Panasonic DMR-ES35V - video problems

[Crystal990]

I have a Panasonic DMR-ES35V that's starting to have problems playing dvds that I've recorded on this same device. I can play pre-recorded dvds without any problems. I am also able to record and finalize dvds without problems. So this is what happens.

I'll start playing the dvd and after a period of time (20, 30, 60 minutes; it doesn't seem to matter) the picture becomes jumbled and scattered. I am unable to FWD or RWD and if I let it sit, it locks up. I have to play around with stopping and powering the unit off to eject the dvd. If I can eject the dvd and put it back, it starts to play at the same point with the picture corrupted. If I power off the unit and power on and insert the dvd, I am able to FWD past the problem area but it will start acting up again at a different section. I can take the same dvd and play it on my other dvd player without problems.

So, the manual and panasonic support are no help. Panasonic support did suggest to update the firmware, but I'm afraid that I could totally screw up the unit and not even be able to record the movies that I have saved on the DVR.

I don't mind buying another recorder, but I like the flexible recording selection on the panasonic and I'm not sure if I want to buy another panasonic if they don't support them anymore.

Any suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Crystal

[hech54]

1) Crappy discs(memorex, tdk, etc etc)
2) The unit is just plain dying.

[sanlyn]

One of the weak spots in almost all DVD recorders was/is the optical drive (it seems that power problems rate a close second). The unit might need cleaning or a laser alignment. Or a new drive. The generation of Panasonic that you mention wasn't known for longevity. But all big-name brands have that problem, now that they don't even make their own stuff any more.