Panasonic DMR-EZ37VK Reviews

JUNK
by Allen G. Harrison , 2010-07-18

I have had this VCR for 1.5 yrs now and most of the time the VCR doesn't record timer programs. When I turn it on,it now takes 5 minutes just to be ready.The first 6 months it worked great but now it doesn't.As of 2 months ago the DVD drive stopped working.I have always been a Panasonic fan but this is just a big piece of crap-DON'T BUY!! It is a waste of money. I now have to replace it already.

Really Disappointing
by J. Myles , 2010-03-12

I believed that Panasonic products were of the highest quality until I got the Panasonic DMR-EZ37S DVD Recorder/VCR combination. I have high end Digital cable and a HDTV. I hooked up the Panasonic and let it go through setup. Although I had to set the clock manually the setup seemed to go smoothly. All the channels were there and the digital quality was good, but not as good as going directly into the HDTV.

I recorded a TV show to DVD to watch later and everything seemed to be working well. Days later, I tried to play back the DVD-R recording. The Panasonic DMR-EZ37S took a while to read and load the DVD then it started to play. About five minutes into the DVD it froze up. I pushed the play, stop, pause and the off button on the remote and nothing happened. I went to the manual and there was a solution. Open the front panel and push the "RESET" button. The thought of a Panasonic having a reset button on the front of the product made me feel a little disappointed. It would appear that lock-ups on the DMR-EZ37S and other Panasonic DVD players occured so often that Panasonic engineers put a reset button in a convenient place. I wondered why they didn't just fix the lock-up problem.

But setting that fear aside, I pushed the play button on the remote and the DVD-R started to play. Again 5 minutes into the DVD-R, that had been recorded on the Panasonic DMR-EZ37S, it locked up. I went through the reset process four times then decided to check the DVD-R. I am an computer engineer, so after pushing the RESET one more time and waiting for the player to initialize, I took the DVD out of the HIGH PRICED Panasonic DMR-EZ37S and moved it to a CHEAP Memorex DVD player to test the DVD-R. The DVD-R played without problem in the very inexpensive Memorex DVD player. Logically, the problem was the Panasonic DMR-EZ37S.

I contacted Panasonic "Customer support" and they suggested that I ship the unit to them, at my own expense, and they would "REVIEW" the problem. After much heated discussions, I gave up and contacted J&R, the vendor who sold me the unit.

J&R politely informed me that I was passed the return period. Technically they were right. I bought the Panasonic DMR-EZ37S in early December as a Christmas present for my wife. We did not attach it to the TV until late January. But TECHNICALLY I was outside of the 30 day return period. I asked if I could return the Panasonic DMR-EZ37S for credit on another purchase and was politely told NO. Seems to me that J&R could have understood the situation and kept a customer. If I had bought the unit from Costco, I could have returned it without any problem.

So I have a really cool Digital DVD Recorder/VCR Combination that quite often will not play the DVD's that it records.

Therefore, after years of owning Panasonic products, it pains me to have to say --- "Panasonic is SLIGHTLY behinds its time". After reading the reviews of people who had problems with their Panasonic models locking up, I have to say "If you are looking for a DVD Recorder VCR Combination, or any other DVD player, I would recommend that you look away from Panasonic".

Doesn't play burned DVDs-- even those burned using the machine
by Lisa M. Drayton from ny, ny United States, 2010-02-25

I bought this in October of 2007 and by summer it ceased playing the very dvds I'd burned from VHS using the unit. Customer service sent me a disc to run which eliminated all dvd playing capacity. I returned it at a cost of $40 (i.e. the cost of a new but less "prestigious" dvd player) and they sent me another one. Nine months later it too stopped playing burned dvds. Now I use it only for manufactured dvds and vhs and am currently shopping for a player compatible with burned media.

If anyone has a recommendation I would appreciate it.

Panasonic failure rates and poor quality-not worth the trouble!
by westcoastcop from ORANGECOUNTY, 2009-09-27

We bought a Panasonic DMR-ES35V DVD/VCR digital recorder, had to return it to Sears when it froze up and couldn't be used! The telephone tech talked me thru a reboot, which worked for about an hour. Took it back to sears. The new one did the same exact thing a week later. Got a refund at Sears, bought another at Best Buys...it failed the same way just out of warranty. This is a known issue with these things, yet they (Panasonic) would not replace it, they said to mail it back, with a check for $150.00 and they would send us a refurbished unit! Apparently there are a lot of broken Panasonic DVR's sitting around that they want to unload on us!

Stupid me, I bought a new model Panasonic, DMR-EZ485V this one has a weird tuner, that when you push the button to change the channel, it picks a completely different channel than you wanted, or it will switch to the new channel for a few seconds and then go back to the old...by itself! Ghostly!

Called Panasonic customer service, and she talked me thru a "reboot" procedure, like with our last Panasonic! Didn't work this time either! We got this one at Costco, an will be returning tomorrow. NOT for another Panasonic, we are done with them! As a matter of fact, done with Panasonic for anything...will not buy again. We are going to get a Toshiba this time! DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME! JUNK ALERT!

Very Poor Locks Up
by Walter Rison , 2008-06-23

I have this for over 6 months and it locks up when I use the remote to
change channels too fast or other functions, I have to unplug it to get
it back, and yes I have update the firmware. It takes over 3 seconds to
change channels if you press the channel up/down too fast it locks up
and you have to unplug to cycle the power. The analog tuner can not
take a strong signal on channels 7 and 9, I had to put a 10db pad in.