Panasonic DMR-E85 new pvr review

[pkosta]

Panasonic DMR-E85 review by kerosene
from
http://www.thewholewideweb.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1780

13 Posts
Posted - 05/14/2004 : 9:06:20 PM
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I had a different brand of DVD Recorder which failed for
the third time and returned to Best Buy 3 times for
its repair. This third repair was too expensive for
Best Buy to stomach, and they decided to allow
the store to give me a replacement. (I had bought
the Extended Service Agreement!)
I picked out the new Panasonic E85H. I currently
owned an HS-2 and really like it. However, the editing
and recording functions of the E85H are FAR greater than
the HS-2! I cannot compair to the Model 80.
The TV Guide is great! Overnight, leave off the
E85H and the TV Guide listing is downloaded for the
upcomming week. (When first installed, leave it off
for 24 hours to set up and download the TV Guide)
To set timer recording, just select
the program on the Guide page, click on RECORD and
choose how often to record it, and your done. If you
select REGULAR, the show is recorded every time it
is one at that time/channel. I'm not sure
about other times also.
The Guide listing display can be customized
to some extent: delete channels, change the order
the channels show up on the page, and select timer
recording by the standard time/channel or by
clicking on the listing.
The editing features are great! You can record
on HDD or RAM and set the index picture, chapters, and
title. (If you Hi-Speed DUB from HDD to DVD-R the chapters
are saved!) To delete parts of the recording
(advertisments?) just make it a chapter then erase
it. So far it seems not to have noticable freeze-ups
at the edit points. One really neat feature is
the Chapter View: one this page each chapter shows
up in a small box on a page of 12. By selecting a
chapter box, it plays in its box. At that point, you
can erase the chapter or even combine adjoning chapters.
The chapter can also be divided into more smaller
chapters. (when using DVD-R, once finalized, the
Chapter View is lost. Also, these chapter editing
features are not usable on -R)
After all these edits are complete, say on HDD, you
can Hi-Speed DUB to DVD-R. All the chapters and
other edits are saved! During Hi-Speed DUBBING you
can record another program on the HDD while using
Hi-Speed DUBBING!
The front panel opens to reveal RCA A/V and
S-Video inputs. However, it does NOT have a
PC card reader nor DV input for a digital camcorder.
Many of the Functions and Settings on the
E85H are the same or simular to the HS-2. The
Functions page looks a little different and a
little cleaner. The remote control is laid
out better. All the buttons are exposed without
the slide at the bottom like the HS-2, which
makes it much easier to use. New buttons allow
one touch dubbing and chapter creation.
One other thing is
the slowest speed, EP, can be selected 6 hrs or
8 hrs. The 8 hr speed is really to slow, except
when recording something you do not plan to keep.
Even in the 6 hour speed the HDD can hold up to
160 hours with a fairly good picture when recording
from cable. When not in use and left on, the HDD
can go to SLEEP to preserve it life.
I hope this info is useful. Panasonic has
really outdone the competition with this new
recorder!

Kerosene

added by pkosta to dvdrhelp

[pkosta]

I'm going to go get one tomorrow at bestbuy in canada it sells for $999. I'm gonna get the opened box one for 899 and will let you know how this one is myself.

[pkosta]

another review

Reviewed by: dvdirv, from IN Date reviewed: 11-May-04

http://ecoustics.pricegrabber.com/rating_getprodrev.php/product_id=2555160/id_type=M/

Strengths:
Larger hard drive, TV Guide On Screen programming feature & Thumbnail Menus

Weaknesses:
No open/close option on remote

Summary:
The DMR-E85H is a great improvement over the previous model, the DMR-E80H!

The hard drive is now 120GB which gives you 213 hrs. in EP model, up from the earlier model with only 80GB which only gave you 106 hrs. If you wanted 120GB hard drive, you needed to spend $1199 for the previous model. Now this model has a list of $699.99 with even more options.


The TV Guide On Screen feature displays the channels and time just like a cable TV's preview channel. You just click on the name of the program and the program title and length and channel is automatically entered. The best part is that this is all free and operates through your existing cable channels. No need to connect via phone line and pay monthly fees like Tivo!


The menu screens for your DVDs now gives you a thumbnail picture of the program along with the text information. It automatically selects an image from the start of your chapter (or program). If you don't like it, you can change the thumbnail to another image into the chapter/program.


All in all, a great buy for the money. In one unit, you get a DVD recorder, editor and TV Guide programming feature.

[pkosta]

another review

Reviewed by: dvdirv, from IN Date reviewed: 11-May-04

http://ecoustics.pricegrabber.com/rating_getprodrev.php/product_id=2555160/id_type=M/

Strengths:
Larger hard drive, TV Guide On Screen programming feature & Thumbnail Menus

Weaknesses:
No open/close option on remote

Summary:
The DMR-E85H is a great improvement over the previous model, the DMR-E80H!

The hard drive is now 120GB which gives you 213 hrs. in EP model, up from the earlier model with only 80GB which only gave you 106 hrs. If you wanted 120GB hard drive, you needed to spend $1199 for the previous model. Now this model has a list of $699.99 with even more options.


The TV Guide On Screen feature displays the channels and time just like a cable TV's preview channel. You just click on the name of the program and the program title and length and channel is automatically entered. The best part is that this is all free and operates through your existing cable channels. No need to connect via phone line and pay monthly fees like Tivo!


The menu screens for your DVDs now gives you a thumbnail picture of the program along with the text information. It automatically selects an image from the start of your chapter (or program). If you don't like it, you can change the thumbnail to another image into the chapter/program.


All in all, a great buy for the money. In one unit, you get a DVD recorder, editor and TV Guide programming feature.

[handyguy]

"TV Guide programming feature"

Is that Guide Plus? Cause my tvs have that too.

I see the Sharp is out at ecost now, pretty decent unit for $389 with 80gig HD:
$389.99
http://www.sharpusa.com/products/ModelLanding/0,1058,1274,00.html

DV-HR300 DVD Recorder + 80 GB HDD
Sharp’s newest recordable DVD player has an internal hard disc drive

(HDD) that can record and store more than 100 hours of programming

[Sam Ontario]

"TV Guide programming feature"

Is that Guide Plus? Cause my tvs have that too.

I see the Sharp is out at ecost now, pretty decent unit for $389 with 80gig HD:
$389.99
http://www.sharpusa.com/products/ModelLanding/0,1058,1274,00.html

DV-HR300 DVD Recorder + 80 GB HDD
Sharp’s newest recordable DVD player has an internal hard disc drive

(HDD) that can record and store more than 100 hours of programming

Very good price DVD recorder with a HD!