Panasonic DMR-ES 15

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Good
Sound Level	Good
Ease of Use	Average
Range of Features	Limited
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Good Basic  +  Easy
Disadvantages:	Basic Function's

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

My very first memory of recording from the TV is when my dad bought us a BetaMax player for the house and way back then more years than I care to remember, my first film on BetaMax was Star Wars yes a girl who like's Sci-Fi and I still do. The picture was never really good not that we knew that way back then and I was over the moon when my dad eventually went to VHS like all my friends. Nowadays both these recording types are seen as ancient and I feel old for even having known them but now is the future and DVD players are what I use not only downstairs but in the kitchen and up in the bedroom's. Even then DVD players seem to be very quickly becoming ancient and then new way of recording straight onto hard drives seems to be the way it is heading but for now I have a great recordable DVD player that serves my very basic needs of recording my favourite show's and watching film's I buy and rent.

I have had a few DVD players in the past but must say the Panasonic recorder I bought 6 months ago has to be the best of all those I have owned. The big difference between one's I have already owned and this one is that I can record onto DVD discs and watch back my favourite programmes allowing me to ditch the VHS I had to keep running especially for my programme recording. The Panasonic is very smart and in my favourite silver trim with clear digital display that displays all the information I need to know when recording and make's programming the record function for recording my favourite programmes very easy even for me. I tried using the manual to set it up and record but found the manual quite difficult to follow but after my partner showed me through it I picked it up very easy and would say that on a down side the instructions are not very straightforward.

The Panasonic is one of the older models in the range and is not really great with the LCD TV we have in the house and doe's not support High Definition viewing or Blu Ray but for my own personal use's it does everything I need it to which is recording my programmes my partner has his eye on a HD model but the price difference is huge he wants to spend an extra £300 when I only paid out £100 for this one 6 months ago so he is not in my good book's at the moment lol. There is no VHS or Hard drive with this model just the ability to record from the TV or play various different types of DVD and discs the following are able to be used in the DVD recorder: CD/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD/DVD-R/DVD-RW/DVD+R/DVD+RW/DVD-RAM/VCD/SVCD/DVD-Audio Also to record onto you can use the following types of disc: DVD-R/DVD-RW/DVD+R/DVD+RW/DVD-RAM

As well as using the Panasonic for recording and playing DVD's I also tend to use it downstairs as a music system especially combined with the speaker system my partner has set up on the TV. The Panasonic play's most music that is burned onto disc but on a down side this version is not multi region so won't play discs from all around the world, this is never a problem for me but has caused some announce to my partner as he like's his gadgets to be all singing all dancing.
There is one scart cable socket and I got a scart lead supplied with the player however this was no good as we needed a long one to reach the wall mounted TV and it is also supplied with a nice slim remote control which is very easy to use and very responsive no freezing or slow operation.

Overall I would recommend this model to anybody considering buying a recordable DVD player that wants to keep thing's quite simple however if you are like my partner and like your gadgets to do everything and want the top of the range which of course changes weekly now then you may want to spend more and get a more up to date model. It is quite scary how quickly these thing's are in and out and seem to be updated with super quick speed. I paid £100.00 from a discount electrical store local to me and have seen it online for £119.99 which for a recordable DVD player and from a trusted brand is very reasonable but as I have said it is best for those look for a basic and easy to use model. I hope this review has been of interest to you and thank you for taking the time to read.

Features:

Super Multi Format - Record & Play ALL DVD Formats

Timeslip Functions : Pause TV , Simultaneous Record & Play, Chasing Playback

Super Easy Graphic Menu System

MP3, Jpeg from -R

500 Line LP Mode - Long Play Mode without Loss of Picture Quality

1 Sec Quick Start & Record

**J76**