Panasonic DMR-HS2 (40 GB) DVD Recorder

Pros: Great addition to your Home Theatre System; DV and PC Card Input on front
Cons: Mirror Finish, limited editing,dosen't live well w/Satellite receivers

THE Home Theatre Appliance WOW! What a concept. A DVD-R burner with a 40GB Hard drive. The "concept" is a good one, and since this is the FIRST appliance of its kind (Panasonic's E-20 and E-30 are its older brothers, without the hard drive), t ...

Pros: Picture quality at XP and SP outstanding. HARD DRIVE.
Cons: No dolby 5.1 recording. No component in recording. No zoom. Silver color.

I bought this unit because I am an electronics junkie. I did not need this. I did not have hundreds of home movies to copy and distribute to family and friends. But, I am happy with it and it works well. And the extra cost for the hard drive is well...

Pros: Excellent picture quality, easy editing of source material via Playlists.
Cons: Chapters not preset. Playlists not dubbed from DVD-RAM to HDD. No thumbnail pics on DVD.

I am enjoying this machine, and I will get immediately into its PROs and its CONs. HDD means HARD DISK DRIVE. DVD-RAM is a re-writable disk and DVD-R is a standard DVD disk (requiring finalizing to play in other players):


PROs
...

Pros: Exceptional recording quality on dvd-r and hard drive with XP or SP modes.
Cons: Menu selections limited and inflexible, editing is inexact, no Dolby 5.1 or DTS recording capability.

The DMR-HS2 provides exceptional recording quality in XP (1 hr per dvd-r) and SP (2 hr per dvd-r) modes. DVD-Rs created with this machine play well in most dvd decks (I have not tested the model with DVD-RAM discs due to the excessive cost of these media...

Pros: Groundbreaking, decent-priced equipment - Excellent quality recordings to hard drive, DVD-R and DVD-RAM.
Cons: Many functions are severely limited depending on your usage. Gaudy-looking thing.

It is a great machine in some aspects and unusable in others...

As you probably know the machine has a sizable hard drive and a dvd-r/dvd-ram burner.

The color is "silver" but it really has a mirrored front faced (welcome to the...

Pros: Unbelievable features and amazing flexibility!!
Cons: Lots of features to learn about!

Think about this new entertainment appliance this way: DVD player and recorder, VCR, TIVO and Photo Viewer. With that said, in many ways the HS2 brings the benefits of total digital entertainment right into the comfort of your living room. This unit is...

Pros: you can edit before transferring to archival medium; every flavor of input
Cons: poor interface; no way to tell cable/sat box to change channels; minimal multitasking

...and you can also cut out those parts of your camcorder recordings where you forgot to turn it off and filmed the floor. You can't edit frame-by-frame (you may keep or lose an extra 1/2 sec maximum) but it's still a wonderful feature you can't get on...

Pros: Wonderful for archiving tapes. Multi-tasking. Very stable and quiet.
Cons: Entering titles and editing capabilities at a primitive stage.

Great product. Great design and operational concept - well thought out and very stable and solid performance.

I record a lot of TV and also have a lot of tapes to archive. With this unit I can record TV while either watching another channel...

Pros: Great Archival Device, Manage all that content easily.
Cons: Recording restrictions that make no sense.

I have a satellite receiver (DSS) and a Tivo. Despite upgrading my Tivo to a bunch of storage there are shows that I want to keep but don't want to keep online wasting valuable hard disk space. The only option was to roll off the shows to Tape. Now why...

Pros: Firewire port on Front Media slot for digital Photos Hard Drive
Cons: System doesn't Work AT ALL!!!!! It is in for service..........

I was in the market for a set top DVD-R Recorder for quite a while now. The price has recently come down to the acceptable level and decided to investigate what models and options where available. There were several options that the DMR-HS@ had that...

Pros: Permanently saves digital video to DVD-video, TIVO-like television playback, plenty of disk space
Cons: No component video-in, limited DVD-video menu options, records no faster than real-time

After purchasing the recorder/player at Best Buy for $999.99 plus 7% tax, I hooked it up easily and was able to figure out the functions fairly easily. I am technically inclined, though.

I bought the recorder to transfer video from my digital...

Pros: Excellent video quality, fast way to archive tape to DVD
Cons: User manual sucks (who wrote this thing). Basic editing

Easy way to archive those home videos to DVD before they deteriorate. Incredible picture quality. Flexible recording automatically adjust bit rate to best picture based on available DVD space.

I have a total of 87 (yes 87!) family videos....

Pros: Versitile HD,DVD/R & DVD/RAM recording. Real time DV/mpeg2 encoding for complex, high speed scenes.
Cons: No optical 5.1 surround inputs. No firewire for file transfer to PC.

If you have been waiting for the first truly versitile Optical Video Recorder, this is it. My first DV/HD transfers went perfectly, along with dubbing to DVD/R & DVD/RAM. The DV from your camera is automatically broken down into individual scenes for...

Pros: Built in hard drive, ease of use
Cons: Manufacturing Quality, Customer Service, Remote is a bit "cheap" - light plastic, Blank DVD compatabilty

This was an electronic toy I had been waiting on for sometime. A DVD Recorder that allowed you to dub your video to hard drive and edit, arrange, and create customized archival DVD's. Having had my VCR "eat" several tapes and having material dating...

Pros: Great unit, Cable/antenna, or external inputs. PC card slot is good to have.
Cons: Extremely expensive for what it does. No support to make SVCD or VCD.

I like the PC card solution. It looks great. Hard disk recording great. I bought it last week and was dissapointed to learn that only DVD-R and DVD-RAM are supported. Couldn't find ways to copy from DVD to HD. No CD-R, CD-RW burning support....

Pros: Features, hard drive recording, recording quality
Cons: Haven't found a DVD player yet that will play DVDs recorded on the HS2.

I had high hopes for the HS2. I planned to move old VHS tapes of family, vacations, school events, etc... to DVD and be able to share them with family. While the recording quality is excellent, the resulting DVD can only be viewed on the HS-2. I have...

Pros: DVD-R/Ram and Hard Drive recording, backward compatible with previous models
Cons: Cartridge discs can get stuck, occasional (but avoidable) software glitch, re-encodes some recordings

I purchased the HS2 at Best Buy for about $900. This is the second of my three Panasonic recorders and was bought as an upgrade to the E20. What I like: Since this unit has a hard drive it's possible to edit programs before saving them to disc -- ...

Pros: Flexible and fun - has tons of features
Cons: Lot to learn, takes awhile to sink in

I just bought the Panasonic DMR-HS2 and my VCR will soon see the dumpster. If you aren’t up to speed on DVD-RAM technology and recordable DVD, then you should get to an electronics store and test drive the HS2. First of all, since these units are...

Pros: Slim size, Cute looks
Cons: WAY TOO COMPLICATED, TOO MANY LIMITATIONS, WON'T BURN AUDIO CD's

Got mine a few days ago...I am a techies techie...BUT THIS THING is WAY overcomplicated.
First of all, IT WILL NOT burn AUDIO CD's, So you can't make disks that will play on a standard CD player.
Second, you can't copy dvd rams to the hard...

Pros: Better than VHS anyday and tons of features
Cons: Need to learn the features, but well worth the investment

For those of you out there still using VHS to record reruns of MARRIED WITH CHILDREN or use tape based camcorders to shoot your movies, you really need to catch up on home entertainment. I just bought the Panasonic DMR-HS2 and now I am officially...

Pros: Worked well for about a year.
Cons: what can I say about this unit! total waste of money.

I thought it was just be my unit but, after reading a few reviews here I am not alone. My unit has a manufacturing date of Feb' 2003 with the serial # reading
KW3BA001503. Very disappointed in Panasonic! Bought a Sony recorder instead much better quality so far!!

Pros: Records onto hard drive and, if you are lucky and it lasts, onto DVD-R!
Cons: The pro above is not enough to waste your money on this product.

I have to keep this review to 199 words, so bare with me.

The quality of the recording is nowhere near DVD quality, especially if recording down from the Hard Disc drive onto DVD-R. Quality decreases considerably depending on recording mode.

The issue I am encountering at the moment is that the recorder will not record onto disc at all. It displays an error message, says BYE and shuts down. This machine barely made it to one year!


UPDATE: After much ado, Panasonic says they will repair the unit at no cost to me. It makes me wonder, since the warranty expired two months ago, the reason behind this. Although I am obviously thrilled, I wonder if they are having other issues with this model. I will make a last update when the machine is back in my hands and functioning well.

Pros: functionality usability
Cons: - quality - durability - sensitivity towards different brand DVD-Rs - play function

Like many other reviewers I bought the product in May 2003 due to its unique functionality combining a hard drive and a dvd recorder. The product was easy to install and to use, however for products in this price range, the overall quality and durability of the device is inadequate. The remote control is ackward to use and not very durable, leading to a failure of certain keys after less than 1/2 year of usage. The device is very sensitive towards different even brand name DVD-Rs and crashes frequently in case of certain brands. Furthermore, the device should not be used for playing, but only for recording DVDs, since even after finalising a burnt DVD, playing them on the DMR-HS2 resulted in poor quality, while playing the same burnt DVD on a low budget dvd player only looked much better. Last but not least, last week the hard drive failed, so that I'm now waiting for a repair after only 9 months of usage.

Conclusion: Nice idea and right functionality, but for the price being asked the quality and durability of the device is UNACCEPTABLE.

Purch. after having MANY problems with Philips DVDR985. As far as not being able to view in other players, I wondered if the comments were from people who either did not "finalize" DVD-R discs, or who tried to play DVD-RAM discs in units that weren't compatible w/DVD-RAM. As far as disc cost goes, check out meritline.com for the ACCU DVD-R discs. Price as low as .75 each, when bought in bulk. Cant beat that. Meritline verifys the ACCU is compatible with the DMR-HS2. So... giving this unit it's first try-out today. I can verify the hard-drive feature is awsome. Will record to disc as soon as they come in from Meritline - made several disc purch. from this dealer. Quality & service is good.

First of all, since these units are digital and have hard drives (same as your PC), you can record video or TV shows to the hard drive (40GB) and then burn a DVD-R copy for your friend who has a DVD player. So that’s something that single-cassette VHS machines couldn’t do at all. Also, I can plug my digital still or video camera SD card into the HS2 and edit my pictures into a video that I just shot. RAM DISKS can also be re-recorded I think like a 100,000 times or something. But the advantage of the RAM disc is that it allows you to store video, audio and photos. Then with the hard drive you can back all that stuff up onto the drive and edit your own videos, since this thing also has great editing features. And like TIVO (which I love, but see that with machines like TIVO won’t be around much longer) you can record TV shows to the hard drive using VCR Plus codes or by setting the schedule yourself, even a month in advance.

Are you using VHS videotape to record old reruns of MARRIED WITH CHILDREN? Are you still using a VHS or 8mm camcorder to shoot your kid’s first tap-dancing show or touchdown? Brother, you really need to catch up on where home entertainment is – really!! Enter the Panasonic DMR-HS2. Now I once used a VHS machine to record TV shows that I would miss and then watch them the next day or years later, but the quality deteriorated over time and VHS is bulky and mechanical. Also, have you had this dilemma? You want to give a friend a copy of a TV show - in order to copy you had to rig 2 VHS machines together with the original tape and a new tape and UUGGGHHH! Thanks to DVD/RAM technology, that’s a thing of the past. Now this is cool - I can also plug-in a memory card that has pictures from my digital camera and incorporate the pictures into a video that I just shot, by using the unit’s editing features – while I’m editing the video. Throw out your VHS and run and get an HS2!

This unit lives up to its claims. Picture quality at XP and SP is superior to TIVO. Recording from auxiliary sources improves picture quality a fair amount. Maxell and TDK dvd-r disks and Imation and Panasonic DVD-RAM disk work well. My only disappointment is that DVD-R's do not look very good played on my (fairly new) Toshiba 4800 and 4yr old Sony DVD players. The dvd-r's are wonderful when played back on the DMR-HS2. On the other players, contrast and brightness are way too high and colors are blah and somewhat yellowish, requiring adjusting tv conrols a lot to make them watchable-not what I expected. Timer recording of multiple channel programs is possible from Satellite/DirecTv, but requires you to program the satellite reciever and DMR-HS2 separately to synchronize when they are to come on, change channel and go off. Overall, I am pleased with the unit. But, I wish that the DVD-R's looked as good on other DVD players. At least, they will play without problems.

DVD player/recorder VCR TIVO Photo Viewer! This is great for anyone who wants to edit their own vacation, family fun or "life" videos, record high-quality video as well as archive photos! The HS2 gives you the ability to edit right on the RAM disc or hard drive, and then make a DVD-R to share with your friends! One particular feature I really like about the unit is "time slip" recording which allows simultaneous recording and playback of the same program at the same time: for instance, you can watch the beginning of a TV show while the end is still recording, which I think is very cool. Now contrary to some misconceptions, you CAN record onto popular DVD-R discs that WILL play on your buddy's DVD player! If you really get to know the HS2, you can title your programs, choose a menu color, skip commercials - all while recording high quality video. I highly recommend Panasonic’s DMR-HS2!

This DVD Recorder/Player is the best item so far to do just that... playing and recording. Very easy to use and to work with. Even a kid can work it... It has mucho flexibility and items that are not available anywhere else especially not in the Phillip's line.

Unit is a little small and it had some troubles with many discs. It constantly went into the "recover" mode and twice ruined blank discs. HDD worked perfectly with good quality image. 1 and 2 hour video modes also offer excellent picture although the color is a bit bleeched out. 4 hour mode is about VHS quality and 6 mode is a waste of disc, and looks worst than old VCDs. The problem I cannot get around and this applies to all Panasonic recorders, compatibility with stand alone DVD players is next to none. I have tried 45 players and none will play discs smoothly recorded in SP mode. After an hour or so picture jumps and freezes.

No Dolby Digital Surround recording capability" Prerecorded DVD playback is exceptional, but the unit only records in 2-channel Dolby, NOT DD Surround Sound 5.1! Panasonic's support folks did not know this, nor did the people at Best Buy where I bought the unit, but my home theater salesman figured it out after researching Panasonic's specs on the Web. It seems ludicrous to me that an $850 machine would leave out such a key feature. I'm sure I'm not the only consumer that would demand full 5.1 surround sound recording capability. Otherwise, why record digital broadcasts at all? I returned mine and am waiting for one that records in DD 5.1. Next year, maybe?

I have had my unit about a month now and love it.I almost returnd it after reading one of the reviews here, for some reason the person is not having good luck.Mine has recorded great in the first three speeds both on HD and on dvd's. I have recorded movies on it and was able to watch them on a good sony dvd player and a cheap orion player both of witch i have . I have not used the unit to its full extent yet but i am verey happy with it and happend to get it for a great price at abt.

Listen to what RAM lets me do; let's say you need to just edit home video that you just shot, you can actually edit the video right on the RAM disc. Whether you actually shot on the disc or dump it from your camcorder, you can edit right there at your TV. It's cool stuff - what happens is that the RAM just 'connects the dots' to the actual segments you want - whether a still photo, video, titles, etc. You just drag and drop them around and put the scenes in the order you like. So this means that you can shoot a movie in your camcorder and then take the RAM disc - if you have a DVD camcorder - or use firewire connection to the HS2 and edit the video. When your done editing, you've never copied or deleted anything - all you have done is tell the machine where to find each one of the scenes on the disk - so all of your raw footage and the 'edited version' are still there!

The problems mentioned in some of the reviews about DVD's recorded on this unit not playing on other DVD players is very true. I called Panasonic about the same problems and they stated for some reason this recorder has problems with Memorex DVD's. As soon as I stopped using Memorex I have not had a problem. I have recorded on TDK, Panosonic, Immation, and Fuji and they all play very well on any other DVD player. So don't use Memorex and you shouldn't have any problems. Please write back if you find any other type DVD's you have a problem with, so I don't buy that brand.

Tried to use COMPUSA DVD-R and could not play in other machines. Now I am trying Maxell. otherwise, great ,machine for home use. i'd love to find a machine that does heavy editing as well. Also would like to be able to transfer to my pc.

After purchasing the machine and transfering a number of family movies to disc, we now find they will not play on any other machine. I called the Panasonic Helpline only to be told that the machine is designed only to record to its hard drive or discs that will only be played in the same machine. Forget about sharing with friends, unless they are willing to shell out the $999 and hope the machine never breaks.

This is a retraction of my previous review. The Panasonic Helpline person was incorrect and so was I. The on-screen instructions are a bit confusing. After recording a disc you must go to a separate menu to finalize and put in disc information. It will then replay on other machines. As such my oppinion is totally reversed. If you have the bucks, buy one.

The best video recorder I ever seen, I truly recomend it, high quality video if you have a good signal inputing on the unit, comands easy to learn, lot of information, just the best invent ever to get your movie collection from TV, cable or macromedia free devices. :-) I have had the unit for one month. Compatibility problems: none until now, checked in 3 brands of players.