Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic DMR-EH55S DVD Recorder with 200 GB Hard Drive, HDMI, SD Card, and DV Input

The Panasonice DMR - EH 55S DVD recorder is a sweet product. I especially love having the 200 GB of hard drive space for recording. But having used TIVO, the TV Guide recording menus don't come close. So, don't expect TIVO features like wishlists and two week scheduling. Another quirk is that the TV Guide may not list all the stations that you recieve in your area. For example, here in Portland, Oregon, ESPN 2 HD is channel 736 but TV guide on the panasonic did not program it in. So, obviously I cannot record anything on 736. But the HDMI, SD Card and DV inputs are very nice features to have.

I was looking for a DVR with a hard drive. I have not been disapointed. Once the TV Guide feature downloaded it takes 24 hours. I learned to love the product and the feature. I am retired and the search feature is a great way to find and record shows I would have missed. The operation in fairely simple after a small learning curve. I have had it only a couple of weeks and feal it was worth every cent I paid. The quality of play on DVD's and the hard drive is better then my TV.

I had no problems in setting up the recorder including the TV Guide function. The recorder has recorded all scheduled recordings without problems. The picture quality is excellent even on the LP setting. I have not used the Disc recording feature yet but I am sure it will work fine as well. I wish that it would have had a XD input rather than SD as most of the smaller digital cameras now use this media.

I had an older model panasonic dvd recorder for years and was very happy with it. Eventually the dvd drive died out so I needed an upgrade. Before I Purchased this model I decided to try a similiar Toshiba model. I hated it! I found it very complicated and hard to get use to so it went straight back. I purchased this panasonic model and absolutely love it! Setup was a breeze, picture quality is great, and it's very user friendly!

The only gripe I have is the Tv Guide feature. The guide actually worked right away. It worked like a charm for a good two months. It started to lose listings or only pick up partial listings and eventually it just stopped picking up the listings all together. I don't know if I can blame Panasonic for this issue as I have heard from a few people that it may be Comcast Cable. While it is defintely more convenient I don't mind using the manual feature to record programs.

This is my first DVR, so I can't compare to any other type or brand of DVR. Relative to a VCR though, it's fantastic and based on my experience with it over the past couple of months, it is a very good product.

My wife works third shift at a juvenile detention facility. For six hours a night, they basically watch TV between 15 minute checks. I was constantly recording shows to VHS for her to watch at night. I had stacks of tapes in our living room and bedroom and was often scrambling to find a tape that was rewound and could be overwritten. All that hassle is gone with the this DVR. Now I have most of the shows scheduled to automatically record to the HDD and I periodically copy them to a DVD+RW. The added beauty of DVD+RW is that you do not have to finalized the DVD to watch it on most newer DVD players, so my wife takes them to work, watches them there, brings them back and I delete the shows off of it and copy new shows onto it. The benefits are numerous for my wife as well. The picture and sound are better, the shows are displayed in a menu that she can pick from, DVDs are more convenient to carry back and forth to work etc... I'm also using it to time-shift the shows I like to watch. I wish we would have bought this sooner.

Anyway, more about the DVR itself.
- The TV Guide On Screen works well with our Charter Cable (analog service)
- We have never come close to filling the drive(recording in SP & LP).
- Recording with DVD+RW allows playback on other DVD players without finalizing

Wish List for future models
- Automatic buffer to rewind live TV
- "go back" button for channel surfing on remote
- A more comprehensive manual
- I would like it to save the show description from the TV Guide listing with the show when it is recorded. Currently it saves the title and date/time it was recorded.
- It would be nice if it copied from HDD to DVD faster when downconverting from say SP to LP to fit more shows on the DVD.