The panasonic DMR EX85 thread: Please help me!!!

[jim4571@hotmail]

right here it goes, il try my hardest to make it understandable. im getting a panasonic TH50PX60CABB, before christmas. And i am also getting a panasonic DMREX85 EB-S DVD recorder, and i already have a NTL PACE box with every single channel possible.Anyway heres my problem.

Question 1:When i connect everything up, say im watching THE O.C on E4 one night, and theres say LOST on at the same time, is it possible for me to watch one and record the other, so later on i can watch the one i chose to record in the internal hardrive.

Question 2: I am aware i have a built in freeview on the DVD Recorder and one on the actual panasonic plasma, and one on my NTL pace box, so iv got 3 sets. Although the built in freeview on the DVD recorder and the plasma, can only recieve your basic channels, is this right.Where as my NTL pace box can get every single channel. So basically im asking you is it possible to record programmes from my NTL Pace box onto the DVD RECORDERS INTERNAL MEMORY. If so and how do i connect them all together (the plasma,DVD Recorder and the NTL pace box) which wires go where,and what CABLES should i get to get the maximum picture quality, price not an issue.

Question 3: Because i have litterally 3 tuners, is it possible to record more than one thing at a time, for instance. Say i wanted to record Smallville on a monday at 9pm, and lets say entourage was on at the same time and lets say top gear was on aswell on the same time,could i watch top gear whilst the others are recording at the exact same time. Because i have 3 tuners, is it even possible for me to get them all working at the same time,or would i just have to choose one of them.

Question 4: After reading up on the DMR EX85, iv come across something about not being able to view anything in widescreen mode, 16:9. Is this true.If im confused here, could you just briefly explain the available TV angles to me. I also heard that when you record something, it changes to square mode, not sure what thats actually called. I wont have to watch TV, with that letterbox affect will i.If so is there any way i can change it, without affecting the distortion or missing out the sides of the picture.(winds me up that)

Question 5: The cheapest iv seen this £342 with 1 year manufacture warranty, and empire direct do it for £378.99 with 3 year gaurantee,so i think i would go with empire direct.anyone else seen any better deals, its got to have the warranty and that though.I wouldnt wany to spend that sort of money,and know that im not backed up if anything happens to it.

Question 6: How good is this DVD recorder,is it amazing.What are the bad points about it.And generally are you happy with yours. Is there any other better models out there

Question 7: When i hook up my NTL Pace box to the plasma and DVD recorder, what will the picture quality be.the plasma gets signals from 1080i/720p and it has 1,366 X 768 pixels.I dont know what signals i get from the pace box, probs be pretty crappy, but what im asking when everything is connected, what will be the picture quality with the NTL box on the plasma, will the DVD RECORDER upscale it.if so, to what signal. Is there anything else on that topic that i should know. will the built in tuners (the one in the plasma and the one in the dvd recorder) have a better picture quality than the one i get from my NTL pace box. What are my tuners, are they digital or analogue and whats the difference.

Question 8: the dvd recorder has 250gb of internal storage, does this get used up very fast. In heard if i record alot of programmes in HD quality then it will use up my memory very very fast.But if i chose to record programmes that last for about 1hr (one tree hill,o.c,smallville all that stuff), from my NTL pace box.How many of them could i store.Does it have a general principal of how many hours the DVD can store.

thanks everyone in advance,i bet your thinking this guy loves to write.Im just really confused.And i wana make sure i get the right thing for christmas

james

 

[ows90]

The DVD recorder can only record one thing at any one time, be it the internal Freeview or analogue tuners or an external AV input such as an NTL box. Only your NTL box can receive your subscription channels, the Freeview tuners in the DVD recorder and television receive the basic channels.

You would connect a SCART lead between the DVD and NTL, select the appropriate input on the DVD remote (such as `A2') and press record [the NTL box would then need to be left on whichever channel you are recording. You could watch a different channel on the TVs built in Freeview]

With regards to recording widescreen, the DVD recorder will record whatever you give it (be that 4:3, 4:3 letterbox, or 16:9 anamorphic which you will be using [choose it in the DVD recorder's setup menu] {go here for more info: http://www.dtg.org.uk/consumer/widescreen.html }). The problem people are talking about is to do with recording widescreen programmes onto DVD-R discs. Basically, when you play it back you have to manually specify on the TV which aspect ratio the disc was recorded in as it doesn't remember it! It's not too much of a problem.

The picture quality of NTL on the plasma should be pretty good, I doubt the DVD recorder's scaler would be better than the plasma's internal one. A fully wired SCART lead would be sufficient - remembering to set the NTL box's output to RGB in the setup menu.

As for 250GB - that's quite a lot and you won't be filling it anytime soon, perhaps you might consider saving some money and going for the ex75 which has a 160GB hard disk, which would be well enough (70 hours in standard mode) [regarding HD, yes it takes up more space - but this recorder can't record HD! (also you would need a Telewest HD or Sky HD box)]

Some info in this thread: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=420752