- Watch and record programs at the same time
- DVD Recording Supports DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, & DVD+R media
- Plays DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, DVD+R & DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, and video CD; DVD-Audio, CDs, audio CD-Rs & CD-RWs, and MP3 CD
- VCR - VHS HiFi stereo with MTS decoding / 4 video heads / 3 VHS recording settings (SP, EP, VP) / VCR Plus+, timer, and manual recording
- Built-in NTSC TV tuner for recording
That being said, the image quality takes my breath away, and appears to improve videos that are substandard. I surmised and anticipated correctly that an effective workaround to copy protection could be to instead utilize the recorder's electronic component inputs, namely the three input RCA pin jacks that are standard (yellow for video with red and white for audio) on many stereo and video components. We have lots of Mr. Wizard episodes, Dr. Who stories and much educational material taped off broadcast TV years ago that should do nicely as they do not carry inserted "copy protection" like today's prerecorded commercial tapes.
In my first test with the newly purchased unit, I created a personal DVD compilation consisting totally of Beatles "Ready, Steady, Go" British television appearances followed by the Japanese Budokan concert from several laser discs. The laser disc transfers do very well. There appears to be no conflict with copy projection kicking you out as occurs in prerecorded tapes inserted into the unit for dubbing.
I next dubbed a Japanese import laser disc of Disney's movie "Song of the South." As many of you know, Disney has refused to release that children's movie in the American video market. The transfer is outstanding.
I have dubbed off camcorder footage, but could not use the DV input as my particular Canon camcorder uses a different jack. So, I used the RCA pin jacks. Outstanding image quality.
I pored over the excellent instruction manual for a number of hours to acquaint myself with what this recorder does. It is laid out well but takes time to review at first until you become familiar with its layout. That was a good investment in my time to address my learning curve. I haven't yet mastered chapter thumbnails. Others have reported that the Panasonic keeps stopping when the video changes. That appears to have been corrected. When dubbing via the input jacks, you can keep the recorder in pause mode for several minutes to allow you to switch source media of edit past unwanted footage.
I am ecstatic with the possibilities for making these precious video moments more accessible, perhaps preserving them for another few decades before the medium transitions yet again.
I'm also pleased that I had declined to dump my large collection of laser discs. There is so much material on certain of these discs which has yet to be marketed in DVD format and some may never make the cut.
Enjoy!
Bruce
Buy Panasonic DMR-ES40VS VHS / DVD Recorder Silver Now
The unit worked fine for me until I discovered that it won't play DVDs recorded on other devices. I tried DVDs recorded and properly finalized on both my IBM computer and my friend's Sony recorder. I used the proper media and tried several different brands, but all I got was "ERR". I took these same DVDs to a retail store and they played fine on every brand of player, except for the Panasonic recorders (DMR-ES20 and DMR-ES40).This is a new model and it clearly has a hardware or software problem. I'd stay way from it if you plan to play anything recorded by any other device (like home movies from family members).
Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMR-ES40VS VHS / DVD Recorder Silver Here
I purchased this unit after a little hesitation from the initial online reviews. I wanted the flexibility of transferring VHS tapes to DVD and my camcorder. I own a Toshiba TIVO DVD recorder unit (TX20) which is excellent but tedious for transfer of tapes.In short this is very good DVD/VCR recorder unit except for some quirks. The VCR portion is like any other VCR. The DVD recording quality is excellent for XP (1 hour) and SP (2 hour) and better than most for the EP (4 hour) mode. EP on the Panasonic was as good as high quality (2 hour) mode on my Toshiba unit. Pixelation and image blurring is a problem with both for fast moving images in this mode when recording from TV sources. With VCR sources, image quality suffers in EP mode from old VCR tapes and is better with SP mode. I have not experienced DVD compatability problems. DVD's made with the ES40 play on my Toshiba player. DVD's I have made on my Toshiba and on my Dell using Nero 6 and a Plextor burner work fine on the ES40. I also have not experienced any unit lock ups that have been reported.
The one button recording is fairly simple to record from VHS to DVD and vice versa. However editing features are tedious and nearly indecipherable from the owners manual. The owners manual is about as readable as a federal income tax worksheet. The unit cannot insert chapters easily for DVD-R discs. The trick to this machine is learning how to record and finalize as well as add names to the disc and chapters which is not easy. As with many DVD recorder units, it does not remember where you last stopped a DVD if you turn the unit off so you have to go through the intro screens again and the scene index to get to where you left ff (my toshiba has the same problem).
Conclusion: If you can get past the not-so-user friendly interface this is a good unit to purchase if recording quality is important to you.
Want Panasonic DMR-ES40VS VHS / DVD Recorder Silver Discount?
First off, let me say that DVD recording technology is amazing. With a little effort, you can create your own DVD library from old videotapes, directly off the TV, etc. That's the good news.Now for the bad news. The Panasonic DMR-ES40VS has the following problems/flaws (At least I have experienced them with mine) or is missing features.
No High-speed dubbing? Either I haven't found it, it doesn't have it, or it has this feature but forget to tell the user how to get to it. Therefore, anything you record, you have to record in real time. Meaning a 2 hour videotape must run for 2 hours. If the Panasonic does have this option, they don't display it in their meager owner's manual. I've been thru that thing 50 times and haven't seen it.
The recorder locks up on me about once or twice a day. When it does, I turn it off (as tech support told me to do). Often, that locks up on me too, so I have to unplug the power at the wall. It always begins working again, so I'm thankful for that, but it's a ridiculous situation. It reminds me of the computer crashes of the early PCs in the late 1980s.
You can only set your own chapters with -RAM discs. I went out and bought 200 DVD-R dics. They record great, but this unit doesn't allow you to insert CHAPTER breaks on any discs other than -RAM. Therefore, it's back to the old fast-forward, like the old VCRs. I can't believe someone couldn't have figured out a way to enable "custom" chapter breaks. If you're not familiar with this, it is probably the biggest problem and is truly a dealbreaker. It means, unless you solely buy DVD-RAM discs, if you record a 2-hour family picnic, you won't be able to "earmark" your favorite 5 or ten scenes. You must fast-forward thru 2 hours of film --EVERY SINGLE TIME!
Meager owner's manual and instructions. I'm a technical writer, and I'll admit, it would be very difficult to fully document all of the mechanics of this recorder. But their index is only 2/3rds of a page. Troubleshooting is incomplete and gives patronizing fixes like "Check power cord." Come on. I think most of us are a lot smarter than that. I think Panasonic could have easily supplied a navigatible system DVD that would have walked the end-user thru each operation.
Problematic other features like:
No eject buttons on remote control (for VHS or DVD). All of my other DVD and VHS players have them on the remote also.
No counter when you are recording. Supposedly, there is a way to enter several commands and go thru multiple menus if you want to decipher this. Why couldn't they have just put it on the unit like my old VCR? It couldn't have been that difficult since that technology has been around since the early '80s.
Overall, I'm happy that I have a device that can record to DVD. But, consider yourself warned, they are still working the bugs out on this model. If you're desperate to get a DVD recorder (like I was) you might be happy with this one. But if you can wait, you might want to put off getting one until the next generation. I'm assuming next year's models won't lock up every 6-8 recording hours.
EDIT (February 4th, 2006)
TWO new disturbing developments with my Panasonic DVD recorder:
a) The DVD recorder has started "eating" some of my VHS tapes. These tapes were previously in decent (or new) condition, but in this Panasonic DVD recorder, they locked up or the tape spooled off the reel. Luckily, nothing irreplaceable yet, but it's rather upsetting.
b) I do a lot of my VHS tape to DVD dubbing at night, after I go to bed. Since some of these tape to DVD transfers take several hours in real time, I find that it's more efficient to wake up in the morning, after the main dubbing has occurred, then "finalize" the DVD. This saves me from sitting around for hours waiting for the transfer process. This system usually works well, but I've found in the last two weeks, at least 4 times, when I attempt to FINALIZE the DVD with the movie(s) on it, the DVD recorder will lock up. Obviously, I'll attempt it several more times, but I've found, if the Panasonic locks up on the first Finalize try, that DVD will need to be scrapped. It only costs me about 35 cents in DVDs (each time), but because of the Panasonic's real-time only dubbing, I lost the entire night's taping. What's worse, concurrently the VHS player half has starting "eating" my VHS tapes so, if the DVD transfer didn't work, what was on that VHS tape originally is lost forever.
I just wanted everyone to be aware of these two additional problems.
Now, for the REST OF THE STORY...
I am a law enforcement officer in NC and bought this product for just ONE reason and ONE reason only: to dub all of my old VHS home movies onto DVD.
I wanted a machine that was easy to use, i.e. with the push of 1 button, and based on a Consumer Reports recent review of the Panasonic DMR-ES30, I went to get one.
The ES40 was on the shelf so I figured this was an improved model, so I purchased it instead.
What a disaster!
1. The directions are terrible. The process called "finalizing a disk" (WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR DUBBING FROM VHS TO DVD) is not included in the section about dubbing from VHS to DVD. You find it buried elsewhere in the manual. You CANNOT play your dubbed DVD on another player WITHOUT "finalizing" your dubbed disk.(By the way, GOD bless those of you who are trying to read this manual for other purposes!)
2. Most of my dubbed disks would NOT finalize, therefore I wasted almost 2 hrs per disk, and with the amount of VHS tapes I want to dub, life is too short to waste on this sort of nonsense. Dubbing is done in real time so you're either going to have to sit in front of the TV monitor or do it overnight, but when you can't finalize your disk you've wasted all that time.
3. One nice feature that is buggy, also, is that Chapter Markers are put in place onto your DVD whenever your VHS tape changes scenes, or at least that's the way it's supposed to work. However, this isn't always the case. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Potluck. Otherwise you're gonna be stuck having to fastforward through your DVD to get from scene to scene, which is another time-wasting event.
4. Some disks would not finalize because it said "there was not enough room to finalize". In other words, I recorded too much on it!! Why in the world is there not some sort of automatic function that would stop the dubbing so you could have enough room left to do whatever has to be done for finalizing a disk? So, you're stuck guessing how much is too much. I just started doing only 1.5 hrs or so, but what a waste of disk space.
5. For those disks that did finalize, the machine TOTALLY froze up after finalizing, and I could not remove the DVD unless I unplugged the unit and let it reset itself. This happened 100% of the time.
6. Customer service at Panasonic is terrible. The wait time alone was up to 1 hr, and then the poor rep on the other end didn't have a clue or passed the buck by saying it was "probably the media, i.e., the brand of DVD disk, I was using. Yeah, right. I tried Verbatim and Sony discs and I still get the same frustrating problems.
I finally got fed up with this machine and took my unit back for a refund at my point of purchse. The ONLY ES40's on the shelf were RETURNED units!!!!!!! Does that tell you something, too?
Therefore, buy this unit at your own risk and be prepared to put up with alot of unnecessary, time-wasting problems.
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