Panasonic DMR-ES10 DVD-Recorder

I purchased this unit at BJ's for $179 a few weeks after they ran out of stock on the older DMR-E30, which I had been pondering for some time, as it seemed to be the best value for the money out there. I'm glad I waited. The ES-10 is significantly improved, and still gives the most bang for the buck.

In general, the unit has VCR+ to make scheduled recording easier, but it doesn't work with cable. It is only useful if you have an off-air antenna. We do, but we still don't use it for some reason. The unit will also play discs containing JPEG and TIFF photos, as well as mp3 files. It operates quietly and smoothly and doesn't throw a lot of heat.

The manual, for the most part is good, But I was a little puzzled by the part about chapters, and how they are made. The manual said that for DVD-R, 5-minute chapters are automatically created during the disc finalizing process. I didn't get any chapters. What it didn't say was that these "chapters" are not the ones with captions and thumbnails, as can be created on DVD-RAM discs.

After calling tech support on a HOLIDAY WEEKEND SUNDAY, no less, a friendly and knowledgeable woman explained the process to me. There are chapters, but you can't view the thumbnails. They are just points that you can get to by pushing the skip button. That said, she told me a way around it. Record each segment of the video as a separate program by using the stop button. It makes the result a little less smooth, but what you get is a top menu of the disc complete with nice thumbnails and custom names, if you wish. You can name the disc and each program, but just be sure to do all your editing before finalizing. The naming process is time consuming, but well worth the effort.

The best thing about the ES-10 is that it has many of the Tivo-like capabilities of more expensive hard drive DVD recorders, without the extra cost, which is due to its ability to record and play DVD RAM discs. For less than 200 bucks, you will be able to watch a program you've already recorded while you're recording a new program on the same disc at the same time.. You can also watch the program you're recording from the beginning or any point in between. We recorded a Red Sox game as we watched it, just to be able to use the ES-10's great stop action and slow mo effects, which blow away any VCR. You can re-check the umpire's decision all by yourself, after the TV replay, and then catch up without missing a thing. Outstanding!

Some features only work with DVD RAM discs, and they usually cannot be played in other equipment unless it's DVD RAM capable, so don't expect to whip that DVD RAM out of the ES-10 and play it somewhere else. However, other discs made on the ES-10 will work fine in other players. Another word about DVD RAM: These discs cost a lot more than other types of DVD's. However, they can be erased and recorded thousands and thousands of times. They are great for recording TV shows or sports events for later viewing and erasure, and they don't come with the hassles of hunting through videotapes for content or recording space. Just pop the disc into the drawer, press a button, and you will be presented with thumbnails of everything on the disc, so you can erase the stuff you don't need. The available space is updated and displayed with every erasure. The selected thumbnail plays with sound, and displays the date it was recorded and a title, if any was added. It's very easy to clear a disc or erase a show with just a few button presses on the remote. What a terrific feature. It's enough to make you want to replace your entire fleet of VCR's with ES-10's.

For DVD-RAM only, you can edit recorded titles and chapters. Click on the title, then sub menu, select divide title, and you will be allowed to create chapters at any points you wish. You can also shorten titles by removing segments you don't want, such as commercials. As far as chapters go, you can combine, erase and create seamless transitions with ease. There are other editing features such as playlists, where you can change the order in which things are played.

There are a lot of nice features on this machine. Throw a computer with a DVD-RAM capable drive and video capture hardware into the mix, and the editing and copying possibilities become tremendous. Another feature worth noting is the COMMERCIAL SKIP button. When you are watching a DVD you've recorded and want to skip the ads, it's much easier than scanning forward on a VCR. Just press the CM button, and it takes you forward one minute at a time, instantly. A few presses usually does it, and the program comes back seamlessly.

You might be wondering about picture quality. I've never been really satisfied with VCR quality, even at SP speed. There is great news with DVD! The ES-10 does an outstanding job at its three best quality settings, and a good job at its lowest quality. At XP (one hour per single sided disc), I could not tell the difference between live and recorded. At the two hour SP setting, It was essentially the same. I was hard pressed to find any difference. The four hour setting, LP, was so good that I wouldn't ever mind taping a four hour sporting event or a bunch of shows to fit on one disc. It's nearly equal to SP on a VCR. All the more reason to go out and buy an ES-10 and dump your VCR or keep it to copy tapes onto DVD, which it does a great job at, too. It actually can stabilize VCR tapes for improved recording and DVD playback.

Which Media to use??

DVD-R discs, which are not erasable, but inexpensive, are the choice for archiving home videotapes onto DVD and recording shows or events you know you're going to keep, lend to others, or play on another machine.

The ES-10 will also record to fairly inexpensive DVD-RW (not DVD+RW), an erasable format, but is not as flexible as DVD RAM. If your other DVD player is DVD-R compatible, the disc should not need to be "finalized" before playing it. The finalization process, which takes about four minutes, makes DVD-RW and DVD-R discs read-only. DVD RAM discs are available at prices ranging from $5 to $10 each, with most coming in protective "cartridges" that are inserted into the machine. You don't need the cartridge setup, but I'd recommend it if you use double-sided DVD RAMS (a double-sided disk offers twice the capacity, four hours at SP), which need to be turned over, just like an old vinyl record.

I found a good source for DVD RAM at Office Depot, which offers three double-sided DVD RAM discs in CD/DVD jewel boxes for $14.99. That compares to paying $2.50 a disc for single-sided. They work very well in the ES-10. I will probably end up purchasing several with cartridges, as they will be doing the bulk of our make-watch-and erase recording. Cartridges make sense for discs that will be handled a lot.

If you want to copy all your old home videos to DVD,there is no reason to purchase a DVD recorder/VCR combo unit unless you want to save space. Although Panasonic does offer the equivalent to the ES-10 with a built-in VCR, the ES-30, for about a hundred bucks more, all you need to do is follow the manual's hookup instructions for using the ES10 with a VCR, and copying videotapes to DVD will be a piece of cake.

Another of the DVD-RAM advantages in the ES-10 is that you can record in 16:9 widescreen mode if you input a widescreen signal. (more coming on this soon, as time permits)

There are many advantages to DVD recorders, and this one, in particular. I will be updating this review as I find new things worth mentioning.