Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver
works good for me
I got this unit for Christmas 2003, and have loved it ever since.<BR>I really can't say that about very many electronics I've purchased.<br />First, ease of use.<BR>There is a small quirck in the system, in that you often switch to<BR>the box and it is already playing. None of the remote controls really work at that point, so you (I) quickly learn to press \\"Stop\\", and then the \\"functions\\" button will pull up a menu for you.  Then everything works fine.<br />On the Plus side, Timer Recordings work GREAT, and are really, really, easy to setup and monitor.  The box will automatically<BR>switch between several different inputs (Cable box for premium content, or direct attach cable) or channels if you're recording several different programs.  Also a \\"BIG PLUS\\", pressing \\"Stop\\" or any other key will not stop a recording in progress.<BR>(...)<br />Also a Plus:  the fast forward and reverse seek of 2x to 100x<BR>are addictive.  I can't imagine working with any less.<br />Quality:<BR>Superb.  I haven't even tried the \\"XP\\" quality setting yet, the \\"SP\\" setting looks so much better than standard VHS.<BR>DVD (-r or +r) disks burned with \\"SP\\" play on everything I've tried.  We transfered several VHS tapes to DVD, and I swear that the DVD looks much better than the original VHS source.<br />Fun things to play with:<BR>Playing one recorded show while recording another still blows my mind.  Seeking back to the beginning of a show while you are still recording works great.<br />Open Issues:<BR>I still have not found the magic incantation to take a DVD disk from my computer and transfer it to the Panasonic hard disk.<br />NITS:<BR>Moving through the menu of previously recorded shows is still a bit slow.  Not a biggie.  Encourages you to keep the hard drive<BR>list relatively small.  (Burn 'em to disk to save)<br />Security:<BR>No Tivo (...).  No extra per month charges.  No one will ever know what I am watching or recording ever.<br />Hope this helps.