Thursday, September 9, 2004
Panasonic to Release Networked DVD Recorder
Posted by James Fee in "HARDWARE" @ 03:00 PM
"The DMR-E500H has a 400GB hard drive that can store up to 709 hours of recording in extended play (EP) mode (which is typically considered about VHS-quality). The DMR-E500H has a maximum effective speed of 64X when recording in EP mode from a hard drive to DVD-R, allowing it to record a 60-minute program in 56 seconds, which Panasonic claimed is the fastest in the industry. (Panasonic says that the speeds quoted are effective speeds, not data transfer speeds, since they're referring to how many hours you can record for a given amount of data.) The recorder has a maximum speed of 40 X when recording in EP mode from hard drive to DVD-RAM. The unit will go on sale in Japan on September 21 for $1715, and will be offered outside of Japan shortly thereafter, says the company. The product is geared towards higher-end users; Panasonic says it will initially produce only 3000 units per month. The DMR-E500H has an Ethernet port that allows consumers to view MPEG4 video and JPEG photos stored on the recorder on their PCs. Multiple recorders can also be linked by LAN, so that a DVD playing on one machine can been viewed in more than one room. In Japan, people using Panasonic's online video recording service can program their recorder through their cell phone."
Looks like Panasonic just loaded everything they could think of into this unit and unlike Homer Simpson and his "car", they pulled it off. The only confusing thing is how can someone afford, "multiple recorders"? At about $2k a pop, these things are pricey. 8O
Looks like Panasonic just loaded everything they could think of into this unit and unlike Homer Simpson and his "car", they pulled it off. The only confusing thing is how can someone afford, "multiple recorders"? At about $2k a pop, these things are pricey. 8O
