Panasonic DMR-ES20K DVD Recorder
Pretty good recorder so far
I have had my es20 for a few days and rate it 4 stars. <br /> <br />I had some difficulty hooking it up It is a 2nd recorder and used in the bedroom. My main recorder in the home theater is a Toshiba with a 80 GB hard drive and I love it and measure others against it. <br /> <br />In my bedroom I have a Direct TV receiver, a Yamaha 75 watt receiver and a 27 inch Magnavox TV that is close to 15 years old. My main reason for getting one was to be able to record in there when I am recording something else in the main setup and or watching something, like football! <br /> <br />I was dismayed at the setup for the es20, what with having to split the incoming cable from the dish on the roof. I had some old cable and a splitter and used those but did not get a picture. I went to Radio shack and got a splitter made for satellite TV and a new piece of cable. Once I used these pieces I got a good picture. I am also unhappy with having to turn of the recorder once I set the timer for a timed recording. Much like VCR's. On my Toshiba that is not necessary. <br /> <br />I have a made 4 recordings with the timer and it is easy to setup. However, two of the recordings started sooner that the start time I had set. This was perplexing, as the other two worked fine. I am sure I did everyting OK, but will report back here after doing some more. <br /> <br />The remote is not as bad as some of the buyers make it out to be and many of the problems and gripes I read about I think come from inexperienced people with these type of machines. The resulting recordings have turned out very nice and on par with my much more expensive Toshiba. I am not using component connections or S-video, just basic analog and thus, am not using progressive scan. Still, it looks great. My recorded discs play just fine on my main Toshiba deck as well as on a portable.  <br /> <br />All in all, no problems. Some minor irritants at the setup phase. Panasonic could have doine things a little different there. Butall of these are not more or less than other hifi and video equipment I have had in the last 30 years. Once I buy a new flatscreen for the bedroom in a couple weeks, I will have a component connection going and the picture will be even better. <br /> <br />This deck does what it is supposed to do and quite nicely too. It is not perfect, but what is. I think if you have some patience this will be a good investment for anyone looking for a 2nd or 3rd recorder or for someone filling a niche in a basic home theater.