E80H and me

[pjblevin]

I've had my Panasonic E80H since last spring. It took me an inordinate amount of time to conquer the most basic stuff. I've never had such such difficulty with any other device in my entire life. I believe I can attribute it to the user's manual, which, to use a technical term, sucks. Anyway, I've been able to record stuff onto DVD-RAM from TiVo downloads. Then one day, I decided that I wanted to make a copy of one of these DVD's and give to a friend. So I connected up my elderly Sony DVD player (maybe 3 or 4 years old) to the input of the E80H, and pressed "play". After it seemed like the Sony was trying to make up it's mind, it finally declared......"NO DISC". It doesn't recognize the DVD-RAM format. So here's my question: Can I record the contents of the DVD-RAM disc onto the E80H harddrive? What I mean is popping the recorded disc into the E80H, and copying it's contents onto the E80H harddrive, and then inserting a fresh disc into the Panasonic DVR, and then burn a disc, which would be a copy of the original DVD-RAM disc. I hope this is comprehensible. Thanks for any help.

pjblevin

[Redman66]

Sure you can copy from DVD-RAM to the HDD. Just go to your dubbing menu and choose the direction dvd - hdd.
Just remember the panasonic has built in Copyright protection.
So as long as it can read the disc (playable), it should be able to copy to the E80 HDD.


Hope this helps

Goodluck...

[pjblevin]

Redman66: I followed your instructions, and here's the results: (both discs that I used had content from non-copyrighted sources)

1. DVD-R disc to HDD: When I tried to transfer from DVD-R to Harddrive, the following message appeared: "Cannot dub from this disc"

2. DVD-RAM disc to HDD: With this disc, there was no message, as there was with the DVD-R. Nevertheless, E80H would not respond to the highlighted "Start Dubbing" command.

Any ideas about solving the problem would be greatly appreciated.

pjblevin

[pjblevin]

My final conclusion on the E80H------HDD/DVD situation. I can RECORD from the outside world to either the HDD or to the DVD. And I can PLAY BACK from either the HDD or DVD. However, I CANNOT record from HDD to DVD......NOR can I record from DVD to HDD. I've tried everything possible at least 2 or 3 times, over the course of 2 days......to no avail. Now someone may say.......hey, there's something wrong with your E80H. Maybe so. Fine. But I'm just gonna take a totally different approach and record from an external DVD player onto my DVD recorder on the E80H. Here's my final question: Is there a simple DVD single-disc unit, preferably just a player, that can play both DVD-RAM & DVD-R??

pjblevin

[oldfart13]

I understand what you were trying to do:

RAM to HDD...yes, for content originally recorded to the DVD-RAM from the E80H. No for original content from another source. DVD-R cannot be copied to the E80H HDD. It says so in the manual as well as numerous posts in this forum.

You should have been reading the comments for the E80H from this forum as well as the one at avsforums. Things would have been a lot easier for you. I have had my E80H for about 13 months now and I love it. I'm recording a program even as I type this. I have no problems with RAM discs as I use them for transferring content from the E80H to my computer for reauthoring. I don't use them for playback though most Panasonic DVD players of the past several years can play them back. Authoring a disc is very simple...content from the E80H to DVD-RAM. Transfer to computer HDD with my LG4040B burner that accepts the DVD-RAM discs. I copy single programs to separate folders on my HDD with Panasonic DVD Movie Album Copy Tool or a single disc FR recording like a movie using Windows copy command. This works perfectly. I then edit out commercials with Womble Mpeg Video Wizard (some people also like Womble Mpg-VCR) resave with automatic setting which requires no re-encoding. Author the disc with or without menues with TMPGEnc DVD Author. Burn with Nero. Nothing simpler. I've been using this method for many many months now.

[pjblevin]

Oldfart13:

I'm an old fart myself, but way behind you on the DVD learning curve. However, I'm making headway. I'm gonna buy a Panasonic S27, (it's inexpensive) and use it to copy DVD's that I've already created. I don't have any DVD burning capabilities on my PC system yet, but I'm keeping your post for the future. Thanks for the help.

pjblevin

[oldfart13]

Ripping the DVD is easier and won't lose anything rather than copying in analog mode from a player to a recorder. DVD burners like the new 16X LG can be had for as little as $90CAD + tax. I'd wait a couple weeks until Boxing Day and pick one up even cheaper than that. I will see what is available up here and then maybe replace my LG4040B on Boxing Day...

[pjblevin]

Oldfart: I've got 2 CD drives in my main PC.....one is the original CD drive & the second is a CD burner I installed myself. If I were to get a DVD burner, where should it go? Also, will it recognize DVD-RAM and DVD-R? I can still back out on the Panasonic DVD player (I think), as it's on ebay, with a reserve of $49.95. I bid $50., and I'm not planning to go any higher, as a new one can be had for around $80. Mainly, I like your concept of a digital framework instead of analog.

pjblevin

[Captain Satellite]

My final conclusion on the E80H------HDD/DVD situation. I can RECORD from the outside world to either the HDD or to the DVD. And I can PLAY BACK from either the HDD or DVD. However, I CANNOT record from HDD to DVD......NOR can I record from DVD to HDD. I've tried everything possible at least 2 or 3 times, over the course of 2 days......to no avail. Now someone may say.......hey, there's something wrong with your E80H. Maybe so. Fine. But I'm just gonna take a totally different approach and record from an external DVD player onto my DVD recorder on the E80H. Here's my final question: Is there a simple DVD single-disc unit, preferably just a player, that can play both DVD-RAM & DVD-R??

pjblevin

I'm not going to say that there is something wrong with your unit, you're doing something wrong. There ARE Panny players that play RAM discs. Hell, not only can you dub a RAM disc to the hard drive, I can tell you how to record a DVD-R onto the hard drive from the E80H. I will also say that I'll post as many times as it takes to help you with your problem - you can do it!

[zagortenej]

Since your DVD drive will also burn CD's the easiest way to install it is to pull out the CD drive thatr's currently installed and replace it with the DVD drive. Then you can try to sell your CD burner either locally or perhaps on eBay and recover some of the costs for your new DVD burner.

In terms of DVD burners, not all of them will read DVD-RAM discs, and almost all of them do read DVD-R. So your best bet is to go for LG DVD super multi-format writers which read/write all currently existing CD/DVD types of media, including DVD-RAM. The current models are 4160B and 4163B. They have superb reviews and can be found quite easily in any electronics/computer store, locally or on the internet. I just got mine here in Canada at Future Shop for about $90 CAD, after all rebates and discounts, so they are quite affordable. As suggested in an earlier post, if you wait for Christmas sales you will probably find them even cheaper.

Using your desktop to edit/author/copy your DVD recordings is much easier than making copies by hooking up two DVD players, plus you are not losing any of the original quality. Oldfart has already given the basic steps on how to go about it, but if you need more clarifications just browse these forums and you'll find plenty info. But, essentaally, the whole thing is a three-step process which involves copying your recording from a disc to a HD, editing and authoring your material, and burning it onto a disc. If you do not need to do any editing, then it's simply a matter of copying to a HD (via making DVD image) and burning a disc.

Hope this helps. If you have more questions, just post them here.

[Captain Satellite]

I understand what you were trying to do:

RAM to HDD...yes, for content originally recorded to the DVD-RAM from the E80H. No for original content from another source. DVD-R cannot be copied to the E80H HDD. It says so in the manual as well as numerous posts in this forum.

You should have been reading the comments for the E80H from this forum as well as the one at avsforums. Things would have been a lot easier for you. I have had my E80H for about 13 months now and I love it. I'm recording a program even as I type this. I have no problems with RAM discs as I use them for transferring content from the E80H to my computer for reauthoring. I don't use them for playback though most Panasonic DVD players of the past several years can play them back. Authoring a disc is very simple...content from the E80H to DVD-RAM. Transfer to computer HDD with my LG4040B burner that accepts the DVD-RAM discs. I copy single programs to separate folders on my HDD with Panasonic DVD Movie Album Copy Tool or a single disc FR recording like a movie using Windows copy command. This works perfectly. I then edit out commercials with Womble Mpeg Video Wizard (some people also like Womble Mpg-VCR) resave with automatic setting which requires no re-encoding. Author the disc with or without menues with TMPGEnc DVD Author. Burn with Nero. Nothing simpler. I've been using this method for many many months now.

Why are you even bothering with MovieAlbum? Why not import the VR file right into TDA? Also, does your editing need to be frame perfect, you could do your editing in TDA but you already know that.

[pjblevin]

Thanks everybody for your comments & recommendations. Yesterday, I copied a movie that I'd downloaded from TiVo (Blues Brothers) onto the E80H harddrive. I then took out the commercials using the "shorten" utility, and burned the movie onto a DVD-R disc in E80H. It worked!! I had only a vague idea of what I was doing the whole time, so I'm sure you can appreciate my elation at accomplishing this victory. I mentioned in another post that I had bid $50 on a new Panasonic DVD player on ebay. My idea was to be able to provide input to E80H to make copies of DVD's. Then I read the note from Oldfart recommending a PC-based DVD ripper/burner, which would provide a digital rather than analog environment. This sounded like a good idea. My thoughts right now are to give the DVD player (if I win the auction) to a needy friend or relative, and buy an LG DVD PC-based unit. I've seen that an EXTERNAL LG burner is available. Having an external unit is appealing to me, as I wouldn't have to disturb my current PC setup. And, if my main PC goes down, it'll be one less thing to worry about. I see that it communicates via USB 2.0. I don't have 2.0 on my machine, but I understand that USB 2.0 is backward compatible with USB 1.0. My other consideration is what software I'm gonna need. All I really want to do is edit out the commercials. Any comments & recommendations will be appreciated.

pjblevin

[Captain Satellite]

I had my Panasonic LF-D521 hooked up externally in an enclosure for the same reason you cite. After a year I finally mounted it internally. I highly recommend getting a Panasonic burner with MovieAlbum software. I know of no other software that will allow you to edit RAM on the disc, I could be wrong.

[oldfart13]

[quote="Captain Satellite
Why are you even bothering with MovieAlbum? Why not import the VR file right into TDA? Also, does your editing need to be frame perfect, you could do your editing in TDA but you already know that.[/quote]

Doing cartoon episodes that are only 7 - 30 minutes long as one big VRO is a real pain. This way I can add single clips onto the HDD for further processing. If it's a movie, I import directly as 1 VRO. Yes, I need the frame accurate editing as many stations slam the commercials into the shows without a fade up or fade down. Wham! there's the commercial. They even do it now on major networks like UPN. It's a real pain unless you do have frame accurate editing...

[Captain Satellite]

Well, you've lost me, but as long as you've found something that works for you - great!

[louthewiz]

Boy do you have alot of reading to do,first of all if you want to dub from a dvd-r to the hard drive its an easy thing to do. First thing you can do is get a set of dubbing cables ,and run them from your output in the back to the front av input on the front behind the little door , make sure you choose channel L2 to record to the hdd,then pop in the dvd-r into the dvd player and select dvd to play the disc you wish to copy to the hdd hit record and thats it, believe me it works I have done it many times , to monitor your recording just use the component or s-video and use a y adaptor on the audio cables so you can run 1 set of cables to the tv and one to the input on the front of the unit..

[Captain Satellite]

Boy do you have alot of reading to do,first of all if you want to dub from a dvd-r to the hard drive its an easy thing to do. First thing you can do is get a set of dubbing cables ,and run them from your output in the back to the front av input on the front behind the little door , make sure you choose channel L2 to record to the hdd,then pop in the dvd-r into the dvd player and select dvd to play the disc you wish to copy to the hdd hit record and thats it, believe me it works I have done it many times , to monitor your recording just use the component or s-video and use a y adaptor on the audio cables so you can run 1 set of cables to the tv and one to the input on the front of the unit..

Old news, young man, old news. To be correct, you are not dubbing because you are re-encoding.