Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic DMR-EZ47V Up-Converting 1080p DVD-Recorder/VCR Combo with Built In Tuner

I chose this model because it seemed the best ATSC VCR/DVD-R available in October 2007. We're pulling our signal off the (really big) rooftop antenna on the fringe of Philadelphia's viewing area. I needed a new VCR and wanted to make sure I had the ATSC tuner because our bedroom TV (bought last year before I realized the end was so near) does not and I don't tend to upgrade often. (The top-of-the-line deck it replaced was bought in 1988)

On the whole, I am happy with it, but expect to keep the manual nearby to get all you can out of it.

Off the air tuning is about the same as our other options. It gets some stations (both analog and digital) better and some worse. But it can't seem to pick up the time off the air, something that five other systems on the same antenna have no issues with. The picture quality from pre-recorded VHS and DVD is very good. (and I found out that it will read my camera's memory card and show the pictures on the TV)

There are some design choices that have bugged me. The first three are no big deal and I just adapted my expectations:
- you can't record the digital channels onto VHS. (even if they aren't HD)
- you can't record to both decks simultaneously
- widescreen can only be recorded onto DVD-RAM, not +R/-R discs
The next few are really annoying me, but may not matter to anyone else:
- Gone are the days when you pushed a TIMER button to put the machine to sleep until it starts scheduled recordings. The unit must be OFF to start timer recording. Oh, and it turns itself off after a few hours of non-use. I keep my favorite shows programmed for weekly recording as I watch almost everything at my convenience. So when I when I stopped last night's playback as I fell asleep, the machine was kind enough to start the next recording right there. And when I was watching a DVD it didn't bother to start another recording.
- It resets the counter to zero when it rewinds to the beginning of a tape. I have lots of tapes that have multiple shows on them (and none of them are labelled). I stick the tape in and rewind. Oh, I already saw the start, fast forward back to where it was and watch from there. Where was I? the counter can't tell me anymore.
-You can't play VHS thru the HDMI port while recording DVD. This was my brilliant idea on how to watch last night's show while recording tonight's. It only works if you choose an older style port, so I end up crawling behind the TV to unplug something else to do this.

Would I buy it again? Yes

Love this unit.. I have it hooked up HDMI to my Panisonic monitor and it's a superior picture to my Sony Combo DVD/VHS(which I used in progressive scan mode).

The picture quality is like I'm seeing the DVD's for the first time...

I'd recommend this unit to anyone interested in HD quality.

Four stars is just too high for this product, and three stars is too low.

The Bad:

1) In order to change the channel for the vhs I have to press "drive select" get to the SD setting, change the channel, then go back to vhs or dvd if I want to record.

2) Takes a couple moments for each channel to load, so forget channel surfing.

3) DOESN'T RECORD DVD TO VHS. This is my biggest gripe. You would think it does because that is how it is advertised. However, in the manual it states, "Finalized discs or DVD-Video cannot be copied on this unit." Let me sum this up, the only type of transfer is if you record something off tv with this dvd recorder and then DON'T finalize it. I can understand not allowing copywrighted material to be copied, but this includes home videos that are finalized on dvd. What is the point of the dvd to vhs option if you can't record video data? What other data would you put on a vhs?


The Good

1) Plays divx! How exciting! I've never had a player that showed divx before. It works very well. Note that divx video files also cannot be transferred to vhs.

2) Reliable recorder. I have yet to have a problem recording or finalizing a disc (which is why I had to replace my last dvd recorder).

3) Easy to use and understand. The manual is also easy to read and follow.


In summary: I'm glad I kept my old dvr. The dvd recorder doesn't work, but at least I can still transfer dvd videos over to vhs. That is the only thing my old player has on my new one. Other than that (and the changing channel factor) I like this player much better than my other one.

Bought this DVD recorder after going through many review. Really loved the controls and features. Great tuner - provides crisp reception. Easy to program after you understand how the basics work.

However, after 2 weeks of relatively light use (mosttly for recording kids TPT shows), I had my first lockup. Could not get the DVD out, no tv (as the tuner is in the recorder). Called support (which I must say is good in the sense you can get to a live person who is semi-knowledgible without too much delay). They guided me through sequences of key presses that released the dvd and reset the system. System worked fine for another week, when the second lockup happened. Went through the same steps to reset the system.

Then I got my third lockup. This time round the key sequences and reset did nothing. Called Panasonic support twice. First time after playing with all the key sequences they told me to reset the system and wait for the "recovery" process to go through (essentially small boxes show on the display that counts up and down). Let the unit be in the recovery through the night and in the morning it was still recovering. On the second call to the helpdesk the agent said that they could not do anything and would need to go to their support center.

I still have two days left for my 30 day return period, so I am taking this unit tomorrow to return it with one dvd and one cassette stuck in the system, which cannot be retrieved. I find it very amusing as an engineer by profession, that the Panasonic engineers did not figure out that they needed to have a way to eject dvds and cassettes that did not rely totally on the electronics of the system working fine.

If you are interested in buying this unit, I would highly recommend searching for this units lockout experience on the web. I did a lot of research after experiencing these lockouts and found many other who have experienced and many threads dedicated to experiences pertaining to this relatively wide spread issue for a mass scale commercial product.

We were looking for a reasonably priced DVD-recorder/VCR combo. This model is the answer. The technology is great, lots of bonuses included. Say goodbye to all of your old family VCR tapes. Welcome to the 21st century! We had a little trouble dubbing the new DVD recordings that we made from transferring over the VCR tapes. (We actually needed to get some new software) But the transfer itself was a breeze. The quality was nice, not grainy. I highly recommend this product.