Panasonic DMR-T2020

[telemike]

I ran across the Panasonic DMR-T2020 pro DVD recorder. I wonder if this does not have SCMS or macrovision?

[dafoe]

I have the DMR-E20 and it has copy protection. But that can be fixed easily enough with a video clarifier.

Copy protection is even easier to beat with a good rip and a dvdr burner.

[thxkid]

I have the DMR-E20 and yes all DVD recorders have the Serial copy mangement sytem, But I found out that can be bypassed with the Sampo 631CF DVD Player with a Firmware hack easily done with a CD-R.
By the way copying backups from the sampo to the Panasonic is a Hell a lot quicker that a rip and burn you could make 3 copy backups to one DVD Rip backup.

[dafoe]

I bought a Kones DVD player last summer because they are supposedly manufactured code, region and macrovision free. I copied tons of DVDs to VHS.

However, when I tried to copy to DVD with my DMR-E20, I got a message saying "you are not allowed to copy this material" I ran the Kones unit through a video clarifier and the DVD copied perfectly.

Secondly, if I'm going to copy a DVD, I want to have all the menus and specials features which is impossible unless you rip the DVD.

My DVD burner is a 1x and it takes less than an hour to burn a full DVD. So, in theory, if you had one of of the Pioneer 2.4x burners it would take about 20 min per disc. Even if you have to split the movie over 2 DVDRs you are still ahead of the game since the rip generally only takes 45 min

Don't get me wrong, I love my DMR-E20 and I'll continue to use it for Patriots games and collecting my favorite sitcoms. But for movie backups, I'll stick with my PC

[Bob Casey]

I have a panasonic dmr-t2020 and would like to know how to record from another dvd player is there special players or a a way that I can format any of my home units

[cptv]

Newbie here. Didn't want to be redundant, so I tried to research this in this forum, but couldn't find much. So, here goes:

The t2020 is very popular in my area (US-Ga.). Is it supposed to replace the E20/30? What are the differences between them?

I've also been trying to find an inexpensive dvd recorder with component input, but I read in another post on this forum that the component recording was actually WORSE than S-Video (It was not a Panasonic.), and wondered if that was the reason the t2020 didn't have it. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

[dafoe]

I have a DVD player that was manufactured to be Macrovision free and I can copy DVDs to VHS with no problem. However, in order to copy them to DVD on my DMR-E20 I have to run the player through a Video Clarifier.

If you want to copy DVDs, the best way is with a PC DVD burner. They are only around $250 and you can copy the movie exactly (including the title menu) as opposed to having just the film.

As for the person asking about component input, I'm not sure why you would want that. I don't know much about it but I'm assuming that SVideo is the best input available outsideof firewire.

And I own the DMR-E20 and can't find any feature on yours that mine dosen't have. They probably just realeased it at a cheaper price. The MSRP on mine was $1500 when it was released.

[cavevideo]

The Panasonic T2020 has been around for awhile. It is similar to the E-20 but is part of their Pro-line. The E-30 is the newest and has progressive scan.

[thxkid]

excuse me dafoe but tell them the whole truth how long does it take to put the DVD in the computer, decrpyt it, rip it and then burn it , I bet its around 4-8 hrs, about 2-4 times what the DMR-E20 takes and thats if you get the rip done corrrectly the 1st time. so just tell them its 30-60 minutes thats after you take all that time trying to rip the thing. I can get a 90min. movie done in 94minutes takes a lot longer that that to get a ripped movie on a DVD-R from a computer DVD recorder and yes if you buy a DVD burner its about half what the DMR-E20 cost, but the DVD Burner will not record your broadcast or Dishnet shows, without extra equipment either, by the time you add a good capture card and the correct software to record broadcsast from your computer your at the same cost of a DVD recorder I got mine new at Circuit city for $499 and the DMR-E10 New at Amazon.com for $399.

[Eug]

???

It takes less than 30 minutes to decrypt and rip the DVD to the hard disk, and then 30 minutes to 1 hour to burn (depending on the drive and DVD-R).

It only takes a long time if you have to re-encode the thing, although granted, a lot of movies these days would require re-encoding.

However, for all the 4.3 GB or less DVDs out there, a full complete backup with all the menus should take less than one hour with a 2X burner, from the original DVD to the finished DVD-R backup.

Anyways, I have a computer DVD recorder, and have ordered a DMR-E30 as well. Best of both worlds.

[dafoe]

When I said that a PC burner was best for backing up DVDs, it was simply a matter of opinion. I didn't mean to imply that it was faster.

If all I'm after is the movie, I would rather put it on a Sony Premium Grade VHS tape. I can fit three movies on $1.40 tape. Personaly, the whole idea of backing up a DVD is to have the title menu and special features which is impossible when dubbing with a DVD recorder.

I bought the DMR-E20 to record & collect Patriots games and my favorite TV shows on DVD. Yes, the DMR-E20 can back up DVDs as long as you don't care about having the title menu.

Here is my rip method:
1) Create a VIDEO_TS folder
2) Using smartripper, rip ALL the files to that folder
3) If the DVD is too big for one disc (it almost always is) I figure out how I'm going to split up the files. Usually, I put all the special features and as many of the movie files as I can fit on the first disc. On the second disc, I put the rest of the movie files and as many of the special features as I can fit on it.

I have burned a couple dozen movies so far and I've never re-encoded anything. If I have to re-encode the video to a lower quality, what's the point of "copying a DVD?"

Which brings me to another point: If the DMR-E20 has a 1 hour record mode then what is the resolution of the two hour mode? Logic would seem to indicate that it couldn't possibly be equal to that of a store bought DVD quality

And generally speking, my method takes about three hours to back up a dual layered DVD- my burner is only a 1x.

I'm not saying don't buy a DMR-E20. I love mine. But if all your doing is backing up DVDs, it would be a waste of money. Also, I've never tried it myself, but a PC burner can copy PS2 games.

[cptv]

Here's a post I found on another forum:

I have been wondering for the longest time what the difference between the T2020 & the E20 was. I asked store people, searched the web, asked friends, read articles with no luck. finnally, I found a Panasonic rep. at a show and was told the only differecnce is the T2020 has a 3-prong power cord & the E20 has a household type 2-prong cord.

Is this true? Is there any other difference???? Am I going to pay more for a T2020 just because it's in the "Pro-Line"?

Thanks for shedding some light on this...

[cptv]

The Last Word.....
-----------
Got an email back from Panasonic which said the T2020 was virtually identical to the E20, but conformed to certain technical standards in commercial applications. The differences were:

1. The power cord uses a three prong plug.
2. The unit is supplied with a BNC to RCA adapter plug.
3. The unit does not attempt to auto program the tuner upon initial power up.
4. The T2020 is only offered in black instead of black or silver versions.

All specs were identical.

An interesting note was that the E20 was a 2001 machine, while the E30 is the 2002 version.

I got the E30 at buydig.com for $518.00. (The power cord was just a little TOOOOOO expensive .)