Panasonic DMR-ES15 DVD Recorder

Panasonic make some of the best DVD Recorders around and this model is absolutely no exception. I started out with a DMR-E55, upgraded to a DMR-ES10 and now have this model. Each upgrade has seen an improvement in style and function. My particular (used) unit seems very slightly noisy when recording, but TV volume masks it if watching another channel - and if I'm using it to record while I'm out, the pets don't seem to complain! No other reviews seem to mention this, so maybe I've just been unlucky; but, seriously, it's not really an issue.

The beauty of the Pannies HAS to be the ability to time-slip using DVD-RAM: watch a programme you have already started to record while the programme finishes running on TV! DVD-RAM use also means that you can record a programme while playing back something previously recorded on disk. Don't listen to whingers that say DVD-RAM is expensive: less that a pound each on eBay (don't know if Costco still sell them?) and they can be re-used up to 100,000 times (no, I haven't reached that number yet, but that is Panny's claim)!

Picture quality is superb and, by using the excellent editing functions (simple, intuitive and extensive), you can cut out all the intros and adverts from your recording, then - by plugging another Panasonic DVD player into the recorder and running the DVD-RAM on that - burn your programme from RAM onto your chosen permanent format ('finalise' the disk and it's a permanent disk, playable on ANY DVD player!). That frees up your precious DVD-RAM for more recordings...

I STRONGLY recommend these recorders to ANYONE that wants a good quality unit at a sensible price. In time, I'll probably upgrade to a DMR-ES20 - or maybe even one of the later HDD models.

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