How good (or bad ) is the Panasonic DMR-EX75?

[Anne-Sophie]

Hi all,

Six months ago I bought the Panasonic DMR-ES20 to archive either directly from TV or from my Thomson 400. I am extremely satisfied with it and would highly recommend it to others.
However, I half regretted that I hadn't gone for a recorder with a hard disc to facilitate editing and recording a clean copy onto blank DVD.
After reading these forums though, there seem to be too many postings from people having problems with the Panasonic DMR-EX75.
Is it really worth having?

Ann-Sophie.

[961]

Yes, it is worth having with a couple of provisos

First, it has an annoying habit of, basically, recording in 4 x 3 mode, even with a widescreen picture. This means that when you playback the recording you need to press the aspect ratio button on your tv to play the picture in widescreen, when it displays perfectly, correct in every dimension

Secondly, to my mind, it is still a fiddle to operate. However, most dvd recorders are

If I was buying today I'd seriously consider Sony 860 in this price range

[farnworthless]

I like mine a lot. I don't wish I had a different model, altho I am sure there are many others equally good.

It copies widescreen to the HDD just fine so long as the "high speed copy" option is set to off.

Look for the thread "Is this true about the Panasonic EX range..." which is a few pages further down for a full discussion.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Anne-Sophie

After reading these forums though, there seem to be too many postings from people having problems with the Panasonic DMR-EX75.
Is it really worth having?

Ann-Sophie.

Hello Anne-Sophie

It's important when checking posts on these forums, to put things in perspective regarding reported problems in machines.

These forums are no real guide to the reliability of these devices.

Naturally, this forum will attract those who have problems... and the most popular machines are statistically more likely to have posts from users suffering niggles.

The majority who suffer little or no difficulty will stay silent.

A true 'stock problem' if it ever emerges will be fairly obvious ...such as the example of the power supply problem in a particular Panasonic model which showed up after 12 to 18 months use.

So far those events seem to be fortunately rare.

Often, many problems turn out to be user difficulty or misunderstanding, rather than true machine problems.

So despite all I know about the machine you mention, I am still more than happy to give it a strong recommendation.

Even if you were very unlucky and got a machine with a problem, you are protected by consumer law and could get it replaced.

[zappo]

Originally Posted by Anne-Sophie

Hi all,

Six months ago I bought the Panasonic DMR-ES20 to archive either directly from TV or from my Thomson 400. I am extremely satisfied with it and would highly recommend it to others.
However, I half regretted that I hadn't gone for a recorder with a hard disc to facilitate editing and recording a clean copy onto blank DVD.
After reading these forums though, there seem to be too many postings from people having problems with the Panasonic DMR-EX75.
Is it really worth having?

Ann-Sophie.

Gav is right

You also have to consider that we are in the middle of a complete change in standards from SD to HD and that there are 5 "standards" in the DVD market. Each manufacturer does things their own way and usually with a bit of bias to their preferred format. e.g. Panasonic provides greater functionality for DVD-RAM than DVD-RW which has more than DVD+RW.

Couple that with things like widescreen which is not part of the DVD standard and you have issues if standards are to be maintained.

There seem to be as many implementations of these so called standards as their are different interpretations of the bible.

MOST IMPORTANTLY with these products there are a lot of things you would expect to be able to do but can't.

Have a look at post number 5 on the following thread to see what I mean.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/dvd-recorders-recording-media/416414-dvd-recorder-hdd-freeview-please-help-post3700054.html

Consider these and your other requirements and make a shortlist of what is important to you. Why are you buying the machine with H-disk? Is it to improved editing, get greater DVD Multiformat compatibility, viewing from hdisk or what?

Then when you know what you want short list 5 boxes and compare the features, then try and get it down to 3 boxes. After that look at how the features are implemented, this may involve questions on here for the features you are interested in or a delve into the manual.

Finally try to find someone locally with a machine to play with or visit an AV shop that will let you play with the box.

I bought the Panasonic and it was grief with a complex manual and user interface but this is the price of greater functionality.

[Luffy]

Very happy with mine and had no problems with it. It was a replacement for an old Phillips which gave up the ghost middle of last year. Compared to that it is a doddle to use. The quality of the recordings is fine and fast copy is a boon.

OK so I have to press the aspect ratio button for the TV to get into wide screen mode big deal I need to get some exercise.

All in all I love mine & would not be with out it. More than happy to recommend it.

[Gerry]

Well I have had the EX85 since its release date in the UK(a few months) and I have had zero problems with mine. When I was making my purchased I researched all the models available at the time that fell within a similar price range and I opted for the Panny. The WS flag issue is more of a niggle than a problem but for me what counts is picture and sound quality and in these respects I have no complaints the quality of both are excellent. The only feature I would have liked is Divx playback which the Panny does not have but I think you will find whatever machine you go for it will not have absolutley everything. If you do go for the Panny I don't think you will be disapointed.

[Dazzle]

Couldn't agree more with the posts above. I too went from a Philips to the Panny EX85, and the difference between the two is like chalk and cheese. There is the WS flag issue, but as I use DVD-RAM to transfer footage over to the PC, it's not such a problem for me. It passes the basic functionality of what a DVD/HD Recorder should do (namely recording), with flying colours, and the user friendly frame accurate editing of the video's on the built in Hard Disk is the winner for me.

[nwgarratt]

The flag issue is not a problem if you use RAM or a Panasonic recorder with a HDD. This issue has been around since the first Panny Recorders 7 years ago.

[Uncle Badger]

I bought a DMR-EX75 just before Christmas, to replace an ailing MICO.

In one sense, I am very happy to echo everything positive said in favour of this machine. In another, I can also sympathise with those who have had problems with its complexity.

The problem, I would suggest, lies with the manual, which is poorly thought-out and inadequately written. Judging from the literals and style, I'd guess it was not written in English and suffers, accordingly. Certainly, it wasn't written by someone who knew how to write a consumer manual for a technically sophisticated product to be used by ordinary consumers.

Panasonic has made a rod for its own back, here. It has produced a machine which is, I believe, easily the best of its kind on the market, but it has spoilt the consumer's experience by producing a confusing manual.

In short, buy one and be assured you are buying a fine product. But resign yourself to having to wade through a very poor handbook!

[dbuttigieg]

I bought a DMR-EX75 a few weeks ago to replace a 2 year old Liteon which was worse than useless. The Panny is wonderful! The recording quality is brilliant, the digital tuner far superior to my existing set top box and it's virtually silent in operation.

When choosing a recorder one point which was very important to me was the ability to add extra time to the end of timer recordings which had been set from the TV Guide (which in itself is a doddle). The Sony machines which were my other option didn't allow this as they said that the guide should automatically control the correct end time. However, anyone who has ever experienced PDC on VCRs will know that most times this never works! With the Panny after pressing a single button from the TV guide the timer is set and a screen is presented allowing you to easily change any of the timer settings.

Yes the WS flag issue is a bit of a niggle but how difficult is it to manually press the aspect button on the TVs remote control?

I give the Panansonic top marks.

[JohnG]

I don't see what all the fuss about the widescreen flag is I record onto RAM and DVD-R in widescreen with no problem at all. I don't have my television set to auto I have it set to 16:9 and that works. It doesn't record in 4:3 on -R as far as I'm concerned.

[Hal_loe]

Originally Posted by JohnG

I don't see what all the fuss about the widescreen flag is I record onto RAM and DVD-R in widescreen with no problem at all. I don't have my television set to auto I have it set to 16:9 and that works. It doesn't record in 4:3 on -R as far as I'm concerned.

I aggree.

It isn't an issue for people with Widescreen TV's at all, it will be a problem for those with 4:3 tv's.

Basically this supposed 'issue' has been blown out of all proprotion fuelled by very bad wording in the Panasonic manual's.

[flatjack]

I've had mine for about 6 months now and would not be without it. I tell my friends (bore them probably) that this a device I couldn't be without now ie. if it went kapput after it's warranty had run out, I would go out and buy a new one immediately.

Go for it!
flatjack

[zappo]

I got mine from Comet with a 5 (4+1) year warranty as it has a lot that can go wrong. The warranty was cheaper than third party warranties and it is a good bargaining tool.

The way I figure it, the unit may start losing it in year 4 and by then this model will be discontinued and I will get a nice new one. (Hopefully with a better manual!!)