dkozin's Full Review: Panasonic DMR-E50M DVD Recorder
The Panasonic DMR-E50 is a DVD-Recorder that allows you to record DVD discs in two formats – write-once DVD-R and rewriteable DVD-RAM. The finalized DVD-R discs play in most newer DVD players, whereas DVD-RAM discs can be played in newer Panasonic DVD players.
Front Panel
The E50 is available in either black or silver color for less than $500. The front panel features a flip-down lid, which conceals a front A/V input (composite video, S-Video and analog stereo audio). The right side of the front panel has buttons to control playback and recording, change channels and erase. There are also buttons for “Time Slip” function, which allows you to see instant replays while still recording the remainder of the show.
Rear Panel
The recorder’s rear panel features two more inputs (composite, S-Video and analog stereo) as well as an A/V out (including S-Video). There are also an RF (antenna/analog cable) input and out, component video out (switchable between progressive scan and interlaced playback) and a digital optical audio out. There is no coaxial digital audio out or any kind of digital audio input.
Performance
The recorder has several modes, which differ in picture quality and amount of video that fits on one disc. The best quality is provided by XP mode, which lets you fit 1 hour on a 4.7 Gb 1-sided disc. The SP mode is not much worse in terms of picture quality, but lets you record 2 hours on a 4.7Gb disc. 2-sided DVD-RAM discs fit 9.4Gb and double the recording times.
Both SP and XP modes produce excellent picture quality with vivid colors and great detail level. The recordings are mostly indistinguishable from the original. The longer-playing LP and EP mode (4 and 6 hours on a 4.7Gb disc respectively) produce worse picture quality with some video noise and colors that are less vivid.
The FR (flexible recording) selects bit rate based on the duration of the program being recorded, which automatically changes the disc playback time to make the program fit (and varies the picture quality).
Features
The recorder has more inputs than even expensive VCRs and has familiar VCR+, timer recording and manual recording. A built-in 181-channel tuner lets you record programs off the air or analog cable. There is no digital audio input, however, so you can only record from analog audio inputs, which deprives you from the 5.1 digital sound recording capability (e.g. if you have digital output equipped satellite box).
The audio recording can be in either Dolby Digital 2.0 or PCM. The recorder plays DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, CD-Audio, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3 CD, VCD. It features progressive scan (for TVs that support it), noise reduction (3D NR, mosquito NR, block NR).
The 1.3x playback mode allows you to play the recording at 1.3x speed while still hearing the sound without the pitch shift. Both cartridge-enclosed and non-cartridge-enclosed DVD-RAM discs are supported. It supports 2.8, 4.7 and 9.4 GB DVD-RAM discs as well as 4.7 and 9.4 GB DVD-R.
You can enter the program and disc titles, protect segments from accidental erasure, split segments, as well as create playlists. As the programs are recorded, the list of them is created (Direct Navigator) and you can later jump to the beginning of any of them. You can erase the entire program or the parts of it.
The "standard" DVD features are also provided: slow and fast scan, angle select, subtitle select, soundtrack select, parental control, resume, repeat play, virtual surround sound, etc.
MP3
The MP3 files encoded at 32 to 320 kbps and at sampling rates of 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1 and even 48 kHz can be played.
DVD-R
The DVD-R discs can be played back in most newer DVD players and are also great for archiving purposes. The DVD-R discs must be finalized before you can play them in a standard DVD player. The process takes 10-15 minutes.
DVD-RAM
The claim is that the DVD-RAM discs can be erased and re-recorded up to 100,000 times. If you record a show every day on the same disc, that would let you reuse the same disc for close to 300 years. I am not sure if the discs will really last 100,000 re-recordings, but even at the fraction of the promised lifespan, they are way better than video tapes and will outlast the DVD format itself.
Another powerful feature of the DVD-RAM is its flexibility in terms of recording/playback that VCR would never allow. You can record and play the same disc at the same time. The “Chasing Playback” mode allows you watch the show from the beginning (or any other point) while the rest of it is being recorded. This way, you don’t have to be afraid to miss the beginning of the show and have to wait for recording to finish. And you can easily skip over commercials.
The “Time Slip” features lets you watch instant replays while the show is being recorded. In other words, you get TiVo/ReplayTV-type functionality without having a hard-drive recorder.
Remote Control
The remote control can control televisions in addition to the recorder itself. It has two power buttons, volume control buttons and a DVD/TV switch that allows you switch some DVD control buttons to TV control mode.
Some buttons are located behind a sliding door, including input select, open/close, erase and other buttons.
Bottom Line
The E50 is a major improvement over a VCR. It has DVD-like picture quality for recording and features TiVo-like features for playback/recording. But there is no 5.1 digital audio recording capability.
Other Panasonic DVD Recorders
Listed below is the lineup of Panasonic DVD recorders (varying in features and price but with same solid core performance).
Panasonic DMREH50S DVD Player/Recorder - DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-RW, Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC) - DVD Audio, DVD Video, CD-D...More at eCOST.com
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