Sharky Extreme Opinion: Obviously we're not big fans of the DVHS option for recording HDTV, even if it is the only solution at the moment.
We're hopeful that as PC hard drive storage capacities grow, while continuing to fall in price, that the new breed of digital video recorders offered by multiple vendors now (which use hard drives to save content on instead of tape) can be used for HDTV broadcast recording in the future.
About 125 to 150GB of hard drive space would be needed to offer 15 to 20 hours of HDTV 720p or 1080i recording capability, yet the recorder needs to cost less than $900.
Until the time when these HDTV hard disc digital video recorders are available (likely mid-2001) we're all stuck with DVHS solutions like the PV-HD1000 if we're going to record content from our HDTV home theaters.
If anyone finds a magic bottle with a genie in it over the next year or two, be sure to make your third wish "Please let there be a HD-DVD recorder technology breakthrough that allows two hours per side of 720p or 1080i HDTV recording to occur immediately".
We'll be eternally grateful, as the wait right now looks very very long until this technology delivers us from DVHS.
PV-HS1000: What a perfect segue the previous section (rant) was into Panasonic's first digital hard disc video recorder, the PV-HS1000.
Panasonic's PV-HS1000 Hard Disc Recorder Demonstration
The PV-HS1000 uses the Replay TV service for its menu system and like the previous hard disc recorder from Sony that we detailed earlier, two hard drives in the PV-HS1000 provide up to 30 hours of possible recording.
In a sly move Panasonic wasn't offering the expected MSRP of the new PV-HS1000 at the show, but they did commit to an April ship date for the device. Clearly they want to see where the market pans out price wise with the dozen or so other hard disc recorders coming to retail this year.
The PV-HS1000 was demonstrated by several attendants, and predictable "live TV pause" and "slow-motion replay" features were clearly defined and shown.
Sharky Extreme Opinion: As stated earlier, we like these new "lifestyle VCRs" for their flexibility in recording programs, and their ability to learn our viewing habits and then proactively record programs we otherwise would have missed.
Hopefully Panasonic's sharp HS1000 unit will wind up in the sub-$500 price category.