Panasonic DMR-EH50S DVD Recorder with 100 GB Hard Drive Recording
Problems Worsened by Customer Service
I bought this particular DVR as a gift for my fiance.  We were excited about the possibilities of watching shows on our own time and burning DVDs of our old homemade video tapes.  We'd heard some stories about TiVo starting to erase programs from people's hard drives, so the TVGuide system seemed like a good option and free to boot.    Unfortunately, we never got to enjoy our DVR.  I set it up as instructed when it arrived.  (You may want to note that setting it up for cable requires purchasing an extra set of A/V jacks.)  We left it for 24 hours.  Turned it on, and the guide informed us that \\"the search for data has failed.\\"  I did what I figured was the sensible thing; I called customer service.  Little did I realize this would only make matters worse.    Everything people have said here about problems with Panasonic customer support is true.  Wait times range from 20 minutes to an hour, and first you have to go through an automated system which - through the wonders of voice recognition technology - will probably take you to a different menu every time you call.  I was told to connect the machine in a way that left my cable unable to work at all until I put it back as it had been.  I was given case numbers that, when I gave them to someone else next time around, made them think I was calling about a phone.  I dealt with a person who couldn't seem to take down any number I gave her correctly.  I was sent to the Panasonic website to find a download which I could not locate.  When I told the rep it wasn't showing up, she had me navigate to the exact same page through the exact same links again.  The worst part was when I finally asked to speak to a supervisor who knew the machine well.  I was told someone like that would be in at 10 the next day and would call me.  I waited FOUR HOURS to account for the fact that I didn't know what time zone they were in.  No one called.  When I finally called them and asked again for a supervisor's help, I was told \\"Oh, supervisorsdon't do tech support.\\"    The last I heard from Panasonic, they were sending my information to TV Guide and expected them to get back to me in a day or two.  That was several days ago, even accounting for weekends and the holiday.  TV Guide does not have any customer support number for their DVR guide service on their website and the number for them which Panasonic gave me just connects me with a recording.  I have come the conclusion that no one will be calling me back.    To be fair, I tested out the recording to the hard drive and DVD and that seems to work fine.  I could just keep the thing as a simple DVD recorder, I bought it so they I could both burn DVDs and record programs without having to sit there and press record myself.  What I can do with the machine now is not what I paid for and Panasonic tech support was disappointing, to say the least.  So the DMR-EH50S is being returned and Panasonic is no longer getting my business.  Your results may well vary and if you're one of the happy people who actually gets the TV Guide to work exactly as it's supposed to, you have my congratulations.  Just keep in mind that if you should have any problems with the machine, Panasonic tech support is probably not going to be able to help you.