Comparing the Panasonic DMR-EH50S and Pioneer DVR-531H-s

[siskiou]

I currently have both models in the house to try out over the next couple of weeks, since reading reviews and manuals has not helped me decide between the two.

Setup of the Pioneer was fairly simple and straightforward (though it may have been reading all the reviews that helped ), and I do like the picture quality and all the adjustment options!

It seems playing back my dvds recorded on the Liteon 5045 also look a little sharper on the Pioneer during playback (I used the detailed settings for the output, mainly just playing around until it looked best to me).

I find their menu a bit hard to read (the old eyes aren't what they used to be) and kind of cluttered, with a lot of extra "next" and then "enter" kind of stuff.

The remote is also something to get used to for me, after the minimalistic one I had with the Liteon 5045.

One question for Pioneer owners: I have mine set for automatic chapters every 10 minutes, but have not been able to find any chapters on the 6 hours of vhs I recorded to the HDD last night.
Am I missing something?

Also, editing is a bit tiresome with constantly having to dial through the options to get to the next editing step after completing one.

Also, the Pioneer can not dub the dvd+rs I recorded on the Liteon to the HDD (either as back-up or regular), which is a disappointment.

Since we have DirecTV, I chose no antenna, no cable and have not heard anything from the recorder trying to set up the EPG.
When it's turned off, it just sits there quietly (but does show "EPG" on the front panel).

I'll update once I try out the Panny, but I'm just a run-of-the-mill user and this will be just personal opinion!

My preference for PQ is sharpness and detail (with some artifacts) over smooth, but blurrier.
Just as a comparison, I thought the Liteon 5045 produced a pq that was a little too blurry for my taste, while I've read many reviews complimenting Liteons' sharp pq quality.

It was okay, and I would have kept the Liteon for its general ease of use and functions, had it not decided to stop working.

[hech54]

Oh great....someone else who has deemed himself/herself an official tester at the expense of the retailer that he/she purchased it from....

[siskiou]

Oh great....someone else who has deemed himself/herself an official tester at the expense of the retailer that he/she purchased it from....

Read my post!
You must have overlooked this part:
"I'll update once I try out the Panny, but I'm just a run-of-the-mill user and this will be just personal opinion!".

[hech54]

I currently have both models in the house to try out over the next couple of weeks, since reading reviews and manuals has not helped me decide between the two.

Meaning you now own both machines. And I'm sure you kept the receipts and you will be returning the one you have deemed inferior....at the expense of the retailer you purchased it from. All this after you tried burning everything in it except your morning toast.
Thanks for keeping the retailers busy updating their return policies to ward off "Self Proclaimed Beta Testers" like yourself. Now when the rest of us have a legitimate return....we'll have people like you to thank when retailers give us a hard time.

[blinky88]

siskiou,

Do not take offence to hech54's statements as there are probally plenty of members considering buying a DVR so your posts here may be helpful to them. It does not matter what experience a member wants to write about there is always someone who wants to attack the post.

I only have experience with the Pioneer 530H-s and I'm extremely happy with the quality results it produces however as you said, the menu is a little hard on the eyes and it should have been given more thought to make it more user friendly, that is my only beef with the Pioneer.

I cannot think of anyone if given the opportunity to take home both recorders to try before buy would not do so, your retailer obviously values your business.

[siskiou]

I may actually keep both, as there are certain things I like better about each one.
Or I'll sell one on ebay.

Here is a little list of (personal) likes:

Panasonic

-LP picture quality

-editing out commercials (much smoother, more accurate and easier on the Panny! I can't seem to hit a black frame on the Pioneer *before* a commercial, while it seems to work at the end of it. Even with "Pause" and "step froward/back" it always goes past the frame I am aiming for. )

-uses +dvds

-can dub from dvd to HDD even with disks recorded on other models

-seems less finicky when it comes to blank media

-menu font and layout easier to read for me

-slightly larger HDD (100GB, 80GB for the Pioneer)

Pioneer

-Can copy chapters in high speed mode (you have to add them in Edit. The automatic ones don't seem to get transferred when high speed dubbing.
According the manual, the Panasonic should do this, too, but it didn't work for me.)

-can edit, copy to dvd while recording to the HDD

-multimode edit

-more flexible recording modes

-can burn double layer dvds

-less confusing manual

-CM skip forward and back

-remote more responsive

-Video input/output adjustment options!

-XP+ recording speed

We have DirecTV, so the EPG is useless for us.
Manual timer recordings worked easily on both models, though the settings are a little easier to accomplish with the Pioneer.
For the Panny I needed the manual to find out which buttons to use (not the most intuitive).

[trhouse]

The Pioneer has a softer image in these tests. The older Pioneers seem to do better for resolution.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279460

[donpedro]

One question for Pioneer owners: I have mine set for automatic chapters every 10 minutes, but have not been able to find any chapters on the 6 hours of vhs I recorded to the HDD last night.
Am I missing something?

Recording to HDD does not create CH autoamticaly. They are inserted during transfer to DVD.