Panasonic DMR-E55 DVD Recorder / Player - Excellent Performance. Save for MP3
Written: Dec 14 '04 (Updated Sep 01 '05)
Product Rating:
Sound:
Ease of Use:
Picture Quality:
Durability:
Pros: Ridiculously low price, excellent recording and playback, features and connectivity
Cons: MP3 playback quality, lack of FireWire input, can't record to DVD+R/W
The Bottom Line: Not only the Panasonic DMR-E55 an excellent replacement for a VCR, but it is much more. It is also a DVD player, CD player and it has...
dkozin's Full Review: Panasonic DMR-E55 DVD Recorder
The VCR has pretty much died when the DVD recorder prices slid to less than $300. My first VCR (European Panasonic SD11AM) cost $340 and had one speed and no stereo sound. As DVD recorders are getting cheaper, they are getting more capable as well. The Panasonic DMR-E55 is a sub-$250 DVD recorder that is less expensive than the previous models and is also easier to use.
The E55 is available in black or silver and lets you record DVD discs of two formats - write-once DVD-R or rewriteable DVD-RAM. In addition to DVD-RAM in caddys, the recorder can record on a DVD-R (no caddy required). The finalized write-once DVD-R discs play in most DVD players, whereas rewritable DVD-RAM discs can be played in most newer Panasonic DVD players.
The DVD-RAM discs are claimed to have long life as they can be erased and re-recorded 100,000 times (Panasonic claims). In addition, the DVD-RAM discs let you record and read at the same time, which bring some TiVo-like functionality to your DVD recorder.
How is a DVD recorder better than a VCR? There are several advantages: it produces better picture quality than any analog VCR (S-VHS VCRs included), allows you to have more durable media, you don't need to rewind the tape or spend minutes trying to find the segment you are interested in. DVD-RAM discs can be recorder on and be played back from at the same time and also can be re-used with no loss in picture quality. And don't forget - you can also play DVD-Video, 2-channel DVD-Audio, Audio CD, CD-R/W, JPEG and MP3 CD on this recorder.
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Connectivity
As your VCR, the E55 features an RF (antenna/analog cable) in and out. Unlike many VCRs, it has more inputs and outs: 3 A/V/S-Video inputs (including one on the front panel) and an A/V/S-Video out as well as a component video out (that can be switched between progressive scan and interlaced "standard" operation). An optical digital audio out is provided as well. You can use it to transfer PCM/Dolby Digital/DTS signal to your receiver digitally without loss of quality.
Features
The recorder has, familiar to VCR users, VCR Plus (which I have never used simply because manual programming is easy enough) as well as timer recording and manual recording. The E55's built-in 181-channel tuner lets you record programs off the air or analog cable. The tuner lets the unit set the clock automatically (by synchronizing the recorder's clock with the signal received on one of the off the air channels) as well as features auto channel tuning.
There is no digital audio input, so you can only record from analog audio inputs, and thus you cannot record the 5.1 digital sound (e.g. if you have digital output equipped satellite box). But I don't know of a home DVD recorder that would let one record 5.1-channel sound and the E55 more than fills the VCR's shoes.
Recording on DVD-RAM lets you watch the beginning of the show while it is being recorded and perform instant replays (Time Slip) while the program is still being recorded and do other tricks, normally associated with hard drive recorders (e.g. TiVo or ReplayTV). And you can also erase some programs from the DVD-RAM disc and record over the reclaimed space (obviously this cannot be done with DVD-R write-once discs).
With DVD-RAM, 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 somewhat easily skip over commercials using the appropriate button.
When recording to DVD-R, the disc has to be finalized (it takes 10-15 minutes) before it can be played in a standard DVD player. And unlike the DVD-RAM disc, where you set the chapters yourself, the DVD-R discs get chapters automatically when finalized and sometimes not in the places where you want them.
In addition to recording, the E55 can play DVD-Video, DVD-Audio (stereo only), DVD-R, DVD-RAM, CD-Audio, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3 CD, Video CD. It features progressive scan (for TVs that support it), and 3D digital noise reduction (useful for DVDs recorder at lower bit rates).
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, and much more.
Video Playback
The E55 can play DVD video discs very well. The images are crisp and clear with no discernable video noise and clearly defined object edges. Obviously, I am referring to the store-bought DVDs. For DVDs recorder on this machine (or some other DVD recorder), the picture quality will depend on the mode in which they were recorded as well as on the quality of the source material. The discs recorded at low bit rates will produce worse picture quality.
The sound quality was also solely dependent on my receiver as I used the optical digital out. If you use the digital audio out, the sound quality does not depend on the DVD player/recorder at all.
Audio CD Playback
I used the optical digital output and it produced excellent result, since the decoding was done by my receiver. This way, the sound quality does not depend on the DVD recorder's DAC at all. I have not used the analog stereo connection the E55 has (since I see no point in doing so). Also, this does not let one enjoy multi-channel DTS Audio CDs.
DVD-Audio (Stereo)
The recorder can play DVD-Audio discs, but only in stereo (2-channel). I am sure anybody interested in DVD-Audio playback would get a DVD-Audio player that provides multi-channel playback.
MP3 Playback
I have to say that unfortunately I am disappointed in the MP3 performance of this DVD recorder. Although the menus and overall MP3 playback interface is convenient and easy to use, the MP3 playback quality is far from excellent when it comes to sound.
I have tried a CD with MP3 or Star Wars Soundtrack by John Williams. Being classical music it definitely needed more than your standard 128 kbps bit rate (at 128 kbps CBR some instruments were missing), so I encoded it at 256 kbps VBR (variable bit rate). The encoding was done before I downloaded the music from the web site (a paid site).
After that, I listened to it using the recorder's analog audio out, connected to my Panasonic SA-HE70 receiver. I also listened to it through the recorder's digital audio out, having my receiver do the digital-to-analog conversion. For comparison purposes, I burned an Audio CD using the same MP3 files in my computer burner and then played it through the recorder's digital audio out to my receiver.
In both cases of MP3 playback, the sound seemed less dynamic, softer and lacking dynamic range comparing to the Audio CD. Since the audio CD was made using Roxio Easy CD and DVD Creator 6.2 from the same MP3 files, it means that the recorder's MP3 decoding is not on par with what you can get from better software-based decoders on your PC.
I tried the same experiment with rock music and the results were similar. Direct MP3 playback produced softer guitars, which is simply unacceptable for me. Perhaps for somebody who is happy using 128 kbps bit rate, the MP3 playback on this machine will suffice. I will have to stick with audio CDs and, in case of MP3s downloaded from the web (256 kbps VBR), to making audio CDs and then playing them. I am not willing to sacrifice sound quality for convenience.
Recording Quality
Let's talk recording quality. The picture quality of recordings depends on the mode (and bit rate) in which the recording is performed and on the source quality. The recording is performed in one of the following modes/speeds:
XP (High Quality): fits about 1 hour on a single-sided 4.7 Gb DVD-R or DVD-RAM disc. Best picture quality, almost indistinguishable from original.
SP (Standard Quality): fits about 2 hours (picture quality is comparable to the XP mode).
LP: fits about 4 hours on a single-sided 4.7 Gb DVD-R or DVD-RAM disc. Picture quality noticeably worse than the XP or SP.
EP-6H: fits about 6 hours. Quality worse than LP.
EP-8H: fits about 8 hours. Worst picture quality.
In the SP mode, you can see small artifacts in scenes with fast movement or with lots of detail, but they are difficult to notice.
The more you fit on the disc, the worse the picture quality gets. The EP modes have some block noise, which I find even less tolerable than the analog noise in analog VCRs in EP mode. The colors are less vivid in LP mode as well. I suggest that you use EP modes only when absolutely necessary.
TheE55's so-called flexible recording mode (FR) selects the bit rate based on the duration of the program being recorded to make the program fit at the best possible quality (this varies the picture quality depending on the program duration - the longer the program, the worse the quality gets).
Remote Control
The supplied remote control lets you control some televisions in addition to the recorder itself. It features two separate power buttons, channel and volume control buttons and TV/Video button. Unlike some other DVD recorders from Panasonic, this remote does not have a flip-open cover or sliding door, which is a good thing. The menu control buttons are in the lower part of the remote (although not as low as some Sony remotes). It would have been better to have them higher for one-handed operation ease.
Bottom Line
Not only the Panasonic DMR-E55 an excellent replacement for a VCR, but it is much more. It is also a DVD player, CD player and it has some TiVo-like functionality. With low price and excellent performance, it is a very good buy.
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