Another ES20 Question

548 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by beekeeper, May 21, 2006

MR12

Discussion Starter · May 10, 2006

Here is my issue. Each night I have my recorder scheduled to record my wife and my favorite programs. Usually that would be about 2, 3 tops, per evening. There are times when my wife comes home and wants to watch one of the shows that recorder earlier. So she goes to Direct Navigator, selects the program she wants to watch, and hits play. She watches her show, no issues. The problem is if she's in the middle of watching her recorded show when the next scheduled show is slated to begin recording, it simply won't start recording. I know the ES20 must be turned of for scheduled recording to work, but she technically didn't turn the recorder on. It turned itself on. Is there any way around this or is this simply one of the drawbacks of the ES20 and from what I've heard, most other DVD recorders?

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bobkart

· #2 · May 10, 2006

It will turn itself on to make a scheduled recording, but then it will turn itself back off afterwards, right? So it turning itself on won't get in the way of a recording, only if you turn it on. Or stop it from turning off when it's done recording, maybe that's what you're doing. Yes, ideally it would make a recording even if you are in the middle of watching something else, but it doesn't from what I'm hearing. So that is something you will have to work around. This is when a second recorder comes in handy.

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kents

· #3 · May 10, 2006

If you use a RAM disc, you can play and record simultaneously.

And I believe it will, but test it first.

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Bill1313

· #4 · May 10, 2006

Don't know how the ES20 works but on older Panny's using a RAM disc if you wanted to "Watch" a program & have it come on & record a "Timer Program" at the same time you CAN'T USE the "POWER" button to turn it "ON"

When Timer Programs have been entered & you want to Watch A Program press the "PLAY" button to turn the recorder "ON" & press the "Stop" button or "Power" button to turn the recorder "OFF"

If you use the method above & you are still watching a program when a Timer Program is scheduled to take place the Timer Program WILL BE RECORDED.

I know this was one of the first things I told my daughter to do when I gave her, her Panny because she has her SOAPS

set to record forever

so I told her

NEVER USE THE POWER BUTTON TO TURN IT ON:

Use the "PLAY" button instead to turn it "ON"

And use the "STOP" button or "POWER" button to turn it "OFF"

She has never had a problem with her Panny & Timer Recordings & she is usually watching her afternoon Soap that was previously recorded & she has her Primetime "Timer Recordings" set & when you press the "PLAY" button to turn it "ON" it automatically starts playing the last program that was recorded which in my daughter's case is usually her Soap.

Hope I din't ramble on too much

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ncaahoops

· #5 · May 10, 2006

I haven't tried this exact combination but I will try it later on.

When your wife starts watching a program, does she turn the machine on or just presses the Direct Navigator button on the remote? Another option could be to press PLAY (on the remote) instead of turning the machine on. However these are only things to try. I do not know if they would make any difference when it comes to Timer Recording.

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ZZen

· #6 · May 10, 2006

Interesting...seems that's another difference in the new es-15. You DON'T have to power the machine off for it to record scheduled timer programs.

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MR12

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 10, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by ncaahoops
I haven't tried this exact combination but I will try it later on.

When your wife starts watching a program, does she turn the machine on or just presses the Direct Navigator button on the remote? Another option could be to press PLAY (on the remote) instead of turning the machine on. However these are only things to try. I do not know if they would make any difference when it comes to Timer Recording.

Yes, I've told her to simply press the Direct Navigator button instead of Power. That seems to be the issue. So what I'm hearing is that pressing Direct Navigator and watching a previously recorded show on the DVD-RAM will cause it to skip timer recordings. And pressing PLAY to power on the recorder will only allow me to watch the show that's been most recently recorded, but it won't cause the timer recordings to be skipped.

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Bill1313

· #8 · May 10, 2006

Well on my older Panny after you press the "PLAY" button to turn it "ON" & it starts playing the last program that was recorded you can now use the "Direct Navigator" button to select any program you want to watch & the "Timer" recording will still take place.

Again, If Timer Programs are scheduled to be recorded TURN IT "ON" BY USING THE "PLAY" BUTTON than you can do anything you want with the recorder except record & the Timer Program will be recorded.

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MR12

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 17, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill1313
Well on my older Panny after you press the "PLAY" button to turn it "ON" & it starts playing the last program that was recorded you can now use the "Direct Navigator" button to select any program you want to watch & the "Timer" recording will still take place.

Again, If Timer Programs are scheduled to be recorded TURN IT "ON" BY USING THE "PLAY" BUTTON than you can do anything you want with the recorder except record & the Timer Program will be recorded.

Well I've tried this to no avail. It seems pretty obvious that if you begin watching a program already recorded on the disc, the ES20 simply won't record any scheduled timer programs, no mater how you turn it "on" or "off". This is an unfortunate drawback of this recorder. I tried to record Scrubs last night, but my wife began watching NCIS. This caused the recorder to simply not record Scrubs and Law and Order. And she did turn it on with the "PLAY" button.

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Bill1313

· #10 · May 17, 2006

Then it must be a flaw because on every older Panny you were able to watch a previously recorded program & have a Timer Program take place at the same time.

I wonder if it's the same on the new Panny ES15, ES25 & etc?

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beekeeper

· #11 · May 18, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill1313
Then it must be a flaw because on every older Panny you were able to watch a previously recorded program & have a Timer Program take place at the same time.

I wonder if it's the same on the new Panny ES15, ES25 & etc?

The issue with the 20 is not that you can not do both, since you can. But if you are watching a prior recording, no matter if you started it with Play or anything else, it will not start recording another scheduled program. However, if you turn off the 20 and wait for the program to start, then you can watch and record at the same time. I ran a bunch of tests on this and it would not record if the machine was on at the start time of recording. But worked just as you noted if you started the 20 after it started recording.

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patc

· #12 · May 20, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by beekeeper
The issue with the 20 is not that you can not do both, since you can. But if you are watching a prior recording, no matter if you started it with Play or anything else, it will not start recording another scheduled program. However, if you turn off the 20 and wait for the program to start, then you can watch and record at the same time. I ran a bunch of tests on this and it would not record if the machine was on at the start time of recording. But worked just as you noted if you started the 20 after it started recording.

I'm beginning to wonder if the ES20 does anything it's supposed to!

Pat

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beekeeper

· #13 · May 21, 2006

One other thing. If you are watching a recording and you remember that a show you have scheduled to record has already started, you can shut down the 20 and it will start recording, even if it is after the start time. This has happened to me several times and I appreciated the feature since that did not happen with my VCR. So you will miss some of the show.

Then you can shift to chase play and record and watch.

As far as the 20 goes, my concern is with the 15 and if it has the same problems.

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