Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Very happy that I got to archive my old home VHS to DVD with great results.
Great features:
This is an excellent entry-level DVD-recorder. The TV Guide feature is the reason to past over Panasonic cheaper brother the E55s which just have the VCR-plus feature. TV Guide is a simpler and free version to TiVo. It has an on-screen menu of the channels including title, time, info and the option to record. Sadly, TV Guide feature only work for antenna broadcasting and basic cable. Digital cable and satellite users might have to invest more money into a TiVo recording device (lack of component input here).
The recording quality is great, which is almost the same or lesser then the original, but never better. I transfer old VHS home video to this device and it was easy with excellent quality. Recording TV programs through the antenna is simple, but the quality depends on your reception. DVD-r is more common then DVD+r. I use XP or SP mode (1-2hrs) for VCR transfer, and LP or EP mode (4-8hrs) for TV program.
This is one of the most intelligence video devices I have own yet. There are so many option and setting to configure base on your needs. The SD card reader is a nice extra for this device. I have a Panasonic digital camera with a SD card so it is just plug and play. The manual is simple to follow and understand to figure this complex device.
The have not:
As an entry level recorder would mean this device have less of the advance input features. There are no component inputs which mean you can't recorder from higher quality image. No DV(firewire) input for newer digital camcorder. No hardrive for mix and match recording. The recorder is a 4-stars but the DVD playback is a 3.75-stars. The progressive scan has a lot of settings to customize from, but my Toshisba's DVD is a little smoother. The basic DVD-playback feature is just basic and limited. The old Toshiba has many features as zoom, slow forward, display length of the DVD, which I have yet figure/found. Slow boot time, but that is true to most recorders.
Panasonic quality is great. I have a Panasonic's HDTV for almost a year, a digital camera and they all are working fine with great results. I like Panasonic's pricing which is producing great quality for the price, but they leave out some of the more fancy features and style that Sony has that will jack up the prices. I use Verbatim's Digital Movie DVD-r at 4x and Panasonic's DVD-RAM, anything faster like 8x does not seem to work.
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The Panasonic DMR-E65S is an affordable entry into the world of DVD recording, enabling you to watch TV programs at your leisure as well as easily archive precious home video memories. The DMR-E65S features compatibility with both DVD-R and DVD-RAM discs, MP3 audio playback, an SD memory card slot for viewing images from your digital camera, and simultaneous recording and playback functionality.
The DMR-E65S's joint support of DVD-RAM and DVD-R media provides the best of both worlds: DVD-R for the highest compatibility (letting you share video recordings with virtually anyone with a DVD player) and DVD-RAM (for rewritability and benefits like Time Slip, chasing playback, and simultaneous play and record). In addition to DVD-RAM and DVD-R compatibility, the DMR-E65S also plays DVD-Audio, Video CD (VCD), and CD-R-RW discs. It has a built-in SD memory card slot as well as a PC Card slot that reads CompactFlash and other memory cards (with an adapter). It has 3 composite A/V, 3 S-video, and 1 RF input connections; output connections include 2 composite, 1 component, and 1 S-video. Other features include optical output for DTS and Dolby Digital surround sound, cinema mode that improves the visibility of details in dark scenes by automatically adjusting picture contrast, and a dialogue enhancer.
Panasonic's Time Slip feature lets you replay a scene recorded earlier while a program is still in progress, without disrupting the recording process. And chasing playback makes it possible to watch from the beginning a show while recording is still in progress. It's also simple to transfer favorite VHS tape recordings to space-saving discs, and personal movie libraries and family videos can be archived, preserved, cataloged, and accessed. With instant recording onto a DVD disc, you don't have to find blank space, as with a VHS tape. Just press record and the unit will automatically find space on the disc, much like a computer's disk drive.
With the Playlist Playback function, you can perform simple nonlinear video editing, such as rearranging the order of scenes, skipping over unwanted scenes, or copying selections, to create custom playlists of favorite scenes on a disc. The Direct Navigator feature makes it easy to find a previously recorded program on a disc. A list of recording dates, times, channels, and (user-entered) titles are shown onscreen, and you can quickly manage program deletion, protection, and title input. It can handle up to 99 titles at once.
What's in the Box Panasonic DMR-E65S DVD recorder, remote control, batteries, and printed instruction manual.
