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

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)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!

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Early Adopters Pick: May 2003. This is the first DVD player with a built-in hard drive recorder, allowing you to record all your favorite shows onto digital disk as well as watch DVDs.
Talk about "all in one"--the Panasonic DMR-E80HS not only records DVDs and stores more than 100 hours of audio/video programming on its built-in memory; it's also a progressive-scan DVD player (for use with high-definition or HD-ready TVs) that also handles your DVDs, CDs, and MP3 recordable discs. With the DMR-E80HS's 80 GB hard drive, it provides up to 104 hours of recording time, plus up to 6 hours on a removable 4.7 GB DVD-RAM disc (in Extended Play mode in each case). The DMR-E80HS offers the flexibility of recording on both DVD-RAM--perfect for instant chapter access and for multiple rerecordings--as well as DVD-R, widely regarded as the most widely compatible of the many DVD formats (great for sharing camcorder footage with loved ones).
Panasonic's Time Slip feature lets you use your DVD recorder like a personal video recorder, or PVR. Because of DVD-RAM's extremely fast transfer rate, you can view the recorded portion of an ongoing program from the beginning, while still recording the program in progress. In addition to recording new video content, the DMR-E80HS lets you transfer your favorite VHS recordings to durable, space-saving discs. Personal movie libraries and family videos can be archived, preserved, and easily cataloged and accessed. Picture-enhancing technologies include 3D noise reduction, block noise reduction, and mosquito noise reduction.
With the Direct Navigator you can instantly access recorded material from an onscreen menu that lists recording dates, times, channels, and titles. Finding and viewing recorded material is simple because there's no need to search, fast-forward, or rewind. You can even perform simple non-linear video editing, such as rearranging the order of scenes, skipping over unwanted scenes, and creating custom playlists of favorite scenes on a disc.