[Jeff1851]

I have a DMR-E80H that will not power up completely. When I turn it on, the disk makes noise and then I see a "replace disk" message on the TV, hit enter to continue and when I do, the unit shuts off.


I tried resetting to factory defaults using the three button cobo of

 

[buster37862]

You can easily replace the hard drive yourself. Remove the cover and determine the brand and specs off the outside label on the hard drive. Purchase a suitable replacement, connect it... it will format itself and you're done. Usually takes 15 minutes or less for the whole process.


I don't have an E-80, but there are other threads here where people have stated the best replacement hard drives to use for this unit. Only caution is... don't get your heart set on upgrading to a larger drive. You CAN use a larger drive, but the software will only recognize it as the same size as the original --- so that's all the time and space you'll be able to use anyway.


Good luck.

 

[Jeff1851]

What about the DVD burner? I contacted Panasonic and the support person though the messages I was giving was more indicative of the DVD burner being bad.


Jeff

 

[buster37862]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff1851 /forum/post/0


What about the DVD burner? I contacted Panasonic and the support person though the messages I was giving was more indicative of the DVD burner being bad.


Jeff

Without seeing the unit I could only guess at best. If the message is telling you to re-insert (replace) a DVD disk then it may well be the DVD drive causing the error. I assume that you've tried this with several different disks? If so, and you're sure it's the DVD drive and not the hard drive --- you have 2 options:


1) Have Panny repair/replace the DVD drive. If you're interested, they do have a special flat rate repair fee of $130 (includes shipping both ways, parts, labor and taxes) no matter what needs to be done to fix your unit. I just sent my E-85 in under this program and I'm getting a new DVD drive installed for a total of $132 (including tax). It would have cost me $394 just to purchase the drive alone and put it in myself. I don't want any of the other recorders that are available now (few hard drive units on the market) so it was a great deal in my case.


Here's the number to call (do not call the usual Panny number). This is their Service Center in Elgin, Illinois. Ask for Linda and tell her you are interested in their flat fee repair for your DVD Recorder. It's that easy.


Phone: 847-468-5543 Monday thru Friday


$130 Flat fee for all parts, labor and shipping. When you call, they'll send you a prepaid UPS tag for shipping to them. Very nice people to work with. I dealt with Linda.


BTW, they will call you after they initially diagnose the problem. You can say NO to going ahead with the repair and all you have to pay then is return shipping costs. So you do have a choice in the matter after they tell you what the actual problem is.


2) Buy a new unit. You may be fine with what's available. In my case, I couldn't touch the features that I have now for only $130 --- so I got mine fixed.


Good luck in whatever you decide to do and I'll be glad to answer more questions if I can.

 

[Jeff1851]

Thanks for the information. I will call Linda on Monday.


BTW, I did not have a DVD in the unit at the time.


Specifically, I first got a message that an error occurred, hit enter to continue. I did that and the LED display said "bye" and the unit shut off and came back on. When it came back on, it said to replace the disk, hit enter to continue. I did that and the unit opened the DVD tray and shut off again. So, I am assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the DVD is the problem since there wasn't even a DVD in it and it reported a "replace disk" error.


Jeff

 

[buster37862]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff1851 /forum/post/0


Thanks for the information. I will call Linda on Monday.


BTW, I did not have a DVD in the unit at the time.


Specifically, I first got a message that an error occurred, hit enter to continue. I did that and the LED display said "bye" and the unit shut off and came back on. When it came back on, it said to replace the disk, hit enter to continue. I did that and the unit opened the DVD tray and shut off again. So, I am assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the DVD is the problem since there wasn't even a DVD in it and it reported a "replace disk" error.


Jeff

If the fee of $130 is acceptable to you and you're NOT anxious to buy a new recorder, I don't see how you can lose.


If it's the DVD drive you're probably going to save at least $250 over what it would normally cost to replace it (and you can only get the DVD drive thru Panny --- others won't work).


If it's the hard drive you can always say NO to the repair and do it yourself. I believe you can pick up a compatible hard drive for $50 or less and put it in yourself.


Best of luck.

 

[Jeff1851]

Thanks for the pointer. I have placed Linda's phone number in my PDA. I just got back the recorder.


Jeff

 

[burrism]



Quote:
Originally Posted by buster37862 /forum/post/10921265


Without seeing the unit I could only guess at best. If the message is telling you to re-insert (replace) a DVD disk then it may well be the DVD drive causing the error. I assume that you've tried this with several different disks? If so, and you're sure it's the DVD drive and not the hard drive --- you have 2 options:


1) Have Panny repair/replace the DVD drive. If you're interested, they do have a special flat rate repair fee of $130 (includes shipping both ways, parts, labor and taxes) no matter what needs to be done to fix your unit. I just sent my E-85 in under this program and I'm getting a new DVD drive installed for a total of $132 (including tax). It would have cost me $394 just to purchase the drive alone and put it in myself. I don't want any of the other recorders that are available now (few hard drive units on the market) so it was a great deal in my case.


Here's the number to call (do not call the usual Panny number). This is their Service Center in Elgin, Illinois. Ask for Linda and tell her you are interested in their flat fee repair for your DVD Recorder. It's that easy.


Phone: 847-468-5543 Monday thru Friday


$130 Flat fee for all parts, labor and shipping. When you call, they'll send you a prepaid UPS tag for shipping to them. Very nice people to work with. I dealt with Linda.


BTW, they will call you after they initially diagnose the problem. You can say NO to going ahead with the repair and all you have to pay then is return shipping costs. So you do have a choice in the matter after they tell you what the actual problem is.


2) Buy a new unit. You may be fine with what's available. In my case, I couldn't touch the features that I have now for only $130 --- so I got mine fixed.


Good luck in whatever you decide to do and I'll be glad to answer more questions if I can.

I thank you all for sharing this information. I have this same unit and it began causing me problems with freezing up after recording to the HDD as well as not consistently playing back DVDs.


I called Linda who quickly sent me a prepaid return label and off it went.


I called to check when I confirmed delivery and called Linda. She informed that they now ship all these kinds of units to their facility in Elk Grove, Il.


The person to contact there is named Cherie...also a winner. Super nice.


888 439-2676


I gave her my CC# and she said I should see it in about 7-10 days...Came within a week. I haven't had a chance to fully check it out yet, but the part they replaced was VXY1772S Ram Drive Unit. Price to purchase this part alone was about $367.00.

This is the site if anyone wants to purchase parts for this sseries of machines.

http://www.partstore.com/Model/Matsu.../DMRE80HP.aspx


Thanks again to everyone...


burris


Update..Oct 14 2007


We were away when the unit was returned and it wasn't until earlier in the week before I could check it out.


Much to my dismay, the unit came back with the same problems that it was sent in for.


It would record a program to the HDD, but when playing back, it froze at about the 40 minute time. This required unplugging and restarting and recovering, etc.

When recording directly from the air to a DVD disk, it seemed to work fine.


I called and was emailed another shipping label and this time I hope they get it right. I detailed the exact problems the first time and this time I even left the program that was recorded for the techs to see.

Originally, I suspected the HDD, but who knows..

 

[burrism]



Quote:
Originally Posted by burrism /forum/post/11815708


I thank you all for sharing this information. I have this same unit and it began causing me problems with freezing up after recording to the HDD as well as not consistently playing back DVDs.


I called Linda who quickly sent me a prepaid return label and off it went.


I called to check when I confirmed delivery and called Linda. She informed that they now ship all these kinds of units to their facility in Elk Grove, Il.


The person to contact there is named Cherie...also a winner. Super nice.


888 439-2676


I gave her my CC# and she said I should see it in about 7-10 days...Came within a week. I haven't had a chance to fully check it out yet, but the part they replaced was VXY1772S Ram Drive Unit. Price to purchase this part alone was about $367.00.

This is the site if anyone wants to purchase parts for this sseries of machines.

http://www.partstore.com/Model/Matsu.../DMRE80HP.aspx


Thanks again to everyone...


burris


Update..Oct 14 2007


We were away when the unit was returned and it wasn't until earlier in the week before I could check it out.


Much to my dismay, the unit came back with the same problems that it was sent in for.


It would record a program to the HDD, but when playing back, it froze at about the 40 minute time. This required unplugging and restarting and recovering, etc.

When recording directly from the air to a DVD disk, it seemed to work fine.


I called and was emailed another shipping label and this time I hope they get it right. I detailed the exact problems the first time and this time I even left the program that was recorded for the techs to see.

Originally, I suspected the HDD, but who knows..

Hopefully, it is fixed.


I had to call and speak with the support supervisor in order to get the young lady who answers the phone to understand anything. After I finally got hold of the supervisor...she understood what was happening..looked up the records and found that this time they had replaced the HDD and the unit was on the way back.


Checked out everything...recording and playback functions and for the moment, all seems well.


The delay in repair after I had sent it back the second time, was a measure of ineptitude, or maybe reading skills, in that the first young lady, Cherie, checked it in as a C.O.D. repair and it never got looked at until I called 3 times.

 

[djmarya]

I have 2 of these units both with failed DVD drives. I stumbled upon this post and called the number and was able to get the units repaired for the flat fee of $130.00. They no longer offer to send the prepaid shipping label but the $130 flat rate includes the repair and the shipping back to me. They total check out the complete unit and it works better than it did when it was new. The service was much faster than they quoted and they were excellent to deal with. Don't worry about who you deal with on the phone they are all nice. If you get an answering machine, leave a message as they will call you back. Very good service!!

 

[DigaDo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by djmarya /forum/post/17729476


I have 2 of these units both with failed DVD drives. I stumbled upon this post and called the number and was able to get the units repaired for the flat fee of $130.00. They no longer offer to send the prepaid shipping label but the $130 flat rate includes the repair and the shipping back to me. They total check out the complete unit and it works better than it did when it was new. The service was much faster than they quoted and they were excellent to deal with. Don't worry about who you deal with on the phone they are all nice. If you get an answering machine, leave a message as they will call you back. Very good service!!

Panasonic flat-rate repair information is kept current in this post/thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1056657

 

[tomwil]

Noticed this eBay auction for a DMR-E80H that went for $237 that supposedly was upgraded to 120GB.

Panasonic DMR-E80H DVD Video Recorder w/upgrade 120 GB


What do you think is the real capacity? In prior threads, it appeared that a 120GB HD installed in the DMR-E80H would only format to 80GB.


The auction ended before I could shoot off a question to the seller.

 

[Church AV Guy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tomwil /forum/post/17768737


Noticed this eBay auction for a DMR-E80H that went for $237 that supposedly was upgraded to 120GB.

Panasonic DMR-E80H DVD Video Recorder w/upgrade 120 GB


What do you think is the real capacity? In prior threads, it appeared that a 120GB HD installed in the DMR-E80H would only format to 80GB.


The auction ended before I could shoot off a question to the seller.

I would still shoot the seller off a question, and ask him how he did it, assuming he was able to have to recorder actually format and use the entire space on the upgraded hard drive. Everyone (almost) here would want to know.