Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD Recorder with Built In Tuner
from: Panasonic
Average Rating: 
Sales Rank: 2522
Sales Rank: 2522
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Electronics : Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD Recorder with Built In Tuner |
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Rating:  - * Can't record in VR format on DVD-RW, so what's the point? ... I got this unit as one of the replacement possibilities in the saga that was trying to replace the lemon that was the Samsung DVD-VR357 (see my review for that for the full story), but returned it promptly for one simple reason. I used to do a lot of recording of TV shows onto DVD-RWs because I could edit the commercials out of the final product easily and permanently. In order to do that, they must be recorded in DVD-VR format. This unit will only record DVD-RWs in DVD-V format, where this sort of editing is not possible...so what's the point? Rating:  - * Very short life span - better buy the extended warranty ... I bought the DRM-EZ48V about 14 months ago and the DVD recording bit the dust, 2 months after the manufacturer warranty expired. On the average, I used it everyday for about 1 hr. of recording and 1 hr. of playback. I continued to do the recording using the VHS for about 3 months and the HDMI interface failed yesterday. I am totally disappointed about the reliability of this product. If you are thinking about buying this DVD/VHS recorder, I advise you to seriously consider purchasing the extended warranty, either from Panasonic or from the store, inorder to have a piece of mind. Rating: - * Be Wary If Transferring VHS ... I purchased this mainly to transfer home movies. Unfortunately, Panasonic has decided that it knows better than you do. They have programmed the machine to divide recordings whenever a break in the video occurs. This means that your two-hour home video is going to be automatically divided into about 16 parts and there is no option to disable it. Each division causes a loss in the beginning of the next part. You will have to plug a separate VCR into the unit to be certain of uninterrupted recording. Of course, you might as well buy any DVD recorder if you are going to do that and pay much less. The DVD recording quality is good - as good as just about any other recorder. Too bad: Panasonic built a good concept, but they forgot to give the consumer the freedom to decide how to record. Rating: - * Lunchbag letdown - returned it. ... Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD Recorder with Built In Tuner I was looking for a VHS/DVD combo unit to replace an older Sanyo combo unit. After searching around, discovered the Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK. It was a toss-up between it and a Sony RDR-VXD655. The Panasonic was a little less expensive and more readily available in my area - Detroit. The DMR-EZ48VK seemed to have all the bells & whistles required: VHS & DVD recording, dubbing, USB port, SD card port, NTSC & ATSC tuning. I recall other reviewers noting the instructions were difficult, but wasn't dissuaded. They were right, however. It was even worse for my wife and two kids who were totally frustrated with the machine. I managed to work through all the various functionalities, but there were some annoying issues that came up. 1. The only way to view the current time on the display was when the unit was turned off. 2. During DVD playback, a DVD icon box kept appearing in the upper right area of the TV screen every couple of minutes. 3. Every once in awhile the tuner would go screwy. After entering the desired channel on the remote, more of the same digits entered would appear on the display. In order to get to the actual channel I wanted, I had to shut the unit down and try again. 4. Forget about channel surfing. There is too much of a lag between pushing the + channel key and the channel actually appearing. If you press the + key three times in a row for example, to go up three channels, the unit seemed to get 'confused' and stop at the 2nd channel up. This seems to me like a software/firmware issue. 5. If a channel was selected by the numeric keys, the channel icon box would appear showing the channel selected, but then show another channel, then go back to the original channel selected. Again, seems like a software/firmware issue. When the unit was working reasonably, the sound was good and picture quality was very good. After three weeks, I gave up on the unit and returned it to Target. It seems the combo units with digital tuners are a bit too new to be buying right now. Perhaps in another 6 months, before the Feb 2009 digital station deadline, will be the time to look for other units on the market. While well intentioned, I think Panasonic jumped the gun in order to put something in the market, rather than putting through rigid testing and quality controls. Rating:  - * Great Recorder ... Had this unit for about 4 months, never had a problem with it. Slow on the startup, but records great. |
