Page 1 of DVD Recorder - Panny still tops?

Hi guys

I need a new DVD recorder with hard drive. It`s a toss up I think between the Panasonic DMREX77 and the Sony RDR-HXD970 or 980. I remember Panasonic was always the favoured DVD Recorder brand - is this still the case? Any tips? I`m looking to spend in the £200-300 region and I`ll use if for copying VHS (editing via the hard drive), and recording from my PVR.

I`ve had my Panasonic DMREH50 a few years now and still happy with it.

But my dad, got an LG machine, my sister in law a Samsung a while ago, apart from not being able to use DVD RAM they can do all the other day to day stuff that I use my panny for and are happy with them. They have the added bonus they can play divx on their machines, and similar spec on paper about £100 cheaper.

I`d go with a Panny; the GUI s are really good and the manual makes sense.

For frame by frame editing and high speed dubbing, I don`t think you can beat them.

Yeah. I`m heading for the Panny I think - sick to the back teeth with my LiteOn - God knows why I bought that!

Anyway, thanks for the replies - anyone else?

Panny.

Dr 42%er


Care in the football community is proved not to work.


It`s not easy being different. It`s not easy being cool....but somehow I manage....

Quote:
Panny.

Recommendations don`t come higher than that! 8)
My two Panny recorders are ancient.
Aside from some issues with cheap discs, once, they have been 100% reliable.
Real old warhorses now though, no doubt.
One is only used as a player, these days.
The other is only used for recording home movies of holidays etc.

EDIT DVD Recorder I suggested doesn`t have a hard disk. Must read more carefully. ;)

This item was edited on Saturday, 12th April 2008, 00:04

I have a Panasonic DMR-E500H (has a 400gb harddrive) and I`m as happy with it today as I was when I found it at the bargain price of £500 two and a half years ago at Richer Sounds reduced from £1000 (and they really were that price elsewhere which is a hefty chunk of cash).

The newer panasonic models that have come out since that I`ve seen on QVC look good as they have a quickstart feature but I`m happy with mine. I love being able to start it recording and just leave it until the next day or longer to playback ignoring the problem of setting timers, or switch to time slip mode and leave it recording if I quite fancy watching the program its currently recording later.

The last time I looked about a year ago they`d increased the price if mine by £100 when I`d expected it to drop with the new models available so they must have continued to sell well. None there at all now but they`ve the newer DMREX77 at £250 with a 160gb drive and a DMREX87 with a 250gb at £300 if you`re comparison shopping.

Btw my panasonic is totally silent in operation except when starting up and shutting down even if I put my head next to it and I can barely hear that either :)

You mentioned copying from VHS, the ones with VHS built in (none of the above models) have protection built in but I read it`s possible to bypass it by looping the output to an input through one of those filtering things if you happen to have put protection on your own videos which is the only reason I mention it ;)

I`ve gone for the Panny EX77 - £199 on amazon.

Thanks again for all the replies - always such a nice friendly respeonse on this forum! :)