Pioneer 420 v Panny E85?

[slimboyfat1805]

hi again.
been looking for a while now at the 420.
Still not sure.
i know what each models have etc
just a straight answer.
which is best..lol

 

[Fred Smith]

Half an hour ago you posted:

420Hs

its the one for me decided!

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183991

As most of us will not have owned or used both, you will likely get biased answers. Mine certainly is E85.

 

[slimboyfat1805]

keep changing my mind.
reading now too many reviews
gotta decide.lol

 

[Tellyfiend]

We'll all back the machine we've got, but to an extent it depends upon what you wish to record and when and where (player & TV) you're going to play the recordings on.

 

[grumpycrab]

Stupid question time. With either of these machines, can you watch a DVD while at the SAME time recording (Tv) to the HDD?

I guess the answer is yes, but I ask because the buggy Liteon 5045 (used to be on my wish list) cannot.

Thanks
--
Ian

 

[gaz2810i]

The Pioneer 520 has contionuos record and playback functions that are rather nifty and i believe the 420 is very similar bar a few features like no i link.

 

[phelings]

I have a Pioneer 420 and 5100.
My previous HDD/DVDR combo was a panasonic.
Despite comments on this forum that the Panny offers better quality I have not noticed.
Pioneer recorders offer the PC style Disc Backup feature for cloning dvd's.
And -RW is handy compared to RAM.
Of course the new panny's on the horizon may change this

 

[Rasczak]

I have a Pioneer 420 and 5100.
My previous HDD/DVDR combo was a panasonic.
Despite comments on this forum that the Panny offers better quality I have not noticed.

Unfortunately what Phelings does not mention is that is Panasonic HDD/DVDR combi was a Panasonic HS2 - a 2002 DVD recorder - since then Panasonic models have upgraded the MPEG encoding two times. The encoder abilities of the Pioneer range are actually very similar to the HS2 though: the duration they can record at full resolution, for example, is the same on both models.

Current Panasonic recorders (E55, E65, E75, E85, E95, E500) are noticeably superior to the Pioneer's: marginally so between 1hr-2hr, noticeable so between 2hrs and 2hrs 20mins and significantly better at recording lengths over 2hrs 20mins.

 

[Ian C.]

Bit of a noob question does the full resolution
just apply to when recording to DVD-R etc
or does this apply to recording to hard drive
as well.I have the E55 at the moment but the
Pioneer 420 is now available for £269.95 from
Richer Sounds.I mainly want the hard drive for
day to day recording, is picture quality on a par
recording SP to hard drive for example or does the
Panasonic range have a better hard drive as well.

 

[Rasczak]

does the full resolution just apply to when recording to DVD-R etc or does this apply to recording to hard drive

It applies to both. That said it is less of an issue on a HDD as you can just use the highest quality mode as space isn't an issue. However it becomes an issue when you want to dub a recording to DVD-R (i.e. where you have to lower the bitrate to make it fit) or when you use the lower quality modes to maximise space on the HDD.

I have the E55 at the moment but the Pioneer 420 is now available for £269.95 from Richer Sounds

...which is very good value and will certainly provide more flexibility than a non-HDD solution. However as you pickup the Panasonic E85 for only slightly more then this would be a better option if PQ is the be all and end all. Plus it would also be compatible with your existing DVD recorder.

 

[Ian C.]

Thanks Rasczak,I never noticed the
Panasonic had dropped to that price