Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic DMR-EX769EB-K Freeview+ 160GB Hard Disc Drive DVD Recorder 1080p Up Conversion

Having previously owned a Panny, I was looking to replace my previous disc-only recorder with a HDD version.
Having looked at several brands, I was tempted to go with something other than a Panny, but in the end I decided to stick with Panasonic simply because of previous good experience with the brand.
Set up was very easy - plug the unit in, let it go through it's start-up procedure and five minutes you're set up and ready to go.. no problems.
I notice that from some other reviews that the freeview TV guide is causing some gripes, frankly I don't know what the fuss is about..
Despite a portion of the screen being taken up by adverts (approx 1/3 I would guess), the guide is perfectly readable and is by no means difficult to see (incidently, if you don't bother to put your postcode in, you won't get any adverts!)
In any case, the TV guide has two different ways to view, so you certainly don't need to squint.
So far operation has been smooth and I have encountered no problems with manual or timer recording.
Timer recording is a simple affair, go to the TV guide, find your programme, then choose the appropriate recording mode (View-Now, Single-Timer recording, Series- Recording), and that's it!
Recording quality is predictably good, even on the lowest quality setting.. (I prefer LP for most of my recordings - a good balance between quality and HDD space)
If you pre-set a recording, the unit will show a prompt on whichever channel you're watching, shortly before the timer-recording begins, giving you time to cancel the recording if you wish.
Some nice touches that have been added to this recorder over my previous one - automatic chapter breaks at ad breaks (easier to edit the ads out), also the ability to divide recordings (eg. two programmes recorded back-to-back can now be divided into separate programmes)

Any compaints? - well two minor ones:
The unit's display shows the channel number, rather than the channel name.. a bit strange, but you get used to it.
Also, the unit's colour.. sure I like black, but my TV is Silver.. oh well, time to get a matching new TV...

This is an expensive item and the consumer is entitled to expect it to be exemplary in every respect. There are several avoidable niggls with the EX769. For example, when an audio disc is inserted, it turns on the TV. This need not happen as all optical discs are encoded as to type. Similarly, the front panel display does not give any track information (this may be why the machine thinks you need to run your power-hungry TV just to listen to music). Comparison with the very informative display on my 5 year-old Philips DVDR 610 is stark.

Technically it appears to work well, though from time to time my unit seems reluctant to open the disc tray - it really is important to be able to insert a disc!

Got the Panasonic DMREX769EB to replace an old video. (Really needed to step into the 21st century!) It is excellent. It is so easy to use much simpler than anything we have had before and means less clutter etc. Have not tried any of the advanced features yet but for recording and playing DVD's and using the HDD it is amazing. And you can record one programme and watch a DVD at the same time. Very pleased with this product. And amazingly fast delivery from Amazon. Thanks.

This has been a fantastic addition to our home, hubby wanted a dvd recorder, wifey wanted a hdd recorder - this is both and at a really good price, I didn't think we would be able to afford an hdd dvd but with this we could! once you recover from your own ignorance, it's really easy to use, actually it's surprisingly easy to use even while you're ignorant!!!! I LOVE IT and i'm actually, nervously, looking forward to using it to it's full ability - so far only used the hdd for recording!!!

Purchased this product just over a week okay, and so far I've been immensely impressed with it. Set up is, without doubt, the easiest I have ever come across - simply plug in the wires according to the diagrams in the manual (there are a number of diagrams - depending on which other bits of electronic equipment you also want to connect up - but all are very clearly laid out, and cover a wide range of potential equipment options), plug it in at the wall and turn it on. Wait a couple of minutes for it to autotune, and you're away.
Recording to either DVD or to the HDD couldn't be simpler either - simply bring up the program guide, select the program which you want to record, and hit the record button.
The manual is fairly lengthy, but it's very well laid out and it's easy to quickly find the parts which you want. To be honest, most of the operation of the DVD recorder is fairly intuitive anyway - hence much of the information in the manual isn't really required (unless you are a complete DVD novice).
I note on Amazon that there are a number of comments regarding the adverts which are included in the TV guide screen, and which do take up a proportion of the available picture space. Ideally it would be better if these weren't there (or if you had the option of turning them off - which you don't), but provided you've got a reasonable sized TV screen (probably 28" upwards) then you can still easily read the TV guide information. The adverts are really no more than a very minor irritation - and certainly not worth downgrading the overall rating of what is, without doubt, an excellent piece of kit.