I know this is a crazy question, but it can't hurt to ask. I have been looking at internationl Panasonic models, and there is one I really like. Is there any way of getting a DMR-EX79 purchased and delivered to the United States? They are available in the UK and Australia (at least) but so far, no way to get a dealer to deliver one to the US. I know, there will be no warranty, no tuner, no real support, but I have owned 11 Panasonic DVD recorders, and only one needed service, so I expect it is a reasonable gamble on my part.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I could get a DMR-EX79?

Okay, before the peanut gallery starts up...:rolleyes: this is without actually going to the UK and buying one, then taking it back on the plane with me,:D or other unworkable ideas. I'm talking practical here.;)

I think the only way you could do it is befriend someone in the UK or Australia, send them the money and ask them to buy it from a dealer and then ship it to you as a private item. Or perhaps log onto the UK or Australia eBay sites and look for one there. European and Aussie authorized dealers are under much tighter control than their USA counterparts: probably none would dare breaching their dealer agreements with Panasonic to send you one "on the record".

Why exactly are you drawn to this EX-79 model, Luke? It seems functionally equivalent to your generic global EH-68. The added features all involve Europe-specific tuner and electronic program guide, neither of which will work here, and it doesn't include a blaster feature that would make its manual timer operation any more convenient. It has the stupid SCART connections, probably records only in PAL, and is probably strict 220v, unlike your own more-universal EH-68. Did you see something "wow" in the EX-79 specs that I missed?

It seems functionally equivalent to your generic global EH-68.

It looks more like the EH58 to me, with its 250GB HDD. I was wondering what the possible advantage might be, myself.

This model is both PAL and NTSC compatible, and it has the phrase-save feature, as well as the title grouping feature. I have a friend that is interested in getting a recorder, but he likes the EH68 that I own, but he was looking on line at all the models and said, all things considered, this is the one he would like, if possible. I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. He uses DirecTV like I do, so the tuner issue isn't a problem. The EH68 manual only lists 220-240v power, even though it works fine with 120v 60hz power, so I expect this one is the same.

Getting one seems less and less likely.

The one thing I'd really worry about trying to import the model yourself would be if something didn't work you'd really be hosed.
Lets say it really was only 220v, or even though it may play or record NTSC their may be no guarantee it will play region 1 DVDs. I think the International units sold at places like WI have been hacked to play all regions, I could be wrong but I don't think your average European DVDR will play all regions.

If you had a friend coming from Europe and he had a EX-79 (and didn't mind transporting it to the US) and you could try it to make sure it fully worked, I'd think about one, but for what the unit probably costs I personally wouldn't risk buying one untested.

Similar to cars, Europe seems to get a better selection than we get in the US:(

Luke, for the heck of it maybe you could email a few grey market importers like WI and inquire if they could get a EX-79, I'm not very hopeful but it wouldn't hurt?

I am more and more convined as I get e-mails saying "no" to my requests that this is not going to happen. There is this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Panasonic-DMR-EX79-250GB-Brand-New-Boxed_W0QQitemZ200371774230QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElec tronics_Video_DVDPlayers_Recorders?hash=item2ea716a316&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14) page on eBay UK that shows the unit as region free, so I know it is available. The only part I have not confirmed is the power requirement. Still, it's all but a lost cause.

Not a big loss, but as I said, I had to ask just to be thorough.

If it's just the voltage difference though that's making you hesitate, that can easily be overcome with a voltage converter (http://www.voltageconverters.com/).