Panasonic DMR-E55 DVD Recorder

WE BOUGHT IT BECAUSE IT HAD ALL THE FEATURES WE NEEDED TO ARCHIVE SOME OF OUR TIVO BACKLOG OF SHOWS. WHAT A BIGG MISTAKE. THIS UNIT WORKED FINE FOR THE FIRST 10 MONTHS WE OWNED IT, AFTER THAT IT GOT PROGRESSIVELY WORSE TO THE POINT THAT IT WON'T EVEN PLAY DISCS ORIGINALLY RECORDED ON IT. NO SUPPORT FOR 8X OR 16X SPEEDS AND THE FIRMWARE UPDATE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO FIX THIS ALSO DOES NOT WORK, THAT INCLUDES THE DISC PANASONIC SENT ME AND THE DOWNLOADED VERSION FROM THE PANASONIC SITE. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND YOUR HAIR, BUY SOMETHING ELSE.

Even though the Panasonic DMR E55 is now a few years old, it has so far stood the test of time. The remote control is comprehensive and logical. All the menus are straight forward and you rarely require the instruction manual. The front panel has a clear digital display showing you exactly what is going on at all times.
The record quality is better than excellent. There are four different recording quality settings. Like most things, you trade one thing off against something else. If you want the highest level of quality, this means that you will only record 1 hour on a disc. However, the lowest quality allows 16 hrs if used with a double sided disc and is still far better quality than VHS. Short Play gives 2 hrs record time on a disc and in my opinion the quality is not much different to a commercially produced DVD. The edit function when using DVD-RAM is superb. You can get rid of all the commercial breaks and once you know how, it is possible to produce a completely seamless recording. This unit has many of the functions of Sky Plus. You can pause live TV, you can start a recording, go make a cuppa then start watching your programme from the beginning while the DMR E55 continues to record it to the end. Great if you know you will be a few minutes late for your favourite soap.

The only downside is that there is a common technical problem with the design that can cause the unit to fail after a few years. However if you know how, the DMR E55 is definitely worth repairing and in most cases it is not particularly difficult. The DVD drive unit is very reliable. People often attribute faults to the drive unit but personally, I have only seen this fail once on a DMR E55 and even then the drive unit was repaired without cost.

All that aside, my opinion is that this is an excellent piece of equipment for the price. It looks smart, works well and can be used without fuss. Highly recommended.!

I bought one of these approx 2 years ago after much research and really loved the features, ease of use, etc. However, my ex got that machine and I got the same model from a mate who upgraded. It was also approx 2 years old. After I'd had it for about a month it kept going into a self-checking loop which rendered it useless when trying to turn it on or use functions through the direct navigator.
It was an excellent machine, in my opinion, but Panasonic should have resolved the issues with the faulty voltage regulator so that it could last more than 2 years for the money! It is not an uncommon fault in this machine.
To read more about this, please see my related Guide on the Panasonic DMR E55 dvd recorder and rate it if you find it helpful. Thank you.

Very Good Recorder particularly good for watching whilst recording, when using RAM discs.Very high quality recordings when using the highest settings.

Reliability probably only average with problems on the Power supply, after 3/4 years.

Beginning to show its age now as there is no hard disc and does not read discs which have been "burned" off a PC

Ours broke within 16 months of purchase. I only bought this one as we cant play the type of dsics we have recorded on, on any other player excpet panasonic. I see from e-bay many other of these products are broken. I think Panasonic need to look at there products as they are not reliable.

Very easy to use offers so many good features owned on of these for 18 months with no problems. Picture quality very good connectivity it has it all! A great alternative to a VCR!

The panasonic remains an excellent bit of recording kit and as HD is still very
scarce on the ground in all media,i think it makes very good sense to stick with SD recording format until HD becomes the norm,i think the panasonic is a cracking price for what you get

Sorry I can not give a review on my purchuse, you see I got it on Monday,June
30th at 11.45am. I plugged it in, and it did not work correctly, after a while
it came on. Then I put in the correct tunning for my area pressed select, and
every thing went off. Seeing it had just been delivered I thought, a fuse may
have come loose, so off with the cover found the fuse lifted it out with the srew driver, then there was a loud back, flashing coloured lights and behold
it blow up before my very eyes. Tuesday 1st july 08 machine on local tip. Maybe
better luck in the future. jimlad1971.

This machine has been around for a while, now, so can be picked up for a comparitive song...despite some sellers asking ridiculous amounts for them on Buy It Now!

Not the fastest warm-up (from switch on to ready to record can take several seconds) but, once it's ready, you'll be delighted with the simplicity of the recording and the flexibility of the playback functions (DVD RAM is SO cool, allowing timeslip and record during playback just like a PVR). Editing is quick and simple (I particularly like the Chapter function) and the extended play function allows up to eight hours recording on one disc. And the standard picture quality is superb!

I bought a replacement from an eBay seller to replace a unit damaged during a move abroad and I am delighted that I did: it should serve as my main recorder until Cyprus starts digital transmissions and I can use my Inverto PVR once again!

GOOD RESPONSE QUICK DELIVERY.AFTER ACOUPLE OF EARLY HITCHES THE RECORDER SEEMS TO BE WORKING OK. THIS WAS A REPLACEMENT FOR AN IDENTICAL M/C. THAT WOULD CONSTANTLY SELF CHECK HENCE WHY I BOUGHT IT MINUS REMOTE AND POWER LEADS. FINGERS CROSSED IT CARRIES ON WORKING. MANY THANKS PHIL.

It dosn't work! I wasted £23.00 for nothing.. Thought I could use the parts to fix my dvd recorder(same model) but this had the same fault and more.

I had the misfortune to buy one of these infernal machines about 2 years ago, when the market was relatively new, and I failed to realise it's big drawback - IT DOES NOT SUPPORT DVD-RW!! If you want to record something to watch once, you have the option only of the horribly expensive DVD-RAM.

That apart, it worked OK for a while, but has now gone crazy. Still fine on DVD-RAM, but won't support 8x or 16x discs, and is very selective about 4x, even if you can find them. I need to correct myself here - it will sometimes accept an 8x (maybe 3 or 4 from a batch of 25), and then may accept a disc that it didn't like before.

If you're thinking of buying a secondhand one, judging from similar reviews you will read, you can be pretty sure that the seller has been experiencing these problems, and frankly is trying to get rid of their rubbish!!

Don't think that a firmware update, whether from a download site or direct from Panasonic, will solve the problem - IT WON'T ACCEPT THAT EITHER, so you're wasting your time.

I have the unfortunate tendency to be honest, so I won't put my machine on eBay in the hope that I'll get away with it, I'll either give it to my son to play with,or else I'll do the wise thing and TAKE IT TO THE DUMP.

These DVD's develop faults on them, so if you are buying a second hand one the chances are that you may be buying a DVD that will not last very long.

I ave not recieved this product seller is a con merchant of good ebayers!!!!!! I WILL BE PUTTING EVERTHING THROUGH TO EBAY TO HAVE HER TAKEN OFF EBAY

The DMR-E55 has a voltage regulator that regularly fails because it has an under-rated component. It runs hot and fails. Not expensive to repair this. The voltage regulator is about £6. Working examples are good! Recommended if you buy cheaply and can solder.

like the item from seller have not tried it yet but will soon hope the item works and it records well as if not i will ask for my money back

plays and records great my last recorder broke had to purchase the manual and remote seprately as they were not included