Product Description

Includes: remote control Panasonic DMR-ES40VS DVD Recorder with Built-in VCR - This single home-theater device takes the place of 3 different units. You get a DVD recorder, DVD player, and VCR in one unit! The DVD recorder is most interesting of the three, allowing you to digitally record your favorite shows to DVD media. You get the advantage of film-like image quality, the ability to browse through recordings via thumbnail, and much more. Coupled with the built-in VCR, you also get the ability to backup your old home movies with a single button. Your VHS tapes will only last so long, even if you don't watch them, so getting them to DVD can be essential to preserving your precious memories for a lifetime! Progressive Scanning when used with compatible discs and TV receivers Chasing Playback - allows you to watch a DVD recording before it's finished Time Slip Button 2x LP Horizontal Resolution Recording - records 500 lines of horizontal resolution in LP mode Rapid Random Access (with DVD-RAM discs) Selectable Recording Modes - XP/SP/LP/EP/FR Dolby Digital (Dolby AC-3) 2-channel audio recording Plays back MP3 CDs Black Level Control A/V Inputs - 2 S-Video (1 front) / 2 Composite (1 front) / 2 Audio L/R (1 front) / 1 IEEE1394 DV Firewire (front) / 1 RF (VHF/UHF) A/V Outputs - 1 Component Video (Y, PB, PR) / 2 S-Video / 2 Audio L/R / 1 RF (VHF/UHF) Optical Digital Output for DTS & Dolby Digital Surround Sound Color - Silver Unit Dimensions - 4 (h) x 17 (w) x 14 (d) Unit Weight - 13 lbs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30488 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Silver
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: DMR-ES40VS
• Dimensions: 16.93" h x 3.50" w x 13.87" l, 16.00 pounds

Features

• Watch and record programs at the same time
• DVD Recording Supports DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, & DVD+R media
• Plays DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, DVD+R & DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, and video CD; DVD-Audio, CDs, audio CD-Rs & CD-RWs, and MP3 CD; plays digital picture CD using JPEG files (Plays Region 1 pre-recorded DVD)
• VCR - VHS HiFi stereo with MTS decoding / 4 video heads / 3 VHS recording settings (SP, EP, VP) / VCR Plus+, timer, and manual recording
• Built-in NTSC TV tuner for recording

Customer Reviews

Outstanding Transfer of Home Videos and Laser Discs
First the negatives: Built in copy protection prevents one from, say, sticking in a Disney VHS tape and attempting to create a copy from that onto DVD. Also, dubbing wide screen aspect formatted videos dumbs them down to pan and scan, presumably to satisfy the movie industry. When you insert VHS tapes for one touch dubbing, you cannot "pause" the recorder. That functionality is not present unless you use the external inputs.

That being said, the image quality takes my breath away, and appears to improve videos that are substandard. I surmised and anticipated correctly that an effective workaround to copy protection could be to instead utilize the recorder's electronic component inputs, namely the three input RCA pin jacks that are standard (yellow for video with red and white for audio) on many stereo and video components. We have lots of Mr. Wizard episodes, Dr. Who stories and much educational material taped off broadcast TV years ago that should do nicely as they do not carry inserted "copy protection" like today's prerecorded commercial tapes.

In my first test with the newly purchased unit, I created a personal DVD compilation consisting totally of Beatles "Ready, Steady, Go" British television appearances followed by the Japanese Budokan concert from several laser discs. The laser disc transfers do very well. There appears to be no conflict with copy projection kicking you out as occurs in prerecorded tapes inserted into the unit for dubbing.

I next dubbed a Japanese import laser disc of Disney's movie "Song of the South." As many of you know, Disney has refused to release that children's movie in the American video market. The transfer is outstanding.

I have dubbed off camcorder footage, but could not use the DV input as my particular Canon camcorder uses a different jack. So, I used the RCA pin jacks. Outstanding image quality.

I pored over the excellent instruction manual for a number of hours to acquaint myself with what this recorder does. It is laid out well but takes time to review at first until you become familiar with its layout. That was a good investment in my time to address my learning curve. I haven't yet mastered chapter thumbnails. Others have reported that the Panasonic keeps stopping when the video changes. That appears to have been corrected. When dubbing via the input jacks, you can keep the recorder in pause mode for several minutes to allow you to switch source media of edit past unwanted footage.

I am ecstatic with the possibilities for making these precious video moments more accessible, perhaps preserving them for another few decades before the medium transitions yet again.

I'm also pleased that I had declined to dump my large collection of laser discs. There is so much material on certain of these discs which has yet to be marketed in DVD format and some may never make the cut.

Enjoy!

Bruce

Does not play DVDs from other devices
The unit worked fine for me until I discovered that it won't play DVDs recorded on other devices. I tried DVDs recorded and properly finalized on both my IBM computer and my friend's Sony recorder. I used the proper media and tried several different brands, but all I got was "ERR". I took these same DVDs to a retail store and they played fine on every brand of player, except for the Panasonic recorders (DMR-ES20 and DMR-ES40).

This is a new model and it clearly has a hardware or software problem. I'd stay way from it if you plan to play anything recorded by any other device (like home movies from family members).

Very good DVD/VCR recorder unit
I purchased this unit after a little hesitation from the initial online reviews. I wanted the flexibility of transferring VHS tapes to DVD and my camcorder. I own a Toshiba TIVO DVD recorder unit (TX20) which is excellent but tedious for transfer of tapes.

In short this is very good DVD/VCR recorder unit except for some quirks. The VCR portion is like any other VCR. The DVD recording quality is excellent for XP (1 hour) and SP (2 hour) and better than most for the EP (4 hour) mode. EP on the Panasonic was as good as high quality (2 hour) mode on my Toshiba unit. Pixelation and image blurring is a problem with both for fast moving images in this mode when recording from TV sources. With VCR sources, image quality suffers in EP mode from old VCR tapes and is better with SP mode. I have not experienced DVD compatability problems. DVD's made with the ES40 play on my Toshiba player. DVD's I have made on my Toshiba and on my Dell using Nero 6 and a Plextor burner work fine on the ES40. I also have not experienced any unit lock ups that have been reported.

The one button recording is fairly simple to record from VHS to DVD and vice versa. However editing features are tedious and nearly indecipherable from the owners manual. The owners manual is about as readable as a federal income tax worksheet. The unit cannot insert chapters easily for DVD-R discs. The trick to this machine is learning how to record and finalize as well as add names to the disc and chapters which is not easy. As with many DVD recorder units, it does not remember where you last stopped a DVD if you turn the unit off so you have to go through the intro screens again and the scene index to get to where you left ff (my toshiba has the same problem).

Conclusion: If you can get past the not-so-user friendly interface this is a good unit to purchase if recording quality is important to you.