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Panasonic DMR-EX78

By CNET staff on 29 May 2008

The Panasonic DMR-EX78 is a DVD-recorder with a standard-def tuner, HDMI upscaling and a 250GB hard drive.

Topics: recorder, panasonic, dmr, EX78, 250gb, dvd recorder, dvd

• 

  Frankie gave 8/10 on 31/08/2009 13:01 Report abuse

  • Good: Improves picture quality; once timer settings are inputted, automatically sets timer - no need to turn off recorder
  • Bad: Takes a few seconds to turn on in powersave mode; cannot save names of frequently recorded programmes

  I had a previous model (DMR-EH60) for 3 years. It looks complicated at first but once you have worked your way through, it's not difficult to use. There are a couple of handy functions in the EH60 which are missing in this one: the "time slip" function has changed. On the previous model, time slip meant that when you were watching a recording,you were able to see what was on live tv (no sound) on the bottom right hand corner. In this model, time slip means you can advance the playback instead of fast forwarding - not a feature I use. Also you were able to save up to 20 names of programmes that you frequently recorded which saved a tedious job. I contacted Pananasonic who advised to use the Program Guide to save titles. Unfortunately, this feature is not available on satellite tv in rural Australia. I mainly got this model as I was used to the older one (still working) and how to use functions so laziness entered into my decision. One note of warning - don't use cheap blank dvds to burn programs as finalisation may not work after a while.

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  Len1207 gave a review on 17/05/2009 09:27 Report abuse

  • Good: 250GB Hard Drive
  • Bad: Very basic remote - Not very user friendly - difficult to operate

  The Panasonic DVD Recorders are in general not user friendly. The remote is very basic and if for example you want to do an OTR recording, you can’t do it from the remote, but have to go the recorder and press record to get recording times of 30min, 60min, 90min etc. The remote does not have a one touch copy facility button to copy from a DVD to the HDD.
  
  When you press chapter mark, instead of showing a mark you loose the picture for about a second or two & you are asked to press OK on the remote, which is a waste of time & affects your enjoyment.
  
  I tried to copy a finalised DVD on VR Mode & also on Video mode recorded from a Pioneer DVD recorder & the Panasonic could play it but could not copy it. The navigation screen does not show how long the recording is.
  
  I managed to exchange this for a Pioneer 250GB HDD with SD tuner which is extremely user friendly, except that the remote does not have a chapter mark facility. However, it does remember on the HD where you stopped watching a recording - For the Pioneer probably the only DVD HDD Recorder that does not have a chapter mark or bookmark facility!!

• 

  mcoop gave 9/10 on 15/09/2008 17:44 Report abuse

  • Good: Features
    Excellent Picture quaity
    Great tuner / reception
    ALmost every function you want to tweak is in there.
    Suports all AV formats in and out, and all CD/DVD formats.
    USB/SD is a bonus - but is also perfectly integrated.
  • Bad: Menus are slightly clumsy, but I figured it all out in about 30 mins playing without the manual - and then went back to see what I missed - not much.
    

  Fabulous unit - nothing I would change - at all (well except copy protection schemes)
  I was tossing up between the Panasonic and Sony units, and am completely happy with the EX78
  I have been at the sharp-end of the television industry for over 30 years, and this piece of gear satisfied every requirement I had in my list of requirements.

• 

  paws17 gave 5/10 on 03/08/2008 09:19 Report abuse

  • Good: Hopefully reliable compared to some other makes
  • Bad: - Horribly complicated & counter-intuitive instructions for dealing with the simplest of daily tasks.
    - Can't split titles to remove adverts and then sew them back together.

  Lots of interesting features - but way too clever for its own good or for customer ease of use.

 

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