Panasonic DMRE85HS Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with 120 GB Hard Drive Recording
Excellent Product!
I dont know why all the negatives were wrote on this product.I've had mine for two years and have'nt had one problem.The only thing against this recorder is the fact that the TV guide feature wont accept satellite broadcast.Other than that,I'm totally pleased with the operation of the unit!Have'nt had any crashes whatsoever.I've used the heck out of this unit putting at least 90 movies on dvd-r discs (which by the way are getting VERY cheap these days!)The quality on LP and SP is great(like watching a regular dvd).With an added optical digital cord run into my receiver, great DTS surround sound!I wish it had a digital coaxial output though because I spent $50 on a coaxial cable for my older Toshiba dvd player but I'll just use that in the bedroom.Besides, I read that optical is better due to there being no interference from existing audio/power cords that usually are in the general vacinity.I hooked up my 6-head vcr into line 2 on the panasonic so its very easy to watch or transfer vhs onto hard drive simply by changing input on dvd recorder to \\"line 2\\" All of the movies I've recorded have no skips at all.Most movies can be recorded in SP mode for 2 hours and LP for 4 hours.The only time I've really used LP was recording all of the Bond movies because most of them were over two hours.If you have a camcoder, just plug it into the handy front inputs on the dvd recorder and switch input to \\"line 3\\"The only other thing I wish this unit had is another tuner.Why you ask? Well, if you have a satellite dish, you cant record one program while watching another.BUT, if you have cable,you can split your cable \\"in\\" wire and run one end to tv and the other in the dvd recorder so you can record a premium channel and while watching an analog (non-premium) channel.Your tv should have an open RF input on it if you connect your dvd recorder via RCA cables which I recommend.Actually,I only use the red and white RCAs and I use the \\"S-video\\" for better picture quality.I would have used the \\"component\\" video out on the back of the recorder but my older big-screen does not have component in, just s-video.With all said, my unit has paid for itself many times,especially now that I have my Bond movies on dvd! Totally satisfied with my purchase!