[QUOTE=rabair, post:42, topic:110724]
How happy are you with that Panasonic? I’ve been in the market for a combo DVR with DVD Recorder for a LONG time, and never made the leap because I want a dual tuner (like the DVR I rent from my cable company now). It seems my dream of a dual tuner is dead, because it seems no one is making this type of product. Basically I’m trying to get away from paying almost $20/month to rent the box and get DVR service from Comcast (and TIVO people, please shut up.. I don’t want to pay their charges either, plus last I knew you needed a home phone line to hook up to).
So anyway, I’m just curious how happy you are with that Panasonic (particularly the guide), and which model is it? I love my DVR that I rent from the cable company, but cost sucks, so I’m looking to get as close to it as possible, but also having a DVD recorder.
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I have two DMR-E95H (160gb) and they work fine after you upgrade the BIOS to get rid off the green screen freeze. – works best with analog cable."
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I got rid of freezeups just by using a UPS. The TV guide is great. The only real problem with the unit (same model as above) is that the thing will sometimes think it's recording when it isn't, so it isn't 100% reliable. I was told it had to do with the Guide info downloads, and it does seem to happen mainly at certain times. Bottom line, it's long-lived and has lots of features, but if you want to record a show that you must see and won't be repeated, have a backup recorder programmed... Maybe they fixed the glitches in the 80 gig replacement model. I also have aa Panasonic DVD/VCR combo that's a great DVD recorder. No TV Guide, but it also can use RAM disks, and it's dead reliable about recording. Only complaint is the clock gains a minute every two months or so.
[QUOTE=theanaconda, post:1, topic:110830]
shoot, woot, couldn’t you have waited until next week? I was looking for something like this for my parents for Christmas, but I dont get paid again until next Friday
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[QUOTE=Snot, post:75, topic:110724]
Do you have an HD TV? If so chances are you only need an antenna, and if so you don’t want the 480p resolution this thing provides. If not, there’s no reason to try to pull in HD. If you need a hard drive you can get much better price per GB. newegg had a nice 750GB drive for $120 after 20% off paypal discount (that was cyber monday deal I think). If you don’t have cable, and don’t have an HD TV, I really can’t think of a reason to buy this thing. Maybe just as a DVR for your favorite shows, but if you don’t watch much TV are you really going to miss your shows more than missing this $100?
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Yes, you’re probably right, and have also probably guessed that my tv is a non-HD piece of cr@p. BTW, thanks for the constructive comments, always appreciated by all I’m sure.
You’re certainly right about the $/GB; I picked 160GB since that’s what is in this woot. Some of us greybeards still have trouble getting used to modern storage capacity. Back in the Z80 days I used to archive to cassette tape from a 20KB computer (yes, twenty kilobytes), and upgaded my first PC from 160MB to 250MB to have a “big back yard”, as they said back then, so 160GB still looks pretty good. But, the last thing I need now is another dead box in the electronics junk pile; hell, with micro parts and SMT one can’t even harvest them for parts anymore, so I think I’ll take your advice a break out a sleeping pill rather than the credit card.
It has hdmi, so i’d assume its at least 720p.. but even the polaroid website doesn’t give much information about it. However I don’t know how 204 hours of 720p, let alone 1080p can fit onto 160GB. so my guess is yea, just 480p Standard Definition TV.
The model number is DRA-01601A maybe you all can find something I can’t… looks good though… except for the lack of a tv guide.
AAHHHH!! Polaroids have terrible quality and even worse customer service!! They should be called Hemrroid because they make me itch and are a pain in my a#&!!
Hello I just thought I would chime in on this product. I just bought a Polaroid 2001g 80gb hdd from a woot side deal from Ubid. $82 free shipping…I have read a lot about my product and some peeps love it and some hate it. the thing they like the most was how easy it was to upgrade the hdd. not sure if the 160GB Hard Drive and ATSC Tuner will do the same, but if it does you can really add some recording time to you new unit I am using it now and I love it. It has much better software than my Liteon 5054. I like the fact that it will stop all process and do your timed recording. My Liteon did not in fact if it was on when the recording was about to start it would ask you to turn it off. If you did not you would not get the recording!
If I had not bought my 2001G from ubid I would pull the trigger on the “P” 160GB Hard Drive and ATSC Tuner
This thing uses standard pc parts.
here is link to an av forum that I was reading for the “P” 2001G
you might be surprised to see there are some fans of the “P” 2001G
Look at this way if the hardware fails buy a usb enclosure and slap you hdd in it.
$45 160 GB hdd
$40 for the DVD recorder
I bought one at Wal-mart hooked it up to my Comcast received the QAM signal, played around for a night and returned it. The terrible user interface, the terrible remote, the overall cheesy low quality of the unit just wasn’t worth it.
[QUOTE=rockxdude, post:89, topic:110724]
Hello I just thought I would chime in on this product. I just bought a Polaroid 2001g 80gb hdd from a woot side deal from Ubid. $82 free shipping…I have read a lot about my product and some peeps love it and some hate it. the thing they like the most was how easy it was to upgrade the hdd. not sure if the 160GB Hard Drive and ATSC Tuner will do the same, but if it does you can really add some recording time to you new unit I am using it now and I love it. It has much better software than my Liteon 5054. I like the fact that it will stop all process and do your timed recording. My Liteon did not in fact if it was on when the recording was about to start it would ask you to turn it off. If you did not you would not get the recording!
If I had not bought my 2001G from ubid I would pull the trigger on the “P” 160GB Hard Drive and ATSC Tuner
This thing uses standard pc parts.
here is link to an av forum that I was reading for the “P” 2001G
you might be surprised to see there are some fans of the “P” 2001G
Look at this way if the hardware fails buy a usb enclosure and slap you hdd in it.
$45 160 GB hdd
$40 for the DVD recorder
$85
Well good luck either way.
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Agreed, I did not like my Liteon that you had to turn it off to record anything and I was not happy when I forgot. I am very happy with my current Polaroid 2001G and look forward to the new model because it does 480p and do not need a HD tuner, all in one box. I know it is easy to upgrade the HD on the 2006G, but never got around to doing it.
My Pioneer I bought from here a 1 1/2 years ago for $250 died (can’t replace the HDD without a service remote and service DVD) and is now impossible to find for less than $300-400. You can’t argue with this price. Ande the supposed ease to replace parts as they die. Though, I will still rely on the Toshiba I acquired recently w/ the TV Guide feature for 90% of my recordings. But for the price of this, and as mentioned above, break out the parts individually and you make back your money.
To echo a question asked twice before, does anyone know if you can do firewire transfers from a hard drive camcorder onto the DVD? Does this work, and/or are the DVD’s crappy? What about from a firewire Mini-DV camcorder?
What gets me about all these recoders is there is still no HD inputs only outputs, so why would they even bother putting an HDMI output if the content being recorded to the device is standard definition. I will never buy one of these till they make them right.
