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Panasonic DVD Recorders

Panasonic DMR-E50
Ian Cuthbertson

From: Australian IT News

SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 THE DMR-E50 is one of two new, fourth-generation DVD recorders from Panasonic. The other, the DMR-E60 at $1399, is the same machine fitted out with a DV terminal for direct video to DVD from a camcorder, and an SD card reader for viewing images direct from the cards Panasonic deploys in its digital still cameras.

Panasonic DMR-E50
However, the great advantage of the E50 is that it crosses the magical line in the sand where technology becomes viable and the punters become interested -- the sub $1000 price tag.

The list price is actually $1099, but no retailer worth his or her salt would miss the psychological advantage of dropping the price below this obvious Plimsoll line.

I must say the appearance of the unit is nothing to write home about, especially when compared with the mirror faced DMR-HS2 (IT Alive, December 3, 2002), but it has enough black and silver panels to fit into nearly any established component system.

Setting up a DVD recorder, in my experience, has proved far easier than, say, setting up a VCR, even a modern television. The E50 is no exception, and I had it out of the box and doing its thing on my floor in under five minutes.

It contains a TV receiver, complete with channel auto tune facility. However, unlike the many new televisions that seek out and find dozens of ghosts, as well as the five strongest free-to-air signals, the E50 gets straight down to business, and saves only the best.

Once the television signals are established, recording is a matter of whacking in a DVD-RAM or a DVD-R disc, selecting a recoding mode, and pushing the red button.

DVD-RAM discs allow the famous "time slip" technology -- that is, the facility to read from and write to the same disc at the same time.

This means you can watch the first part of a recording program while the unit continues to record the end. You can also record this week's episode of Six Feet Under while you are watching last week's from the very same disc. And conveniently, there's no need to search for blank space on the disc as with VHS tape -- push "record" and the unit will automatically begin at the next free space. DVD-R discs, which are cheaper and likely to play in many more consumer decks and computers are also supported for recording, but not for the "time slip' business, which is unique to the DVD-RAM format. The E50 will happily play audio CDs, even MP3CDs, but draws the line at DVD-RW, SACD, CD-ROM and DVD-Audio.

In video operation, all four recording modes are available with Lboth disc types, but DVD-RAM was a clear winner for rapid response to short bursts of test recording. DVD-R discs require a "write window".

It's only a matter of seconds, but it really does slow down the flow of the DVD recording process. Quality of image is excellent -- indistinguishable, in fact, in XP and Standard modes, from the original signal.

Things go downhill a bit with SP where you get fuzzy outlines, and in EP mode image quality is so poor it's hardly worth the bother. On a 4.7GB DVD disc you get one hour in XP mode, two hours in standard, four in LP, and six in EP. The choice is yours.