I have been looking at a DVDR+HDD combo and was just about decided on the Pioneer DVR-433H when I saw this Panasonic model in Comet...

Has anyone got any opinions on this model and is it any better/worse than the Pioneer one??

Many thanks....

SteveP

Its a great machine,but if you want one multiregion don't buy from Comet.In fact Comet are poor anyway.If you can get one from Curry's (not MR there either though)and get an extended warranty.That way,should anything go wrong.......sorry I forgot we weren't on about Philips here,sorry

Thanks for the advice (although others might get a bit peeved at your Philips jibe!! )

Thik I'll get it from Richer Sounds if anywhere as they will match an internet price and knock a tenner off too !!!

So no downsides you can think of on the Panny?? Primarily its for recording from Sky as I cant have Sky+.......

Cheers, SteveP

Hi There! I'm a newbie to this particular forum (Sky forum regualar).

I saw this one in Richer Sounds for £279.95 however just doing a search on Kelkoo it's available elsewhere for around £248.

Will Richer Sounds match that then + the tenner?!!!

I got the multi-region EH50 from RGBdirect, with 5 free RAM discs. It has replaced the E85 which is now in the bedroom. The new model is less fussy about DVD blanks, and when editing out adverts there is a seamless join, i.e. no freezing.

Yes !!!

If you check the website, it says they will match any internet price (including cost of standard delivery) as long as the internet company have it in stock!! (offer excludes LCD's & Plasma's over 30" due to stock levels though)

This is a great deal coz then if it goes wrong, you can plonk it on the counter and let them deal with it instead of messing around sending back through the post!!

Plus these guys seem pretty clued up and tend to give decent advice!! (case in point, bought a 26" LCD TV for £300 less than the shop price so fully expected the salesman to give the "extra panel protection cover" a real push - he just said...."Naaaa, not worth taking it to be honest!" - Well impressed !!!!

SteveP

ps. I'm getting this Panasonic this weekend

Thanks for the advice. I'm a total novice when it comes to DVD's tho. Can you beleive in our household we don't even own a single DVD player or PC? (I use the net from work - altough we are considering getting a PC).

I'm mainly looking for a machine for burning off programmes from the HD on my Sky+ box to DVD. I don't really know or understand what features to look for in a DVD recorder but this one certainly seems well rated.

I'm not totally sure of the differences between "+" and "-" and RAM either, altough it seems that "-" is better than "+" and RAM is better still I gather?

For the purpose of copying from Sky+ to DVD would a DVD recorder with a hard drive be useful or am I just wasting my money?

I would also be interested in copying music CD's and recording FM radio to CD. Would this machine be suitable?

Having had some bad expeiences with a number of Liteon Recorders, I decided to move to Panasonic a few weeks ago and am still wondering why I bothered messing around with the cheaper brand in the first place - any money I may have saved on the purchase was more than offset with the ongoing problems with the devices.

I've had the Panasonic DMREH50 for a couple of weeks and am very impressed so far. Have tried a variety of blank DVDs and seems to handle them all effortlessly. Although the advertising quotes 140 hours, it should be noted that this is in the EP mode which is a little worse than VHS. I've been using it in LP mode which gives about 72 hours and the quality is great.

I have it connected up to record from a variety of sources including Cable, Sky and Freeview and it handles them all really well.

Personally, I would give this product 5 stars and now that it's dropped below the £300 mark, consider it to be a real bargain.

I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to these things but this is the way I understand it......
DVD + and - and R and RW discs are basically the same, the only difference depends on the type of DVD player you want to play them through (will IT accept all the formats)
DVD-RAM discs basically work like a small hard drive so you can "timeslip" if you are recording to one, you can start watching the recording before its finished. - Not many stand-alone DVD players can read DVD-RAM discs!

And in answer to your recording from Sky+ question....I would imagine just a DVD recorder would do the job for you (as your Sky + has a hard drive anyway) and it would save you roughly £100....

To be perfectly honest, I'll be able to tell you how good this machine is next week hopefully coz I'm collecting mine this weekend!!!

SteveP

Hi,

Been reading up A LOT on which DVD Recorder to get and have decided on the DMR-EH50. Read nothing but good things about it.

Just one final question : it's definetely REGION FREE isn't it ?

Cheers

It's Region 2 UNLESS you specifically seek out a multi-region one. I got mine from RGBdirect (multi). Do a search at pricerunner.co.uk for the multi-region version.

I'm a bit late adding to this thread but it might help those doing a search on EH50. I had a Philips DVDR 70 (Tesco bagain) for 2 years until it decided not to record anymore but would operate as player. After hours messing around with scarts I gave in, and bought EH50 which is superb. The installation instructions work properly, I suspect lack of problems partly due to using Panny TV so no conflicts with Q link. Use it to archive off Sky + , and record terrestrial TV to HD when rugby also on Sky. Dubbing R- and R+ discs no problem.

And where did you purchase yours from MisterD ? And is it Multi Region ?

Cheers

I dont think the DMR-EH50 have DV input, which is the only thing putting me off. Can anyone confirm please? Whats the quality like through the other inputs from a camcorder? Bit of an oversight really as even the el cheapo recorders have DV in.
It was the model I was interested from Richer Sounds as their warrenty is money back if you do not use

Forgive me for being a novice but what is a DV input and what does it do?

Means you can plug in a video camera with digital output and record it digitally onto the disc (no digital-analogue-digital conversion). Should give better picture quality, but I'd like opinions please.

Bought it through Amazon, next day delivery. Why ?, because they deliver to work address and is free of hassles dealing with them.
Not multiregion, but I have a multiregion player so it is not much of a problem.

Following on from my previous question, my video camera has s-video output, what kind of quality would this give compared to DV/i-link?