I had this machine for 6 months now. Recently I had two very BAD experiences with it. I had some regular timer recordings set up, but it didn't happen! I realized it the first time since I didn't see the recording light came on. I proceed to turn on the machine, but it won't respond to either the remote power on button, nor the manual swich. Eventually I unplugged the machine and replugged it, then it responded again. Basically it needed to be rebooted... This is very frustrating as the whole idea of timer recording is that I don't have to intervene. So far this has happened to me twice. Last night I missed my favorite show because of this malfunction.
I've had an E80 for a year and a E40 for a year before that. I run both now on two different TVs. Do you have power problems? Are you using a power conditioner? I have not experienced any such problems and I'm just running a low end Monster power surge box. If it is the box, you should have a 1 year factory warranty from Panasonic.