VERSATILE, HIGH QUALITY DVD RECORDER
Written: Apr 10 '03 (Updated Apr 15 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Picture Quality: |
|
|
| Durability: |
|
|
|
Pros: Excellent picture quality, easy editing of source material via Playlists.
Cons: Chapters not preset. Playlists not dubbed from DVD-RAM to HDD. No thumbnail pics on DVD.
The Bottom Line: I imagine future DVD Recorders will have enhanced features. Although I am disappointed in the CONs, I am enjoying the PROs. This is more fun and better than a VCR.
|
|
|
| BRFurman's Full Review: Panasonic DMR-HS2 (40 GB) DVD Recorder |
I am enjoying this machine, and I will get immediately into its PROs and its CONs. HDD means HARD DISK DRIVE. DVD-RAM is a re-writable disk and DVD-R is a standard DVD disk (requiring finalizing to play in other players):
PROs
----
1) Picture quality at XP and SP are excellent. Indistinguishable from the source!
2) Flexible Recording mode which uses the best recording bit rate for the recording's time and disc space left.
3) Editing of source material (e.g., home videos and removal of commercials) via editing of PROGRAMS (Divide program and Shorten Segment) and via Playlists (same as editing of Programs, plus moving segments around, and combining parts of mulitple programs).
4) Others (on internet forums) complain about the means of inputting titles, and wish for a keyboard. The built-in method of selecting characters is fast if you use one finger on the remote's number keys, and one on the remote's Enter key. I like that it supports capitals, small letters and all kinds of symbols.
5) Ability to record from cable or satellite box, although you need to use one of the line inputs and set the DVD-Recorder timer as well as your cable/satellite box's program timer. (I have Dish Network, and this works fine!)
6) Time Slip and Chase Play work great ... yes, they work for Satellite. You can watch a program from a disc or the HDD while recording. This can be the same or a different program. (You cannot do this while dubbing between HDD and a Disk, however.)
7) You can put in a digital camera card ($30-$40 accessory if not Compact Flash card) and view the pictures one-by-one or a slide show on the TV. (I recommend an adaptor which takes several card types; you never know what kind of camera you will be using in the future.) You can store the pictures on the HDD or on a DVD-RAM for viewing at later times. See my CON (also #7) on this one.
8) It is my opinion, that the machine, with its silver color and mirrored surface is very stylish. Some feel otherwise.
9) There are no less than 4 separate inputs for different devices which may be hooked up permanently for recording. Three utilize superior S-Video or also composite video inputs. The fourth is the DV jack.
10) The timer works for 32 programs up to one month in advance. You can title the program, and it displays when the individual program is highlighted. This is a good feature. (The program title also displays for programs which have already been recorded via the DIRECT NAVIGATOR button.)
11) Ability to record in 6-hour mode. Most other DVD recorders don't support that speed (like Toshiba and Philips).
CONs
----
1) Chapters cannot be set by user. Instead system automatically places chapter markings 5 to 6 mins. apart.
2) Finalized DVD menu does not allow user to display thumbnails from the program, only text.
3) Playlists are great for editing home movies, but they cannot be dubbed as a Playlist. They may be only converted to a program when dubbed from HDD to DVD-RAM. (They are also converted as a Program for DVD-R, but that's expected.)
What's most surprising is THAT PLAYLISTS CANNOT BE TRANSFERRED AT ALL FROM A DVD-RAM TO THE HDD. Now that's illogical!
4) No ZOOM feature when watching DVDs.
5) The machine does not support recording on DVD-RW. I can understand not supporting the DVD+RW format, but the DVD-RW format is approved by the DVD Consortium. One should be able to make an erasable DVD other than a DVD-RAM (which is unplayable on any other DVD player). The machine also doesn't support playback of DVD+R, DVD+RW and MP3s ... too bad!)
6) When setting the REC MODE (SPEED), the TV screen display does not show the setting (XP, SP, LP or EP). You have to go up to the machine's LED display to see which speed you have set. This is a dumb design, since a window displays for a short while on the TV which tells you what drive you are in, what mode you are in (play or rec), etc.
7) As I said in the PROs, you can put in a digital camera card and view or save the pictures on the HDD or on a DVD-RAM file. YOU CANNOT MAKE THEM PART OF A DVD-R VIDEO! That's a shame. DVD-RAMs don't work in other people's DVD players! It would be nice to add a still pic or a slide show from this file (e.g., a title slide) as part of a video using the Playlist editing function. While looking at pics or a slide show, the RECORD button for video does not work! Too bad! (You will need to plug your camera into the Line inputs to record pics from it to a video. This is fine, but it somewhat negates the need for the digital card input into the machine.)
8) I thought the quality of the digital pics display was sub-par. I realize a TV has less resolution than a PC, but I was disappointed. Others have been happy with the results.
9) Editing of PROGRAMs or PLAYLISTs could have been made a teensy bit easier if the machine supported frame-by-frame advance. IT DOES NOT! You must use SLOW-MOTION to edit and find the exact frame to delete from, etc.
10) You cannot dub from DVD-R (unfinalized or finalized) to the hard drive (HDD). Since this machine detects macrovisioned DVDs and will not copy them, that cannot be the reason for this mistake! The reason is obvious: Panasonic has a financial stake in the popularity of the DVD-RAM format, and wants users to archive to them if they will want to make copies of their DVDs in the future. Cute trick! (Note that the manual uses DVD-RAM in all of its examples, while most people bought the machine to make DVD-Rs!)
11) Features from Panasonic's VCRs have not made it to this unit (yet). They are
a) support for changing channels on cable/satellite box
b) commercial advance: automatically marking commercials
You can set the recorder and satellite box independently to the same setting, and you can delete commercials manually after the program is recorded, so these are not serious.
12) After dubbing, the system should give you the OPTION of deleting BY ONE COMMAND, all the programs/playlists WHICH WERE DUBBED. As it works now, you have to to delete each one individually! That can be up to 99 programs for a DVD!
13) In the famous Betamax case, the Supreme Court said the public can copy and archive TV shows and movies FOR THEIR OWN USE. The problem is this machine won't let you copy YOUR OWN PRE-RECORDED VHS TAPES AND PUT THEM ON DVD! I am sure Panasonic was forced to put in Macrovision coding into this baby, but it seems that the general public will not accept the fact that they can't move their OWN VHS COLLECTION to DVD! If there are ways around this, they deserve to find them.
THINGS THE MANUAL DOESN'T TELL YOU
----------------------------------
1) Manual says deleting a segment from a playlist is irretrievable. NOT SO. Playlist editing doesn't affect the PROGRAM which contains the video.
2) Manual says DIVIDING a PROGRAM into two is irretrievable. NOT SO. The two programs can be re-joined via a Playlist edit.
3) Doing all editing via PLAYLISTS is better than using the DIVIDE PROGRAM and SHORTEN PROGRAM segments. Why? Results are the same, but if you make a mistake ... the original is NEVER altered! You can edit via the Playlist method again!
4) Panasonic Customer Service tells you the DV input for camcorders is only for Panasonic camcorders. The manual doesn't say this, nor is it so (by reading internet forum comments). I own a Panasonic PV-DV800 mini-DV camcorder, and IT DOES NOT WORK. I have to check out why by bringing the DVD Recorder, the cable and camcorder into an authorized service center.
5) You can record directly from a cable/satellite box's
S-VIDEO (or composite video) OUT, although the manual only shows an RF hookup for cable/satellite.
6) If you use video line inputs only as I do, everytime you turn on the machine it will ask to setup the channels. You must add a phony channel which isn't used to stop this annoyance.
7) EP (6-hour) speed may not play on older DVD Players.
LP (4-hour) speed may not display ZOOM on some DVD Players which support that feature.
8) I just figured out that you can COPY AN UNFINALIZED DVD-R (or a finalized one) to the HDD. It's analog, not digital, but it's amazing it CAN be done!
a) First, connect S-VIDEO and AUDIO L+R plugs into the DMR-HS2's 'OUT 2' port in the back. Put the other end of these plugs into the DMR-HS2's front LINE 2 IN port.
b) Put the unfinalized DVD-R into the drive.
c) Press the HDD button, set the LINE INPUT mode to L2, and set the REC MODE (Speed) to XP or SP.
d) Press the RECORD button multiple times until the length of time you want to record is displayed. (This is like a VCR OTR feature.)
e) Quickly press the DVD button, press the DIRECT NAVIGATOR button, and select the first program you wish to record. Press enter to start playing that program. The disc will play until the last program is finished.
The DMR-HS2 will record on the HDD from L2 input, which is the output of the DVD playing!
I used this when a [Panasonic brand] DVD-R refused to finalize. (Don't know why!) From now on, I will not erase from the HDD until I know a disc is complete and finalized!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 808.61
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
BRFurman
|
|
Member: Barry Furman
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.