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1.3x playback perfect for the history or science lecturers who speak soooo sloooowllllyyyy- it makes them sound almost normal. DVD-RAM disks work like a hard drive and you can watch another title on same DVD while recording or start recording and later start watching from beginning while the recording continues. Completely satisfied with unit. 4-hr recording on DVD excellent.
The unit works fine with the Harmony 880 remote. I am using the HDMI output to my AV Receiver. Not sure why. It should be noted that I am not a expert in reviewing pictures but to me the picture was clear and the sound was good.
I didn't have any problem setting it up as the instructions were pretty clear. One last thing the unit didn't play a audio slide show I made up although the show does play on my Sony DVD player. I was looking for a DVR to replace my old TIVO unit and after much searching I decided on this unit. Since I was connecting it to a cable TV input I didn't need a tuner. My input is the s-video. The next day I checked and the movie recorded and when I looked at it I thought the quality was good.
There are many functions I haven't tried yet such as copying old VCR's but if the unit performs as well as it has so far I shouldn't be disappointed. Since I use a seperate connection to my TV along with the connection thru my AV reciever I am able to watch a show using my TV's tuner while recording a different show. This unit does have a better picture quality than my old TIVO both normal program viewing and recorded viewing. A great plus is that you don't have to pay a monthly fee like TIVO now (my old TIVO was free for basic). So far the shows I have recorded in the 2hr (SP)mode (using a RAM disc) have been very good. Another slight negative is that it is slow in starting up although this might be my fault as I have it in the low power mode. In a nutshell the unit has performed very well.
I am very happy with this unit so far (approx 2mths) and the only negative is that I don't have the TIVO guide I was used to for setting up programs. The setup was like a VCR and after a short while becomes easy. The picture from bought DVD's is very good. Since the recorder can control my cable box (a great plus).I tried programing and recording a HBO movie at night.
I bought this as I was upgrading my home theater, and I needed an upscaler to upscale my SD Tivo for my video projector.Sadly, the upscaling quality is quite poor - it bears significant artifacts, in particular vertical banding on primary colors such as red or green.Also, in seemed to crash more other than I'd like, and wouldn't always handshake correctly over HDMI.As such I returned it, and instead purchased a Sony VX535 from Costco for 199 - it has substantially better upscaling quality, easier to use menues, and is an overall better product.The panasonic menus are cumbersome and not well laid out.Overall a very disapointing product.A
However, I can not say the same for the EA18. After 3 separate calls to support, I had the recorder working.
I returned the recorder.I would NOT recommend the EA18 recorder to anyone.HOWEVER, I would very HIGHLY recommend Panasonic's support personnel. BUT, when next I attempted to set a scheduled recording, I spent 5-10 minutes trying to get manipulate the recording set time, when I gave up in frustration.
To say I was surprisingly disappointed is an understatement. The manual is almost worthless in my humble opinion.
They were very patient and professional in providing answers to all my questions. I have owned Panasonic products before and was very pleased.
I worked as an IT professional for over 30 years, so I am not a novice when it comes to technical expertise.
The set-up is easy, and since I do all my tuning through my cable box I do not miss having a build in tuner. Okay I tried a Samsung version of a DVD Recorder it just wasn't all the way right. Everything else is great. My one criticism is I do not like the look of the IR transmitter that has to be placed in front of the cable box to allow the unit to control the cable box. Finally it stopped recognizing all DVD's. I replaced it with this Panasonic unit and like most items from Panasonic it works great.
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