Panasonic DMR-HS2
Written: Oct 24 '02 (Updated Sep 17 '03)
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Pros: Great addition to your Home Theatre System; DV and PC Card Input on front
Cons: Mirror Finish, limited editing,dosen't live well w/Satellite receivers
The Bottom Line: For transferring your VHS footage to DVD, its near perfect. For time shift recording and archiving your favorite shows, it excels!And,it's an above average Progressive scan DVD player
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| mp3jockey's Full Review: Panasonic DMR-HS2 (40 GB) DVD Recorder |
THE Home Theatre Appliance
WOW! What a concept. A DVD-R burner with a 40GB Hard drive. The "concept" is a good one, and since this is the FIRST appliance of its kind (Panasonic's E-20 and E-30 are its older brothers, without the hard drive), there are some things you should be aware of before you plunk down $750-$900 for the DMR-HS2.
Its NOT a TIVO
While the TIVO and Replay PVR products may sound similar, the DMR-HS2 does not require you to subscribe to any channel update service, so you save $9-$12 dollars per month OR $250 for lifetime subscription. Its built in VCR Plus service is free. The VCR Plus service is not nearly as extensive as the TIVO or REPLAY subscription services, which cover literally hundreds of channels. The DMR-HS2 has a built in 125 channel tuner, so it will work fine with your local channels, and most cable systems, but DIRECT TV and DISH services will not. If you currently have TIVO or REPLAY units, you CAN archive from them. Just run an Svideo or composite cable from either unit, to the front panel input of the DMR-HS2, and capture to its hard drive or DVD-RAM in REAL TIME. Then, the DMR-HS2 will allow you to do basic editing on the material. From there, you can archive your finished product on either DVD-RAM, or to DVD-R media. By archiving to DVD-RAM, you can always make another DVD-R copy, should your original get damaged! PLUS, if you have a PC with a DVD-RAM compatible drive and the requisite software, you can refine and edit the source on your PC even further, then go back to your DMR-HS2, and burn your DVD-R!
In fact, you can do that with ANY source material fed into the DMR-HS2, including the programs you have time-shift recorded for later viewing: put them on the built in Hard Drive OR slip a DVD-RAM disk in, and record to it.
SORRY: You cannot copy DVD's to the hard drive and make copies, so dont even think about making illegal copies of copyrighted material on this rig! That's not what it was designed for. Copy protected data cannot be transferred TO the internal Hard drive.
OK, so you can do recording to the built in hard drive or a DVD-RAM disk, or DVD-R disk from any input source on the DMR-HS2. The best way to do it is this way:
Source (TV,Mini DV Camcorder, Replay Unit, etc) to Hard Drive---> Edit on Hard drive---> Archive on DVD-RAM disk OR Burn on DVD-R disk.
If you burn directly to DVD-R disk, it will be in REAL TIME: However long the source material is on the Hard Drive, will be the burn time to DVD-R. If you archive to DVD-RAM, the transfer from hard drive to DVD-RAM will be a true Digital transfer, faster than REAL TIME. If at any time in the future, you wish to burn a copy of your archived DVD-RAM source material to a DVD-R, you will have to transfer to hard drive first (faster than real time), then from hard drive to DVD-R (Real Time). Once the DVD-R burn is completed, you choose the option to FINALIZE the disk, which will make it playable in just about any existing DVD standalone home player. The DVD-R disk becomes a DVD-Video disk. DVD-R player compatibility is still superior to the DVD(Plus)R competing standard.
I transfered several types of source material to hard drive, then burned DVD-R (finalized to DVD-Video), then played them on several types of DVD players ( Panasonic, Toshiba, and Playstation2). They looked GREAT! While the DMR-HS2 does give you options for menus at the beginning of your DVD-R's, they are NOT extensive...very simple. If you are looking for more control over chapter stops, editing, menu structures and appearances, you may be better off with a PC based DVD editing/Burning system. IF you already have a DVD-RAM capable drive in your PC, you can bring your source material into your computer, and using whatever editing program(s) you prefer, edit and refine the source further. Then, save to DVD-RAM, insert into the DMR-HS2, transfer to its hard drive, then burn a copy or two to DVD-R.
It Can read Memory from your Digital Camera Too
There is a PC card slot on the front that will accept a PC Card adapter for Compact Flash. Several other memory types are supported as well, each needing its own PC Card adapter. The Compact Flash adapter is the cheapest ($7-$9 for the adapter). When inserted, the DMR-HS2 will give you the opportunity of taking all the JPEG files on the flash card, and generating a slide show, and saving it to the hard drive or DVD-RAM. I have not used this feature yet, but those that have says it works very well, rendering terrific looking images.
Flexible Recording Speeds
There are 4 recording speeds available on the DMR-HS2:
XP, which will give you one hour on DVD-RAM and DVD-R media, and 8.5 hours recording time on its hard drive. In my opinion, you should use this for archiving and editing your source material. The next speed, SP will give you 2 hours on DVD-RAM/DVD-R media, and 17 hours on the hard drive, and will give you perfectly acceptable SVHS like quality. LP and EP speeds will give you 4 hours and 6 hours on DVD-RAM/DVD-R media, and 34 and 52 hours of recording time on the hard drive respectively, in VHS or lower quality.
There is also a feature called Flexible Recording, which will calculate the highest recording quality, based on the length of your source material...very useful feature, and works quite well.
By the way, its a Great DVD Player TOO!
Oh, yes..its a great quality DVD player as well, for your DVD movie collection. It has Digital Audio OUT connections if you have a receiver so equipped (DTS, Dolby 5.1 Digital). It has Progressive Scan capability, and takes advantage IF you have a Television/Monitor that does Progressive Scan. If you aren't familiar with this, your TV/Monitor probably does not have it, so don't worry about it.
It has a plethora of audio and video outs and ins. I had no problem integrating it into my Home Theatre system consisting of another DVD player, Sony Laserdisc player, Panasonic Showstopper PVR, Panasonic SVHS Cassette Recorder, Sony Digital Satellite Receiver, 2 Sony 200 Disc CD Changers, Yamaha 6.1 Receiver, and a Sony 36" Wega XBR400.
"Black Level" Bug??
It has been reported,the DMR-HS2 has a Black Level Bug. You supposedly only notice the bug in the form of a "washed out" or "brightened" looking DVD-R recorded on the DMR-HS2, and played back on DVD Players other than Panasonic. It has been documented on the AVS Forum, and seems to exist when carefully measured with test equipment, but some believe that, rather than a bug, it was intentionally designed into the unit, to compensate for various DVD players than might play the media recorded on the DMR-HS2. It has to do with the "IRE" levels the "finalized" DVD-R discs are encoded with from the DMR-HS2.
I have had NO experience with this, and I used 4 different players to play my DVD-R's burned on the DMR-HS2. Compared to my source material, the DVD's burned looked qualitatively exactly the same. If you are concerned with this, I suggest you purchase your DMR-HS2 from a supplier who has a fair and liberal return policy (I bought mine at Crutchfield.com), not that you'll have to avail yourself of the return policy!
Transferring DV from your Camcorder is Easy!
You will be happy with this appliance, especially if you own a DV Camcorder! You plug your camcorder into the Front panel Firewire port using a 4 pin Firewire Cable (not included), then put the camcorder on pause. The DMR-HS2 recognized my TR-900 after a few seconds. You use the DMR-HS2 remote to start transfering to the hard drive or DVD-RAM/DVD-R media, and it even automatically takes your DV camcorder OFF PAUSE for you! What great transfers of my 14 month old grand daughter! Something I can show at her wedding, and embarrass her with to no end!
Tech Specs, and where to Buy
I could go through the tech specs, but the best place to find those are at crutchfield.com! Buy your unit there too ( they may price match...just ask!). They have been in business for over 25 years, for good reason!
The DMR-HS2 is a great "Video" appliance! And it works pretty well too!
If you have loads of VHS archived footage you have been itching to put on DVD, this is a great way to do it!! And, its very handy to have a Firewire port, S-video and audio ports on the Front of the unit!
It ain't perfect, but pretty close
It does have its negative points: menus that are not very intuitive, manual that leaves a lot to be desired, mirror silver finish that does NOT match all your black components.
But, all in all, you will be pleased with the DVD's of your dusty VHS tapes...and being able to share them with family and friends is a priceless feature! Plus, you;ll find other uses as well: home inventory, Video Greetings. Lots of possibilities!
Newer Models Now Available
Panasonic has now introduced its Third Generation Set Top DVD recorders: The E-80 and the E-100. The E-80 has an 80GB Hard Drive, NO DV input and NO PC Card input. The E100 has a 120GB Hard drive, DV input, and PC Card input as well. The E80 can write to DVD at 2X, while the E100 has 4X write capability. They both can HIGH SPEED DUB from Hard Drive to DVD-R, as well as to DVD-RAM media. The editing capabilities of both new models are more advanced than the HS2, and the newer models also do NOT have the "Black Level Bug" I mentioned earlier in this review. If you can get a screaming deal on the HS2, go for it. Otherwise I would go for either the E80 or the E100. Panasonic is definitely way ahead of the pack with their Set Top DVD Recorders.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 999.99
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mp3jockey
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