you to use RAM disks, so you can record/playback at the same time (time/shifting). Compared with other makes on the market - it's far more relyable when writing/reading disks and had the added benifit of the ram feature !

So - good, I bought the Freeview version from Richer sounds, not a single disk failaure in the 8 months I've had it - unlike friends who have other brands of recorder who regularly complain of disk in-compatability !

A good buy at under £100 for a Panasonic !

PeteTong_2

I got one of these last year for £160 and am very pleased with it.

misterjingles

I did my research in summer and went for the DMRES15. Can't fault it, plays anything you throw at it ,including DVD ram discs. I think the DMRES15 has an extra firewire port for connecting a camcorder which was what I wanted.

JasonW_2

It's an older model but worth the price I'd say, although you can pick up a newer model for £20-30 more. I've got a Panasonic, E55 which is an even older model and 2 years later still very reliable and works every time.

futuresbright

no problems over here either.

cracking bit of kit well worth every penny.

only minus point i can find is the time it takes to read a disc when first inserted but its probably not that long just feels like it when stood watching it!

Odd_Fellow

This model is at least 18 months old - probably closer to 24.

That's not necessarly a bad thing, but it's not close to current kit.

I was thinking of one of these last summer (2005) when the general selling price on the high street was about £150.00

The reason I didn't buy it was that it hasn't got a DV input - I wanted to be able to copy Mini DV tapes from my camcorder directly to DVD. Typically, I have never used this feature on the JVC that I did buy.

It's probably worth the £100 asking price but there are probably better (or at least more recent) machines knocking around for only a few quid more.

glockdanny

Some of these comments above make me laugh

You'd have to be really fussy, IMO, to think that any recording length other than the top 1 or 2 are any good. I bought this unit myself earlier this year and I think it's superb. A normal 4.7GB DVD will give you between 1 and 8 hours recording depending on the quality level you set the recordings at. Having used it to record once or twice a week, I definitely agree with 'What Hi-Fi' - the quality at any level other than 'extended play' (8 hours) is very good indeed. Even the 8 hour EP mode is good - probably comparable to VHS recordings. Not saying I'd use that setting mind

The playback of pre-recorded titles is of a very high standard, and DVD soundtracks are very good. The unit's not great with CDs but unless you're an audiophile you wouldn't be able to tell - it's perfectly adequate as a CD player if you're not that fussy.

The DVD-RAMs are fantastically versatile when recording with this machine - allowing you to edit your titles so accurately that you can erase fractions of seconds off recordings. Brilliant for when I've recorded myself series 6 of the Sopranos, for example - you can edit the titles so finely that you can't even tell it's recorded from the TV (except, of course, for the E4 DOG in the corner of the screen :rolleyes: ).

My only real criticism is its length of time to respond when switching the machine on and wanting to play straight away - it's way behind the competition on that score. The time it takes to eject a disc when first switching the machine on is irritating as well...for example, if you want to put in Band of Brothers and you know that the kids have left Mary Poppins in there, it seems to take an age to switch on and eject dear old Ms Andrews.

Overall I'd say it's an excellent machine, a real bargain at Richer's price and they're a customer service focussed company so you can't go wrong with them in my experience.

Go for it :j