I am about to get rid of my Philips DVDR75 which has been repaired twice and is now screwing up again. I'm trying to figure out what replacement will be best (that is, if Circuit City gives me a choice when they replace it under their protection plan). I definitely need a recorder that will output a PAL signal, as I have purchased quite a few discs from the UK that are PAL encoded (they are "all region" discs, so the region restrictions don't matter). I was reading up on the Panasonic DMR-EH55 and I can't find anything about whether or not it will output PAL. So if anyone knows whether it will or not, please let me know. Also if anyone can point out other recorders that will output a PAL signal (and preferably have a built-in hard drive) it would be greatly appreciated.

Just one more question as well...the Philips had the ability to insert chapter markers "on-the-fly" during recording of DVD+R discs. Do any other brands have this capability? From what I've read the Panasonic EH55 apparently does not, but I could be wrong.

Thanks,
DMWC

Your best bet is to buy a separate player that is not only region-free, but will also convert the PAL signal to NTSC. This player, plus a normal US-market DVD recorder, will cost you less than buying a specific recorder that has these capabilities. You will have far greater choices as well.

Recorders that aren't locked to region 1 aren't officially imported to the US, so forget about getting Circuit City to pay for such a machine under warranty. Those few stores that have them have "grey-market" models that are meant for use overseas, and usually aren't covered by the manufacturer's warranty (only the store's own warranty).

Neither are region-free players; however there are many US models that have unadvertised PAL-NTSC conversion capability, and by using a simple "remote hack" can be made all-region. Check out the DVD players forum elsewhere on AVS for specific recommendations. Videohelp.com also lists by model whether or not your specific player or recorder can be made region-free, and whether it has built-in PAL conversion or not.

As far as placing chapter markers on +R discs, to my knowledge only the Philips machines, and those that strictly follow the Philips implementation of +R (namely, the Chinese-made no-names) allow this. Many other machines that will record on +R won't allow this, such as the Sony's and the later Panasonics. These same machines also don't have the nifty "hide a chapter" feature that Philips and its clones have, but with an HDD it's largely a moot point.

Circuit city has the Philips DVP-5960 and Walmart has the DVP-5140

These can both be made region free and both do PAL to NTSC. To make it region free take a look see at the videohelp.com (http://www.videohelp.com/) website. You only have to enter a few "secret" codes on the (supplied) remote control.

So the good thing is you get region free PAL to NTSC for cheap!

The bad thing is ... both models have no DTS support and no S-Video output. Dolby Digital is supported and both have composite and component outputs (and the DVP-5960 adds HDMI output with HDTV upscaling).

Please note these models are just DVD players ... not recorders.

As for Panasonic ... they have never made a DVD player little alone a DVD recorder that does PAL to NTSC. The same goes for Sony. Some Pioneer DVD players can do PAL to NTSC but you have to pretty much buy them pre-modified if you want it to be region free. Then there is OPPO DIGITAL (http://www.oppodigital.com/) and both of those models are region free with PAL to NTSC.

If you only need PAL playback but not PAL recording then I would buy a DVD player just for region free PAL to NTSC and then get a recorder of your choice (the Pioneer DVR-640H-S with a built-in 160GB HDD would be my top pick amoung stand alone DVD recorders).

I don't think it really matters if the unit can convert PAL to NTSC. I just need to be sure it can send out a straight PAL signal. My TV can handle PAL signals just fine as long as the DVD recorder is hooked up via component connections, and the Philips does not have any issues with outputting PAL signals, so PAL to NTSC conversion is not a necessity. Can the Panasonic EH55 send out a straight PAL signal without issues?

In the Pio 640 users thread, dvdiva reports that her 640, with 160GB HDD, will play PAL R0 discs. I haven't tried one in mine yet, but I will. Many DVD players will play back PAL, and most HD TVs will play PAL over the component inputs. I have an old Philips changer, hacked to be region-free, and it plays PAL over the s-vid output.

I think my Panasonic ES10 does PAL, but I'd have to double-check.

Quite a few recorders do play PAL. JVC and LiteOn both do. In fact, the LiteOn PAL output is the best quality I've ever seen for any player or recorder. It has minimal ghosting, jerking or interlace boogers; the color palette is not too hot; and the image is full screen, not condensed like so many tend to do.

Some off-brands like Centrios even record PAL (if fed PAL source), the USA model, and it can output a modulated signal through the coaxial RF output. In other words, the Centrios can have a PAL VCR play into it, and the coax output is NTSC-compatible.

Most will still require you make the disc region-free. But that's easy to get around. You can rip and copy the DVD on a computer, and it will have no region data on the copy.

Easy enough. Good luck. :)

Both the Polaroid DRM-2001G and RCA DRC8030N output NTSC from PAL discs. The Polaroid has a region hack. Haven't found one for the RCA.