Panasonic machines don't have unlock codes to make them multi-region.

Usually you can get hold of one shot service remotes from various places on the web to make them multi-region....

Hope that helps.

You can get a multi-region upgrade for £22 from:-

Panasonic recorder upgrade

Drat - I thought it was a sequence from the normal remote. I have a few American DVDs, since I travel quite a lot. I have a region-free DVD player now, maybe I could re-record them by playing through the scart or component inputs to the Panny. I would lose the 5.1 or DTS sound and the menus though.

It really annoys me that the manufacturers pander to the publishers' protectionism with this region stuff. Why shouldn't I be able to play DVDs which I legally buy, especially from a Western country where they cost just as much anyway? I'm sure that debate has been aired many times now.

Maybe I'll just keep my old player handy so I can plug it in if I need to. And my old freeview tuner just in case I want to watch one channel while recording another. Hmm, the new unit was supposed to replace all of these boxes. At least I'll be able to get rid of the VHS recorder. But what about all those tapes I have....oh no!!!

Muffy

had my ex75 for a couple of days now and I'm very pleased with it - especially the chasing playback feature. I did try to play a dvd whilst I had a timer recording set on the hdd but it wouldn't play (it did before I set the timer). However, I think this was an issue with the disc as I tried another one and it did play.

never really collected videos but still felt a bit nostalgic putting away the old vcr!

I expect the macro vision protection would stop this. Unless your player has been macrovision hacked too.


I expect all the main quality manufactures have paid for a Licence to build players and hence decode the DVD's. Many of the cheapo brands (from China) are multi Region out of the box as I believe the Chinesse don't tend to believe in western patents and copyrights.

The problem is going to be even worse with the new protection features on Blue Ray and HD-DVD.


You could transfer all the important ones to DVD and as this new machine supports Dual Layer it will be much easier.

mikeyAB, Glad to hear that you're enjoying the new player, I hope to get one very soon (when stock is available).

I wonder if you could answer a few questions. I hope to attach my Freeview box to the player via Scart to then get an upscaled picture through HDMI to my plasma. I know that it will do this when the player is on and not doing anything, but I cannot find any info that states if this is possible when the player is recording from the internal freeview tuner to the hard drive. I just assume that you would need to press the input button on the remote once the recording had started? Can you also tell me if the player will loop through a scart input and then out of the HDMI output (obviously not upscaled) when the player is off. I think that it will loop through from scart input to scart output when the player is off, but I will be using HDMI?

Thanks for any answer you can give.

At last, a magazine has reviewed one of the new Panasonic HDD DVD Recorders. In the July 2006 edition of Home Cinema Choice (issue 131), Rik Henderson is positively gushing about the EX85. The magazine have made it a “Best Buy” and also given it “reference status”, whatever that means.

“The DMR-EX85 ticks virtually every feature checkbox, and has the audacity to add even more that are completely unexpected. To top it all, it’s gorgeous.”

The review says that of the six recording modes, LP (which allows for 4 hours recording on a DVD) is the one we’ll use all the time, “it really is that good.”

On the negative side, the reviewer’s only reservation is that “the colours seem a little too vibrant. They’re possibly too hot…” But in summary, Rik Henderson claims the EX85 is the best DVD/HDD recorder he’s ever used. “Outstanding.”

Sound gets 4/5, Picture, Features and Overall Rating is 5/5. The full two-page review is in Home Cinema Choice, on sale now at £3.99.

I'd be interested to know what mikeyAB thinks of the claims that the pictures are possibly too hot and that the LP mode is all you need for making recordings.

Just spotted the Panasonic DMREX75 for £334.33 + £4.99 delivery. Am I missing something or is that a good price?

That is a good price. I paid £399 to Currys (plus the cost of an HDMI cable), though of I course I get the benefit of their expertise and excellent customer service

I am very tempted to get an EX75 box but can anyone tell me if the magazine comment (see 625's post above) that the colours are too hot is an issue. I have an ES20D and have noticed that the colours are strikingly more vibrant that on my old PACE didgbox and normal analogue TV but I personally like this. Does anyone have an ES20D and one of the latest models to compare?

no I don't think the colours are 'too hot'. The colours are very vibrant, but I personally like that too.

to comment on the 625's question about recording mode: the hard drive is so large I will rarely record onto dvd, though I may subsequently copy something onto dvd. When I record onto the hard drive I let the machine automatically select the appropriate recording mode, which depends on the length of the recording. So far that's been SP rather than LP and the quality has been superb.

Thanks for the feedback mikeyAB. Sounds like the colours are similar to the ES20D so thats fine with me. On the ES20D I have found recordings on LP quality to be fine so would expect the later models to be at least as good.

I have my Sony VTX-D800U freeview receiver still connected via another AV port on the telly so that I can watch another channel while recording on the EX85. Out of interest I compared them by setting both to the same channel (Argentina vs Holland; I had to do something to keep it interesting) and the colours were definitely more saturated on the Sony, while the EX85 looked more realistic. Also the picture was a little bit sharper on the EX85, where on the Sony the colours bled slightly.
I have tried recording in SP, LP and EP modes. SP is indistinguishable from the original, LP is excellent but you can see definite degradation with EP.

Muffy

I used my old player's SCART to the AV2 SCART of the EX85 and played an original R1 version of "The Ring" while recording onto the HDD in SP mode. The image was superb. My old player is a Scan SC-2500. I don't know anything about macrovision, I just bought it as a multi-region player (which wasn't cheap in its day but was one of the few at the time offering DTS and optical out). I think I'll keep it close at hand, but will probably just use it for watching R1 discs rather than re-recording them. I would miss the DTS sound.

Muffy

Error No. U80

3 times now my DMR-EX85 has suddenly given a grey screen and displayed U80 on the display. It was simply while watching Freeview. The specific error is not listed in the manual, which advises that it is solved by switching off and on again. This works ok (takes about 1 minute though), but I'm worried that if this happens while I'm not watching it will fail to record scheduled events.

Any ideas?

Muffy

Could ytou tell us where?

You would never need a top dog of any such product if you were thinking of pumping the RF output around the house. For one thing, you would lose the benefit of RGB scart quality. For another, your sound would only be in mono.

See this link

I haven't purchased from them so cannot vouch for the company. Can anyone else?

I have used them often and found them very good. We contacted them about an EX75 and they told us they had a waiting list of over 60 people for them and at present couldn't meet their orders.

I ordered an EX75 (multi-region) from RGB this morning. I phoned to confirm stock level and was told they had very few and they were going fast. Placed the order and paid £368 (including next working day del). I could have had free 3-5 day del by ordering online but my old recorder has died and I want a quick replacement so was willing to pay up to 10% over the odds.

Roll on Monday
Last edited by CannonFire : 07-07-2006 at 20:54

Typo... should have been £358

Can anybody with a multi-region version of this recorder answer the following question?

Can you watch an Region 1/NTSC disc while the unit is recording?

I currently have the DMR-E85H, which doesn't allow me to watch an NTSC disc even if the unit is only on standby to record.

I have the earlier DMREH60D. This displays the behaviour you describe.

In essence it only has one "coder/decoder" so if it is in set to PAL for recording, you cannot watch a NTSC disc.

It appears to lock itself into "PAL mode" when you hit "timer" and not when it wakes up to actually record.

So as you describe, you can only watch an NTSC disc when the unit is not in timer mode - let alone actually recording.

I raised it with Panasonic, and they said basically said that's right - that's what it does - and it looks like it still does with the newer units.

I've always taken it off timer, watched the R1 disc, then put it back on timer. I've not tried to see what happens if a time programme tries to start if you are watching an R1 disc - i.e. if any kind of warning/error comes up. Largely as I don't watch very much R1 stuff. Might be an experiment worth trying.

K

A second magazine has reviewed the new Panasonic range of hard-disk recorders; this time it's the EX75 under the spotlight. The article appears over two pages in the August 2006 edition of What Home Cinema.

No mention here of colours that are too hot. And there's also a difference of opinion over which recording modes to use compared with the review from Home Cinema Choice which claimed LP mode is the one we'd be using most of all, "it really is that good".

WHC say that in XP mode recordings are "absolutely perfect". In SP mode, football coverage is "very good indeed, especially on close-ups, but long shots of complex action displays a hint of graininess as the 5Mbps recording bitrate struggles ever so slightly. There is noticeable drop-off to the four-hour LP mode."

The review also compared playing back a DVD on a hi-def display (in 720p mode) first using the Panasonic to do the upscaling and then using the TV itself. They say letting the EX75 do the upscaling "pays a small picture dividend*. It's not a stunning upgrade but the picture is smoother and has a bit more realism." (* it actually says "divided", but I assume this is a typo in the magazine.)

However, the review warns, if you are mostly interested in upscaling, there are other players that can do a better job (albeit for more money). "But for all-round capabilities that would shame an Olympic decathlete, this deck is leading the field."

The magazine gives the EX75 a Best Buy award and an overall 90% rating.

The August Edition of What Home Cinema is in the shops now priced £3.99. The Panasonic EZ25 (no hard disk) and Pioneer 540HX (no Freeview) are also reviewed.

(I also notice that WHSmith is also bundling WHC, What TV & Hi-Def and What Plasma for £5.99, but BEWARE - the WHC is the July edition!)