Panasonic Dmr EX75 160 Gb Dvd Hdd Recorder

I bought this in August 2006 and have been very pleased with it. Picture quality is excellent. There is plenty of room on the 160 Gb hard disk. Plenty of input/output connections, including HDMI, component, DV and digital audio out. Very easy to use the electronic programme guide to select or record TV programmes. Can read and write DVD +, -, +RW, -RW and RAM. Also has a SD card slot.

I purchased this DVD recorder from reviews in magazines stating it was best in class. While the image quality is superb and it has a wealth of connections it does not have the ones I want at present and which I was told it did have, namely a 5.1 channel decoder and output to link to my amplifier and existing speaker system. I am sure that when I upgrade to an LCD flat screen the euipment will come into its own but many things like component output,HDMI and direct TV link for example are no use to holders of old technology but great picture sets like my 32" CRT. My main gripe is the appalling manual, poor menu systems and flimsy feel to the equipment. It took me 2 days to actually work out the recording and copy options by a process of trail and error for something which should be clear from on screen menus fewer but logical buttons on the remote and english relating to what you want to do record, copy etc not describe under the generic title ascribed by Panasonic to its controls.