Most basic DVD recorders lack much in the way of bells and whistles, but this Panasonic model is fairly rich in features. Nice touches include upconversion to 1080p, an SD card slot, chase playback and time slip, an IR… blaster (to control a cable box) and a commercial-skip button. However, there's no built-in tuner, so there's no way to record directly from a TV broadcast unless you also have a cable or satellite receiver. The DMR-EA18K also lacks an electronic programming guide, which simplifies programming. Recording quality, especially at LP speed, is described as outstanding. Still, if you mainly just want to record shows for later viewing and don't need disc recording, experts say a DVR or TiVo unit is a better choice. See the ConsumerSearch report on DVRs.
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