Strengths: Digtal and analog tuner with multiformat dvd burner in one.

Weaknesses: Could not get the 1080p to work due to either bad product or ungodly picky hdmi brand selection. Way to slow channel surfing thru digital channels (like 2 to 3 seconds). Very slow start up.

Summary: 1.) Claims to output 1080p, but it doesn't or atlest I couldn't get it to work. I even tried different hdmi cables hooked up to my 1080p monitor after I called customer support (suggestion was to try different hdmi cables) and the highest resolution it would let me select is 1080i. And yes, I have a hdcp 1080p with hdmi 42" lcd monitor. I gave up on the 3 set of hdmi cables from monster/rca/phillips and the whole refund cable game. I'll be returning the product due to driving around all day for hdmi cables. Called customer service and they gave me a list of compatible cables for the hdmi problem I was experiencing. If this unit is hdmi cable picky, then why not just include the hdmi cable. I do have my computer hooked up and my monitor shows 1080p no problem so it's got to be the dmr-ez27 or very picky on hdmi cables. 2.) The digital tuner selection between channels is ungodly slow. Like 2 to 3 seconds for the screen to appear while surfing thru digital channels. That's way to darn slow for me when looking for channels to watch. 3.) Tuner and dvd player makes strange noises.

Strengths: DVR works well and good image quality.

Weaknesses: Slow, and Buggy!

Summary: Very slow in changing Digital channels between 5 to 10 seconds, has incorrect channel status window, it has frozen-up on me multiple times and I had to unplug the power cord to reset. You have to be in front of the DVD player to use the remote. Had a lot of odd buggs.I am very unhappy with the product and I will return it.

Strengths: Good 1080p player DVD Burner.

Weaknesses: Menu doesn't fall out of unsupported video modes, locking you out.

Summary: I use this as a 1080p upconverting DVD player, which it does very well. I also burn DVDs directly from my camcorder via a firewire cable and it does that very well. I haven't used it for a tuner for HD channels so I can't speak to that. The menu is good except that if you select a video output that isn't supported it locks you out without falling back to a supported resolution. Overall it does the two things I use it for very well, but isn't perfect.

Strengths: hardly any.

Weaknesses: Pretty much everything.

Summary: I hated this product right of the box. My first itch is why aren't the companies making DVD Recorder that can take HDMI or component IN. OMG piracy of movies and other shows is going on already not giving what the customer wants doesn't help. I mean recording Analog and then converting to digital HD doesn't make any sense when there is a perfectly good HD channel is available. Forcing to convert down then back up is just a waste of energy. As the most reviewer said it, its slow, and the menu is buggy. Has a hard time reading just any media, mostly only the well known ones, and no fireware updates to help with that. Don't buy it, and if you did go return it. 1 out of 5

Strengths: Good working unit at the psice

Weaknesses: Electronic anomalies

Summary: Bought the unit in November and it seems to a good job for its price. Other reviewers have mention the slowness of the tuner, myself I don't use the tuner for viewing, only to set the timer. If you have cable why use the DVR's tuner as it can't receive the digital portion of what the cable company's send down the line (the "upper" channels).The unit has done strange things though, like showing the "status" information box for about 5 seconds while watching a recorded disk. Also, while fast forwarding the bottom half of the picture will "pause" while the top half is fast forwarding, then that goes to "pause" too but the unit is still fast forwarding as you can hear it clicking. After that, when you click "play" you have no idea where are on the disk. That lasted about two weeks and went away, hmmmm????? The unit has not "froze" on me as others have said it does, at least not yet. The HDMI works well with a 3 foot cable. I've had numerous Panasonic products and had no problems with them. This one might be a flip of the coin though.

Strengths: As some as stated, it works pretty much like a basic VCR when you want to record.

Weaknesses: LCD front display doesnt show the time, when unit is "off". Records only on select DVDR media.

Summary: I picked this up to replace a Samsung DVD recorder that died on me in less than 6 months. After researching and reading reviews, I took a gamble on this unit. So far so good. It is quite simple to record DVD content. Only things that I record, is select programming from my Dish Network DVR. Quality of recordings is pretty good, but that is only from viewing recordings made at the 2 hr and 4 hr modes. I can not speak on the 6 or 8 hr recording modes.