As I remember you have one of the great old Panasonic ES series workhorses, a 2005 DMR-ES10. In our household there are five great old ES series daily use recorders (models DMR-ES30V from 2005 and models DMR-ES25 and DMR-ES35V from 2006) and one EH series HDD/DVD recorder (a DMR-EH50 from 2005) in daily use. I have another dozen or so ES series models (some with more than 3,000 recording hours) set aside as standbys or for use during servicing rotations. Of course, with such heavy use Panasonic DVD Drives need regular servicing. That DVD Drive servicing comes at around eight month intervals.Birdy wrote:Talkietime- thanks for the response. Terminal certainly sounds like the diagnosis I had guessed at. And given the price of machines, I will probably ask Santa for one for Christmas. (I have another one downstairs so am not completely without.) Isn't it sad that it's cheaper to throw something in the dump (okay, I'll drop it off on electronics recycling day) than to have it repaired. Can you believe people used to have toasters repaired? And fans?
I have a Panasonic DVD recorder and love it. B
I'm always watching for like-new 2006 model year Panasonic ES series recorders on Craig's List. Last month I purchased a like-new 2006 DMR-ES46V VHS/DVD combo recorder for $40, a bargain for the best non-hard drive VHS/DVD combo recorder Panasonic has marketed in North America.
Many owners of Panasonic EZ series models from 2007-2010 caution against the purchase of these models due to the uncorrected design flaws and bugs. (Read the many Panasonic EZ series horror stories at the AVS Forum.) Of my six EZ series models only two are in daily use, one is a standby recorder, two have been junked and one near-new EZ series VHS/DVD combo recorder is regarded only as a "parts machine."
Panasonic EZ series VHS/DVD combo recorders are unsatisfactory for use copying videotapes to DVD unless one connects an external VCR to an input for copying videotapes in that manner. My ES series VHS/DVD combo recorders, DMR-ES30V and DMR-ES35V are superior to EZ series combo recorders as dubbing workhorses. (The agonizing details concerning EZ series VHS/DVD combo recorders are found at the AVS Forum.) As my EZ models fail they become a source for replacement parts for those still functional. Failing recent and current EZ series recorders are replaced with the older, more reliable ES series models or Magnavox HDD/DVD recorders.
Due to the problematic recent and current Panasonic EZ series models I no longer purchase these models for daily use. With their shiny black front panels these models make attractive door-stops.
What recent/current recorders do I buy? The Magnavox HDD/DVD recorders are an amazing bargain at $160 (like-new refurbished) or $227 (new). Currently, I own five of these outstanding Magnavox HDD/DVD recorders (models 2080, 2160 and 2160A) and two more of the earlier, similar Philips HDD/DVD recorders (models 3575 and 3576).
Funai also offers two decent-enough VHS/DVD combo recorders, the Magnavox ZV427MG9 (tunerless) and ZV457MG9 (with tuner) that are more satisfactory for dubbing videotapes directly to DVD than Panasonic EZ series VHS/DVD combo recorders. (The Sylvania and Toshiba variants of these models lack the very useful 2.5 and 3 hour per DVD recording modes.) I own two of the earlier Magnavox ZV450MW8 models, the first from 2007 and an "A" version from 2008, both providing good results copying videotaped recordings to DVD.
