Panasonic DMR-E50 and DMR-E60

[gunner16]

Can anyone please advice me what the difference is between the DMR-E50 and the DMR-E60.
The full specs of the machines do not seam to show the difference.

[handyguy]

They are pretty much the same. The better model is actually E30. Or one of their HD models.

[piano632]

The E60 has a firewire input for camcorder connection while the E50 does not. Otherwise they are the same.

[Poppa_Meth]

what makes the E30 better? looking in to possibly getting one.

[markjj]

gunner16. Where are you located? In the uk this month the respected "Home Cinema Choice" magazine has a full article on the E60. I've got an E50 (thanks to to advice from some respected guys on this site). From what I read the E60 has an SD card slot and a PC Card slot to transfer jpeg images etc. Very neat. A summary on the review:

DVD-RAM/DVD-r Compatibility (same as E50). OTR; 16 event, 1 month videoPlus timer with PDC, ; switchable disc protection,: timeslip (dvd-ram only); lpcm/dolby digital 2.0 audio recording; playlist editing; divide; erase; partial erase; direct disc navigator; 16/9, 4/3 support; Q-link; auto install; program/random/resume play; child lock; 5x search/slow motion speeds, 1.3x "quick view" play with sound; 30 second (commercial) skip; sound-with-search; frame advance; still frame; postcode security; dts/dolby digital support; sd/mmc card and pcmcia card readers (see above); sky personal planners support.

Recording modes- XP (1h) SP (2h) LP (4h) &EP (6h) plus flexible recording 1-6h variable compression.

Supports DVD,CD, VCD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RW (video mode only), DVD-R, DVD+r, DVD-RAM, DVD-A (2 channel), MP3, JPEG

Rear connections stereo/audio in/out; s-video in/out; composite video in/out; aerial in/out; optical digital out; 2x scart (one RGB in one RGB out); standby loopthrough.

Front connections: composite/s-video in; stereo audio in; i-link.

Dimensions 430wx79hx263d. Weight 4k.

Oh, and the reomte control has been vastly improved from the E50, consisting of a slimmer brushed aluminium version.

Home Cinema Choice gives it a "best buy" award - 4.5/5 rating. RRP (UK) is £550. You might find more infor on www.homecinemachoice.com

It doesn't look mega different to the E50 but do your homework before parting with your hard earned. Hope this helps.

M

[markjj]

Good luck with it Gunner. Let us know how you get on. If you decide to save a few bob and get the E50 (you won't be disappointed) check pricerunner.com for the latest prices. Richer Sounds are selling for £329 multi region but it's available for a lot less online. Personally I'm happy to keep my E50 (region 2) solely as a recorder and use my crappy Logix 3000 to play multi regiopns, rips etc and take the daily wear and tear.

transferring from RAM and authoring is another subject entirely..... but don't be put off. There's some great advice on the site how to do this for next to nothing including AC-3 support

[Bob W]

Good luck with it Gunner. Let us know how you get on. If you decide to save a few bob and get the E50 (you won't be disappointed) check pricerunner.com for the latest prices. Richer Sounds are selling for £329 multi region but it's available for a lot less online. Personally I'm happy to keep my E50 (region 2) solely as a recorder and use my crappy Logix 3000 to play multi regiopns, rips etc and take the daily wear and tear.

transferring from RAM and authoring is another subject entirely..... but don't be put off. There's some great advice on the site how to do this for next to nothing including AC-3 support

To do a transfer from DVD-RAM I had to buy a Toshiba DVD drive that also reads DVD-Ram ($39). What I do is just copy the VRO files to my hard drive then change the file extention to mpeg or VOB and import them into NeoDVD Plus which will accept VOB files and AC3 audio.

[markjj]

Bob's absolutely right and I followed his advice to to get top results. I got an LG dvd rom from PC World for £39 (£24 on dabs.com) which reads dvd-ram. I've tinkered with dvd author and MF2 - the former being easier to get ac-3 passthrough if editing the video.

BTW Bob - any recommendations on neodvd over dvd author? Cant get a trial for the former but can edit video in dvd authror then run through MF2 for chapters etc if necessary.

I thank you all (bobw, thoots, chaos etc.) for your advice over the last few weeks to help me get where I am. Take a bow

[Bob W]

I don't know a thing about DVD author. NeoDVD is a pretty basic program but it's easy to use and it doesn't have a bunch of bugs like so many other programs seem to have. I would think any authoring program that accepts mpeg2 files and AC3 audio should work just fine for editing. The problem is finding programs that will work with AC3 audio seems to be the biggest problem.

[donpedro]

Bob W, what about trial version?

[Bob W]

Bob W, what about trial version?

A few months ago I emailed MedioStream and asked about a demo for NeoDVD. They said they didn't have one and there was no indication there would be one forthcoming. They do offer a 30 day no questions asked refund for orders from their site. I seem to remember seeing the program at CompUSA for I believe $39.

[donpedro]

OK, it is just that 2 days ago here in the tools section they were saying Trialware, now it is Payware. Thanks.

[Bob W]

It does seem very strange to me that they would have a program that works well and not offer a demo like every other software company does.

[handyguy]

e30 is one of their older units it has more buttons on the front panel & more inputs/outputs, so its not so dependent on the remote. they are all nice models. ebay has some of these, they are cheaper than the other models.

cyberhome has a dvd recorder at hsn.com for $324, yet another recorder to look at.

[ejai]

E30 better?????

No way, The e50 models don't have the black level bug that plagues the e30 and older models. The video is lighter than the original. This is the reason that I bought the e50, I gave the e30 to my son so he could record his programs.

There is definately a difference. I noticed it before I even saw posts on the web complaining about the bug. Yes the e30 is still a great machine and can be operated without using the hand controller.

[gunner16]

OK Guys Thanks a lot for all the info.
I will most likely buy the DMR-50.
I have ordered the magazine "Home Cinema Choice" will read the artical on DVD Recorders, then make my mind up which to buy.

[handyguy]

"The e50 models don't have the black level bug that plagues the e30 and older models. "

I dont notice it but then my e30 was made in Oct 2002

[ejai]

Well it does exsist.

I've taken several movies and recorded them using both machines and the the e30 copy comes out lighter than the e50. I've even had friends check out the difference and they prefer the e50 copy over the e30. Also the color of the e50 is more richer and the e30 looks a bit washed out. It's very noticeable.

Most people will not be concerned about the bug because the video still comes out great (only lighter). I am very picky and will notice the slightest difference.
I personally recommend the e50, and only because of the bug issue. Other than that both machines will do a marvelous job of capturing video.

[MicoMan]

OK Guys Thanks a lot for all the info.
I will most likely buy the DMR-50.
I have ordered the magazine "Home Cinema Choice" will read the artical on DVD Recorders, then make my mind up which to buy.

Use this link for the best price - http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPC-Panasonic_DMR_E50~FD-87

I used Digital Point who give free next day delivery!

[jema]

ouch

that's more than £100 less than I paid several months ago and now they say multi-region? Last time I looked I could not even find a hack?

jema

[handyguy]

"There is definately a difference. I noticed it before I even saw posts on the web complaining about the bug."

I might not have noticed it cause I only play them on the e30 & in that case it won't show up.

[bujer121]

I have a DMR-30 and I have noticed the picture gets brighter. This only comes in handy on some of my older videos that are too dark. Is there a way to adjust the brigthness up on the E50 if needed? Usually I would prefer the picture to retain its original color better.

[handyguy]

Yes, there are several video adjustments you can make to change the picture quality & several presets too. Manual should have that info or press the display button & see if its there.

Those with e30s that called Panasonic never got another machine?

[ejai]

I spoke to a Panasonic tech some time ago and he told me that he had heard about the black level problem on the e30 but did not know if the company was planning to do anything about it.

The only thing that pisses me off is that I've made many disks with the e30. I would like to have had them as close as possible to the originals.
The funny thing abut all this is that most people will play their disks back on the e30 and never see the difference. If you play the disk on the e30 they look fine, but once you start playing them in other players then you will start seeing the brightness problem (that's how I noticed it).

AVS Forum has a large thread dedicated to this same problem, when I read the input from other e30 customers I knew it wasn't me. Yet it is still a good machine.

[donpedro]

Well I have two DVD players and each plays DVD-Video diferently. Daewoo is much darker so maybe you can buy that to compensate light colors od E30

[ejai]

I agree I have noticed that some dvd players play discs lighter or darker depending on the player. That can help, but the answer should be with the manufactuer of the recorder.

In order to remedy this program just give us the ability to control the black level. I must admit I was able to get by the problem using the AVT-8710 TBC, this unit has built in video filtering controls.

[handyguy]

Your tv should have a black level adjustment & you can set it as your personal preference.

I still haven't got this black level thing yet with any of the players I play on but then maybe they corrected it in some units.

Here is a cool trick to get around copy protection. I don't know if it's going to work, as Im not setup to test it right now, but I read someone tried it. Put in a blank vhs cassette & record on your e30/50 for at least ten seconds, then put in a copy protected vhs, but keep recording all the time you do this. THe idea is that the panasonic only checks protection at the start. Anyway, just another cool thing to try. You can also try dvds.