Philips DVR75 or Panasonic E50?

[asichter]

What would be your choice if you were to choose between the Philips DVR75 and the Panasonic E50? Pro's and con's???

Andy.

[RAAGAAman]

E50. The Philips does not have a timeslip function and I have always found the Philips set top recorders not as polished as the Panasonic recorders. Better Menu features and manual.

RG

[donpedro]

Philips... just to say oposite as before...

Why ? Because it has FireWire input and it can be conected to PC and output from editing program. Because when you record from MiniDV camcorder it creates Subtitle with date and time that MiniDV was recorded and you can display it or not. Because you can delete and insert chapter points after recording. Because you can divide title on RW. Because it has picture menu. Because you can zoom in during playback. And finaly because you can record in PAL too and not just in NTSC.

I forgot... because I don't have DVD-ROM that reads DVD-RAM but it reads DVD+RW and players can play DVD+RW and nor DVD-RAM.

[handyguy]

I have a panasonic I prefer those. I have a e30 but they took some of its nice features out in their next models, e50+

Try onecall.com or buydig.com

I see Pioneer is offering a possible $100 rebate in feb on theirs.

you could always read the board comments sections:
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters.php?DVDnameid=34&Search=Search&list=1#comments

[thebrokebeader]

I have the Phillips 75 recorder and really like the system. But the manual is the worst piece of work I have ever had the occasion to try to decipher. However, to give them credit, I called their tech service and my questions were not only answered promptly, but also with a thorough knowledge of their product.

[next]

I have a panasonic I prefer those. I have a e30 but they took some of its nice features out in their next models, e50+

Try onecall.com or buydig.com

I see Pioneer is offering a possible $100 rebate in feb on theirs.

you could always read the board comments sections:
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters.php?DVDnameid=34&Search=Search&list=1#comments

Regardless of all of the because's. Get the Panasonic.

It's very easy and it works.

[donpedro]

asichter, I saw your other post.... So what did you decide ?

[asichter]

Donpedro - I did buy the Panasonic E50 last week. I have the option of taking it back and getting the DVR75 for the same price. I'm still deciding. I also have the Panasonic E20, which is actually a better unit than the E50 - more features; scart connections, audio level adjustment. I want to do some more tests with the DVR75 before deciding.

Andy S.

[donpedro]

Get one with HD. It is great !!!

[asichter]

After a few more days of testing I finally exchanged the Panasonic E50 for the Philips DVDR75/691. I already have the Panny E20, which has more features than the E50 anyway. I got the Philips on special for the same price as the Panny.

I'm really sold on the idea of mastering to +RW, which I can record over later if I decide not to keep something. While I could do this with -RAM, it's rather expensive in comparison to +RW. You can get +RW discs for the same price as +R/-R, whereas -RAM is 3 times the cost.

I've found the DVDR75 to be flawless. I've come across absolutely no issues with this unit at all, which rather surprised me considering the problems Philips have had with their earlier models. I can also record movies from my Teac DV2150 without a macrovision decoder, though I don't know why. The macrovision signal being put out by the Teac must be too weak to have any effect on the Philips. VHS tapes which I couldn't copy to the Panny E20 in the past I can now copy to the Philips through the macrovision decoder. As you could imagine I'm pretty impressed!

I will keep the forum up-to-date with any issues that I may come across with the DVDR75/691 in the future, but to date it's been flawless. Well done to Philips. I think they're finally getting it together!

Andy S.

[FKrueger]

Philips DVDR75, and I like it, I have no use for Ram.

[asichter]

The DVDR75 has been great so far, absolutely no problems. I'm still waiting on a fw update from Philips. Hopefully it should be here today, and hopefully they'll include details on what issues it addresses. I'm a little reluctant to go with the update just yet. as I've had no issues, unless I know exactly what it fixes. I'll post an update after I get the fw update.

Andy.

[tommyoz]

asichter,
Have tried to reauthor any of your recordings on your computer?
If so, have you had any trouble with it?

[qpskfec]

Reauthoring discs made on a Philps is pretty simple. I use DVDecrypter in ifo mode to rip, rename vob to mpg, then load into DVD Movie Factory.

[asichter]

tommyoz ... I don't have a home PC at the moment, so I can't answer that one for you. I've been spending my money on DVD Recorders and VCR's!

Andy S.

[tommyoz]

Well I just went and bought one. I've already returned 2 different recorders. I'll see how this one pans out.

My main job is to first replace all my VHS tapes with DVD's on DVD+r so that I can keep them as the masters. I will get rid of VHS for good. Later I will take the ones that are worth reauthoring on my PC and making better menus and all.

[tommyoz]

Did my first recording last night on the Philips, everything went well. Of course I did a rewritable first. I chose the Philips over the Panasonic only because I have a lot of DVD+R. I use DVD-R for for all my other stuff. I just wanted to replace my VHS tapes. So I thought this would be a great opportunity to use up the DVD+R's.

I found that it was easier for me to just go ahead and surf with the remote and only use the manual for reference. Some people have complained about the manual being confusing.

This a nicely built unit. Better then my previous 2 recorders (Sansui & Cyberhome). It actually has component video inputs. This was a nice surprise. The recording I made had no problem being recognized by 2 authoring programs I tried (Tmpgenc DVD Author & DVDLab). This was an issue with the other 2 recorders. I don't think I'll be doing any TV recording (I have another method I use for that) at least not now. Replacing my VHS tapes is my first priority. I'll report more as keep recording.

[asichter]

tommyoz - it would be great to hear your review on the Philips, once you've had a good chance to play around with it. Looking forward to it.

Andy.

[rjack1]

What would be your choice if you were to choose between the Philips DVR75 and the Panasonic E50? Pro's and con's???

Andy.

I own both of those models, and I would have to say that the Panasonic has the edge. The Panasonic has the one true feature for transferring analog vhs to digital, which is a true time base corrector right at the input circuits, where it belongs. The Phillips has a virtual time base corrector, for all intents and purposes does not exist. The Panasonic is also a more durable and polished unit. Beleive it or not I am now sending the Phillips back a second time for repair, because the unit will no longer burn to a (+r disc). It does however still records to (+rw disc) which does not benefit me because I only burn to +r for a permanent copy, and +rw for setup testing. I have owned this unit for only six months, without any problems until this problem occured. I can say that when it works, it performs flawlessly.

[asichter]

The Panasonic has the one true feature for transferring analog vhs to digital, which is a true time base corrector right at the input circuits, where it belongs. The Phillips has a virtual time base corrector, for all intents and purposes does not exist.

What is the difference between a standard TBC and a 'virtual' TBC. The Panasonic has the TBC on the input circuts, at what point does the TBC come into play with the Philips?

Andy.

[asichter]

The Panasonic has the one true feature for transferring analog vhs to digital, which is a true time base corrector right at the input circuits, where it belongs. The Phillips has a virtual time base corrector, for all intents and purposes does not exist.

What is the difference between a standard TBC and a 'virtual' TBC. The Panasonic has the TBC on the input circuts, at what point does the TBC come into play with the Philips?

Andy.

[mike1061]

rjack1
Would you please comment on any other differances between them. Do both models leave a blank space between edits? what I mean is when you play back the disks can you tell where the comercials were? Or how about if you put in track marker (or split the track) in the middle of the program. Like if you were to seperate the parts (and the nominiees are, and there acceptance speech).
Thanks Mike.

[skateni]

Had the same predicament and chose the Philips DVDR75 due to the simple fact that i have a DVD+RW on my computer and can use the media for both. That's a big plus to me and I can't compare with the Panasonic but the pics came out good at M1 and M2 setting. No complains with the DVDR75. Remote sucks and the manual is written by non-English people i think

[tommyoz]

I wouldn't doubt that the Panasonic is probably the better built machine but like the previous poster I wanted a DVD+R/RW recorder.

I think any way you go, you are going to have some kind of problem or there is going to be something you don't like about it. I just wanna get rid of all my VHS tapes. I'll probably return the Philips as well.

I don't think the companies have this DVD recording thing down yet. It's definetly not anything like making a DVD on your Computer. This is why I am using the stand alone to replace my VHS tapes and later reauthor on my computer on the ones that are worth it. It just takes too much time to Capture VHS on the computer then encode, author and burn.

I'll wait around for the next generation of DVD recorders, Whatever that may be. Or i'll just keep burning from the computer.

[Kevin abq]

Philips was one of the brands I researched before buying the Panny E50. So was Pioneer, Sony, JVC, etc. The Panasonic had two features I thought were absolute musts for my VHS transfer project - A Time Base Corrector, and adaptive bitrate recording. The TBC is necessary because of tape stretch and mechanical slop in the VCR, unless you're fond of poor lip-sync
(My PC capture setup uses a Snazzi III USB2 capture box and a Datavideo TBC-1000 standalone full-frame TBC. I found out the hard way just how necessary a TBC is in VHS transfers. Lip-sync is a cinch now and since buying the TBC I've transferred over 1,200 movies.)
The adaptive bitrate allows you to tell the Panny how long the recording is and it maximizes the capture bitrate to completely fill the disc. The other brands had block-select bitrate in increments, like 60, 90, 120 180 and 360 minutes. So if you have a 2:05 movie to cap, the others would require you to use the 3-hour bitrate and risk macro blocks in scenes with flashing lights or lots of action. My Snazzi allows full adjustment of the average and peak bitrates and I always maximize the bitrate to fill the disc. The results are much better!

I've found that the cutoff point for good, single-disc captures is about 2:15 - 2:20 depending on the intensity of the action. More than that and I put it on two discs. The Panny was the only unit I found that had this feature and made the choice easy. Why the others don't do it this way is a mystery to me. Especially Pioneer, who was the first with a consumer standalone. The Panny also has hybrid VBR which minimizes macro blocks by devoting more bandwidth to intense action scenes than the typical encoder, which may only bump up the bitrate by 1 Mbps or so. The Panny balances the overall bitrate by lowering bitrate on static scenes where there's little action. Plus, my PC has a Panny LF-D311 DVD-RAM/DVD-R burner and that compatibility was a nice added bonus.

Canopus uses Panasonic-made LSI video ICs in their products. Canopus is a well-respected company in the component capture world.

[tommyoz]

Kevin abq,
Sounds like you did your research. I like the sound of the adaptive bitrate recording feature. That would be nice to have. All that sounds great but what about the making of menus. I have tried 3 different recorders and they are nothing like creating a nice looking disc from the computer.

The other thing is that the Panasonic only records to DVD-R or DVD-Ram.

[Kevin abq]

Kevin abq,
Sounds like you did your research. I like the sound of the adaptive bitrate recording feature. That would be nice to have. All that sounds great but what about the making of menus. I have tried 3 different recorders and they are nothing like creating a nice looking disc from the computer.

The other thing is that the Panasonic only records to DVD-R or DVD-Ram.

Tommyoz,
True enough. The menus on the standalones are often like afterthoughts. I should have added that I rarely need to edit or add menus with my project, so it wasn't a high priority for me. Plus, I can always record on RAM and move the video to the PC for editing in Video Studio, Vision Express or Movie Factory. I usually just capture and burn - straight archiving. The TBC and adaptive bitrate far, far outweighed the editing features for my needs

The menu and editing features on the E50 (and many other models) are rudimentary at best and might be a problem for someone who relies on only their standalone for editing.

[handyguy]

"I will get rid of VHS for good."

Why? You're assuming there are going to be dvd players far into the future.

[tommyoz]

True enough. The menus on the standalones are often like afterthoughts. I should have added that I rarely need to edit or add menus with my project, so it wasn't a high priority for me. Plus, I can always record on RAM and move the video to the PC for editing in Video Studio, Vision Express or Movie Factory. I usually just capture and burn - straight archiving. The TBC and adaptive bitrate far, far outweighed the editing features for my needs

Like they say, everyone has their own needs. Technically I can do all this on my computer. I chose to look into stand alones just to try and save some time. I may decide to look into the Panasonic. I haven't thrown away any VCR tapes yet. If I do, I'll probably go with the one that has a hard drive. The only problem I see would be the DVD-Ram. I don't support it and I don't think I want to.

[Kevin abq]

The DVD-RAM is kind of an added bonus to me too. I didn't really need it. The time-slip (simult. record and playback) is nice, but not really what I bought it for. That would be better if you wanted a machine to mimic a Tivo box. Broadcast TV is something I rarely record so I could live without the time slip. The DVD-RAM would be nice as a reusable media to go between the recorder and the PC for editing but there again, I do so little editing it wouldn't be a huge loss to not have it. Same with the HD. That only strikes me as useful if I were to record several episodes and burn all at once. My burning is going to be "real-time" so the HD is just an extra expense.