Panasonic DMR E55EBS DVD Recorder

There are RGB Scart in and outs and if you have only 1 RGB Scart on your TV or, like me, an NTL cable box with only 1 RGB Scart out, you can connect the cable box to the TV via the E55, which passes on the signal to the TV even when in standby mode.

There are 4 recording modes: XP(1 hr), SP(2 hr), LP(4 hr), and EP(either 6 or 8 hrs - not both). I can't tell the difference between 1 and 2 hr, so I always use the 2hr mode purely to get more on the discs. The 4hr and longer are only really useful for emergencies. I think 6/8hr is worse than VHS.

I use DVD -R discs for recording, and saving, films. There is a very useful flexible recording mode (FR) which fills the disc in the time specified. Eg. If you want to tape a 2:20 minutes film, instead of having to use the LP 4hr, you can use FR 2:20 mode, which obviously will be a lot closer to 2hr quality than 4hr.
If you shop around you can pick up Panasonic brand -R discs for around £1 a disc.

The RAM discs will be used for recodings that you do not want to keep. There are plenty of editing options and the time slip function is very easy to use. However, most of the functions you won't use. Eg. You can cut out all the adverts in a recording but it is far simpler to just hit play, then fast forward through them.

One option I do use is the play back before the recording has finished. If you really don't want to miss a program, hit record at the start, then play the recording. If you have small child that goes into tantrum mode, or want to get a cup of tea, you can hit pause and start again whenever you want. And of course, if you are more than 3/4 mins behind the "live" program, you can fast forward through the adverts.

I was a bit worried about reliability, having read so many reviews of all kinds of different makes (well Philips mainly), that crash and generally act up, but I have had no problems with this one. I've tested all the branded discs and all work correctly.

Note: It is very important not to get dirt or smudgy fingerprints on the surface of the disc whilst recording, or this will occasionally crash the machine. Probably when you least want it to happen.

The thumbnail display of recorded programmes in the Direct Navigator (6 show on a screen at a time) is impressive looking (not vital, but it looks great!) - when you highlight one, it actually plays, with sound. Also, if the recording is longer than a minimum duration (unsure, maybe 15-30 mins?), it records and displays the name of the programme in addition to the date and channel - otherwise, just the date and channel.

Another review above ("Excellent DVD recorder, but with a design flaw", June 7, 2004, by A electronics & photo fan from Bodmin, Cornwall, United Kingdom) mentioned a problem of the E55 switching their TV over to the channel the DVD was recording for about 9 seconds, when the E55 finished recording. I spotted mine doing this, and eventually remembered I'd seen it here. So I thought I'd mention a fix I found, in case it helps that reviewer or anyone else who was worried about it. Everyone's setup is different, you may not even get this problem, or if you do, my fix might not be relevant. Anyway:

My TV is a Sony, which has Smartlink - compatible with Panasonic's QLink. This gives clever features like "Direct TV record", the ability for the E55 to go into standby if you put the TV into standby, etc. etc. This facility is on the E55's output SCART and the Sony TV's primary input SCART, and works if the SCART lead is one with all its wires connected. Now, having read that RGB output gives better picture quality (though it's great anyway), I turned that on in the E55's setup menu to see if I could see any difference, and wasn't sure, but left it on. Next time I switched on the E55, I noticed it changed the channel of my TV over to the DVD's channel (AV2, "DVD" - like my Panasonic S35 player always did. With the player it was only mildly annoying as you only switch it on when you're about to play a disc!). However, with a recorder, I *really* only wanted it to change over to the DVD channel if I pressed play or brought up an on-screen menu on the E55. I then discovered that it was also doing the aforementioned 9-second channel change syndrome (again, over to the DVD channel) when the E55 finished a recording (including with the timer). There'd be a few seconds of the channel that had just been recorded, then a blank screen, and finally the TV's own channel would return. Really irritating when you're trying to watch TV and another channel suddenly buts in and then blanks the screen to boot, for almost 10 seconds!

Well, all this went away when I returned the E55's setup output to "Video (with component)", which is the default anyway. It now acts exactly as I'd want, like a VCR, without disturbing the TV except when I feel it should. It turns out my TV's Smartlink SCART input (recommended for attaching your primary recorder to) is NOT RGB-compatible (though its secondary one is, but that doesn't have Smartlink!). So, I don't know if it's just using the RGB output of the E55 that causes this invasive channel changing, or if it's using RGB into a connection that doesn't really "like"/understand it, but maybe this info might help someone. I could know for sure by swapping cables around, but why mess with fragile SCARTs? And anyway, I can't reach around the back of the TV without moving it and it's way too heavy to move easily!

Hope that helps/encourages someone, somewhere.