Panasonic DMR-ES35VS DVD Recorder

Pros: Cost. Basic functionality. Awesome "Jet Rewind" feature. Decent quality machine. One button VHS->DVD copy operation.

Cons: The manual is indecipherable, but entertaining. Unit is not for high-end, slick DVD production.

The Bottom Line: If you want a moderately priced standalone unit of decent quality to copy VHS tapes to DVD, I highly recommend this unit.

Review: I have a bunch of family video VHS tapes recorded between 1988 and 1995 that I wanted to move to DVD before they deteriorated or before VHS recorders became impossible to find.

I decided to get a combined VHS/DVD recorder unit because I...

Pros: Hmmmm.....*Taps chin while thinking....*

Cons: Pretty much everything about this unit!!!!

The Bottom Line: Don't buy it! It's tempermental and can't even hold up to light use.

Review: I purchased this model on May 6, of 2006 from Circuit City. I did not purchase the extended warranty--BIG mistake!

We had problems from the get go with VHS tapes not ejecting properly. I should have taken the unit back within the 30 day...

Pros: Very easy to use picture quality is good

Cons: very easy to break

Review: The DVD recorder worked great for about 18 months. It wont read any DVD with an error message of NO READ. Try reset and still wont work. I am disappointed at Panasonic quality. I had good experience with Panasonic before. But after reading different...

Pros: it's really pretty.

Cons: shoddy workmanship

Review: perhaps it was bad luck, or a Monday hangover unit, but my Panasonic DMR-ES35VS was broken out of the box. there were two buttons which had never been wired to work; the power button and the VCR button. it also ate VCR tapes. not tangled the tape,...

Pros: Recorded everything I put to it including hbo to dvd-R

Cons: Manual, Editing, my unit had very poor dvd recording

Review: This is yet just another DVD recorder I have had to return.
The manual is a joke. My unit recorded everything,(VHS,Cable,home movies) with a choppy motion that looked as though a child was playing with the fast forward button on dvd-R. On the...

Pros: We thought that a DVD-VCR combo made by panasonic would be good and reliable....

Cons: but it busted soon after the warranty period ended... duh, it's another panasonic dud

Review:

Our Panasonic DMR-ES35V (DVD-VCR combo) crashed after a simple power failure, one month over the warranty period, and now shows fault U61. Panasonic service agent says RAM drive is busted & quotes more than the purchase price to fix it AND that...

Pros: I'd give some pros if it had worked for more than 6 copies.

Cons: The manual is poorly written and disorganized. Panasonic is not as reliable as I thought.

Review: We bought this machine to dub VHS home movies onto DVD. Once we deciphered the manual, we copied 6 perfect DVD's using Maxell DVD-R. On #7, the picture copied with 7 seconds of sound, then nothing! The DVD module was replaced under warranty. Still...

Pros: Ease of use (initially)

Cons: Durability, poor longevity. Outlandish repair costs.

The Bottom Line: This model is a dud. Do not buy.

Review: Bought one of these units to transfer VHS to DVD. Initially it worked brilliantly. So much so, that I went & bought a 2nd unit 6 month later.

However, 9 months after purchase, the DVD side dies and goes into an endless recovery loop, which...

Pros: Easy copy from VHS to DVD. Easy timer set-up. Quiet

Cons: Problems viewing DVD's recorded on another DVD recorder. D tray is "touchy".

The Bottom Line: We are really happy with this unit. If this unit is an indication on any newer units, I would buy Panasonic again.

Review: I bought this unit at a discount on E-bay since I already had another unit but wanted two. I needed to "time-shift" TV shows and transfer old VHS home movies to DVD.

It works very well for these purposes and in fact I like it better than...

Pros: easy dubbing

Cons: Dead in under 2 years with moderate use.

Review: Until yesterday, I really enjoyed the DMRES35VS. Easy dubbing, fine features. Sure, the remote died on me, but with programmable generic remotes that wasn't a big deal. But yesterday, I was going to record a TV program to disc when it failed with a...