Panasonic DMR-ES30VEBS Multi-format DVD RAM Recorder/VCR Combi

December 25, 2007 | By Doug In DVD Recorders |

Panasonic DMR-ES30VEBS Multi-format DVD RAM Recorder/VCR Combi
Customer Review: If these come back in stock then don’t hesitate, just buy one.
These machines are awesome, I got DVDs mine as a refurb and they gave me a 12 month warantee!!! Not a scratch on it, just like new. The that this thing churns out play great, no jumps when you play it back on my computer like with my dads lite on recorder. I’ve still kept my Aldi divx player for now to play my downloads and to hook up to my surround as it has a built in 5.1 decoder (not the panasonic) Anyway, I’ve used this machine to sucssesfully transfer some of my old VHS tapes to as they were gathering dust on the shelf and I want to move into 2007 with them, don’t like VHS any more I want everything on DVD, much more compact and better looking. A word on this recorder, it’s almost multiformat as in it records on DVD-R DVD-RW DVD-Ram and oddly enough DVD+R but not DVD+RW??? Maybee panasonic will bring out a firmware upgrade for this baby so that it will do DVD+RW. I don’t really care for now though, it’s a great machine. I know that it has standard analogue tuners (2 tuners, what a great idea, you can record BBC1 on VHS and ITV on DVD! At the same time!) and Analogue is getting phased out soon but you have 2 scart sockets at the back, whats to stop you from pluging 2 digiboxes into it? At just over ?0.00 each from Asda you can’t go wrong!!! The timeslip function is brilliant. You can record tv onto DVD-RAM (I think timeslip works with other formats too but have not tested it properly yet) press pause, go make a brew and continue on from where you left off, you could even fast forward the adverts if the machine has been paused for a while, have your brew when you want it, not when Channel 4 decide!!! Quality on the VHS is excelent, much better than my old Akai machine (had 4 heads) this machine has 6 heads making for better quality. I was going to buy one of Asdas DVD/VHS combo’s but when I realised it only had a mono VHS I turned round and walked away, it was ?0.00 cheaper but when your spending this kind of money you want it to be more future proof than that. Chances are everything will come down when Blu-ray and HDDVD starts selling big style but I will still have this machine as long as there still selling DVD-/+R’s Besides at 100,000 overwrites my 5 DVD-RAM disks will last me a lifetime!!!

Customer Review: Simpler than it looks
I have been very impressed with this Panasonic Video and DVD recorder as it does what it says on the tin! Copying from DVD to Video tape, video tape to DVD, from TV to DVD from TV to Video and also from TV to both DVD and Video at the same time recording different channels!! What more can you ask I hear you cry? Having considered the cheaper Daewoo unit, but having looked at the feedback comments, I chose the Panasonic and have been totally impressed with this slightly more expensive unit. The manual is a bit mind blowing at first, but once I settled down to it and practised a little it all became very simple and logical, so don’t be too put off by the manual. A brilliant machine and a welcome addition under the TV as I can now get rid of my DVD player, Video recorder and DVD recorder and replace it with one neat attractive unit which does the lot! Now where is that ebay button?

Pioneer DVR-440HX-S 80GB HDD DVD Recorder - Silver
Used Price: ?229.99
Customer Review: brilliant, simply the best!
I bought this recorder on amazon 12 mths ago after much time spent sussing the different ones available. Quite simply it turned out to be the best money I’ve ever spent! it is absolutely superb,Even now all this time later I am over the moon with it! My only regret is that I didn’t go for the next model up with the bigger hard drive but mine is fine.If your looking for a good recorder, honestly, this is it! Also of all the articles I have bought via amazon, I have only ever had a problem once, and amazon sorted it immediatly! They are good to deal with, and cheap.Finally, my recorder is now down to half of what I paid for it! So what further encouragement do you need!
Customer Review: BRILLIANT!!!…(erm, mostly)
I’ve had this for a while now and definitely don’t regret buying it. Like all the best technology it doesn’t get in the way of what you want to do - setting up a program from the epg is a doddle - no faffing around with discs; just press a few buttons, go out and come back to a perfectly watchable recording (I’ve only ever used Standard Play - I haven’t even bothered to use the highest XP quality so I guess that tells you something). However there are a few things that do bug me; once a timed recording has started the machine is locked and there seems to be no way to set another recording. Also of mild irritation is the remote - the two buttons that (for me at least) get the most use - the FF and Rewind buttons - are two of the smallest and tucked away under the slide-back cover, which makes things real fiddly when viewing in the dark. Also the FF speeds aren’t quite right; when FF’ing through adverts X3 is too slow and X4 is too fast. It needs a X3.5!!! Apart from these minor operational foibles I feel this is good bit of kit and I recommend it.

Sony RDR-HXD870 - DVD Recorder With 160GB Hard Drive - With Freeview - Black
Recordable formats: DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, DVD-RAM and HDD. Multiformat playback.
Amazon Price: ?202.35
Used Price: ?189.99
Customer Review: When will they get the EPG right?
The EPG lets down what is otherwise a very good machine. It does not continue to show the current channel in a window (with audio) when you channel surf using the EPG, nor does it give the program detail when the program is selected- you have to press the info button. ALL these features were on my 4 year old Grundig set top box, which I still prefer to use. On a more positive note, getting it to record is straightforward affair. The Sony does not require you switch to a standby mode to record, unlike the Panasonic DVD recorder which it replaced. This beligerently prevented you from operating basic features (like putting in a DVD to play) whenever it was programed to record anything. Whilst the noise of the SONY is not audible when watching TV you will not want to leave it on standby when reading a book in the same room. Despite these adverse comments it’s still probably the best DVD/PVR you can get at the moment.
Customer Review: Why Buy This When You Can get it for ?5 !!!!
Why Buy A Blu Ray Player When You Can get it for ?5, The latest Blu Ray, what about a HD DVD Player or a HD Player for ?5 Go for it, go to ** LatestModcons.notlong.com ** to get your Latest Mod cons Sign Up - Complete an offer - I would recommend Coral it only costs ?5 Give it a go!!!

Sony RDR-HXD870 - DVD Recorder With 160GB Hard Drive - With Freeview - Silver.
HDD DVD RECORDER 160GB INT DIG TV TUNER HDMI OUTPUT IN
Amazon Price: ?224.99
Used Price: ?179.99
Customer Review: Stylish but dissapointing
Having received my Sony HXD870 I was shocked to find that some of the digital channels (particularly BBC ones)did not operate properly (pixalating and freezing being the norm) Check your signal reception you might say, but my signal is good and my other digital boxes work fine. Having done more research (which I clearly should have done before purchase!) it appears I am not alone with this problem (check the internet) I am also disturbed to read that the EPG timer does also not work properly (it does not record progs as it should some people claim).This is a shame because otherwise the product is very stylish and has some easy to use amazing features.
Customer Review: Timer recording not working
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned that timer recordings are lost on this recorder when using the EPG. It is very random when they are lost sometimes timer settings can stay for 4 days other times they are all lost over 24 hours. Sony are well aware of this problem and there is an internet site with over 35 pages of people experiencing the same problem. Sony are trying to rectify it but have no idea what is causing it. It is fine if you only use recorder for inputting daily but going on holiday all timer recordings will be lost unless you manually record them which is a real pain.