Panasonic DMR-ES45VS DVD Recorder / VCR Combo with HDMI, SD Card, and DV Input

I purchased this item a year ago and have been very pleased with its preformance. I have not had a bit of trouble with the machine for over a year now and I use it to record every day. I generally record on DVDs but occasionally use the VHS, especiallly when I am away from home. It gives me 12 hours of recording time when I am away using both. I record weekly programs on DVD-RAM for viewing within the week, then erase the title. This is an easy process, which I like. Setting up the recording schedule is fast. You also have the option of editing the schedule or putting a scheduled recording on standby, therefore not having to delete the scheduled program and start over. A really good feature for me. I have been transfering all my VHS recorded movies, etc. to DVD-R discs and that too is an easy process. I like the option of 1 touch recording or setting up a recording for a specified period of time. The only problem I have found is that when copying from VHS to DVD or vice versa, you cannot view the television separately, (at least I have not found it so but then, I haven't tried to break the connection while copying either - I will experiment soon). And the instruction book is a bit difficult to navigate, but once you figure it out, it becomes easier. The instructions are easy to understand and well diagramed. Altho' I am not a "techie", I am able to read and operate the machine competently and am very happy with my purchase. Would recommend this product to both experienced and novice operators.

Did not state in write up this would produce pixilated recordings on large screen TVs. I Thought is was old tapes, I got new tapes and still crummy recordings. Amazon's congrats on purchase email to me, said I had 90 days to return item. After trying all kinds of adjustments on TV and machine, with no success, this company refused return, saying "their" return window was closed. No return window info in the packaging. Did not see any on site at time of purchase. And they were insulting about me not knowing "old media" would not record on this model. Their response: "Reason for the closure of your request: Expiration of returns period. Seller comments: Although this unit has HDMI the dvd cds and VHS tapes do not transmit in 1080 and not even 720 so having the image being fuzzy is normal for older types of media being played as they are not even close to being in high definition." Amazon tried to intervene twice but they refused to accept the machine back. Had I read that playback issue on the selling page I would have looked for another product if one existed.

Pro's: Recording controls are intuitive; Quality of DVD recording is very good; Quality of VHS recording is very good. Cons: My unit would not eject VHS tapes (right out of the box) & I had to return it for a refund. Quality control may be an issue; One of three DVD recordings I made would not play in my other DVD machines. This machine does a lot. This makes for some complicated instructions and remote control functions. This machine isn't for those who have no patience with reading an operating manual and learning a new remote control. I used the DVD burner to transfer one VHS tape, record one television show from local cable and record one movie from a satellite cable channel before returning the machine because it wouldn't eject VHS tapes properly. For all three experiments I used the same brand of -R DVD blanks. The quality of the transfer from an ancient VHS tape to -R DVD worked well. The quality of the DVD image was at least as good as that of the original VHS Tape. The recording of a movie from satellite cable also worked well. After finalizing, the other DVD machines in my house read the recorded DVD. However, the recording of a television show did not work out very well. Though I finalized the -R DVD disk after recording, I could not get the recorded DVD to play on two other DVD machines in my house. It would however play on the Panasonic machine it was created with. Given this, it sounds as if the failure was caused by the equipment rather than a bad DVD blank or incorrect operation of the machine. Use of the DVD recorder and the editing functions is fairly intuitive. Panasonic has tried to make operation of the DVD recorder very similar to operation of a VCR. For example, you can pause the recording when a commercial comes up and restart the recording again when the commercial is over. This is done by pressing the pause button and then the record button to start again just like with a VCR. Unfortunately, there is a two or three second delay in starting the recording again. Therefore, the best way to edit out commercials is to record the entire show and then use the editing functions from the remote control before finalizing the DVD. The ability to play the DVD in the Panasonic machine even before finalizing the DVD lets you fill up a disk with many shows while retaining the ability to edit out commercials, insert titles and insert chapter breaks before you decide to finalize the disk. After finalizing, the disk can't be edited. Also, editing on the Panasonic machine was much, much faster than using my computer and re-burning the DVD. For the most part, the Panasonic machine seemed to do everything it was advertised to do well. Given my short experience with the machine, it is hard to tell if the one failed DVD copy was the exception or the rule. In regard to the failure of the machine to eject VHS tapes properly, in all fairness to Panasonic, the box the machine was shipped in from J & R Music was really battered and I don't think it had been packaged well. The failure to eject VHS tapes may have been caused by a combination of harsh shipping and poor packing rather than a flaw in the machine. It's hard to tell. For the kind of money these machines cost and the insane delays in getting service even when a product is covered by warranty, these machines really need to work out of the box. If it wasn't for the failed DVD recording, I would have given this machine a four or five star rating. Perhaps I would have given it a higher rating if I had kept the machine longer and used it more. However, I was unwilling to take the financial risk by waiting to see if the machine really worked or not over the long term.

I ordered this refurbished from one of the other sellers. So far it has been great. The only thing I haven't done is record onto a VHS tape. However, it plays tapes just fine. Plays and records DVDs very well (which is the main reason I bought the unit). Not hard to hook up at all. I noticed that a few reviewers mentioned difficulty with the instruction manual. I found it fairly clear, no trouble understanding it. I also believe some had said it didn't play burned DVDs. I had backed up a couple of movies to take with me to college so the originals wouldn't get wrecked. They play just fine. I give it a 4 out of 5. I don't give it 5/5 for two reasons. The first is that the included remote will only control some other TV brands, not all. I think that is useless. If you're going to include a remote that can also control TVs, make it control all TVs. And second because the menu system for the unit can get a bit confusing. Overall a great buy.

il prodotto è arrivato dall'Inghilterra e ho dovuto pagare € 40.00 di sdoganamento in più

Bien reçu le colis dans un emballage plastique à bulles mais dans un carton beaucoup trop grand qui fait que l’appareil est balloté d’un côté à l’autre il n’y a pas de trace de coup visible et je n’ai pas encore essayé toutes les possibilités de l’appareil la fonction lecture en vhs et en DVD fonctionne parfaitement après il faut étudier le mode d’emploi pour connaître toutes les possibilités de l’appareil à voir dans le temps

utilise deux fois pour repliquer des cassettes VHS ep panne au dela du delais de retour achat a eviter!!

Un po’ troppo profondo, dovreste scrivere le misure del prodotto, ma utile

L appareil ne fonctionne pas . Que dois je faire?