Whenever I see a DVD recorder will use DVD-RAM I can't help but wonder if it was sourced by Panasonic, or at least based on Panasonic technology (Toshiba). This Pioneer DVR does that and even looks suspiciously similar to the EH55, which has a 160 GB HDD in its European version. Reading reviews also makes it sound like it uses the same basic procedures as the Panasonic DVR. Does anyone know if this Pioneer is actually a Panasonic EH55 clone? If that is the case it appears to be still available and may be a decent option for those who missed out on the EH55s.
Pioneer DVR-640H-S really a Panasonic?
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Well Panasonic is allergic to DVD-RW(VR mode) but the Pioneer 640 clearly supports DVD-RW(VR)... Of course that doesn't necessarily answer your question one way or the other, but if it was a Panasonic, it wouldn't be just a simple rebadge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsmith901 /forum/post/0
Whenever I see a DVD recorder will use DVD-RAM I can't help but wonder if it was sourced by Panasonic, or at least based on Panasonic technology (Toshiba). This Pioneer DVR does that and even looks suspiciously similar to the EH55, which has a 160 GB HDD in its European version. Reading reviews also makes it sound like it uses the same basic procedures as the Panasonic DVR. Does anyone know if this Pioneer is actually a Panasonic EH55 clone? If that is the case it appears to be still available and may be a decent option for those who missed out on the EH55s.
Well Panasonic is allergic to DVD-RW(VR mode) but the Pioneer 640 clearly supports DVD-RW(VR)... Of course that doesn't necessarily answer your question one way or the other, but if it was a Panasonic, it wouldn't be just a simple rebadge.
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I'm, like, 99.99% sure it's not. Pioneer's previous model, the 633, did not support DVD-RAM, so I think it's safe to say that wasn't a Panasonic-designed unit. And the 640 is so similar to the 633 that there's no doubt of their blood line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsmith901 /forum/post/0
Does anyone know if this Pioneer is actually a Panasonic EH55 clone?
I'm, like, 99.99% sure it's not. Pioneer's previous model, the 633, did not support DVD-RAM, so I think it's safe to say that wasn't a Panasonic-designed unit. And the 640 is so similar to the 633 that there's no doubt of their blood line.
People have opened up earlier Pioneer DVD recorder units and found them to use complete Pioneer IDE DVD drives, not surprising since Pioneer is a major branded and OEM supplier of DVD drives. Pioneer sells some drives that can read/write DVD-RAM and cheaper ones that have identical hardware but crippled firmware to only read DVD-RAM, likely to not pay licensing to Panasonic for users who don't want DVD-RAM recording. So probably Pioneer just finally decided to pay licensing for DVD-RAM writing for their DVD recorder units to offer that feature to customers.
Those earlier Pioneer DVD recorders also had Maxtor hard drives though, and at that time many Maxtor drives were supplied by MKE factories, which IS a Matushita umbrella company that primarily supplies OEM components as well as complete products to Panasonic brands. The OEM supply chain does get highly intertwined...
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsmith901 /forum/post/0
Whenever I see a DVD recorder will use DVD-RAM I can't help but wonder if it was sourced by Panasonic, or at least based on Panasonic technology (Toshiba).
People have opened up earlier Pioneer DVD recorder units and found them to use complete Pioneer IDE DVD drives, not surprising since Pioneer is a major branded and OEM supplier of DVD drives. Pioneer sells some drives that can read/write DVD-RAM and cheaper ones that have identical hardware but crippled firmware to only read DVD-RAM, likely to not pay licensing to Panasonic for users who don't want DVD-RAM recording. So probably Pioneer just finally decided to pay licensing for DVD-RAM writing for their DVD recorder units to offer that feature to customers.
Those earlier Pioneer DVD recorders also had Maxtor hard drives though, and at that time many Maxtor drives were supplied by MKE factories, which IS a Matushita umbrella company that primarily supplies OEM components as well as complete products to Panasonic brands. The OEM supply chain does get highly intertwined...
Agreed...and it's also pretty safe to say that if Panasonic built the Pioneer units they would be putting the superior manual bitrate flexibility into their own Panasonic branded machines too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean Nelson /forum/post/0
I'm, like, 99.99% sure it's not. Pioneer's previous model, the 633, did not support DVD-RAM, so I think it's safe to say that wasn't a Panasonic-designed unit. And the 640 is so similar to the 633 that there's no doubt of their blood line.
Agreed...and it's also pretty safe to say that if Panasonic built the Pioneer units they would be putting the superior manual bitrate flexibility into their own Panasonic branded machines too.
That, and they would make Pioneer have the critically acclaimed LP (4-Hour) mode.
Personally, I like Pioneer's LP mode myself but it's not completely up to par with Panasonic. I would say it comes in at a strong second best as far as LP mode's are concerned, and if it was a Panasonic unit with a Pioneer skin...it would be identical in Video quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ACPewty /forum/post/0
Agreed...and it's also pretty safe to say that if Panasonic built the Pioneer units they would be putting the superior manual bitrate flexibility into their own Panasonic branded machines too.
That, and they would make Pioneer have the critically acclaimed LP (4-Hour) mode.
Personally, I like Pioneer's LP mode myself but it's not completely up to par with Panasonic. I would say it comes in at a strong second best as far as LP mode's are concerned, and if it was a Panasonic unit with a Pioneer skin...it would be identical in Video quality.
I was just struck with the similarity in appearance between the Pioneer 640H and the Panasonic EH55. Both have the DV slot in the middle and the on/off and record buttons in the same locations, plus they both do DivX as well as the DVD-RAM. The 640H might not be an exact clone but could be sharing a chassis and drive units with the EH55, with Pioneer using their own firmware.
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