Panasonic DMRE85HS Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with 120 GB Hard Drive Recording
AMAZING!  THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!
I had been researching HDD/DVD recorders for several months, and finally decided on this unit for five reasons:     1) TV Guide On Screen feature.  2) Panasonic's reliability record.  3) Adequate number of good reviews.  4) Unit is physically very compact.  5) Low price for what it does.     You must read the manual.  Let me repeat:  You must read the manual.  So that my manual wouldn't get mutilated from excessive handling, I downloaded the pdf version from Panasonic's website.  Actually did this prior to receiving the unit, so I could get a head start on knowing how to use it.  If you're the type of person who hates reading manuals, this unit is not for you.  A lot of functions and buttons are NOT intuitive.  I'm guessing that most of the trouble people have with this unit is due to impatience and failure to read the manual.     This is like FOUR devices in one:    1) Records like a VCR, but without tape or discs.  2) Plays and records DVD's.  3) TV Guide provides TiVo-like capability.  4) Editing machine.     Hooking it up is straightforward following the diagrams provided.  Some people report trouble with the TV Guide feature, but both its setup and usage were great for me.  I should point out that I'm a techhead, so I have an aptitude for these things.  Also, I have cable but no cable box, which simplifies the arrangement.  For the initial TV Guide setup, you have to answer a few easy questions, such as:  What's your zip code?  Do you have a cable box?  Then you must turn the unit off and LEAVE IT OFF for 24 hours so it can download the TV Guide listings.  A few minutes after turning it off, I noticed that the clock had set automatically, which is a good sign.  Any channels that aren't downloaded automatically can be entered manually.  In my case, the only channel I noticed missing is a local public access channel which I never watch anyway.    Before you do any recording, make sure you turn on high speed dubbing, so that any copying done from HDD to DVD will happen quickly.     I find the TV Guide feature to be a huge improvement over manual programming or VCR Plus.  Not as sophisticated as TiVo, although some users might actually find it easier than TiVo.  An obvious limitation is that the listings only go for 8 days, but if you want to record something beyond that timeframe, information can be entered manually or via VCR Plus.  Remember that although its scheduling isn't as advanced as TiVo, overall this unit does much more than TiVo.     Recording shows to the HDD (hard disk) is a joy!  No more time spent aggrevating over which shows are on which tapes, no more endless rewinding and forwarding, and no more concern about accidentally recording over a favorite show.  I've recorded several shows, and even though I used one of the slower speeds (LP), the quality is good.  Once a recording is on the HDD, commercials and other unwanted segments can be removed (this is called \\"shorten\\"), with frame-by-frame precision if desired.  A \\"title\\" (recording) can be renamed, and can be divided into chapters.  And impressively, chapters can be combined.  So if you break a chapter into two, but then decide you divided at the wrong place, just put them back together and split again.  I'm building an \\"online\\" library on the HDD, which includes newly recorded shows as well as recordings transferred from VHS and eventually camcorder.  Copying from VHS to HDD is easy and gives great results.  Of course, since this unit can't play VHS directly, you'll need to connect a VCR to use for copying.  I plan to do all my recording onto the HDD, and only transfer to DVD if it's something I want to save permanently, view somewhere else, or give to somebody.    Pressing one button on the remote takes you into the title list, which consists of a thumbnail picture of each recording on the disk.  Underneath each thumbnail is the name and date of the recording, and conveniently, a recording can be renamed.  Use the arrow buttons on the remote to scroll through the thumbnails, the press the enter button to watch your selection.  If you prefer, the thumbnail display can be changed to a list format.     Transferring from HDD to DVD is fast and easy!  Not surprisingly, the manual suggests Panasonic blank DVD's, but those are overpriced so I took a chance with off brand \\"Velocity\\" (from Amazon).  So far, three successful DVD-R burns with no coasters!  Discs must be finalized to play on other units, but prior to finalization, additional titles can be added.  I don't see any reason to bother with DVD-RAM discs, as they cost more and have limited compatibility with other DVD players.    Like most remote controls, this one is less than what it should be.  Because of its poor layout and small buttons, some tasks that should be doable with one hand require two hands.     Despite the remote's shortcomings, this device is remarkable!  After using the TV Guide and the HDD, I can't imagine buying a DVD recorder that doesn't have both of those extremely useful features.  Things have improved quite a bit since I bought my first VCR, for $700, back in 1982!     To Summarize:     - Pro  o Hard Disk revolutionizes the entire TV and video experience.  o Allows the user to have an \\"online\\" library of favorite recordings.  o Good picture and sound, even at lower LP speed.  o Impressive editing capability.  o TV Guide On-Screen.  o Inexpensive for what it does.  o Compact size.    - Con  o MUST read the manual.  o Requires time and patience to master.  o Some remote buttons are small, inconveniently placed, confusingly labeled.       I recommend!