£500 to spend on DVD Ram recorder. Which One ?

Ekko Star

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Having had a Panasonic before I would like to stay with them but have heard good things about Toshiba.

Should haves, Pal PS, DV in, Q-Link (must have to talk to Viera), decent HDD, media compatibility.

Short list includes E85 and XS32. Are these both Pal PS out of the box ?

Is it worthwhile going up to E95 territory ?
 
Short list includes E85 and XS32. Are these both Pal PS out of the box ?
Yes - both offer Progressive Scan (PAL and NTSC). Note though the E85 does not have iLink which may make the Toshiba a better choice for you. If you want to stay with Panasonic push the budget and get an E95 to benefit from iLink.

You will find the Toshiba quite different from what you've had before - there are more features to get to grips with but accordingly you get more control over your recordings as well. Obviously the Panasonic's have longer recording times as high resolutions but the Toshiba's counter this with DVD-RW support, more authoring options and iLink.

So the bottom line is they are both great machines. ;)
 
Thanks Rasczak.

Does the Toshiba support Q-Link ? I want it to talk seamlessly with my Viera as my E20 does. iLink is fairly important.

Also on playback, considering their pedigree, I guess Toshiba is superior ?
 
Does the Toshiba support Q-Link ?
Apologies - didn't see that in your original post - AFAIK no it doesn't. I would say the Toshiba offers slightly better PQ on commercial disks than the Panasonics.
 
I have a Toshiba 220E, which is about 2 years old and a Panasonic DMRE50.
The playback PQ through the Toshiba is better than the DVDR, even though it's a run of the mill, quite old machine.
I would imagine that the spec for playback on the various Panasonic DVDR's is similar.
 
Ok if it has Q-Link then Toshiba it's looking like. Without it, then is it worth looking at the E95 ?

The PAL progressive, is it enabled on both machines in the menu's straight out the box ?
 
Dunno bout the Panasonic, but for the Toshiba you just press the 'progressive scan' button on the remote.
 
What's the remote look like on the Toshiba ? Don't overly like the ones that come with the Panasonics.
 
Ekko Star - as I stated above I don't think the Toshiba has Q-Link.
 
Oh dear :cool: once again it's betwix and between, not quite a model out there that does what you actually want.

I wanted to buy it tomorrow, thought it would be a no brainer straightforward job.

Are the new Sony's any good ? Or will it have to be the E95 then ?
 
Are the new Sony's any good ?
Difficult one to answer that. The 2hr max at full resolution is awful and the lack of Flexible Record very disappointing but the HQ+ HDD recording mode, good build quality, wide format compatibility and 2pass re-encoding make them a viable option. Not very helpful I know - but the jury is still out on the Sony HDD/DVDRs.
 
OK lets go back to the beginning, I've got a E20, time to upgrade.

Best use of plasma, so PAL PS is a must, DV In handy and RAM good idea.

Lack of DV on E85 precludes it from being the ideal machine. Tosh seems good but lack of Q-Link (if so) would be sore dissapointment.

Also is it me or has the build quality of these new breeds gone dramatically down hill. Sure they must work ok, but they don't seem half as bombproof as my E20 does. Mine has done about 1500hrs recording time and same again playing and still looks/works as good and as new as it did when it came out the box.

Will spend more if needed but thought £500 buys a decent enough machine nowadays.
 
Also is it me or has the build quality of these new breeds gone dramatically down hill
It has - you'll be disappointed after your E20 I'm afraid. The only current exception to this is the E500 (I haven't seen Pioneers 920 offering yet) - but at £1200 it's isn't cheap.

OK lets go back to the beginning, I've got a E20, time to upgrade
Your looking at the right machines. It's a choice between:
- Panasonic E95
- Panasonic E500
- Toshiba RDXS32
- Sony RX900
- Sony RX1000

The Panasonic E95 is an all-round good machine. You have clearly lived without DVD-RW to date so the lack of that shouldn't be too disappointing. Your also used to the Panasonic way of doing things and so this machine will be an easy transition for you.

The Toshiba RDXS32 lacks Q-Link. Only you can decide if that is a show-stopper. If not ask yourself if the features it brings over and above the Panasonic are more important.

The difference between the Sony models is HDD size (160GB or 250GB). Advantages and limitations as already discussed.
 
Is the E500 out now ? Did see it on the cover of a mag somewhere.

The E20 cost a grand when it came out but can't justify those levels of spend in today's day and age.

RW not important. Q-Link is a show stopper as I have seen what it can do with the Viera and am not prepared to go without. E95 is it available from JL's as I have to get from there ?
 
E95 is it available from JL's as I have to get from there ?
Not sure to be honest - why can't you buy online? It'll be much cheaper!
 
I've got a credit with them, one that I wasn't expecting tbh ;) plus they'll price match anyway.

Come on Rasczak, you're the man ! Make my mind up for me, what would you go for ?!?!
 
what would you go for ?!?!
Well I went for the E95. I choose this over the Toshiba as I do all my authoring on the PC and thus the better recording PQ was more important to me than authoring options. In addition I have quite a good DVD player so never use my recorder for playback.
 
Ok went in today and plumped for the E85. Was pushed for time so guessed having had a Panasoinc before it was best and the Qlink is a good feature. Lack of DV does bug me though.

However, (as is the way) just as I was leaving I noticed they had E100, being discontinued. Dearer than the E85 but it looked far nicer and better built. Shop was shutting anyway but it didn't stop me thinking on the way home maybe should have gone for the E100 instead as that was the 'top of range' model ? What do you reckon Rasczak ? :confused:
 
What do you reckon Rasczak ?
The E100 is a generation behind the E85 but more than makes up for it in features: iLink (clearly of benefit to you), MPEG4 recording and LPCM audio recording. On the minus side it lacks progressive scan. So only you can decide whether it is worth however much extra the E100 is!
 
Have set it up and don't like it Rasczak. It's already back in it's box and will be on it's way back tomorrow I'm afraid.

Cheap build, takes ages to start up, no eject on the remote & looked bloody ugly under the Viera :eek: Couldn't wait to put the E20 back in it's place TBH. The difference between PS and RGB was not that great and component out will only handle PS. Strangely, Plasma doesn't allow me to change aspect via PS component.

Only good thing was it does convert all inputs and outputs them as Progressive. Does the Toshiba 32 do this as well ?

Otherwise I think I can live without the Progressive Scan (RGB is almost just as good) and will go for the feature laden & miles better looking (which isn't hard against the E85) E100 instead.
 
Have set it up and don't like it Rasczak. It's already back in it's box and will be on it's way back tomorrow I'm afraid
That's fair enough - I did say you would be disappointed after your E20. To be honest all the current batch of DVD recorders have cheap build and all HDD/DVDRs take ages to start up (they have to spin up both HDD and DVD). Have you thought about pushing the budget and going for a Panasonic E500?

Only good thing was it does convert all inputs and outputs them as Progressive. Does the Toshiba 32 do this as well ?
Certainly does.
 
Well the Tosh may still be in the running. The machine looked quite nice, bigger, but the remote looked a bit cumbersome. Still looked a bit cheap in the appearance stakes with a very plastic look about it. Though it certainly did have what appeared extensive functionality.

I originally went for PS thinking it would be just what I need on my Plasma. Difference hasn't really bowled me over and TBH I think I will use a better dedicated PS DVD player for playback only purposes. So RGB only on recorder is not a problem and the ability to record MPEG4 onto SD card without PC sounds cool and would be handy on my PDA for the train journeys ;)

In that regard the E100 comes into my equation. Are the Mpeg converters on board equivalent to the E85 or about the same as the Tosh ? ie can I get 3hrs full resolution onto 1 DVD-R from the E100 ?
 
Ekko, my views on the tosh remote:
Too small (hurts my thumb when entering text)
Setup button and numerics hidden under flap (although setup accessed easily through easynav menu).
Screen keyboard + cursor for text, would have been better using mobile txt style charcater entry (not a remote problem per se)

Saying that I only use numerics for changing sat channel. If you use video plus I would imagine the flap would weaken pretty quickly

Quick menu makes up for poor remote design
 
The MPEG encoding in the E100 is a similar version to the E85 and offers just shy of 3hrs full resolution video per DVD-R. This is superior to the Toshiba which offers 2hrs 20mins.
 
Why can't these decisions be easy ?

I really thought that by these generations of recorders that everything would be much of a muchness....the E500 pushes the boat out too far really.

Tosh is looking a pretty strong contender at the moment. Could be the one :confused:

I am actually quite disappointed at Panasonic as they were the pioneers of these models yet their machines do not have the look and feel of £500 equipment.
 

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