A great bargain (Panasonic Diga DMR-ES10)

Member Name: Lakerfanster

Product:	Panasonic Diga DMR-ES10
Date:	13/04/08 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great all round package

Disadvantages: No Freeview or Hard disk

...The Brand...

As anyone who knows anything about audio visual products would know, Panasonic are one of the best in the business and they have been hugely prolific over the past ten years winning awards for their televisions, dvd players and home cinema speaker kits. I have a fantastic Panasonic CRT Television which was given five stars by many of the reviews I have read.

...Panasonic DMR ES10...

Just one of a number of great DVD Products from Panasonic this DVD Recorder was released at £200 in 2005 and is one of the most awarded recorders from the past few years. It has won awards against more expensive recorders which is a pointer at how good this machine is.

As you can see from the picture this DVD recorder is available in a black finish but it is also available in a nice silver finish, the choice of the two finishes is a good thing as you can choose the one that will fit together with your other audio/visual equipment If you want everything to match up with each other.

...Build Quality...

This is something that Panasonic is known for their fantastic build quality. This DVD recorder is one of the most sturdy looking I have seen and will last you years without losing anything in terms of picture quality or anything else. A very sturdy machine.

...Recording...

This is really easy to setup and you will be able to produce copies without any trouble at all. There are a number of ways you can select record. You can do quick start from the remote or the recorder itself or you can search the epg (Electronic Programme Guide) and then find the programme you want to record and it will put it in the library and record when the selected programme is on. The all important results from the recordings are as good as the originally broadcast and importantly lose nothing of the original.

The only slight glitch with the recording is that there is no Hard Disk on this DVD recorder unlike most of the new ones coming out now. This will be a minor dent for most people but there are other Panasonic's that have a hard disk and are award winners too. So you wouldnt be losing anything in terms of picture quality.

...The Picture...

This DVD recorder is superb at reproducing a fine image whether from a copy or from a normal DVD. the detail is really well produced and there are no glitches in the picture. Watching a movie DVD you will see the Clean edges and fine detail that the best players around this price will have.

Dropping down the spectrum of recording options will slightly affect the picture but there is no time when you would be dissapointed with the image on screen enough to be short changed or anything close to that.

...The Sound...

Although not quite as impressive as the picture quality, the sound quality is still very good indeed. Although there is more of a drop off in sound quality when you go down the recording options. But isnt affected when you watch a movie or anything from a normal dvd.

This will be a massive improvement over just about anything up to around £250 from the time this was released and will still sound as good as most of the new recorders around the £200 mark.

...The Remote...

Panasonic are known for their superb remotes. This remote is very easy to use and is packed with useful buttons which make recording so much simpler and all these buttons make this the complete remote. Will work with Other Panasonic audio/visual equipment too.

...Freebie Scart...

It is worth upgrading the scart cable to something better as you can see improvements in picture quality and hear a clearer sound if you upgrade the scart cable. It doesnt have to be much, just a £5 Scart cable would increase the quality even further.

...Connections...

The front fascia opens up and housed underneath the flip cover are the connection options, these include, composite, stereo
analogue audio and S-video inputs. There's no DV-link for camcorder hook-up or an SD card slot which most of the Panasonic recorders will have.

On the back of the recorder are all the normal connections like the two Scarts are RGB-enabled for input and out, there's a set of component outs that are PAL progressive scan-enabled
and an optical digital audio output is also thrown in. Another composite input is supplied (along with its analogue stereo audio counterparts), as is an S-video input. All these connections are easy to use and easy to understand.

...Overall...

Despit the lack of a hard disk this is a great recorder and is a worthy product for anyone who wants a great setup at home. If you are set on a hard drive then you can pick up some great deals on fellow Panasonic players but for the money this is one hell of a recorder and player.

And now it is available at only £69.99 on Hyperfi it is time to pick one hell of a bargain up considering all the supermarket specials around. I will soon pick one up myself as I would like to transfer some of the stuff on my Bush Hard disk recorder to DVD.

Summary: See for yourself.

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