[nd4z]

I am considering the purchase of the new Panasonic E-20 DVD recorder/player. Does anyone know if this unit is capable of recording HDTV 1080i with Dolby 5.1 audio from OTA or Satellite feeds?Can it record 16x9 widescreen HDTV?

I found it at my local goodie stores,Circuit City and Best Buy for

$999.

Another concern,would I be able to use it with my RCA 38310 HDTV which has no video outputs for recording?

Thanks,

Rick

 

[oldngrouchy]

Ooops, don't know what happened to my last reply. Just seemed to disappear into the "electronic graveyard". So, here goes second attempt.


Go to Panasonic website and follow their links to the DMR-E20. It looks like it reads MP3 and CDRW. Interesting machine and I have seen it listed on Pricescan.com for as little as $800 or so. At our local BB and a local TV shop for $999.


I Need to convince my wife that it is a necessity!


Cheers,

 

[Don Landis]

There are lots of threads on this E20 DVD-R /RAM recorder in the DVD section. Since your question concerned HDTV and DD5.1 I will answer that here. The short answer is no.


It does do DD but from analog sources. Meaning that it will record your analog stereo to a digital audio track pair on the DVD. It has no way to record HDTV or any 1080i signal. The inputs are strictly Y/C and analog stereo audio input. The output is standard analog video output and is NOT progressive scan.


I have one here and it makes a great DVD-R recorder for taking simple video sources to a DVD-R for good compatibility playback on other DVD players. The DVD-R recording quality is great buty no better than your source. I can achieve betacam SP quality video with the E20 even in the 2 hour record time mode.


If you use the DVD-RAM disk you have what is essentially a TIVO like time shifter but with the option of pulling the DVD-RAM and making it an archive copy.


Keep in mind, this is not HDTV!