I need to ask a few questions about this, i know there are quite a few threads allready about this recorder but i need the best possible answers so i can tell them to the person who's interested in getting one otherwise they won't be very happy with me........

1 - Is it OK to use it to watch freeview as you would a normal freeview box or is it just for recording and you need a seperate box to watch freeview?

2 - Does it have a now/next bar like a freeview box where you can use the arrows to browse through whats on now and next on other channels whilst still watching a channel?

3 - Can you use it to copy home made videos onto DVD?

4 - Can the dvd recorder remote be set up to control the tv volume on other brands or does it only control panasonic tv's?

5 - Does it have an analogue tuner too?

6 - Does the remote have a TV/DVD button so you can switch the tv back to analogue when recording freeview?

7 - Can It be made multiregion?

Answers below:

1. Yes, no problem. As long as you're not recording something, obviously!

2. Yes

3. Yes

4. Yes, there are about 40 or so brands listed in the manual.

5. Yes

6. Yes. There's an AV button that toggles between RF input and AV on my TV. You can't change between AV1, AV2 etc though. Bummer!

7. Multiregion versions have been available. I don't think there's an easy handset hack, though.

If you want more details, the manual is online.

Just so you know just last week I purchased a multi-region version from my local RSounds and with their price beat policy it cost £134, an absolute steal for this quality DVDR; there is little point getting a Region 2 for the same money, however, on eBay you can get a 1 shot remote control upgrade @ 10% less than the retail version...

Hi Nirm

Where did you get a quote for the price beat?

My question also, where did you get a price quote for £134?

PM me, I'll be back to you in a jiffy

Does anybody know if it's possible to use the E20 remote to control a Toshiba TV, and if so what the code is?

The Toshiba is not in the list of supported TVs in the operating manual which seems strange since it's a fairly well known model.

Help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Yes, I've got a Toshiba TV and also thought it was odd that there was no code in the manual. I got it to work with mine. I just started trying numbers from '01' upwards! I think it was 14, but I can't be certain. It's definitely somewhere between 10 and 20.

Hope that helps.

Code should be 16. Thta works with the DMRES10, anmd looking at the book for both DMRES10 and 20, the codes for most other makes of TV are the same for both machines.

As far as 6 above is concerned, this is true ... however, there is an "input" button on the remote that will switch between AVs.

I've just bought one of these. Seems like a very fine machine!

Thanks to niverpool and voice_of_reason. The Toshiba code is indeed 16. My TV can now be controlled from the E20 remote.

I think we're at cross-purposes. I meant I can't cycle through the AV inputs on my TV.

But the ES20D definitely is a fine machine!!

I also have a couple of questions about this recorder.
1) What is the EPG like, it is accurate and how easy to record with is it?
2)How well does the box cope with overruns?
3)Is there one touch recording like you can do on a VCR?

Thanks in advance for any help

1) Well the DTT EPG is no more nor less accurate than the info the broadcasters feed it. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes there are huge gaps. But that's not the box's fault. (I'm pretty jaded about EPGs. They'd be wonderful to have, if they were supported properly, but at the moment they're not, so you need another source of info to back them up. )

Recording from the EPG is just a matter of navigating to your programme, pressing ENTER, and that drops you into the Timer menu, with your programme already part set up. You choose things it can't, like Rec Mode, etc, and Bob's your mother's brother........

2) It doesn't, at least for Freeview. It's got PDC for analogue. I don't know how well that works, because I've never tried it. I just pad recordings by a few minutes. It's been years since I used PDC on any recorder, because it made such a pig's breakfast of coping with overruns that it was worse than useless. (That's not meant to imply that the technology's rubbish - just that the broadcasters never gave it the info to make it work. Perhaps it's changed nowadays. Same jaded feeling applies as for EPG's .... )

3) Yes, it's got OTR in 30 minute increments.

Hope that helps.

It's a very nice recorder. Unless you're hanging on for the new models, I'd go for it.

Can I be a pain and ask for the code for a BEKO tv?

Where was the info for the pricematch?

I want to buy one of these. One thing though - can you hide top up tv channels from being on the guide, as you cant on my tuct41

It has a system of "Profiles", which are customised lists of channels you can set up yourself, and which can exclude whatever you want. Provided you restrict channel navigation to the Up/Down buttons or the TV Guide, you will only see the channels in the selected profile. If you choose a channel by keying in its channel number directly, then the machine drops back to the default profile, and you see everything again. Your customised profile is still saved though, so it's easy enough to restore.

I have set up my profile and taken out the channels I don't want. I have give it a name.
Now, how do I choose this profile?
I keep getting the full list of channels.
Thanks

You can either switch profiles when in the EPG with, I believe the yellow button (it is all coded) or when you've got the small summary Info on screen pressing the blue button.

both methods cycle between the profiles.

If you ever go to a channel NOT on your profile it will revert to all channels - this may happen when, for example, you go to BBC News multi-screen, which in reality is another channel.

Whilst I am here, does anyone know the exact specs of all the recording formats? In my previous recorder each had the bitrate, lines and frames per second listed.

Cheers

CH

I am considering buying one of these machines and I'd be grateful if someone could answer a couple of questions:

1. How does one know whether the machine is Multiregion or Region 2? I thought the DMR-ES20D was always Multiregion.

2. I have a Digifusion PVR200 already connected to my TV so how will this machine be connected to the aerial? Will I need 2 arial points?

3. I think Comet are selling this machine for £160, is that the best price evryone has found?

Thank you.

1) It'll only be multi-region if you buy it as such from a dealer who specialises in hacking them. The basic 20D, like all machines sold in the UK, is Region 2. I'm pretty sure one bought from Comet will be Region 2.

2) You don't need an extra aerial point, you can connect the aerial to the 20D, then take the RF out from that to the aerial input of the PVR200, then take the RF out from that to the aerial input of your TV. (Which machine it goes to first doesn't matter) I do this with my 20D and TUCTH100 PVR.

3) I've no idea about current prices, someone else will have to advise. But it has been available cheaper (see further up this thread)


Hope that helps.

Thank you so much.

I really wasn't sure which thread to use and when I read the other one, somehow it seemed more appropriate.

I'm at a loss regarding the multi-region issue - What is "hacking" and where can I find such dealer? and ... more to the point, what is multi-region? (I know it's better than region 2 but I don't know why)

Thanks again.

For all sorts of copyright and licensing reasons, pre-recorded DVDs and DVD players have a geographical region code implanted in them. The UK is in Region 2, along with Japan, the rest of Europe, South Africa, the Middle East and Greenland. Players will only play back material encoded with the corresponding region code, or "Region 0" discs (i.e. those whose manufacturers aren't seeking to restrict the content geographically, usually educational material)

So if you want to play back pre-recorded DVDs that you obtained outside the Region 2 area, either personally or from an internet retailer, you need a multi-region player.

If you are only ever going to play back DVDs bought from your local HMV, or any other legitimate UK retailer, the region code issue is of no consequence to you whatsoever. It only matters if you are going to use imported DVDs, either that you imported yourself, or you bought from a UK shop that imported them, from outside Region 2 (probably the US, which is in Region 1)

Manufacturers do not officially sell multi-region DVD players, because to do so would break the terms of their licensing agreements. But they don't want to make entirely different players for different markets, because this would drive up costs. So many players are designed to be relatively easily adjusted for sale in the appropriate region. However, this facility can be used to defeat the region protection. This practice is termed hacking (usually if it's done in software) or sometimes "chipping" (if an actual chip has to be changed). Some retailers are happy to do this. It probably voids the manufacturers warranty, so you will then be reliant on the shop's aftersales.

Strangely, the media companies don't seem to have come hunting this practice in the same way they go after downloads.

Anyway, whether the region coding of your DVD player matters to you entirely depends on what you are likely to want to play on it. Multiregion isn't "better" than Region 2 if you're never going to import pre-recorded discs. But if you want to import discs from the US, then it's really important.

None of this matters in the slightest to material you record yourself off air.

I hope that helps.
Last edited by lewisnt : 06-06-2006 at 19:32

Thank you so very much. You have left me speechless with such a thorough (and clear) explanation.

Are you on any other theads where one could also learn from your wisedom?

I have two more questions about the Panasonic DMR-ES20D:

1) I have a Samsung SE23R41B which has True Surround, however as it doesn't have a DTT, I loose the True Surround feature by using the Digifusion PVR200 (I only get Stereo). Do you know if I will be able to benefit from the True Surround from the TV with the Panasonic DMR-ES20D?

2) Is there any important feature missing from this machine and/or do you have any major criticism of it?

Thank you again.