Panasonic Repairs? The ONLY place for warranty or out-of-warranty service! - Page 11

So in effect it's a backdoor move by Panasonic to just stop repairing these machines.

How many people who bought Panasonic HDD DVDRs are gonna go back to the original retailer to inquire about repairs? The newest ones sold legitimately at retail in the U.S. are 3+ years old. These are now niche products for dedicated power users who will go the extra mile to get their units repaired.

If McAllen is the gatekeeper now, and we KNOW they (a) can't find their own tuckuses with both hands and a flashlight and (b) the only options they're offering customers is an apples-for-coconuts exchange for a non-HDD recorder OR an exhorbitantly priced repair ("please send us the machine and a blank, signed check, and we'll fill in the amount"), repair of the HDD machines is effectively kaput. The folks in Elgin probably shouldn't feel too confident in their long-term employment prospects.

Preaching to the choir.....sorry.

When I had the optical pick up replaced in both of my EH-55's I asked that question before I left Elgin and was told 9 months, but possibly could be a year. Kind of a strange answer I thought. The warranty terms are not mentioned on either one of my receipts.

Well, if you could somehow successfully pose as a dealer....

This is disappointment but not so totally unpredictable. They haven't made US HDD recorders for 3+ yrs so they were bound to run out of parts eventually. Actually it's to their credit that they have provided reasonably priced repair for so long as it was. No other manufacturer has done that.

Sent in Dmr-E85H on Tuesday the 4th and got it back today. Cleaned, upgraded firmware, and replaced 2 capacitors for $130. I asked to talk to a technician and he said send it up.

I tried cleaning the spindle and optical lens, did so several times but could not get rid of the U61 code. Tried different DVDs, commercial and blank DVDs to no avail. Am I stuck with the repair?

Yes, it continues to make the same noise it made the first time the U61 error came up. Once or twice I was able to get it to a "No read" display and a "DV" display before the U61 came back.

Did you see in another thread a poster said he had sent his EH75 to the Texas replacement center. He said they repaired it for $245 and he got it back in about 3 weeks.

First time I've heard of that happening.

Man, in that scenario UPS made out like a bandit.

So.... has anyone had any luck with the $130 or $140 flat-rate repair charge lately? I got a case number a few months ago and was told the flat rate was raised from $130 to $140, but only got around to sending my unit (DMR-EH75V) to the Elgin facility (which I was told to do when I got the case number) a couple weeks ago. They called me today and said the flat rate is now $275! That's one hell of a jump!

I don't know if I can justify that much of a hike. A manager is supposed to call me back to discuss it. I hope he does. I can't imagine how they can justify such a rate increase in a matter of months.

Has anyone else had any success keeping them to their $140 flat-rate? If so, did it require any "tricks" or specific mentions?


Thanks!
Tyson

I finally spoke to Lisa on the phone at the Elgin Service Center.

I asked her about the Flat Rate Repair Service for my DMR-EH75
She told me they will only accept repairs that have been recalled
or from dealers.

She asked me if I was the owner of the unit.

She asked me if I was a dealer.

I asked her about indybill unit in November 2010.

She said they ended accepting new repairs a few months ago.

I asked her if there was another location to send it to.

She gave me the info for the Panasonic Customer Service Center facility in McAllen Texas.

She told me to call the McAllen Texas.

I saw in earlier posts
The McAllen Texas facility does not repair recorders;
the McAllen facility is for product exchanges for recent or
current EZ series models.

Can someone confirm this with recent info?

DigaDo

First of all, thank you for this thread and your consistency in attempting to help others here.

But...

My Panasonic EZ475-VK was a problem from early on (and actually the 3rd one I owned after returning others within the warrantee period). I should have known, but just thought the previous 2 were because of bad batch. This one started acting up after the 90 day exchange period was out -about 30 days past. I could buy a new one for what I would have to pay to repair this one; and repair would involve replacement of a circuit board that has the same fault as the one I have wrestled for several years. a brand new unit would have the same problem -??same board. I will not again buy a Panasonic DVD recorder of any kind as they continue to sell a product they are well aware is faulty.

I have a Maggotbox MDR515H on order and expect delivery in the next few days. I trust it will be at least as reliable as the EZ475, but am sure it will at least be different.

I'm ready for that after the horrors of the Crapasonic. EZ is no reflection of what living with this thing has been. There was always the dilemma of replacing it or kick-starting it to restore it to function -unplug it, plug it back in, wait 15-30 minutes for it to go through it's cycle and hope it didn't have to be immediately repeated. That problem has now been solved by the fact that it refuses to see a disc as readable.

Personally, I'd like to be part of a class action suit filed for all of us who have had to endure the well-known F60 error and see it progress to the point that the machine won't play back or finalize its own recordings. It seems criminal to me, especially in light of what they charge for these machines.

Panasonics EZ line has never been know to be one of the more reliable lines, the EZ-x7 models being the absolute worst(I had 6 which all died an early death). The x8 line(with the exception of the dreaded EZ-48v combo) has proven to be considerably more reliable but not as dependable as the older Panasonics or even the Funai built DVDRs w/HDD like your Magnavox 515.

I wish you the best with your new Magnavox but if after you get it and you don't like it's operation, you might want to try one of the international Panasonics. Something like the EH-59 regularly goes for ~$280 at B&H Photo for floor model units. It would have a similar feel to your EZ-47v but not the bugs or inconsistent operation. Note the EH-59 has no US tuner and is only good for line input recording, for example from a cable box.

This is very bad news indeed. I was wondernig how long the company would keep the faciliy open, especially at that fixed price. I assumed it would eventually cease that $130 flate rate repair at Elgin, and I guess that time is NOW.

So am I up a creek without a paddle?
My DMR-ES45V just started displaying the U61 error message and no longer works.
I purchased this new a few years ago and it's seen very little use.
Last week I ran across some old VHS-C tapes I recorded on a camcorder over 10 years ago and wanted to copy them to DVD.
It was almost completed lacking only a few minutes when the error began.

If I can't get this fixed what is my next best option for recording VHS tapes to DVD?

Thanks

Koma

I'll give those a try and see if they might help.

Here's a rundown as to how this came about.
After finding the old VHS-C tapes I placed them in an adapter to view them in the VCR section. They played ok but there were a few lines at the bottom of the screen like the tracking needed adjusted. At that time I wasn't aware the tracking could be adjusted with the remote.
I then discovered the battery charger/power supply adapter from an old RCA camcorder would work on my Panasonic PV-IQ505 camcorder so I used that to play the tapes through the RCA line inputs on the front of the VCR.
When first connected and played I got nothing but a scratchy noise and no video.
I had plugged the red RCA cable from the camcorder into the red line in and the white cable into the white line in. That was backwards, I had to reverse the colors to get audio and video to view the tapes.
Everything seemed fine at that point except the small tracking line issue was at the top now instead of the bottom. I tried to adjust the tracking on the camcorder that the tapes were recorded on but couldn't make them go away completely.
Then after reading the manual for the VCR I discovered how to adjust the tracking with the remote so I placed the VHS-C tape back in the adapter to see if I could adjust the tracking to remove the lines.
The tapes would no longer play in the VHS side of the VCR, no tapes would play in it, I tried tapes that played fine in it before with no luck.
I then went back to using the camcorder and the RCA line in cables to record to the DVD.
I recorded 3 of the 4 tapes onto a single DVD and while recording the 4th and final tape onto the DVD I received an error message and followed the on screen instructions.
That's when the U61 error code started so I looked that up in the manual, it states "There was a power failure or the AC plug was disconnected while the unit was on. The unit is carrying out its recovery process. This process restores the unit to normal operation. The unit is not broken. Wait until the message disappears"
Well that didn't fix anything even after numerous attempts at unplugging, waiting and plugging it back in, I still get the "Hello" message then the U61 error code when I try to do anything.
I even downloaded the firmware update onto a CD thinking it might correct the problem but I can't get it to play, I get the U61 error code when I open the DVD tray.
So I surmise it's dead and I'm out of luck with this unit.

Now I'm working Craigslist to see what I can find in the DFW area.

Thanks for all your input

Koma

I haven't had much luck on Graigslist so I made a best offer on ebay and got item number 330516242377 a DMR-ES46V for $75.00 delivered.

Hope it all turns out well.

Koma

Hi There

I have spent some time reading through the various threads on the subject of Panasonic DVD recorders, I had a problem with the DVD making lots of noises, it then came up with a code U61, it then would not even let me eject the video cassette.
I have had the unit apart after reading the related posts and cleaned her up inside, now that it is back together, when I powered her back up I ejected the video cassette, I then put a dvd disc in the tray, It ran the disc and showed "read" on the display, then it showed EP, then 30. I then pressed play and it came up with "NO PLAY" on the display.

It spins the disc up without any noises so at least i seem to have cured that problem, do you have any idea of what I should try next ? I have tried a couple of different discs but get the same response.

Cheers

Cliff

Why would you refer to the Magnavox as "Maggotbox" before you even have it in your hands to evaluate? If no less a Panasonic expert than DigaDo is happy to own at least three of them, clearly they are at least "acceptable" quality. For the record, the Magnavox is not my personal favorite recorder operation-wise: I prefer the user interface of classic Panasonic and Pioneer machines. But in terms of consistent mfr quality control, reliability, and easy/cheap repairability? The Magnavox DVD/HDD series blows every previous recorder of any brand out of the water: no contest.

There is none of the demented CPU crashing, PSU meltdowns or ludicrous "keep it in a plastic bubble because if one spec of dust hits the burner it dies until you disassemble and clean it" nonsense of the Panasonics. There is no trigger-happy refusing to record anything because of false copy protection sensing (Sony, Toshiba, JVC and everyone else today). There is no hyper-pickiness about media like you have with Pioneer, and you don't need obscure expensive proprietary Pioneer service tools and an engineering degree just to replace the HDD in the Magnavox. If you should ever need to replace the HDD, the Magnavox has a built-in diagnostic screen that lets you do it easily with any decent generic HDD. If you ever need to replace the burner, you can do it yourself because the mfr sells spare burners directly to end users for about $70 (everyone else charges $300+).

There are certainly legitimate reasons to dislike how the Magnavox operates, especially if you're coming from another brand you've memorized. And it does lack some refinements and features we grew used to on our Panasonics and Pioneers. But it makes up for this by being nearly bulletproof: you don't see thousand-post Magnavox repair threads here (or anywhere) because in the last five years few have been reported to break down. If yours ever does break, it would be a simple matter of just replacing a worn out HDD or maybe burner. No endless threads on this because there's nothing to it: "buy new HDD, drop in, done" or "buy new burner, drop in, done". No welding parts to the power supply, no disassembling a cranky burner, no tracking down a long-discontinued specific HDD, no freakouts over the Elgin facility closing: Magnavox is an appliance instead of a fetish.

Yes, our Pioneers, Panasonics, and Toshiba XS models are nicer. They also cost double the $249 Magnavox price when we bought them, and even more money, stress and headaches when they broke. Plus, they can't pull digital widescreen broadcasts off the air and perform multi-event timer tricks anymore: but the Magnavox can. Give it a chance before hating on it: if nothing else, it makes a great supplementary widescreen ATSC tuner/timer for an older, newly-repaired Panasonic.