Panasonic DMR-EH50S DVD Recorder with 100 GB Hard Drive Recording

• Dual recording - View a DVD while recording on hard drive
• Sized for home-theater connectivity
• Progressive-scan play compatible
• Linear PCM audio and Dolby Digital audio record and play
• Can record DVD-RAM, DVD-R, +R and DVD-RW discs; and can play back DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-Audio

After researching for a DVD recorder with hard drive for several weeks it became apparent that this new model coming out would be worth waiting for. I had almost settled on the E85HS model but after reading the reviews it seemed it had a lot of problems and was pretty limited to the types of disks it would record to. This new model has solved all that with several more types (read specs) to record to. The TV GUIDE downloaded just fine and works like a charm. I haven't recorded too much just yet (only have had it for a week) and have had no problems with it freezing up. The TV GUIDE editing works well and you need it as the stations on my system came in random order. I just rearranged them and turned off the channels that I didn't want. This device can certainly replace TIVO that is for sure. Be sure to follow the intructions about giving it time to download the TV GUIDE stations. It needs to be left off (standby) for at least 24 hours. I had to play with it for the first day or two so it took me a little longer to get up and running. Also, the manual is a bit daunting but I found by playing around you could figure out most of the remote functions. As you can tell, I didn't get this machine to convert VCR tapes. I wanted something that could replace my converter box from my cable TV company (RCN) and have TIVO capabilities. This unit does that magnificently. I am now using my converter box upstairs with another tv so I can tune in music channels and use the "on demand" channel. However, this unit will work with the converter box with the included IR Blaster so it is a very versatile recorder and tuner box. I'll come back later and add addtional information about my recording and editing experience.

7/7/05 update: I finally got around to editing and dubbing a TV recording to DVD. It was a very easy process overall. The only thing that slows you down is trying to read the instruction manual. Once you are on the editing screen ("Shorten Title" as it is called) it is pretty intuitive and with a little trial and error it was a pretty fast operation. Now my son-in-law has a commercial free copy of the Eagles concert. One thing to remember is if you want to utilize high-speed dubbing you need to turn it on before you start. This means even before you start recording a program. Once it is recorded without high-speed dubbing you are stuck with a dubbing time equal to the length of your recording. Panasonic recommends that you set that option to off unless you know you want to dub a program at high speed. They don't say why. Even though this wasn't the primary reason to buy this recorder for me it really seems to do the job and would be great for converting VHS tapes to DVD. Finally, don't forget to finalize your DVD so it will play on other devices. There is a prompt for it so it really isn't a problem.

As a follow up to my primary review, I am loving the recording of TV programs on the hard drive. I record and watch movies that I would never have bothered with because of the commercials. The TV GUIDE makes it very simple (push one button)to record. With the on screen menus you don't even need the book to use this function. The normal (SP) speed gives you 44 hours of recording time and I can't tell the difference between it and the orginal TV program in picture or sound quality.

Overall, this device has exceeded all of my expectations.

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The EH50S is my second Panasonic DVD recorder, the E80H I got 18 months ago worked so well that I decided to buy a second unit for my other home.

I won't repeat the comments you can read elsewhere, but I will discuss the couple issues that have not been mentioned before.

If you plan to perform editing on this unit (such as editing out commercials before archiving to DVD), you will need to do a lot of fast-forward/fast-backward/pause/play maneuvers to skip over the unwanted parts. In the EH-50S, each press of the fast-forward will take you to a higher speed, and there are a total of 5 levels (2x,10x,30x,70x,200x). Naturally, you want something faster than 2x or 10x while searching forward/backward (30x and 70x are good choices) to seek out the commercial breaks to edit them out. The typical key press is to hit fast forward 3-4 times successively to get to the higher speed, and hit play/pause when the unwanted part begins/ends so you can locate the specific points to begin/end editing.

That is where the problem with this unit lies when you press fast-forward/backward multiple times successively, it queues up your key presses and it can take over 6 seconds after the last key press to get to the speed you want. It will not execute any other command such as play/pause/stop until it is finished with the queued commands. So it is a guarantee that you will always overshoot the point you want to stop if you engage high speed search. 6 seconds may not sound long when you read this, but if you are in 70x speed, even 3 seconds is overshooting the stopping point by 3+ minutes of programming, I can assure you that you will swear at this recorder more than once per edit. As a result, if you edit often, you do not want this recorder (Interestingly, the old E80H, with the latest firmware, provides almost instantaneous responses). Unfortunately, Panasonic never released a newer version of the EH50S firmware since its release.

This problem is not related to the new hard-drive "sleep mode", as the drive is already spinning at full speed when you edit. I work in computer hardware/software for 20 years, I believe it is the result of poor firmware design. Hard drive sleep mode as a way to improve durability is a marketing gimmick, its true value lies in reduced power consumption and heat generation. A typical consumer-grade hard drive provides a 600,000 hours of mean-time-between-failure (MTBF), that is 68 years of 24x7 non-stop operation! You have other problems to worry about if you are still using the unit in 2073. (The commercial grade drives is in the 1.4+ million hour range, but surely that's not what Panasonic put in the unit).

In LP mode, very fast motion of contrasting color objects (like a person dancing in colorful clothing) can cause an image breakdown: the affected area turned into big blocky shapes. This is rare, but the problem was not in the older model. The LP mode in the EH50S is supposed to equal the SP mode quality in the E80H, but it is perhaps only true in programs with little transitions. With sports program, LP is useless. You should only use LP mode for something that you don't plan to archive. I definitely consider this the second show-stopper for this recorder.

On the bright side, the dubbing speed is very fast. In LP mode, it can dub a 60 min video in less than 2 minutes (assuming you have the right disks), which is up to 8 times faster than the older model. It also allows you to view regular program during dubbing, while the E80H forces you to watch a blue status screen until dubbing completes (which can take a long time depending on the length of the dubbing materials).

Panasonic took some cost cuting in the EH50S, the control on the units is fewer than in the older model, the display is cheaper and less sophisticated. The brush metal overlay on the older remote is gone, replaced by a full plastic design. But the unit also costs a lot less, so you get what you pay for.

I have cable without a cable box, TV Guide works as advertised.

The recorders is sensitive to power interruption, it displayed a U99 failure message intermittently after a power outage. I reformatted the hard-drive and the problem disappeared. In this respect, it is no different than a computer.

Overall, the flexibility to archive to four disk formats is a big plus for me. I hope Panasonic will release a firmware update soon to fix the image breakdown issue and improve the response of the fast forward/backward keys, as well as the general key press responses. If they fix these two issues, then I would recommend the recorder wholeheartedly. In the current state, I believe the EH50S is a couple steps back from designs that is two generations older, which is a huge disappointment.

However, if you rarely edit and just use the unit to record/time-slip programs, then you shouldn't be concerned about the slow key-press responses.

If you edit, I give this recorder 1-star, you will learn to hate the EH50S, so look elsewhere. If you don't edit and records at SP or higher speed, I give it a 5 star.

I bought the EH50S because of the positive experience from the older E80H. Now with the sluggish EH50S, I will not buy another Panasonic recorder unless they can prove that the future model is indeed better.

After the release of the EH50S, Panasonic came to a screeching halt in releasing new hard-drive-based recorders since early 2005. It became the only new model with a hard disk drive, a far cry from the previous lineup (their two higher end models are of the previous generation). I wonder if Panasonic realized the flaws in the EH50S and is delaying the release of newer and higher-end models.

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I agree with most of the things in the reviews, I will just address a few differences:

1.TV Guide works without a Cable Box (that's what I have and it worked fine, but it does take about 20 hrs to download and may require extra fiddling with it...mine told me there were 4 different downloads so please tell me which one is your cable company...after that I had to wait another 3-4 hrs) but after that it worked as advertised. Organizing the channels in the order I want takes a while. Check with your cable company if the TV guide thing is a must for you...it makes life easier, but you don't really need it if you know when your favourite TV shows play (use your computer and the internet ... not big deal)

2.It's a somewhat complex (compared with a toaster) machine, so obviously the manual es extensive...but if you finish Highschool and read carefully you should be able to figure it out...I don't understand the reviewers that complained about it...yes the manual could be better, but it's not advanced calculus!!

3.My $35 DVD player has much more options to play a movie than this thing, that was a let down. I can't "zoom" for example, it's not as easy to call the movie menu or to advance to a particular scene. It takes a few more buttons to turn own the subtitles or change the language/sound on a movie...but I guess otherwise the control would be too big...but still, it could have been made more efficient...so it is really geared to record stuff.

4.I tape TV programs mostly, 'cause I am never there when they play live, I don't dub VCR tapes to DVDs or mess around with pictures or MP3 (those I do all in my computer) so I don't know how those features would work for you. But if you want something that tapes from your TV, the Hard Drive really delivers, you can record over 100 hrs of TV shows (so if you are gone for a couple of weeks it's great, my VCR stops at 8 hrs tops!) But really that's all I got for $350, so all and all I'm still not sure it was worth the money.

5.Delivered very fast from Amazon

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This product works exactly as the manual says it will.

It is a superior dvd recorder. The editing capabilities are fantastic. I have Cox cable and my Panasonic dmr-eh50s works without need for a cable box. I did take the time to delete all of the channels I never use, tho. This way my "TV Guide" only shows me the channels I usually watch.

Here are some of the things you can do with this dvd recorder:

* Record your favorite shows by selecting them or by just telling the recorder to do it every time the show comes on that channel. Play them back when you feel like it. Erase them when you feel like it.

* Record your video tapes (or dvd's) to the hard drive, edit them if you want, then write them out to dvd. You can erase any portion of any recording. This is great if you have recorded scenes you dont feel you want to save for posterity. If you want you can re-arrange the sequence of the scenes. Just use the editing to denote the beginning and end of each scene (make it a "chapter"), then create a "play list" where you decide the sequence of the chapters to be output. You can combine scenes from various video tapes into one "play list" and in doing so create a unique dvd. For example, if you have several tapes from over the years and you would like to create a dvd that just shows significant events for one of your children, you can create a dvd that is devoted to summing up that child's experiences.

* you can store still pictures from your digital camera or from your digital disk onto the hard drive, then create a dvd kind of like a slide show, even adding YOUR OWN MUSIC. One of my friends did this, choosing favorite pictures from their marriage and playing their favorite songs in the background. It was an anniversary gift that they will truly treasure.

When you buy this product, be sure to get an extended service contract, either from Panasonic or from a reputable source. If this product ever needs servicing, the price could be high (almost as much as the purchase price) and you will be so glad you bought the service contract. Bernie's will sell a 5 year extended service contract on this product for a one time fee of about $100.

I would buy this product again in a heartbeat.

I've had the dmr-eh50 for about a month. So far so good. It works wonderfully with my cable; basic cable with no cable box (Cox). The TV guide downloads nightly about the next 2 days of information, and makes it a breeze to schedule recording of shows or events for one time or schedule it to occur weekly. Play back is very simple. I do suggest downloading the manual and reviewing it, it does point out that the dvr does not work with satelite. I did wire it differently than the manual suggest, using a splitter to enable my old vcr to also still record shows. If the TV guide is not setup, it really makes the dvr harder to use. I left the machine off overnight. The next night I was able to play with the machine while reading the manual. Got used to the functions quickly. Then I reread the manual a few nights later and picked up things I previously missed. For the money, this is a great box. It would gotten a 5 star rating if I could record 2 shows at the same time.