Panasonic DMR-ES10S DIGA Series DVD Recorder , Silver
Impressive recorder
I just purchased the Panasonic DMR-ES10S yesterday, so I cannot assess its long-term merits at this time.  However, I have had fantastic luck with everything Panasonic makes from portable CD players to vacuum cleaners.  On to the recorder. <br /> <br />I purchased this unit as a replacement for two things; a dead DVD player and the VCR.  I considered Tivo, but didn't want to pay a monthly subscription.   <br /> <br />In short, for $199.99 (no taxes where I live), the Panasonic DMR-ES10S is a bargain and does everything I hoped it would, and more. <br /> <br />As a DVD player, it has everything you've come to expect from standard players (although I haven't found a zoom-picture function yet, but that's not something I used before).  I find the sound quality to be quite good, especially compared to the Sony I had previously.  I dislike Sony stuff, particularly when it comes to audio equipment.   <br /> <br />Recordings on the DMR-ES10S can be made at four different speeds/quality levels.  At 8 hours, picture quality suffers noticably, and I don't have a fancy television set either.  In other recording modes (i.e., speeds), recordings are good quality.  Please refer to other reviews concerning available aspect ratios.  Since my television is not high definition some distinctions of picture quality are not visible to me.   <br /> <br />While recording, it is possible to view the recording you have just made.  There are a few ways to do this.  One is to simply hit the \\"play\\" button.  Doing so will take you to the start of your recording.  The recording continues, but you are watching the start of the recording.  Another is \\"Time Slip,\\" which takes you back a specific amount of time into the program that is being recorded.  \\"Time Slip\\" also provides you a picture-in-picture with the current recording taking up the lower-right side of the screen.  Finally, you can press \\"Direct Navigator/Top Menu\\" to take you to a menu of previously recorded materials that you can watch while your recording progresses.  In each of these instance, while you watch something that has already been recorded, the current recording progresses.   <br /> <br />The Flexible Recording (or \\"F Rec.\\") feature is nice.  This takes a segment of time and makes it fit on the entire disc at the highest quality.  For instance, if you want to record a 2.5 hour show conventionally you would have to set the recorder for either 2 or 4 hours play time/quality level.  With two hours, obviously, you wouldn't get the entire show, and with four hours, you would have lower quality picture, but plenty of time left over.  \\"F Rec.\\" makes the entire 2.5 hours fit onto just one disc at the highest possible quality setting.    <br /> <br />During playback, there is a commercial skip feature that jumps one minute ahead in the recording. <br /> <br />Once recordings have been made, a top-menu is created.  This page displays six different panels at a time.  When you highlight a panel, the recording begins playing inside the panel allowing you to preview the selection.  From the top-menu page you can name selections or delete them.   <br /> <br />Use of DVD-RAM discs provides some flexible features to completed recordings.  For instance, you can create \\"chapters,\\" which are essentially new track markers within the recording.  Additionally, this allows you to single out certain sections with a chapter mark on either side and then later erase out that section.  FOr instance, if you put a chapter mark at the beginning and end of the commercials, you can later erase those commercials from the recording.  You can also rearrange sections as you wish.  These features only work with the DVD-RAM discs.  I tried it with DVD-RW discs and it didn't work.  <br /> <br />There are drawbacks.  DVD-RAM does not play on a computer without a DVD-RAM-specific player, which most probably don't have.  It also won't play on most other DVD players.  Plus, the DVD-RAM blanks are expensive compared to DVD-RWs or DVD-Rs.  The DMR-ES10S uses DVD-RW (not DVD+RW; I tried) and DVD-R, but they do not support the chapter building features I noted above.  You can create playback lists in DVD-RW, but only for playback (this is according to the manual; I've not yet tried this).  One DVD-RAM disc is provided in the box with the player/recorder.   <br /> <br />The design of the unit is a bit 80s-retro, which is OK; ultimately I not that concerned.  It's slightly longer than any of my other components (stereo tuner, VCR, CD player) and because of the cables in the back, it protrudes a bit from my A/V cabinet.  That's OK since I don't have doors, but you might want to check this out with a measuring tape yourself to see if it will fit.   <br /> <br />Minor complaint.  It was mentioned previously that the record speed/quality is only displayed on the unit and not on the screen.  This is true and I find it hard to read from across the room.  There are color differences between the different speed/quality settings, but this difference is ultimately not helpful in determining which setting you are on. <br /> <br />Another minor complaint.  I found the remote difficult to suss initially, but I think I have the hang of it now.  For instance, \\"Direct Navigator\\" is not  immediately recognizable as some kind of menu button.  It says \\"Top Menu\\" underneath the \\"Direct Navigator\\" button, and it seems to me that just writing top menu or main menu would have been enough.  There is no \\"exit\\" button; the \\"return\\" button often serves as the \\"exit\\" button.  It is only through trial and error that I have (tentatively) come to understand the differences between the \\"Display,\\" \\"Status,\\" and \\"Functions\\" buttons.