Official Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK thread

Readers of this thread might also want to check out the Official Panasonic DMR-EZ28K thread since most of the information posted about that machine applies to this one as well.

I've been using the Panasonic DMR-EZ48V for about a week now. I had been using a DMR-EZ37V for about a month prior and I can tell you that almost everything about the 48 is an improvement. Most importantly, it seems to be a much more stable machine. I can't tell you how many times the 37 locked up and needed to be reset. In the week that I've been using the 48 it hasn't locked up on me even once. And I've been deliberately banging on it, which is to say I've been doing things that I know made the 37 lock up, but the 48 just keeps going.

I should point out that I don't own an HD monitor (which for this group practically makes me a Luddite :-) so I can only report what I can see from the composite outputs. The picture quality from the DVD/VHS Common output is much better than on the 37. In fact, the VHS quality on the DVD Priority output is better still, and has none of the problems that VHS playback from the DVD output had on the 37, so I've been using the DVD output for VHS playback, which also makes things easier in that I don't have to switch outputs when I switch drives.

One of the first things I noticed was that Closed Captions were not displaying on either output. I was very upset by this since I was really enjoying this feature on the 37. (Yeah, that's right, my monitor is pre-mandatory-CC. You got a problem with that? :-) However, after a few days I made a pleasant discovery. If, after turning on CC in the Setup menu and while a tape or disc is playing, you display and dismiss the Submenu and/or the Status display, the CC will start to appear. In fact the CC is even displayed on the Common output, which the manual still says it won't. This doesn't seem to affect DVD-V, but does affect DVD-RAM and VHS. The CC now display with a black background by default, which makes them much easier to read. Also, FWIW, the VCR no longer displays the old-school character-generator-style displays on the Common output unless you use the two drives concurrently.

The Drive Select button no longer toggles between the VHS and DVD drives, but cycles through VHS, DVD, SD card, and USB port. This is more annoying than it sounds, because it takes the machine a few seconds to poll the SD and USB ports, even if they're empty, and you can't just hit the button several times, you have to wait for the machine to finish probing each port before it will respond to the button again. There is a slight workaround to this, in that if you display the Submenu and select Drive Select from the Submenu, you will get a menu of all 4 devices from which you can directly select any device. It takes a lot more keystrokes, but there are no delays. What also helps is that when you load a tape or disc, the machine switches to that drive automatically.

I noticed that the EZ17 and 37 both had a problem with audio sync. When recording a low quality source (analog TV or VHS copy) in EP mode for a long time (over 2 hours) the audio would progressively fall out of sync with the video. I've tried this on the 48 and I'm happy to report that they seem to have fixed this problem.

I've read something on this thread disparaging the zoom function. My understanding is that the purpose of the zoom function is to make a letterboxed HD image fit an SD monitor. I've tried it, and for that it works quite well. (It would be nice if the manual pointed this out, but I don't think we want to start down that path.)

jjeff has indicated that the Search function on +RW discs is still broken on the DMR-EZ28. I can report that this is the case on the 48 as well. And, while I'm sure the timer bug is still there too, I haven't had a chance to test it.

Overall, I have a very positive feeling about this machine. I think Panasonic is getting their act together with these x8 machines. Of course, it isn't perfect, but I chose Panasonic machines because they are budget priced, and for the price I feel these machines give me everything I need and more. I'm looking forward to getting DMR-EZ28's to round out my system, and since I'm planning on returning my EZ17 since it's tuner died, I'll be able to have an all-EZ28 recorder farm. Wish me luck!

Yes. I just tried this, although I just connected the VHS output directly to the input since I don't have any kind of external filter. It works, although the quality is far less than doing an internal copy, although your filter might be able to fix that. It's a pain operationally, though. You have to start the DVD recording first since if you switch from the VHS to the DVD while the VHS is playing, the VHS stops. So while the VHS is playing you have no way to control the DVD. Also, while the VHS is not playing, the input is routed to the VHS output, so you get a feedback loop, unless you put a switch on the filter to block it.

Sorry to have to tell you, the copy functions on the 48 are the same as on the 37/47. Whether you initiate the copy from the front panel or the FUNCTIONS menu, it just copies at the currently selected mode.

Yes. This is what I would call standard VCR functionality. I can understand why you'd want an HDD-based recorder to work this way, but I think of DVD recorders as being more closely related to VCR's, in that you wouldn't want the machine to start recording to whatever media is in the drive until you take the positive action of putting the machine into scheduled recording mode.

True, I was a little annoyed about the 28 thread drifting OT, but as for the "official" title, I was just trying to stick with the convention established by the 28 thread.

Just to confirm, yes, the EZ48 works the same as the 28. During a timer recording, the material being recorded is displayed on the output. Not to harp on this too much, but this is the same functionality as every VCR I've ever owned, so I guess Panasonic engineered these machines to appeal to people who are used to VCR's, which includes me.

Disclaimer: I don't have an HD monitor so I have not been able to test this, but this is based on my interpretation of the manual.

Under normal circumstances, you will be able to view both the DVD and VHS playback on the HDMI output, however, if you are trying to record to the DVD and play the VHS at the same time, the VHS playback will only appear on the DVD/VHS Common Output.