Panasonic DVD Standalone Writer

[mattwood007]

Guys

Thinking of purchasing this player
Is it really as good as it looks. I would really appreciate some comments from owners or users as It looks great for backing up movies and probably the easiest and quckest solution !!

Cheers In advance

mattwood

[Eug]

Which one? The E20 is currently shipping and the E30 is out in July supposedly, and adds progressive scan for about the same price.

[mattwood007]

Yeh i seen the E30 looks good also and will probably go for that one when it arrives

Im after comments from people on ease of use on copying dvds and also playback compatibility on the finished article

For personal use of course !!

cheers
mattwood

[Bud]

Have the E20, works great, you set it up just like a VCR, 2-4-6 or variable speed settings, I use the 4 hour mode which will record at 352x480 (SVCD) format, I then copy the file to my HD, run it TMPGEnc,, create a DVD compliant file 48Hz audio, SVCD, record these to DVD-R via my Panasonic LF321, I can get up to three movies on one DVD-R in SVCD format, If I use the standard DVD form (704x480) I can get up to two depending on the movie with menus and buttons using DVDiT. I get my movies off a Digital Cable system. I would highly recommend this unit.


Aloha
Bud

[AntnyMD]

Do you not find settop DVD recorders ultimately useless for the near future? I mean, the US television standard is changing (in 2006?) and most primetime TV will be broadcast in the 16:9 aspect ratio. Aren't these settop DVD recorders fixed at 4:3?

[Bud]

I have never had a problem with recording 16:3 (Widescreen) either from the TV or from a original VHS tape, there is nothing fixed on what it records. As far as what the future has for us........at my age the future is what the afternoon holds...............


Aloha
Bud

[Eug]

Do you not find settop DVD recorders ultimately useless for the near future? I mean, the US television standard is changing (in 2006?) and most primetime TV will be broadcast in the 16:9 aspect ratio. Aren't these settop DVD recorders fixed at 4:3?

I don't think this is an issue. It's not as if overnight the whole world will suddenly have incompatible hardware. Presumably you'd just get a set top box and plug it into the DVD recorder. Plus that's 4 years from now. Who knows what the future may hold.

By the way, Panasonic has just announced their DMR-HS2. It does DVD-RAM, DVD-R, and also has a hard drive, Firewire, and a PCMCIA slot for pictures from digital cameras.

[leebo]

Since I'm sitting here at work bored out of my gord, here's my 2 cents:

The E30 might push the price of the E20 down. Unless you have a TV that can display progressive, you might consider that.

Also, HD by 2006? You sound young!
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