Panasonic DMREH50 vs. DMR-E85 Start Up Time

C

cheekymonkey

Guest
I haven't seen a review of the new Panasonic DVD Recorder - DMREH50 as yet. Has anyone ?

One key feature that Panny's website pushes is that this recorder has a 1 second quick start compared to the 85's ~20 second start up. :eek:

Can any of you 85 owners tell me what this 20 second start up is like in reality i.e. is it a nuisance/hassle or is it un-noticed?
Price seems pretty reasonable @ £400 compared to £300 for discontinued 85 but am happy to go with the older model and save the £100 if the above is not an issue.

Cheers
:thumbsup:
 
I've got the Panasonic DMR-ES10 which is the same as the EH50 minus the 80GB hard drive & the SD card reader.
With a DVD-RAM disc (& HD for EH50) if you press the power on button & immediately after the record button, recording starts instantly (after 1 second). It means you don't miss vital moments at the start of a programme especially when you decide to record on the spur of the moment.
The timer record page displays within 3 seconds of pressing the programme/check button from power off state. Playback on a DVD-RAM disc begins within 8 seconds of pressing the play button from power off state. All operations are much faster than previous models and it's ease of use is unmatched..
The LP mode recordings are twice as sharp as on the E55/E85 and almost as good as the SP mode. If the program you want to record is 2 hours or less, then the SP mode should still be used due to it's higher bit rate. There's still the FR mode which automatically adjusts the bit rate to match the length of the recording. The overall picture quality is much improved with more faithful image reproduction.

You can also record & playback on DVD-R, DVD+R & DVD-RW (video mode) discs as well as playback DVD-RW (VR mode) & DVD+RW discs.

The multi-region EH50 is availaible here for £349 (including delivery):-

digital-point

and here for £339 plus £10 delivery charge:-

Discount Audio Vision


The icing on the cake is the styling. The ES10 is the most stylish DVD recorder currently on the market.

:thumbsup:
 
On the E85 it's a very minor irritation. More so when it's smart-linked to TV and turning off TV turns off the E85 just as you remember you wanted to change some setting or other on it!

Part of my reason for buying separate DVD/CD in addition to excellent playback unit in E85 was to avoid the start-up period (especially for slipping in a CD - watching a DVD is more of an 'event' so you don't notice the start-up).

I also set recordings (triggered from external source, not using E85's own timer which I think does allow ample time for start-up) to start 1 minute early but this has become routine. Makes setting recordings from epg a little less of a breeze than it should be.

The 1 second start-up of new machines sounds great, but you'd have to weigh this against the excellent run-out prices I've seen on E85 (roughly half what I paid for it just a few months ago). If I was choosing today, knowing all about the start-up and what a great machine the E85 is, I'd go for E85 personally.
 
:thumbsup: adrianl and DRAM - thank you. :thumbsup:

I've got two great opinions here which are very helpful.

I don't see the delay as a major issue but as DRAMBO has shown, for another £40 or so I can get a multi-region DMREH50 - I need to put this against the E85 which I know is a great machine and has many reviews to back this whereas the EH50 has yet to be reviewed (to my knowledge?)

Need to think about it some more and see if anybody else can give a steer to help.

:lease: Has anybody seen any reviews of the DMREH50 yet? :lease:
 
On the new EH50, can I use the SKy+ EPG to set up blind recordings or do I have to set a timer like the old VHS. Assuming of course that the EH50 does not have EPG capability. Thanks
 
I've decided to go for the new deck. Aside from the 1 sec startup which I agree is only of significance on those spur of the moment occasions, I have read that the menu systems are quicker on the new model. I don't know how much of an issue this was on the E85 but according to a couple of the reviews linked from this very site, editing and selecting thumbnails is slowed down on the E85 by a slow menu response.

Also, I believe that the encoder has been improved in the new model but I don't know whether this is only in relation to LP mode which I suspect I still may not be using. Can anyone help on this? Are there improvements in the higher modes?

Then there's the addition of -RW writing capability.

There probably won't be any reviews available for a few more weeks (online) and so it's a case of risking it! I kind of doubt that Panasonic will be cutting any corners though.
 
yellowbug said:
.... Also, I believe that the encoder has been improved in the new model but I don't know whether this is only in relation to LP mode which I suspect I still may not be using. Can anyone help on this? Are there improvements in the higher modes?

...

The new model has a 12 bit Digital to Analogue converter which improves image reproduction in all modes with more natural hues and outstanding depth. It's also now an excellent DVD video playback machine.
:thumbsup:
 
Does anyone know if the new EH50 has the Time Slip function which the E85 has?
 
DRAMBO said:
The new model has a 12 bit Digital to Analogue converter which improves image reproduction in all modes with more natural hues and outstanding depth. It's also now an excellent DVD video playback machine.
:thumbsup:
Regarding yellowbug's query re improvement in encoder performance on XP & SP, Panasonic are particularly claiming a 12 bit Analogue to Digital converter, which should improve recording performance on all modes.
I notice that I get more banding on recordings from my DMRE55 than the original, particularly when played back on a better quality Sony player through a plasma display.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom