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4.0 stars
"Very good low end DVD-recorder"
Pros: Very good image quality, very flexible recording capabilities
Cons: High speed scanning can skip, difficulty recording sports in LP mode
Summary: I've had the dmr-ez17k recorder for about a month now and it's worked very good so far. The main reason I bought this was because after buying an HDTV, any recordings I made with my VCR looked horrible to the point that I just stopped using it. Because the dmr-ez17 has a digital tuner it is capable of receiving all HD programming, so even though it can't record at HD quality resolution (up to 1920x1080), it can record at DVD quality (852x480) in wide screen, which is far better than NTSC. In fact in SP mode the difference is not that noticable. Like all DVD-recorders it can not record 5.1 digital audio due to copyright issues and so everything is downconverted to digital 2.0 audio
As in other reviews I agree the built in tuner changes channels very slowly, especially when going from an analog station to a digital one. If you are using this as your primary digital tuner then it could be bothersome. My TV has a built in tuner, however, so this is not a concern for me. I also recieve broadcasts through cable so over the air reception, which many reviews say is poor, is not an issue for me.
The image quality is very good all the way down to 4-hour LP mode for most shows. There is little change in image quality between 1-hour XP and 2-hour SP modes so other than testing its quality I don't use XP mode. While there is a noticable drop in image quality between SP and LP, LP mode is still quite good and when recording HD channels it is still very clear and only on rare occasions have I seen digital artifacts during playback. 6-hour EP mode is not much better than using a VCR though, and as a result I never use it. BTW, I've done all my recording with DVD-RAM disks due to their ability to record and play at the same time so I am unsure of the other DVD formats (DVD-R, DVD+RW, etc.) quality, however I would expect them to be nearly identical.
As I stated above LP mode is good for most things but its quality drops significantly when recording sports. Due to the constantly moving cameras and the many color variations across the screen the image becomes blurred and things such as players and teams names will turn into a solid smudge on their uniforms. It is still better than a VCR recording however I found it hard to watch. I did discover that by switching to flex record mode and setting it to 3 1/2 hours the image became much better and still allowed enough time to record an entire game.
On one occasion, for still unknown reasons, while recording a primetime HD broadcast the shows music track drowned out the voices of the actors to the point that they were a mere whisper. It was unwatchable as a result. This was a one time incident over many hours of recording, but it does concern me. The only other annoyance is that while scanning forward or backward at more than 2x speed the video will occasionally jump forward or backward as much as 3 minutes rather than smoothly showing the video at a steady faster pace. When trying to scan through a commercial and suddenly being 2 minutes in to the show it can be frustrating. This only occurs with DVD-RAM disks however and not when playing a pre-recorded store bought or rental movie.
Overall I am very happy with this recorder and it is far superior to any VCR or DVD-recorder without a digital tuner.Updated
A couple of updates I'd like to make to my previous post.
I complained that while scanning video on DVD-RAM disks that the video would jump 2-3 minutes forward or backward on occasion. I have since realized, this only occurs when I am making a recording and playing a previous recording at the same time. Due to the recording having higher priority over playback, it makes sense to me that changing playback speeds would be hindered while recording.
I also have discovered that only DVD-RAM disks will record in wide screen. While recording with DVD+RW or DVD+R, wide screen broadcasts are squished down to 4:3 aspect ratio. In order to watch these recordings in the correct dimensions my HDTV must be set to full screen mode in order to re-stretch the image to the correct dimensions.
This recorder is still working well for me and I am still very pleased with the purchase.
