Big Picture Big Sound

Storage space... the final frontier

Storage space... the final frontier. In my basement, anyway. I store movies, concerts, and sports events on videotape. One bookcase simply would not do, so we have a pair, double-shelved with 20 years of "collectibles," if you will. When my wife commented, "You're not running a Blockbuster franchise," I knew it was time to downsize.

Two other concerns had been growing: the entertainment industry's total embrace of DVD technology and the decline of the VCR (and its media). Wal-Mart and Target's June 2005 announcements that they are phasing out VHS-recorded products demonstrates my prescience.

So in January 2004, I took six months' research in hand and purchased a Panasonic DMR-E80H DVD Recorder. Wait - isn't this a review of the E85H? Yes, but with a prologue.



The E80H came with an 80GB hard drive (which was large for its day). The line-in capability allowed input from a computer (via standard composite video out), digital camera, or camcorder. Other features (discussed later) made it my dream machine for converting videotapes to DVDs.

For the first four months, the E80H and I were best friends. Everything worked great. Then my recorded discs started looking "pixilated." No audio problems - just video that broke up, with sections of the screen becoming completely unviewable for minutes at a time. At first, I thought this was happening because I wasn't strictly using Panasonic brand media. But when the same thing occurred using Panasonic DVD-Rs, I called tech support.

Long story short, Panasonic tech support and I became really close last summer. They replaced the hard drive. They replaced the DVD burner. They could not replicate the problem, which kept happening, no matter which blank DVD I used, no matter which way I recorded. Ultimately, the E80H's third trip to tech support was its last, and Panasonic apologized by upgrading me to the E85H last October. [In the interim, the E80H has been discontinued]


Improving on the extremely popular E80H, Panasonic's E85H DVD recorder boasts a larger built-in hard drive - 120GB - and a set of features which make this one of the most useful and functional DVD recorders available. The built-in hard drive lets you store over 200 hours of recorded video (in the lowest quality mode), allowing you to edit your choices before archiving your recording permanently on a DVD-R or DVD-RAM disc.

And with a built-in TV Guide On Screen™ interface, the E85H lets you find exactly what you want and record it with one-touch ease, all without the need to pay for a monthly service such as TiVo. The E85H does the rest, recording your selections automatically - provided it plays nice with your cable box. The E85H has some difficulties with certain digital cable set-top boxes. In fact, while it recognizes my analog cable box, some of the channels either don't show up or don't match the listings. For instance, Spike TV can be found on channel 36 on my system, but the E85H thinks that's American Movie Classics. A problem, especially since AMC runs a movie schedule - one that doesn't line up with Spike's programming roster. I wind up having to manually set a timer recording for Spike, then entering the program title later through the "Enter Name" menu option.

The E85H comes with two basic internal components - the hard drive recorder/player and the DVD recorder/player. On the one hand, you have basic DVD functionality: play a CD through your audio system or a DVD to your TV. You can also burn TV programming - or input from cable, VCR, or other devices - directly onto a DVD, bypassing the hard drive.

In some instances, that's a plus - saving time and producing DVDs that can be used in other machines. But in other cases, such as archiving family videos, it's better to record them onto the hard drive, where you can edit them, title them, then create a playlist order and burn them onto a DVD at your leisure.

With the E85H, you can record TV programming (similar to TiVo recorders) and watch it later - even before the event has ended. Start at the beginning of the record using TimeSlip technology, and fast-forward through those commercials and boring parts. This way you can catch up to the how you're watching in real-time. I've done this for the Academy Awards the past two years and it's been a phenomenal time-saver. Plus the bathroom breaks were at my discretion (just hit "Pause").

With the large hard drive, I tend to record everything in the highest quality mode (XP), which fits up to around 25 hours on the HDD. It's best to start with the highest quality for the original, this way you'll have less picture loss when you dub to DVD for long-term storage. Using the editing palette and deleting commercials can cut a one hour broadcast program to 44 minutes, in case you're archiving your favorite TV shows.

Once you're ready to burn a DVD, you don't need to store everything in neat 2-hour (or 4-hour, or 6-hour) packages. Unlike conventional VCRs, the E85H features a "flexible record" mode (FR). FR mode optimizes the compression rates and resolution to squeeze the highest possible quality out of the available space. It turns your 1:04, 2:17, or 3:49 of programming into a tight 4.7GB (the maximum) DVD. No "blank," unused portion is left. Every sector is utilized - you get the best possible audio and video recording quality, filling the DVD at the same time. FR mode works when recording to the Hard Drive (allowing you additional clean-up and editing ability) as well as directly to DVD.

If your programming is commercial-free, or you're not concerned about editing out commercials, you can record directly onto a DVD-R or DVD-RAM using FR mode. Just set the timer, hit "Record" and come back when the recording is finished. I set the preferences on my unit so the E85H turned itself off after two hours of inactivity, allowing me to record overnight while I slept without having to worry about going downstairs to turn off the recorder.

The E85H comes with nine menu screen choices for your DVDs and you can select specific screen captures to act as thumbnail images for your chapters. Maybe the next firmware update will include more options? So far, nine have worked fine for me.

The one bit of wackiness that has given me pause thus far concerned deactivating TV Guide Online when the E85H brought it up onscreen as soon as I turned on the device. I would get a total eclipse image of the program guide - although the top left portion of the screen (a picture-in-picture of the current channel chosen) - would look normal. The E85H would "lock," and neither the remote control nor the unit's buttons worked. I needed to literally unplug the device to force a reset. Fortunately, that condition has not returned since I de-selected TV Guide Online as a startup option.

Final Thoughts
No regrets so far. I've condensed six shelves of tapes to three shelves of DVDs, using slim cases. I've sold off, thrown out, or given away the majority of the tapes they replaced. I've lost weight. Improved my marriage, and sprouted hair where none has grown in years. Well, everything but the last three. Panasonic is now phasing out the E85H as well. For under $400, you can buy one and enjoy the pleasures of home DVD recording.