HDD DVD - Panasonic DMR-EH67 or Pioneer DVR-650H?

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dah

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#20952 10-Apr-2008 22:35

Hi all

I want to buy a HDD DVD recorder and can't decide between the Panasonic DMR-EH67 and the Pioneer DVR-650H. Consumer ranked the Panasonic slightly above the Pioneer 550H (same as the 650H but with a smaller HDD). Correcting tracking errors was the only thing the Panasonic did notably better; picture and audio were not too far apart. So, any recommendations here from people who have used one or both? I'm not worried about the music or still photos/video features - I'm just interested in DVD recording and playback features and quality.

From reading the manuals, the Pioneer has a lot of custom settings for output and input which the Panasonic lacks. It also has all the manual recording mode settings and XP+, while the Panasonic has just the standard range and flexible recording (though the Panasonic's LP is supposed to be almost as good as its SP). The Pioneer won't let you manually select the aspect for recording (16:9, 4:3), while the Panasonic will.

Any comments on these or other features/differences/experiences?

Many thanks, Dominic

mentalinc

3239 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#122745 11-Apr-2008 08:01

Firstly what do you use to receive tv?

If you are looking at getting freeview (ie you live in an area that can get the UHF) I suggest neither and wait until a dvd recorder come sout for freeview.

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Midnightcowboy

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#122752 11-Apr-2008 08:33

I've just bought a DVR-550H and am very pleased with it. The picture quality is fine, particularly through HDMI and the
USB port on the front is a really neat feature.

sudo

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#122863 11-Apr-2008 14:26

One thing the Pioneer has (optional) is USB ports ... you can plug in USB memory or a computer (be interested to know whether it's got USB host functionality).

dah

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#122882 11-Apr-2008 15:45

I have Saturn cable TV. I thought about Freeview or changing to Sky and MySky, but one of the big reasons I want a recorder is to dub my old VHS tapes to DVD.

Midnightcowboy, have you had any problems with the Pioneer not choosing the correct aspect when recording (you might see this when playing back 16:9 on a different DVD player)? Do you use the options to create user-specified input and output settings (YNR, BNR, MNR, etc) and, if so, do they make much of a difference? What is the lowest setting you would record on? And any problems with it skipping or not tracking well on scuffed disks (the only area the 550H scored low in the Consumer test)? And how does the auto-chaptering work on adbreaks?

Have you had the chance to compare the picture quality with that of the Panasonic's? The Panasonic keeps its horizontal resolution at 500 down to LP, but I've heard this sacrifices motion reproduction, so I'm not sure whether this is a real selling point or not. Likewise, I don't know if the inability to directly select the extended recording modes is an issue.

Dominic