Panasonic DMR-E55K Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder/Player , Black
Good but has some major glitches
I've had this DVD Recorder/Player for a little over a year now.  It was extremely easy to hook up right out of the box and the manual actually makes sense if you actually read it.  Very clear picture and sound quality, even when recorded on the lowest setting. The system is very user friendly and self-explanatory.  Great price for the features you get including a simple to use timer, remote, write speed selection, disc and segment names, numerous audio selections,etc. I've no complaints whatsoever about the DVD Player, just the recorder that has issues from time to time. <br /> <br />My main complaint is that it tends to be glitchy every so often. It has little fits where it runs a \\"self check\\" that seems to last FOREVER.  You usually have to manually hold the power button down for about 3 minutes to get the machine to reset and stop the self check.  Also, I've used numerous types of DVD-R media (with various write speeds) and DVD-RAM discs and I've had SEVERAL discs just spontaneously erased for no reason, which needless to say is completely irritating and frustrating, especially if you had something you wanted to save.  This seems to effect the DVD-RAM discs more often, regardless of the age of the disc or the manufacturer (even Panasonic).  The disc finalization has also failed several times, leaving you with a disc that can only be played in this recorder because it can not be recognized in any other player. Once the finalization fails, forget it. This doesn't occur all the time and does tend to happen more frequently with discs with higher write speed (8X).  <br /> <br />Overall, I think it is a decent machine for the price if you are patient and don't record anything that you want to keep forever because you just never know if you'll ever see it again. If you do get this machine forget using something with a high write speed because chances are it will eventually cause a problem.  The good news is that you can use just about any type of DVR-R even the cheap ones, IF the write speed is low (no higher than 4x).