Panasonic DMR-HS2 (40 GB) DVD Recorder

No Dolby Digital Surround recording capability" Prerecorded DVD playback is exceptional, but the unit only records in 2-channel Dolby, NOT DD Surround Sound 5.1! Panasonic's support folks did not know this, nor did the people at Best Buy where I bought the unit, but my home theater salesman figured it out after researching Panasonic's specs on the Web. It seems ludicrous to me that an $850 machine would leave out such a key feature. I'm sure I'm not the only consumer that would demand full 5.1 surround sound recording capability. Otherwise, why record digital broadcasts at all? I returned mine and am waiting for one that records in DD 5.1. Next year, maybe?

I have had my unit about a month now and love it.I almost returnd it after reading one of the reviews here, for some reason the person is not having good luck.Mine has recorded great in the first three speeds both on HD and on dvd's. I have recorded movies on it and was able to watch them on a good sony dvd player and a cheap orion player both of witch i have . I have not used the unit to its full extent yet but i am verey happy with it and happend to get it for a great price at abt.

Listen to what RAM lets me do; let's say you need to just edit home video that you just shot, you can actually edit the video right on the RAM disc. Whether you actually shot on the disc or dump it from your camcorder, you can edit right there at your TV. It's cool stuff - what happens is that the RAM just 'connects the dots' to the actual segments you want - whether a still photo, video, titles, etc. You just drag and drop them around and put the scenes in the order you like. So this means that you can shoot a movie in your camcorder and then take the RAM disc - if you have a DVD camcorder - or use firewire connection to the HS2 and edit the video. When your done editing, you've never copied or deleted anything - all you have done is tell the machine where to find each one of the scenes on the disk - so all of your raw footage and the 'edited version' are still there!

The problems mentioned in some of the reviews about DVD's recorded on this unit not playing on other DVD players is very true. I called Panasonic about the same problems and they stated for some reason this recorder has problems with Memorex DVD's. As soon as I stopped using Memorex I have not had a problem. I have recorded on TDK, Panosonic, Immation, and Fuji and they all play very well on any other DVD player. So don't use Memorex and you shouldn't have any problems. Please write back if you find any other type DVD's you have a problem with, so I don't buy that brand.

Tried to use COMPUSA DVD-R and could not play in other machines. Now I am trying Maxell. otherwise, great ,machine for home use. i'd love to find a machine that does heavy editing as well. Also would like to be able to transfer to my pc.

After purchasing the machine and transfering a number of family movies to disc, we now find they will not play on any other machine. I called the Panasonic Helpline only to be told that the machine is designed only to record to its hard drive or discs that will only be played in the same machine. Forget about sharing with friends, unless they are willing to shell out the $999 and hope the machine never breaks.

This is a retraction of my previous review. The Panasonic Helpline person was incorrect and so was I. The on-screen instructions are a bit confusing. After recording a disc you must go to a separate menu to finalize and put in disc information. It will then replay on other machines. As such my oppinion is totally reversed. If you have the bucks, buy one.

The best video recorder I ever seen, I truly recomend it, high quality video if you have a good signal inputing on the unit, comands easy to learn, lot of information, just the best invent ever to get your movie collection from TV, cable or macromedia free devices. :-) I have had the unit for one month. Compatibility problems: none until now, checked in 3 brands of players.