Page 1 of Phillips DVD 70 or Panasonic DMRE55

I am thinking of buying a dvd recorder from richersounds and was wondering if you fine peeps would tell me which one to go for, the Phillips DVD 70 or Panasonic DMRE55. It will be for recording of the TV, off my camcorder and transfer VHS to DVD. Thanks all in advance. Sam

Just in case you`re interested THIS company is doing the multi-region version of the DVDR70 for £189 + £9.99 delivery and the Panasonic DMRE55 for £229 + £9.99 delivery, as seen HERE. I can`t advise which one to go for I`m afraid but just thought you may be interested in the prices.

I bought the Panasonic E55 from Richer a few weeks ago (£220 plus £30 for 3 year warranty) and it`s been excellent so far.

Set up took a couple of hours and I was soon able to start transferring all my old VHS and analogue camcorder tapes to DVD. I`ve sent some of the DVDs to friend & family in Oz and the UK and they`ve all been able to view them without any problems.

I`ve found the DVD-Ram excellent for recording programmes then re-using the disc. I only ever have 2 or 3 programmes at a time on the disc (before watching & erasing) so 1 DVD Ram disc is enough.

I also went for the Panansonic as it seems to be the more reliable brand (having read loads of forums) but only time will tell.

So far so good.

like you i wasn`t sure which one to go for between the 2.got advice from this forum so bought the pan e55.
had it 2 weeks now and its fantastic.i`ve been copying from vhs to dvd with ease.
buy the pan e55 !!

i`ve had the original panny DMR-E30 for well over a year and a half, gone through around a thousand disc without any probs, so providing the build quality has not changed i`d highly recomend the panasonics :)

general nobody @ www.dvdreviewer.co.uk

I have both the E50 (the immediate predecessor to the E55 and better in some respects) and the R70. The Panasonic is the better built machine and has a much better user interface. Its also more versatile in choosing the recording mode (in fact totally flexible) compared to the Philips limited set of record times. Recordings in higher modes (1 to 2/2.5 hr) in both formats are just about perfect with both. LP is good on the Panny less so on the Philips and forget everything else on both. I`ve found both +r and -r to be quite widely playable on other players (with +r just ahead). You can forget about RAM compatability with anything other than Panasonic players from the S35 upwards though its wonderfully easdy to use. +RW is more compatible with other players but not perfect and a crude format to edit.

Panasonic reliability is legendary while Philips had a very bad record with their first generation machines (880/890). There don`t seem to be so many reports of failures with the R70 and upward machines except in compatibility with some cable boxes. Basically you pays your money ... but for a risk minimising strategy go for the Panasonic.

I`m also looking at both of these machines to replace my Video Recorder but I have a problem in that about a year ago I started to transfered my Camcorder tapes & Videos using my PC. However these are + R discs!!

I like the idea of the Panasonic`s `Time-Slip` but from what I can see -RAM machines won`t PLAY + R disc`s.

I have the DVDR70 and it works fine for me and would recommend it. However mirror has both so can give you the comparison. In the end I think it depends on what you really want to do with it. I use mind for recording off the skybox, copying my old video tapes and copying home s-vcd`s made on my PC using my dvd player as a source. But it is not a machine I would want to do a lot of editing on I must admit.voiding the ad breaks in programs is the most I do that way.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 22nd June 2004, 15:26

The E50 will certainly play +r discs if they are finalised and so should the E55. Disc trouble is quite often down to the quality of the disc - avoid the rock bottom discounts, usually a false economy. Buying 25 on a spindle you can get good results at about 50p per disc in -r and 70p per disc in +r.

Thanks for the replies.

With regards to `finalised` I`ve heard the term but not actual how its achieved. Almost all my disc`s are created on a PC using DV camcorder connected by i-link to the PC. The movies are edited/burnt using Studio 8 & a NEC 1000A + RW drive. Studio 8 doesn`t mention `finalised` when burning the disc`s.

Regarding -RAM does the Panasonic record with them still in the Caddy`s. If I wanted to buy a player for elsewhere in the house I know that some of the Panasonic DVD PLAYERS can play -RAM. Do they play them in still in the caddy`s or do you take them out?