Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

It has all the features that we wanted and the price was very good. We just had to plug it in and turn it on. Very easy to use.

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

This recorder is reliable, easy to use and of great quality!

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

There is a learning curve, but once you know how, everything works well. The 500 GB HDD means you don't have to record to DVD straight away. I have stored more than 6 recorded programs at one time (you can record more), at different quality levels. And we can play the DVD's my son got for Christmas from his grandmother in Australia!

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

[...] received it on 3/9/11, I didn't have time to install it until 3/11/11.. After trying to install the unit several times, I gave up...I called "Tech Support" for help with the installation and got nowhere, it obviously was a defective uni, therefore, returned it back to B&H on 3/21/11 for a replacement of refund... [...] There is no way that this unit was functional and only 13-days old and did not work as it should have...

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

We got this to replace our old Panasonic DVD/VHS/HDD recorder, which failed. This one works beautifully with our big Panasonic plasma TV; the upconversion via HDMI cable was even sharper than before ( now full 1080p). The manual doesn't explain how to connect a satellite or cable box, but I figured out that you can do it via the AV4 input connections, which are intended for a VHS player. The necessary US to EU cable adapters were not included, but were easy to get. We were accustomed to the interface from our previous recorder, so had no significant learning curve. Thoroughly recommended.

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

I got this product to replace a DMR-EH50 (Panasonic) which was toasted by lighting.It seems to be as good as or better than the first.It's new so time---.I record this and that and copy to disc.So far no problems .As I said before ;it;s easy,does it well,and all.The cost was more than the first but what isn't.I had to send the first del. back for a malfunction, however B&H made it painless,Thank you!

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

I am so pleased I purchased this unit. It really does record as promised. My only wish is that if a segment is longer than 2 hours, the machine requires you to record in real time, versus high speed which takes about 3-6 minutes, instead of 2 hours plus for the real time which is a drag to obtain the best quality. Also, it says it will record using DVD-DL discs, but after I tried it and it would not work, I re-read the poorly written manual and it will not record to a DL disc at all. Wish this would be fixed as it it is really needed.

At first it took some time to figure out to use the controls, must have been written by an engineer who never intended to use the device, but once figured out, it becomes mostly intuitive. I've played some pre-recorded purchased discs in the machine and the quality is amazingly clear. This machine is solidly built and I would recommend it highly! Not much else on the pro market that competes with it that I have seen. Have had this machine 2 months now and am very happy.

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

This model replaces my old DMR-HS42. So far I've been pleased with it's ease of use and it's high speed dubbing quality from HDD to disc. I also like the capacity of the 250GB HD. You will need an adapter to convert AC cord to standard US
electrical outlet.

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

I use the recorder to copy TV shows from my DVR to the EH59's harddrive, cut out commercials, and high speed copy to DL DVD. Product was shipped setup for NTSC which was great since I live in CA. Manuals said unit would only work with 220 VAC so I went back to the B&H web site to confirm the unit was modified for 110 VAC. I breathed a sigh of releaf when the unit did not smoke when I turned it on :). On power-on, unit displays function menu. It would be nice if I could turn that off. It is annoying. The manual is not a lot of help for typical operation. I found the best way to operate the recorder was to change to HDD and use FR to set the amount of time to record pre-recorded shows from my Directv DVR. Oh, another option to change is the auto-chapter feature. It is terrible at choosing chapter points. I found the best way to go is to disable this feature, start playback from HDD, and press the yellow "Set Chapter" button. Setting chapter marks at commercial start and end requires some "jockying" of the play, pause, slow motion buttons and the arrow buttons for frame accurate editing. This can be a bit tedious but worth doing. Once this is done, putting the unit into chapter display mode is needed. Then just delete the chapters that contain commercials. High speed copy from HDD to DVD is nice. The 2.4x DL DVDs I use take about 35 minutes to write. Unfortunately if you use SP mode (like I do), I can only get 2 shows per DL DVD disk in high speed copy mode. If you want to add more shows to a DVD than the disk holds, it does offer to re-record the shows for you using FR mode. This re-records in real time from the HDD back to the HDD. After resampling, all selected shows are written to the DVD. This is very time consuming but only neccessary if you want more shows on the DVD (given the higher bit rate that the originals were recorded). I could have used a lower bit rate recording initially and avoided the resampling but this goes against my grain. So far, out of 4 disk burns attempted, one was bad. This has more to do with the quality of the disks than the recorder. I've experience this with other recorders too. This was my first HDD / DVD recorder (I've had one other DVD only recorder also from Panasonic). Overall I am very happy with it's operation. It does what it was designed to do and (if you stay away from the manual) pretty easy to just pick up the operation by playing with it. I would recommend this recorder to others seeking to purchase it. My earlier complaints are minor and aimed more the Panasonic to consider making adjustments in the future.

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

We use the HDD recorder of this unit as a backup for our weekly recorded church service. We record directly out of the video switcher just in case the computer hard drive chokes. Its easy to setup. The on-screen setup and navigation is very simple. The only thing that I was a little worried about was the fact I couldn't find the US plug. When I was just about to call BH I found the plug by itself in the bottom of the box. Worked perfectly right out of the box! Just what I needed!

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

Back in 2005 I bought my first USA Hard-Drive DVD recorder to replace an expensive VHS recorder. I love the Panasonic DMR-EH50 unit and use it daily on a 56-inch wide screen TV. You know if it had legs, I'd take it out for Dinner and a Movie!Hard-Drive DVD Recorders are best used for archiving video to the hard drive, then edit and burn to DVD-R. You can Compile home video's whole or in segments, select the view order, and burn. Tape a TV show, if you like it, edit out the commercials and burn. That simple! To me there is no better video recording system for the money, Plus Panasonic's DMR software, build, and picture quality are exceptional!Still, I have lived in fear of my DMR-EH50 breaking down one day (still hasn't). So 3 years ago I started looking for another only to find Panansonic had stopped making them for the USA market. Further searches for a replacement found exact or simular used units under auction and commanding between Five to Eight Hundred each! I mean seriously folks, who wants to pay that much for a "Used" unit? Besides,you don't know how much use it got or how well it was cared for? I had also found new Panasonic Hard-Drive DVD Recorders made for Europe but availible for sale in the USA. These units would play and record NTSC, however the original 240v Euro power supply was replaced by the retailer to 120v, which left me squeemish to finalise the purchase. The alternatives were a USA Phillips, and a Canada Pioneer unit (both of which I bought). Overall they proved cumbersome to operate, and quality - software problematic. Neither offered the ease, durability, and features of the Panasonic DMR model's.I came across this New Panasonic DMR-EH59 a few months back, got excited, and bought one from B & H! In many ways the core functions of the Euro DMR-EH59 unit are the same as my 2005 USA DMR-EH50. The 4 recording speeds plus flex, High Speed Copy or Burn, Title Disc, set Thumbnail pictures, "Phrase Save", plus 9 different wallpapers for the top menu. All of these features are essential to me. This New Panasonic DMR-EH59 unit comes with a dual voltage sensor from the factory, plug it in and your good to go. It has a large 250 Gig Hard Drive which offers plenty of storage. The High speed burn for a single 4 hour DVD-R takes 9 minutes to complete. It also provides USB, HDMI, and RCA conections as well as Composite Output. The Front Panel Display is smaller than previous, but very bright. My unit came set to NTSC video record and playback mode. Additionally the DMR-EH59 can copy / burn music cd's and pictures! There are a few adjustments to owning this built for Europe unit. Most importainly it DOES NOT HAVE A NTSC or DIGITAL TUNER. That means if you live in the USA and do not have a Cable Receiver Box, Satelite Receiver Box, or Digital Receiver Box with outputs, this unit is NOT For You PERIOD! For example, I have my dish DVR Tuner patched to the phono-in jacks for right now. There is NO TV Guide Programing capability (TVGO) on this unit. The cable hookups on this unit are Slide-On, and not threaded mounts as typical in the USA. The new Remote Control is lighter. In comparison to my original DMR-EH50 remote, they removed the Direct Access Buttons for DVD, HDD, SD, Dubbing, Setup, and erase. The biggest adjustment for me is reading the Date / Clock settings. While USA units have an 24 hour AM / PM clock, the Euro units are 0-24 hours like in the Military. Additionally instead Date Stamping the Hard-Drive recordings in the "Month-Day-Year" order, Euro units have "Day-Month" settings. Still with these differences, I bought a 2nd DMR-EH59 unit from B & H! [...]Overall I am very happy with the Panasonic DMR-EH59, and feel it's well worth the price when considering the alternatives. The DMR-EH59 (250 gig) or DMR-EH69 (340 Gig) units are your best choice Hard-Drive DVD Recorders until Panasonic International decides to bring it back to a desperate USA market!

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

This unit works very well with the upconversion of pixels and does excellent job recording to hard disk, but not so much on DVD. We would by more when needed and is easy to use

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

I went to New York to ride and I decided to know the store. Fantastic store! I felt a strong desire to stay there one entire day! Vendors attentive and knowledgeable of the products they sell. Already arrived there with the purpose of buying this dvd recorder because with internal hd and hdmi output was all I needed.

Comments about Panasonic DMR-EH59GA-K Multi-Zone 250GB HDD/DVD Recorder:

I have used Panasonic DMR units with a hard drive for many years- and was very disappointed when they disappeared from the Panasonic inventory. I use them commercially and have never had one fail except for one with a VCR built in.I was a little concerned about this unit in that it is actually designed for overseas markets where PAL is the standard and 220 power, although after reading the manual on-line I discovered that Panasonic made it so that it would play NTSC titles also but you have to go into the menus to change it. Then I read that B&H converted it for 110. SO...it was a pleasant surprise to get the unit and find the 110 plug adaptor included AND the unit already set up for NTSC! So now instead of trying to find a used one on an on-line auction that someone is trying to sell for $1,000, you can buy this one for less than half that- and have a larger hard drive than most of the used ones.Now, don't expect to be recording TV shows, at least not automatically. These now are best for converting those analog tapes (using a VCR or camcorder) to DVD- and nothing outside of trying to do it on a computer and dealing with software issues, does as good a job as the Panasonic units- and where they REALLY shine is the ability to record in 4 hour mode that's almost the same as 2 hour mode- it looks very good!Thanks, B&H!! You should be getting many orders from my fellow lab owners!