Panny E80 DVD recorder on order..but wondering if I should switch to Philips 985? (1 Viewer)

[Alf S]

I ordered the Panasonic E80S recorder based on some research and other folks input and it seems like the logical choice, but now I see I can get the Philips 985 for much cheaper.

My main concern as I've mentioned before is the ability to EASILY create and edit, and copy home videos from VHS/ 8mm etc. to DVD.

I realize that the 80gig hard drive that comes with the 80 is supposed to make viewing and recording much handier...but nowhere on the web can I find concrete info talking about the ease of editing (creating menus, chapters etc) w/ the 80. Can the 985 handle lots of editing w/o a hard drive to help in the process?

I see the 985 offers the DV input and VCR+ and the literature makes it appear to be user friendly when creating home video compilations.


Since my E80 is on backorder, I'm willing to listen to a few more pro/cons of both machines..I'd really like to hear from 985 users and their experience editing. Is missing a hard drive a hinderance(sp)??

I also saw the DVDRW compatability site that tells you which home DVD players play DVD+R ok ..luckily my two players show they will play them..as I see many other brands will.

Any last thoughts?

Thanks for listening and all the help folks!

 

[Phil Tomaskovic]

Isn't the 985 an older model? I've seen mixed reviews on amazon.com so I don't know what to say about it. I ordered the E80. I have an HP +R/RW writer on my pc and the dvds I burned with it play on my old Sony and my Mom's old Toshiba ok. The +RW didn't play on the Toshiba. +RW did play on a friend's brand new Toshiba. So if you edit on the +RW (I don't think you can edit on the 985 before burning a +R) you may have issues playing on other machines. It appears the files on a +RW are different than a +R (atleast named differently).