Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver

• Built-in 80 GB hard drive
• Hybrid VBR (variable bit rate) technology lets you record up to 6 hours on a single-sided DVD-RAM disc
• Time Slip lets you watch from the beginning a program whose recording is still in progress
• Progressive-scan video output for film-like images on high-definition and HD-ready TVs
• Plays DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, music CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, and MP3 CDs

First of all, kudos must go to Panasonic for insisting on sticking to the far superior DVD-RAM technology for re-recordable discs since the discs physical surfaces are fully protected and the data is apparently better organized.

I have to say that I absolutely love this device!

Record to HDD, then burn what you want to keep to DVD-R or the far superior DVD-RAM, and finally erase what programs you don't need.

The only limitation is that the DVD-RAM's will only play back on Panasonic DVD players, however, the DVD-R recordings in my experience will play on all modern DVD Players.

The remote control has been fully perfected as opposed to the one they had for this model's 40 GB predecessor which was a horror show.

I liked the look and design of the earlier 40 GB unit a little better and it also had a few more plug in ports for memory sticks and the like, but this one is far more functional in terms of button location, ease of use, and the remote control.

Realistically, you have to use SP or XP speed for best visual clarity so the 106 hours of storage it claims to record at EP speed is not something you'd really be using.

However, with the HDD to DVD-R or DVD-RAM transfer capability (It does this at higher-speed rather then playback speed) you can record, transfer, and wipe.

The next model should have more drive space but this will do nicely for most of us for now.

I will never record to VHS EVER again!

Buy Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver Now

This is a great recorder, the HD space of a Tivo (but no channel guide, bummer), together with the DVD-R/RAM disk read/write capability of the panasonic recordersa perfect match.

Correction for the posted specs:

the E80H model (w/ hard drive) does NOT have a digital Firewire input, and does NOT have coax digital audio out (optical only.)

The E60S (no hard drive) and the older HS2 model (smaller harddrive, more $$) have firewire input.

This player does play MP3s, and will actually also play DVD-Audio disks (but I think only in stereo , not 6channel sound.)

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver Here

This is a dual review, for the Panasonic DVD-R Recorder DMR-E80H and the Toshiba sd-h400. Hopefully it can help those deciding between the two. I had done the research and was on my way to collect the Panasonic when the video store I had called told me they were just unloading the new Toshibas. It was a hundred plus less than the Panasonic and included TIVO. My fiscal side took over and I figured I'd give it whirl. I have an extended digital cable box and the Sony KP57WV700 57" HDTV that I was going to interface this with, pretty straightforward system.

Here is the simple layout of what I wanted to do: 1. cable in to digital cable box, out via component cables [red, green, blue] to HDTV [this produces the best signal and HD channel output on the TV]. 2. cable in to Toshiba/Panasonic for recording basic cable Ch. 1-98. 3. Video [composite?] out from digital cable box to Toshiba/Panasonic to record HDTV or whatever channel is on, on the digital cable box.

First off neither the Toshiba or Panasonic boxes has component in, so they couldn't receive the best signal from the component out on the digital cable box.

The Toshiba touts and comes with Tivo basic, which gets you 3 days advance programming via their guide, chasing playback, etc. This was the first experience I had had with a Tivo product. The setup for the Toshiba took a long time [multiple phone calls and data manipulation], and compounding things it was required that a phone line be utilised for the connection. A bad thing if you don't have a jack around, so I had to string one across hallways in ungainly fashion. Not good. I should say, you can buy a wireless USB adapter if you want, or a USB Ethernet connector to get your updates if you want.

Second hit against the Toshiba/Tivo, and this is what bothered me the most: they do not allow recording / timer recording from a second video input source unless you upgrade to the Tivo Plus service. This bit of info is nestled in the middle of the manual during extended setup. So for my set up which had cable signal in via RF and composite video in from the digital cable box, it meant I couldn't record as line in from the digital cable box.

Finally, the recording quality of the Toshiba ranged between three levels, taking their appropriate chunk of the HD. The Panasonic offered more flexibility here with more levels and their times. Tivo also is constantly writing to the HD to maintain their `manipulate live tv' functionality.

The DVD playback output between the two was comparable, you can choose between progressive and interlaced if you have a TV that supports it.

So I took the Toshiba back and got the Panasonic which I should have done I the first place. It has a much more professional finish, there are no fourth grader designed graphics/buttons on it like the Tivo. The Panasonic allowed me to hook up three more video inputs and record against them and do timer recordings on them. Bingo. The picture quality is very close to source using the second to top recording mode which gets you 36 hours of record time, 104 for EP, 74 for the next, and 18 for the top of the line. The Panasonic also has the time slip functions that let you watch a prior recorded item from the HD if you're currently recording, and it lets you watch the beginning of a recorded item *while* it's recording. Nice if you show up for the program 10 mins. late. It also records to DVD-RAM and DVD-R if you want to dub your VHS tapes or something you watch on broadcast TV, but that's a secondary feature to me so I didn't get too into it.

And so, for my setup, the Panasonic was the superior choice I should have exercised the first go around. Be alert to the limitations of the Toshiba if interested in it. I'm definitely enjoying the functions and features of the new Panasonic and can recommend it highly.

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I've written some tips based on the reviews here and the problems that I've had. I hesitate to write them, because it makes the Panasonic DMR-E80GH seem so complicated. It's true that it is more complicated than a plain DVD-player, but it does so much more!

1.) The Panasonic DMR-E80H has a hard drive similar to a computer. So it helps to treat it like you would a computer. Get a high quality surge protector and plug the DVD player into it. If you turn the DVD-player off or unplug it, wait a minute or so before you turn it back on or plug it back in. You want to allow the hard drive to power all the way down before you ask it to power back up. I unplug it (and all my home entertainment equipment) during thunderstorms, just like I do my computer. Sometimes the DVD player needs to finish what it is doing before it will respond to a new command from the remote or a button on the machine.

2.) There are two important buttons: HDD (hard drive) and DVD. Whichever one is active will be lit (on the DVD player). So, if you press a button on the remote and you don't get the expected response, check to see which one is lit. For example, if DVD is lit, then pressing 'stop' then 'enter' won't stop a program from recording to the hard drive. So you have to push HDD first, and then 'stop' then 'enter'.

3.) Consider keeping the old DVD player hooked up for children.

4.) For DVD-Audio, the default setting is typically stereo 2.0, and you must go into the set up menu of the DVD *disc* to change to 5.1 or DTS.

5.) For playing some DVD-Rs, I've had to go into the DVD *player* set-up menu and select 'disc', then 'DVD-video mode', then select 'on'.

What I like:

Panasonic DMR-E80H has a higher quality picture than our previous two DVD players, one of which was progressive scan. The recording quality is much better than TiVo. I like the fact that it has several inputs. I have inputs from my vcr, two cable boxes, and TiVo. I love the editing functions (which TiVo lacks). When my brother-in-law was Iraq, he wanted news programs. I recorded a news show every day, edited out what he wasn't interested in, and mailed him the discs. He loved it!

I've used the cheapest DVD-R's that I could find locally (not on the internet). They work fine. I recorded a program related to work and passed it out to everyone at work. The discs played on everyone's DVD player. We've had no problems with compatibility (yet).

If you push play twice, it plays at 1 1/3 speed. It still plays the speech, which we can generally understand. This is great for watching something when we're in a hurry. Unfortunately, this only works in HDD mode, not on DVD's.

What I don't like:

It doesn't change the channel on the cable box like TiVo does. Once I wanted to record a program and I pushed the record button. Well, about 10 minutes later, it stopped recording the show to record a previously programmed show. It doesn't warn you (like TiVo does).

I highly recommend this DVD-recorder. I love it.

I had been waiting for DVD-recorder/HDD combo to come out for over 2 years. I had been following the market in Japan since DMR-HS1 and when HS2 came out, I almost bought it. The only thing that held me back was the 40GB HDD that some people seemed to be saying wasn't enough.

So when this DMR80E came out in Japan, I couldn't wait for it to come out here. And as soon as I found out it was out, I ordered it and have had it for 3 weeks.

This was exactly what I had been waiting for!

We record shows regularly and had been using VCR which was really irritating me for the following reasons:

searching for the right location in tape

tapes not long enough (I even used those 10hr tapes

but when I'm out of town that wasn't enough to

hold all the shows)

rewinding (imagine how long it takes to rewind that 10hr tape)

need to worry about overwriting

can't figure out what's in the tape unless i play it back.

All these problems are solved with the HDD.

I guess Tivo/Replay is the same and I did consider buying one previously, but I just couldn't agree to the subscription based business model. I know which shows I want to record, so why pay monthly fee (or ont time lifetime fee) for the service? And how many times would the thing really record shows I like that didn't know about??? Besides I have enough stuff shows to watch regularly that I don't need the machine to tell me about other shows.

Anyway, the DVD-RAM/R is handy for shows that you want to keep around. You shouldn't leave stuff on the HDD if you don't want to lose them. So the other reviewer concerned about the warnings should not be because ANY HDD based electronics has potential data failure against power outage.

Regarding DVD-R compatibility warning, I think that can also be said true for any DVD-R drives because some older DVD drives don't read DVD-R disks properly. Most recent models should be ok, but I think there's always that risk. Oh, be sure to turn on the DVD-R compatible mode when recording if you want to play it back on other players.

One note is that if you want to record stuff from HDD to DVD without re-encoding (ie loss of quality), you need to use the fast copy mode. You had to turn on the DVD-R compatibility mode in order to do this.