Even though the description mentions not for North American use, it works just fine here with a few exceptions. #1 is it has no NTSC/North American tuner(digital or the old analog) it ONLY records NTSC from a line output device(VCR, DVD player, STB with line outputs, DVR etc.). It WON'T work from a device that only outputs RF(for example from a cheap DTA converter box you get free from your cable company, they only output RF channel 3/4 which this DVDR won't tune).Another slight issue has to do with black level. Since this is a INTERNATIONAL DVDR and not really meant for the North American market it is designed for the INTERNATIONAL black level of IRE 0. North American devices output +7.5 IRE from their line outputs. What this means is unless you slightly darken your source video it will be a tad bit washed out(blacks will not be truly black but slightly gray). If you're recording from a device that has a setting for DARKER(most DVD players have this setting) you won't have a problem and your DVDs will come out just fine. If you don't correct the source you can correct this by slightly turning down the brightness on your TV, but note the DVDs will still be recorded with a slightly raised black level.
This unit is 120v/220v 50/60 Hz compatible and even though the plug is the two round style all you need is a $1 adapter that should be provided by the seller and you can plug it into our outlets.
Like all current Panasonics this one has full resolution LP(4hrs/SL DVD), records to DL media(first record to HDD then HS copy to DL media) and the very handy FR recording speed where you can fill up a DVD with anywhere between 1-8 hours of material.
When you set the recorder up you specify if you want it to record in NTSC or PAL, chose NTSC for North American use. As mentioned this recorder will play and record PAL and NTSC but it won't convert from one standard to another. That is if your DVD is PAL you'll need a PAL compatible TV(most flat panel Vizios and lesser names are multi system but NOT TVs like Sony or Panasonic). Of course Tube TVs need to say multi system(quite rare in the US) in order to display PAL.
This recorder is also handy for converting your PAL VHS tapes to PAL DVDs. Simply plug your PAL VCR into the line inputs of this recorder, play your VHS and record the PAL signal to DVD. You can then play that PAL DVD in one of the many players that will play a PAL DVD and output it as NTSC(again not Panasonic or Sony) but I found out my Samsung, cheap Cyberhome and also Pioneer DVD players easily played PAL DVDs recorded by this unit and changed it to NTSC. Note you can also hook up the converting DVD player to this DVDR, record the signal to DVD and now have a NTSC DVD of your original PAL VHS tape. The quality of the dub is actually quite good IMO.
As mentioned because this is a gray market product any warranty is with the seller and not North American Panasonic. I've had mine for over a year with no issues and am very satisfied but because of the above issues it may not be for everybody.
Edited 9/'11 adding more PAL to NTSC information.
This units comes set up to Pal, but in about 2 min you can change it into a NTSC system. Should come with a electrical plug adaptor,
This unit will work great if you use a cable box or a sat reciever or even if you have a HI-FI vcr will also work. As your channel changer. This unit does not have a tuner for North America. Use the component (rca) connections works great. Set the eh69 to input AV4)
I've bought 3, 1 for each tv in the house. Have it hooked up to a flat screen panasonic 2 Years old, a 10 year old panasonic, and a 1 year old Haire tv. All works great.
To swith this unit from Pal to NTSC is very simple, On the remote hit function, then to tv connection then where it says Pal, click to NTSC and everything switches over.
You might need a convertor to hold the V-Hold when you first hook it up. The 10 year old Panasonic v-hold was going crazy, but the Haier held the v-hold until I swithed from Pal to NTSC. But once changed everything works great and no need for a convertor.
One more thing is when you first get this unit it will seem like forever for the unit to turn on, this is because it comes shipped in power save mode, Turn this off or it will seem like it takes forever to turn on. If you want to record something fast like the EH55's, then turn this very annoying power save off, and the unit will start up very quickly.
Anyway great machine and works great.
Buy Panasonic DMR-EH69 320GB HDD Multizone DVD Recorder - PAL Now
VERY IMPRESSIVE DVD PLAYER, EXCEPT FOR TWO THING U SHOULD BE KNOW ABOUT, THIS DEVICE DOSE NOT RECORD VIDEOS FROM HDD(THE BUILT IN HARD DRIVE) TO USB EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE OR TO SD CARDRead Best Reviews of Panasonic DMR-EH69 320GB HDD Multizone DVD Recorder - PAL Here
My intent was to purchase this DVR from Amazon initially but frankly found a lower price from another vendor. This is not usually the case but this time it was.First and foremost, I understand most consumers in North America are not going to be interested in any component that doesn't carry a North American warranty. I decided to purchase this unit w/o a warranty based on the Panasonic name and the fact that I'm a techie. This is my 5th DVR/DMR with all in perfect working condition and each serving its purpose in my technical world of video components. Having said all that, the Panasonic EH69 has a massive hard drive (massive 320GB for any DVR/DMR). I wasn't concerned whatsoever about switching PAL to NTSC or any voltage/cycle issues because this information was clearly defined to me by researching the product manual PDF online long before making any purchase. I knew that the S-Video inputs and outputs were limited by default (1 input on the front, 1 on the rear) 1 output on the rear). This was easily increased by adding two SCART s-Video adapters to the rear panel providing an additional input and output.
The comments by other reviewers mentioning the depth issues of blacks are true but if I were blindfolded and led into a room where two different units were playing, I doubt I could tell the difference. This was a non-issue for me personally. The up-scaling to plasma or LCD is awesome.
The tuner was a non issue because I'm using a cable set top box. This unit has many more positives than negatives. I would have preferred 12 hour time increments rather than 24 but after all, this is a non North American model. My unit also came with the USA male plug adapter and once connected it's a forgotten issue. The editing features perform smoothly and precisely.
This unit is a win win for me personally. Some may ask, what happens if something goes wrong. My answer is simply, I'm confident I can find someone online who will be willing to perform repair service. O yes, one last comment: out of the five machines I own, only one has ever required service. That's not a bad record and lends confidence that well over ten years has produced untold hours of recording enjoyment.
Want Panasonic DMR-EH69 320GB HDD Multizone DVD Recorder - PAL Discount?
I must say that this is a very nice recorder. I had in the past a Panasonic EH-55 which lasted about a year. I took the EH-55 in for repair and the shop stated it needed a HDD cable which would not be available for 6 months and the unit was discontinued. Panasonic refunded my money so I was satisfied with the result. I was disappointed because I knew of a couple of other people that had the EH-55 and to this day those are still functioning. Now back to the EH-69. I have looked far and wide for another DVD recorder with hard drive. The Pioneer, Sanyo and Magnavox are some of the makers that have manufactured this type of unit in the past although currently they do not. Panasonic for some reason manufactured a 80gig, 160 and 200 gig versions for release in the USA but that was some time ago. They were all discontinued and to my surprise a bunch of them appeared to be refurbished and sold online at a premium price. This recorder is a PAL multizone version for use in PAL/NTSC areas. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Europe. It has automatic switchable power adapting to both 110v USA and 220 volt Europe. The power cables are the European two prong or a 3 prong. You can probably get a standard cable to use as a power cord and it appears to be a standard figure 8 slot in the back of the EH69. I would like that better than using the European power adapter that was provided in the box. The unit is default set to PAL video signal and must be switched to NTSC by pressing the stop button and the open/close button for more than 5 seconds. I think it is around 7 to 10 seconds before my unit switched over and initially I thought it was not going to work. To my pleasure it did and began looping an NTSC signal through the S-video port. The HDMI initially showed no signal and switched to standby on my plasma until it switched to NTSC. The signal seems to be clean although the blacks are not as deep, possibly due to a different firmware dedicated mainly to PAL. NTSC standard definition signal parameters are set and I would think that if it is intended for use with NTSC/110v that should not create any color burst or setup/black level problems. Although the tuner is not compatible with NTSC or USA signal processing the unit functions well with DVD playback or record (providing that the signal is not copyright encoded.). The hard drive is very nice to use which is why I bought the unit in the first place. Lots of Hard drive space for Standard Definition recording. I never intended on using the tuner function in the first place and I think Panasonic could have eliminated the tuner mode for more simplicity. Longevity? Well hopefully this unit will give me years of use but I am happy as of right now. Since this is a Grey market unit not imported by Panasonic USA it has no warranty. I am wondering if a technician would work on it or be able to get parts? I will give an update in 6 months to a year on this unit.
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