Panasonic PV-HS2000 ShowStopper 30-Hour Digital Video Recorder
A good product with some very minor issues
The Panasonic PV-HS2000 unit works very well and lives up to the hype. The user interface is well thought out, and a pleasure to use. Installation is quite straightforward. Just make sure you have a local access telephone number first - not a problem in more densely populated areas. Be willing to try more than one number if several choices are available - my first choice didn't work for some reason.<br />Some very minor issues: 1. The unit dissipates 19 Watts when &quot;off&quot;, so its a little wasteful of electricity.<br />2. When on, the unit makes a high-pitched hard-disk &quot;whine&quot; which may be audible if you listen to TV at low volume levels.<br />3. The unit takes 15 seconds to turn on.<br />As most people have a VCR already, then item 3 is not a problem in general, and it also makes it simple to watch one program and record another. You probably need a VCR for long term storage anyway, rather than keep favourite material on the recorder indefinately.<br />The unit certainly changes ones TV viewing experience - it's almost a strange feeling to &quot;pause&quot; live TV, but it certainly helps when my wife asks me to do the garbage in the middle of a favourite program!<br />I actually bought a demo model. To get out of the demo mode, I had to enter the rather obscure sequence: 7 7 7 Zones (4 key strokes on the remote). This is not in the manual!