Panasonic DMR-EZ27K Up-Converting 1080p DVD-Recorder with ATSC Tuner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this from Best Buy not Amazon.
Things I like:
1) Scheduling for recording programs is pretty intuitive
2) Creating the DVD top menu is easy
3) Playback of DVDs with HDMI cable is very sharp with upconversion
4) XP (1hr) and SP (2hr) are very good...better than VCR quality
5) Has Flexible Recording mode (FR) which you assign the hours to record.
6) To my surprise, when I record a 16x9 broadcast on a +RW, it actually plays in 16x9 on my TV. It's not supposed to per the manual.
7) Although not advertised, it has a QAM tuner. Will deciper any HD/digital channels from my cable connection. The quality isn't as good as the built in QAM tuner on my TV though.
8) Remote layout is good and feels sturdy.
9) Can use TIVO like features if recording using a DVD-RAM.
Things I dislike:
1) LP (4hrs) mode is very pixeling when played back on my 56" widescreen. Way worst than VCR quality. I don't even use this mode. EP (6 or 8hrs) is practically garbage. My old reliable VCR could tape 6hrs which was good for a week of shows. Now since I only use the 2hr SP mode, I have to keep remembering to switch out my DVD+RWs and label them. A big hassle, which I'm not sure outweighs the benefits. Very bad if you have to tape 4 hours or more during a day...i.e. a long sporting event.
2) If I set the recorder as hooked up to a 16x9 TV, which it is, and I record a 16x9 broadcast, it plays fine on my HDTV. However, if I play back the recording on a 4x3 TV, the image is scrunched into the 4:3 TV making everybody appear narrow. No setting on my 4:3 TV or DVD player can change how it appears. Can't get it to go widescreen on the 4:3. If I set the recorder as hooked up to a 4x3 TV, then it will play back okay on a 4:3 but won't go 16x9 on my HDTV. Ugh.
3) The QAM tuner when auto programming channels isn't intelligent. It will pick up every digital channel going through the cable feed, whether encrypted or not. Thus, you'll end up with about 100 digital channels that are encrypted and you can't view (blue screened). You have to manually deleted these channels from the recorder, which after doing about 10 took way too long and I stopped. Slow channel changing.
4) No Open/Close button on the remote.
5) Cable signal quality on analog channels through this tuner isn't the greatest.
6) I have a Samsung 1080P DVD Player and when playing back recordings with the Panasonic, I can't get my "instant replay" or "instant skip" features to work on my Samsung.
7-15-07 UPDATE:
Two weeks after purchasing this recorder and 1 week after posting this review, my digital (HD) channels disappeared from the unit. Resetting or re-auto programming the channels didn't work to get them back. I called Panasonic tech support who's supposed to send me a firmware update for the unit. Supposedly, I'm not the 1st to report this issue. The firmware update isn't on the panasonic website though. This now lowers my rating to two stars. If the firmware doesn't fix the issue, I will update this.
7/30/07 Update: Well lame-o Panasonic finally mailed the firmware update about 12 days after I first called them even though they promised it with 3 days. The firmware update has brought back my digital channels. I'm crossing my fingers that they will continue to remain. The firmware update's biggest feature, however, was that it made the LP (4hr) recording mode much better. Before, I couldn't even tolerate the quality of the LP mode because there was too much pixelation. With the firmware upgrade, it's actually tolerable...at least when watching a regular TV show. I have to test it on a sporting event before I give my final opinion. I'm taping the Giant's game tomorrow (in case BB ties HA) so I'll let y'all know later.
8/6/07 and FINAL Update:
Well, I lost my digital channels twice since my last update. Once after the unit froze on me...another time for no apparent reason. I have to goto through the tedious 10-15 minute process of reloading the firmware update and the the long auto-channel setup to get my digital channels back. I have no faith that my digital channels will remain indefinitely. There seems to be quite a few bugs in this unit. I called Panasonic Tech Support and they told me to ship the unit back for their Techs to inspect and repair. Although the shipping and repair is covered under the warranty, I've already paid this unit in full and will be out of a recorder for at probably 3-4 weeks if I went this route. Unfortunately, I've owned this thing over 30 days and can't return it anymore. I'm crossing my fingers that my digital channels won't mysteriously disappear anymore or that Panasonic will come out with yet a better firmware upgrade....but I'm not holding my breath. It's been very disappointing that this unit has a lot of glitches.

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DVD Recorder, With ATSC Digital Tuner,1080P HDMI upconversion, DV Input

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