Well the new EH55 is set (generally) and I've tested a quick manual recording (pressing the red "R" and setting the recording for 30 minutes) and it works. The set up screens are not rntirely unlike those for the EH80 except that more of my EH80 set choices are now the defaults.

I never used a programming guide like TV Guide for my EH80, but preferred to set up what the EH80 manual called "timer recording" using my set to box to set the channels, which Comcast does very well. Basically, for example, with the EH80 I'd find an old movie scheduled in the Sunday newspaper to be shown on Turner Classic Movies at, say, 3 AM three days later with an extra five minutes at the beginning and end of the scheduled film, I'd set up the STB for recording that program and then, on the Panny, I'd use the prog/check button on the remote to set up a recording at the scheduled time (with about 5 minutes on each side to make sure the film was covered). When the five minutes to film time arrived, the STB would change to the appropriate channel and the Panny EH80 would begin recording.

I can't seem to find an equivalent function with my EH55.

I press "Schedule" and nothing happens. I press Function and then "Program" and nothing happens. I press Function, then Other Functions, get Schedule as the first item in the list, press Schedule and nothing happens.

The manual only seems to address TV Guide recording and the "manual recording" process doesn't seem to work, i.e., the Schedule button again does nothing.

Is the equivalent of non-TV Guide, really manual timer recording no longer an option with this more advanced Panny?

What have I missed?

I've never used a EH-80 so I don't know if it has TVGOS or just the regular schedule programming similar to what my ES-30 and ES-15/25's use. But I am quite familiar(with the help of Kelson and Ramm) with the programming on the EH-55.
You have 2 choices that both use the IR blaster to automatically change the channels on your STB. One method fully utilizes TVGOS and it's programming grid(kind of Tivo like). For this method to work you need a source of analog TVGOS, either OTA via an antenna(will not be a option post 2/09) or from your cable source which should?? keep broadcasting analog TVGOS after 2/09.
Your other method that several people are using does not utilize the TVGOS grid to program but rather uses manual events(within the TVGOS shell). This method does not require a source of analog TVGOS signal and will work indefinitely.
Both methods are discussed in this thread. I'm currently trying the manual method after my TVGOS crashed Friday night. Before that it was working quite well.
Welcome to the EH-55 club, I think you'll like it. I sure do.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1074330
The thread is talking about controlling a CECB. If you're controlling a cable STB life should be even easier for you, that's what the EH-55 is really setup to control. You won't have to renumber all your channels/numbers like I had to do.

....I can't seem to find an equivalent function with my EH55....The manual only seems to address TV Guide recording and the "manual recording" process doesn't seem to work, i.e., the Schedule button again does nothing....What have I missed?On the EH55's remote:
press 'Schedule' (make sure the 'To Do' section is/and should be highlighted yellow),
press 'Sub Menu' (S) button on the lower left under the Direct Navigator button,
select 'new manual recording' and set your program in accordance with your box.

At the moment I have only one HDD recorder, a Philips 3575 (a Magnavox H2160 is on the way). The Philips, one Panasonic DMR-EZ28 model and two Panasonic DMR-EZ17 models are enslaved to the Comcast Motorola DTC700 digital cable box that is always set on Turner Classic Movies.

The scheduled TCM recordings are carried out in the old-fashioned way: The Philips 3575 records directly from the Motorola output channel 3; the Philips passes through the RF signal to the EZ28 that also records from channel 3; the two EZ17 models record directly from the DTC700 through Input 1. Once the Magnavox arrives it will be swapped into the EZ28 position with the EZ28 swapped into a EZ17 position and one EZ17 will be set up for other use.

As far as I know, I don't have an IR blaster with my Panny. Forgive my ignorance, but might this be one of the components integrated into the Panny EH55? The always helpful manual shows a line drawing of an IR blaster but none was included with the box. I really just want to manually program my recordings several days in advance as I had been doing with my EH80. The STB takes care of switching the channels at the correct time which is set in the cable menu for each program as I cursor through each channel from left to right.

>On the EH55's remote:
>press 'Schedule' (make sure the 'To Do' section is/and should be highlighted >yellow),
>press 'Sub Menu' (S) button on the lower left under the Direct Navigator >button,
>select 'new manual recording' and set your program in accordance with your >box.

Is the "to do" section the screen that appears after "Other Function" is pressed? If so, I press Schedule when I get to that screen and the screen reverts to the program currently played on the selected cable channel. Otherwise, Scheduled does nothing and Submenu when pressed does nothing.

I hope I don't have to call Panasonic.

No, don't use the 'Functions' button!

First: press the small round 'SCHEDULE' button, you'll get to a screen with a 'TO DO' and 'HISTORY' options next to it.

By moving your cursor < >, you'll highlight to one of each, in this case; leave it on 'To Do' and press the 'S' button (SUB MENU) further down below and you'll see options to choose the 'new manual recording' option - press 'ENTER'.

By the way, if bought the unit new, you supposed to get an IR Blaster.

80sGuy,

Second question first. The Panny was a customer return and the store assured me that they would not reseal the box unless all parts were returned and another store policy is to, when checking a return, paste a sticker on the box with any missing parts noted on it. The box was complete with the original styrofoam cushions and did not look as if there was any room for an IR blaster. The deck was enclosed in the original Panny soft plastic/foam cover and a small box inside contained the RF cable, the composite cables, power cord, the remote and, loose, the two Panny AA batteries for the remote.

First note: Nothing whatever happens when I press the small Schedule button (not pressing Function first), i.e., no second "to do" screen appears.

Other functions such as Setup work but no recording-related activities seem to appear.

This video will walk you through step by step with both TVGOS and Manual recording (about half way into the video).
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/support/FAQs/details-Programming+a+Recording+for+DMR-EH55+DVD+Recorder-UCM_PRD_CNT_001881

Your unit should include one DVD-RAM disc and an IR Blaster. Also, your remote should look exactly like the one featured here.
http://www.panasonic.ca/English/audiovideo/dvdvcr/recorder/DMREH55.asp

I assume that the TVGOS on the EH55 is like the one on the the EH75V. One of the things I miss on this, compared to my EH80, is the ability to give names to manual timer events.

I mostly record a low-power local station that isn't listed on TVGOS, so I'm dependent on manual timer recording. It's so much easier to find a specific recording on the EH80 when scrolling through the top menu.

On the other hand, I really wish the EH80 had that 'Phrase List' feature.

80sGuy-

Thanks for the video. I'll watch it for sure.

By the way, I found the IR blaster. It's much smaller than I would have guessed and it and its cable were entangled with the supplied pair of audio/video cables which I put aside and never used because I used all my old connections (component to TV, S-video from the STB, composite from the old VCR I use for occasional dubbing of VHS tapes). In any event, the majority of my "live" television viewing is from the STB/TV component connection which is "input 1" on my Panny plasma. The Panny DVDR connection is input 2 and I use that option for replaying programs or films I've recorded on the hard drive or for setting up recordings of future programs.

I expect I would much prefer to continue to use the STB's own remote for channel changes.

Semaphoric-

I'm about to call Panasonic's techs because the Schedule button has utterly no effect.

A question for Semaphoric: You mean I'll no longer be able to title my programs, including movies, as I did with the EH80?

I assume that the TVGOS on the EH55 is like the one on the the EH75V. One of the things I miss on this, compared to my EH80, is the ability to give names to manual timer events.

On the other hand, I really wish the EH80 had that 'Phrase List' feature.

I totally agree with you on both points and yes the EH-55 also will not let you prename titles, you have to do it after the recording. It's the main reason I liked to use TVGOS but I understand your situation of the LP stations.
"Phrase Save" was for sure on the Panny '05 and '06 model years, it was dropped on the EZ series. The EH-55 even though sold much later was basically a '06 design.

Jim, my floor demo EH-55 didn't come with a IR blaster but long story short I did get one, I never did get the free RAM disc. If you want to take the time to setup your TVGOS I think you'll enjoy it more than having to program both your EH-55 and your STB to change channels. It really works slick. 2 minutes prior to your EH-55 scheduled event your EH-55 turns on and sends out a IR signal to your cable STB telling it to change to the correct channel. Note you must leave your STB ON, at least some time before the event.

Since you have cable you could either supply a cable feed to the RF input of your Panny and let the Panny find TVGOS that way, or if you've got the line output of your cable STB hooked to line input 3 of your Panny let the IR blaster blast your STB until it finds the channel that has your TVGOS(CBS in most areas, possibly PBS in others).

When I first got my EH-55 I was upset it didn't have the manual event programming like my previous Pannys, but after getting used to TVGOS I now prefer that. The EH-55 can be manually programmed in TVGOS but IMO it's more cumbersome than the old manual manual method. Plus as Semaphoric said, you can't prename your titles in manual TVGOS.

It's possible the Schedule button might not work until TVGOS has tried its searching thing but it should work as others have said. Pushing it should bring up a screen where you tab and then hit "S" and you should see the manual TVGOS times on the left of the screen.

...It really works slick. 2 minutes prior to your EH-55 scheduled event your EH-55 turns on and sends out a IR signal to your cable STB.....Note you must leave your STB ON, at least some time before the event...The 'BOX' must be left ON only if you didn't set the timer record, if you set a scheduled time to record on the box, it can be OFF and when it's time to record; it will only turn on for that set period of time, then the box powers off after recording.


...When I first got my EH-55 I was upset it didn't have the manual event programming like my previous Pannys, but after getting used to TVGOS I now prefer that. The EH-55 can be manually programmed in TVGOS but IMO it's more cumbersome than the old manual manual method. Plus as Semaphoric said, you can't prename your titles in manual TVGOS....Manually recording is a MUST when TVGOS does not list a specific channel - like in my case; channel 137 (WealthTV) in San Diego, CA., but I agree, the titles makes a world of difference especially when you Timer Record more than 5-6 different programs into your HDD.

1. Can I title the programs after I've recorded them and edit them to remove commercials with tools/functions somewhat similar to the EH80?

2. The (I hope) final resolution comes as I've spent about an hour on the telephone with Panny tech support which made a valiant effort to help. Panny's opinion is that either the EH55 or its remote or both will need some repair. Even though I purchased the unit in Canada on the weekend (as I may have noted before, hard drive DVDRs are not available new in the U.S.), Panny is going to send me the warranty repair authorization and UPS documentation for in-warranty service at the Elk Grove, Illinois facility, so I should be out only the shipping cost to Illinois.

In the meantime, I'll use for a short time (I hope) a ComCast STB with DVR built in for an extra 10 bucks a month over the $6.50 I pay now for my hi-def Comcast box. Looking at the outputs on the STB/DVR Motorola models on the ComCast web site, I should be able to retain the same outputs to my Panny plasma (component video, composite audio). If I have saved any programming on the STB/DVR box HD, I should be able to port those recordings over to the EH55's HD when it arrives after repair.

I guess I'll with experimenting withthe TVGOS concept after the EH55 returns.

Thanks, everybody, for your advice.

And, again, credit should be given to Panny's tech support for excellent customer service in attempting, even without positive result, to solve the problem.

Good thing that Panasonic USA is willing to honor the warranty work even though it's a Canadian unit. This is one of the reasons why (besides the great product lines) that I am loyal to the brand.
Good luck and hopefully they'll rectify this dilemma.

Yes, you can add titles after the recording is finished.

Jim,

You won't even be out the shipping cost to Elk Grove. The return authorization they are sending you will have instructions to use a UPS Store for shipping. You bring the unit all boxed up along with the letter from Panasonic because on it will be a shipper's code and instructions for the UPS Store to make up a label charging Panasonic's UPS account.

It works very smoothly. You might have to walk the store person through the procedure but I've used this method more than once to get repairs and it works just fine with no cost to us.

Good luck.

It's possible the Schedule button might not work until TVGOS has tried its searching thing but it should work as others have said.When you tried setting it up just for cable to use manual programming without the guide data, did you disconnect the antenna feed? That might make a difference. It could be sensing somehow that the antenna's still connected (like from just picking up any kind of signal coming in), and that could have something to do with it's not giving up searching. Worth a try, anyway.

Rammitinski-

There was no antenna feed to the EH55. The only connections between the STB and the Panny DVDR were the right and left channel composite audio cables and the S-video cable.

The "antenna" connection for my setup was RF from cable to STB (the only one possible). My display is driven through the component output of the STB to the component input of the display.

May I enter the fray? I might emphasize Breyean's UPS STORE, not just a UPS agency or office. I think you can find the nearest store location from the UPS website.

Manual recording. Not entirely intuitive, but is accurately described on page 29 of the Operating Instructions manual. Don't skip a step. One step I find easy to miss is step 5; after all your info is entered, "press the UP arrow to select 'schedule recording' and press ENTER".

80sGuy #3 lists the steps, but there seems to be a "Gotcha". Somehow, the TVGOS has to be disabled or bypassed, and I don't remember at the moment how I did it.

I have access to three eh55's; on one I followed the TVGOS startup, and now I can't set the clock. On another, I have gotten past the TVGOS mode (I don't remeber how), and the manual entry of the programs works great. I set the clock using a radio watch and don't even use the 1-minute lead or lag times. Just one thing, on the frequency, Saturday and Sunday are not days, so if you set "daily", it is Mon thru Fri only. This is made clear in E85 manual but not in the EH55. The third one, I havn't set any timer recordings yet, and the "Schedule" (or TV GUIDE) buttons bring up a TVGOS start menu. I'll have to pursue this further, since it sounds like what is happening to you. Maybe someone will come to your rescue before I get back, but it sounds to me like the TVGOS has to be inactivated in some way before we can manually enter the times.

Richard

Thanks for your experience and input, Richard. The Panny tech support person, who spent somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour with me on the telephone plugging and unplugging and trying a large variety of approaches to fixing the problem finally opined that Panny service needs to work on the EH55 and is sending me the prepaid UPS shipping documentation along with a warranty repair letter explaining the problem and authorizing the repair under full parts and labor warrany.

I'm waiting for the documentation to arrive and I'll send the EH55 off to Elk Grove, Illinois for the Panny professionals to repair.

In the meantime, I've picked up a DVR/hi-def box from ComCast and I'll use that (at $10/month) while the Panny is being repaired. If I find that in the meantime I've recorded on the ComCast DVR any films that I want to keep, I'll port those over from the STB's S-video and composite audio to the like inputs on the Panny and copy the program(s) to my hard drive for later viewing or copy to DVD.

fhrf

Aha! We have the answer. Nothing wrong with the EH55; just with tech support.

Page 64 of the Operating Instructions: Note: You can record only manually after you set the unit with "Set Channels Automatically". I think the word "only" should follow the word "manually", but I was just quoting what was written.

In toying with the EH55 I have here at home, I found I had to feed a signal to the RF Input on the EH55. A line input did not suffice. I followed the steps on page 64.
1. With the machine on and stopped, press FUNCTIONS.
2. Press UP arrow to get to "Other Functions" and press ENTER.
3. Press UP arrow (can press DOWN arrow, but takes more presses) to select "Set Up" and press ENTER.
4. Press UP or DOWN arrow to select "Channel" and press > (RIGHT arrow).
5. Press UP or DOWN arrow to select "Set Channels Automatically" and press ENTER.
6. Press ENTER.
The Channel Setting starts, and may take a minute or two.
If the Clock Setting does not starty automatically (mine didn't), select "Clock Settings" from the "Setup" tab, then select (I chose "Set Clock Manually"
7. Press ENTER. Enter your settings. Press ENTER. I turn off the DST (Daylight Saving Time) flag.

Now when you RETURN (may be multiple) to the blank screen and press SCHEDULE, you'll get the same screen as before. Go ahead with the right arrow to START the tv guide. When it finishes, and you clear the screen and press SCHEDULE, the SUB MENU key should work and you can follow the instructions given earlier, select "new manual recording", press ENTER, enter the settings, then UP arrrow to "schedule recording" and press ENTER. To schedule more recordings, UP arrow to select "To Do" and repeat the steps from "Sub Menu" and onward.
When finished, press TV GUIDE to return to the television screen.

Enjoy, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Richard

I'll give it a try. Happy bird day to you.



Jim Mohundro

Just a few comments after your successful launch. Until you become familiar with your procedures, you'll want to make frequent reference to the Operating Instructions. You have a beautiful and powerful piece of equipment, but with flexibility comes complexity.

When going thru the tvgos process, I entered "00000" for the zip code; it worked.

One difficulty people have giving you help on this is that it is non-reproducible. Once the manual scheduling process has been cleared, we don't get the non-response after pressing SCHEDULE that occurs initially.

That said, I NEVER edit a source title. Long-ago comments on this forum indicated that Shorten Segment and such, fragmented the hard drive. Instead, I use PLAYLIST. The E100 has a Playlist button; the E85 takes 3 button pushes, and the EH55 takes 7 button pushes to get to Playlist in Other Functions.

The advantages of Playlist: It is non-destructive, makes no changes to the source.
It takes little space; it is only a series of pointers to the source title.
Multiple playlists can be made from different or same segments (chapters) of the same source title or any titles on the hdd. Note: if you define Chapters on the source, they remain chapters when copied to the Playlist. Chapters defined in the Playlist affect only that Playlist or copies of that Playlist.
The Playlist NAME becomes the Name of the Title on the copied disc.
Be aware that you need to use the Other Functions Advanced Copy to copy from a Playlist.

One other thing I'll mention, just in case you are unaware of it, is the different results from High-speed Copy and Real time Copy.

High Speed Copy retains the Thumbnails and chapter markers you may have set. HighSpeed also results in freezes or pauses at edit points where material may have been deleted. This is a direct result of the compression when storing the signal. DVD to HDD Copy may be done in High Speed only from DVD-RAM

Realtime copy results in reencoding, eliminates the freezes, loses the preset thumbnails and chapter points. The thumbnails and chapter markers can be reset after copying before finalizing.

Best wishes,

Richard

Just wondering, did you ever get your EH55 squared away, where you could manually schedule a recording?

Richard

Richard,

Thanks for the follow-up question. I spent somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour on the telephone with the Panny tech and we tried everything, including the tech's off-telephone consulting with associates. Included in our tries were essentially everything suggested in the forum and nothing worked. The tech sent me a no-cost, under warranty repair instruction sheet and I sent the unit November 28 to the Oak Grove, Illinois facility. The tech was aware that I'd purchased the unit in Canada the previous and had no problem with the warranty on that score. I had more trouble with the local UPS store which could not seem to figure out how the send the unit with the charge to be prepaid by Panny. After a number of calls to Panny and UPS Central, I got a "secret" UPS telephone number to give the UPS clerk. He couldn't connect with the number but I think he realized I wouldn't go away and called his boss at home. Problem solved. The boss walked him through the computer invoicing system for corporate customers, including Panny, in about five minutes and the EH55 was on the way to Illinois (the UPS clerk--now pretty cheerful--even suggested and added insurance for the shipment; he said "Panny will pay for it, anyway").

Now I hope that I get it back and it works. In the meantime, I rented a DVR box from ComCast and I'm enjoying my DVR recordings of hi-def movies and other programs. For whatever old movies I want to keep (my collector mania), I'll port those from the DVR's hard drive to the hard drive on my EH55 when it has returned and burn the keepers to a DVD. If all goes well.

Jim, let us know how things work out when you get your EH55 back. Let's hope they find and fix the problem (if there was one. I'm not fully convinced there is/was a problem with the machine.)

One problem getting help is that the machine behaves differently before you have gone through the "Set Channels Automatically", (no manual timer setting,) and after, where the SubMenu key gets you to the Timer Setting screen.

I just picked up an eBay eh55 today, the 4th EH55 I have access to. It had been "tvgos"ed; so I could not set the clock. I had to reset (machine on and stopped, press and hold ^ and v arrows on the machine till it turned itself off.) Turned the machine on, set the clock, and went through the Set Channels Automatically so that I could bring up the manual timer screen. I went through a false start or two getting there- I didn't have to connect anything to the antenna (co-ax) or line input, but I did choose Dish option my second time through. I interrupted the antenna scan the first time, don't know if that made a difference.

Anyhow, lets hope your machine behaves well for you when it comes back, and let us know. There's a lot of help available on this forum.

Richard,

Thanks for the follow-up. I got my warranty acknowledgment and Panny's confirmation of receipt of the EH55. The form provided for my signature at the bottom. There seemed to be no point in that so I called Panny customer service and I was told that my signature was only required if an estimated repair price was announced in the letter. I then called Panny's Illinois repair facility and they informed me that a part had been ordered (maybe they saw something wrong in their diagnosis and it was expected Monday, December 15and that my deck should be completed and ready for shipment Friday, December 19. I noted that I would be out of town over the holidays and the Panny rep said my completed EH55 would be marked "hold for pickup" instead of being automatically shipped by UPS. I was then asked to call the repair folks when I returned, acknowledge that I had returned and ask them to ship and the EH55 would be on its way. So far so good. I'm trying to be optimistic that this will all work out. In the meantime I'm enjoying my ComCast DVR at an extra $10 a month (the cost will be prorated when I return it) since I'm able to record in hi-def. I also have recorded a couple of filoms so far that I'll furtther record on my EH55's HD when it's returned.

By the way, when I looked more closely at the EH55 instruction book, I saw a pencil note of Panny's customer service 800 number. Evidently the former owner had some problem with the machine.

I'll follow up with a report on the next events when they occur.

...pencilled customer service number... interesting. Number where you sent it, or the general customer service number?

From the weather reports, travel is hampered; hope you're not adversely affected.

Happy Christmas.

Richard

Thanks for your thoughts, Richard. Assuming we can get out of Seattle (most flights were cancelled Monday but the airlines seemed to be back in business today), we're modestly affected to the extent that we have hike (with snow expectedf to be falling on us) in about six inches of snow (a big deal in Seattle and unusual-it typically happens only every ten years or so) down a relatively steep hill then on fairly flat ground for perhaps half a mile to a hotel being used as a pick up point for Shuttle Express to the airport.

Re the EH55 Panny number in the instruction book, it was the general 800 number for customer service, not the number at the Illinois repair facility (I recognized the number immediately).



Jim

Richard,

I returned from out of town on Monday, December 29, and on the morning (Seattle time) of Tuesday, December 30, called Panasonic in Illinois to verify that my EH55 had been repaired and that it could be released from "hold for pickup" status and shipped to me. It arrived at about 6:30 pm (Seattle time) on Friday, January 2. Both Panasonic and UPS really appear to have on the ball on this one.

Here's the brief "Technician's Comments": " Replaced DVD drive and digital P.C.B. Unit. Updated firmware. Tested functions. Tests OK."

Service prformed: "Part Repld Electricl"

Line Item

Part Number RFKNEH55P
Description RAM/Digital PCB Module
Quantity 1, Price 00.00

It all seems to work. I'm seeing the "schedule" submenu screen that I'd never seen before and I've so far copied to the hard drive 10 or 12 films that I had recorded on the ComCast DVR and I've got 8 or 9 more to go. I figured out the start and stop times (which is a greatly different process from my EH80), starting the recording a few minutes (on the clock) before the actual time and giving the recording enough length to cover the replay from the ComCast DVR. Yesterday I for the first time did an advanced scheduling of a couple of films to follow each other last evening on TCM. The EH55 turned on and off to begin and end recording at the proper times, and I've since divided and title the two movies for future viewing.

I've not used the TV Guide or the TVGOS (is that the same thing?) because I never did before (my cable box switches to the proper channel at the proper time, and I don't mind programming the DVDR to record in the future at a certain time.

I haven't dubbed from the hard drive to DVD (I guess it's now called "copying" on the 55) yet since only one of the films I recorded on the ComCast DVR is a keeper for my collection but I will before I turn the ComCast box back to trade for the non-recording HD box. I know I'll slightly miss the ability to record in hi-def but the trade for being able to make SD recordings is okay for me.

By the way, I called Panny in Illinois to verify that they replaced the DVD drive, not the hard drive and it was confirmed. What thet had to do with my original problem is completell unclear. Perhaps they give each machine a fairly thorough checkup before returning it as repaired (I know Panny techs left a test video on the hard drive).


Jim

Richard,

I returned from out of town on Monday, December 29, and on the morning (Seattle time) of Tuesday, December 30, called Panasonic in Illinois to verify that my EH55 had been repaired and that it could be released from "hold for pickup" status and shipped to me. It arrived at about 6:30 pm (Seattle time) on Friday, January 2. Both Panasonic and UPS really appear to have on the ball on this one.

Here's the brief "Technician's Comments": " Replaced DVD drive and digital P.C.B. Unit. Updated firmware. Tested functions. Tests OK."

Service prformed: "Part Repld Electricl"

Line Item

Part Number RFKNEH55P
Description RAM/Digital PCB Module
Quantity 1, Price 00.00

It all seems to work . . .

By the way, I called Panny in Illinois to verify that they replaced the DVD drive, not the hard drive and it was confirmed. What thet had to do with my original problem is completell unclear. Perhaps they give each machine a fairly thorough checkup before returning it as repaired (I know Panny techs left a test video on the hard drive).


Jim

A "RAM Drive" is Panasonic's terminology for DVD Drive. The "Digital PCB" is the brains of a Panasonic. The "module" consists of the DVD Drive and the Digital PCB.

The $130 flat-rate repair is a bargain. The actual price of the "module" for the EH55 is found in the following post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15454624#post15454624

I've not used the TV Guide or the TVGOS (is that the same thing?)

I haven't dubbed from the hard drive to DVD (I guess it's now called "copying" on the 55)


Jim

Yes, TVGOS stands for TV Guide On Screen.
I always use the Advanced Copy option and not the simple Copy function. Simple copy doesn't have many of the features I like, such as being able to just copy to a DVD and not Copy and then finalize.
Jim, wasn't your work done under warranty? If so you got a great deal for a Canadian bought Panny.

So is this $130 a one-time deal and not like a warranty? I couple of months back, I got an offer from Panasonic to upgrade my warranty: a 3-Year Plan for $109.95, so I guess this is indeed a bargain then.

The $130 offer is for out of warranty repair after the fact, it's just a one time repair(there may be a warranty on the actual work they did but nothing else). The $109 offer you mentioned was as you said a extended warranty to be bought before you have problems. I think the $109 offer is just for newer Pannys and not the HDD models.

The $109/3yr extended warranty program was offered for my EH55.

Jim, Thanks for the update. Glad things are working well for you. I'm sure you'll like the EH55, once you explore its powers. For editting and copying, I use the Playlist. The Save Name feature is nice, too, when you have occasion to use the same name repeatedly.

Best Wishes.

Thanks for all your interest. The repair was indeed a no-cost warranty job since I purchased the Panny early in December 2008. Panasonic paid the UPS shipping both ways as well.




Jim