Panasonic DMR-E95HS Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive
Major disappointment
I bought this based on the glowing review in \\"Sound and Vision.\\" <br /> <br />The machine is supposed to work with your cable converter box.  I have never been able to get it to work with my Scientific Atlanta converter box.  Technical support has given me contradictory explanations, with some telling me that it does not work with my box, and another telling me that it is supposed to. <br /> <br />The machine is supposed to set its clock by a PBS station.  Because I cannot set it up to work with the converter box, this does not work.  Unfortunately the clock runs slow, and loses a minute a week.  You must re-set the clock manually. <br /> <br />If you attempt to record anything on the hard drive onto a defective DVD, the entire unit shuts down, and you have to go through set up again.  According to their technical support, there are a lot of bad disks out there.  They say not to purchase those on spindles.  They have no explanation for why a bad disk causes the machine to shut down and require going through the set up procedure. <br /> <br />I have made numerous calls to technical support.  Everytime I have called I get a recording that they are experiencing unusually heavy call volume, and a recommendation to call back at a later time.  Wait times of about an hour are typical.  <br /> <br />In frustration, I sent them an email, asking them to call me at work and explain why I should not post my poor experiences with the product on Amazon.  They sent me a reply telling me that I had to call them. <br /> <br />Given the large number of people on this site with similar experiences, I understand why they were not worried.