BEWARE buying Panasonic DMR-EX768EB

[trinculo]

... and possibly other Panasonic for all I know. What I do know for certain is that the above model compels one to receive unsolicited and, in my case, entirely unwelcome adverts on the tv guide pages. This appears to be because Panasonic use 'Gemstar' software for the EPG.

When I bought this dvd recorder no mention was made of the fact that in effect I would be providing a conduit for junk mail and spam to come into my own home - and at my expense! If 'people' [e.g. Panasonic] want to put an advertising hoarding on my property they should clearly state their intention and pay for it. That would then give me the option of accepting or declining - in my case, unequivocally, the latter.

Apart from everything else, I dislike and ignore advertising wherever possible and resist it where it is unavoidable. All advertising is to a degree dishonest. I also subscribe to both postal and telephone preference services to avoid junk and pay money to block spam; as the dvd recorder is now my property NOT panasonic's and I want control of it. Worst of all, the adverts waste limited screen space that would be better used in displaying the information I want i.e. program info.

It would be s simple matter for Panasonic to revise the software either to include an option to receive/not receive unsolicited junk adverts or to remove that element entirely and make it available as a downloadable update - I assume that is what the 'setup > others > system update' option on the machine is for. I have contacted Panasonic about this but they appear to have no plans to do this.

The nett result is that I only use the guide on the tv which does NOT have junk on it. This means that when I bought the dvd I paid for something [EPG] that I am unable to make use of because it was mis-described [i.e. not described at all - I wonder why!] and thus mis-sold

I think buyers should be made aware of what appears to be a policy decision of panasonic's to foist unwanted junk on the public. Had I been told of this or known of it I would emphatically NOT have bought the machine.

[ramjet]

I whole-heartedly agree with you regarding guideplus and this would also include my sony x70 recorders ( or any sony x70 , x90 or x95 recorders , or pioneer equivalents )

on the other hand , on my sony I can select the freeview epg option as opposed to guideplus , and so all mine are set to freeview or digital epg

can you not do this on the panasonic ?
I would have thought you could use the digital epg and not use the guideplus on it ?

[ROYOLD]

Quite a rant from the original poster.

BTW - it's advertising which pays for you to freely use this forum!

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by ramjet

can you not do this on the panasonic ?
I would have thought you could use the digital epg and not use the guideplus on it ?

Hi ramjet

It's not an option on the latest Panasonics.

Previous generations used the standard Freeview EPG solely, but this latest generation solely uses the Gemstar guide with no other option.... most unfortunately.

I'd like to think they have shot themselves in the foot with this decision.

trinculo et al

Unfortunately I cannot see any effective method of making Panasonic sit up and take notice... other than perhaps garnering public opinion in a poll here... because, as discussed elsewhere, I feel reasonable sure NO-one welcomes it and most are just plain irritated by it at the least.

Panasonic will have done it for commercial reasons of course. Presumably it is an arrangement that saves them having to fork out for EPG use licences... and is the kind of advertising we put up with in on the web routinely ... and on this very forum.
The big difference with this EPG that I find intolerable is that the advert eats into the 'meat' area of the usable page.

Campaigning to have the ad's removed is almost certainly a non-starter... but reducing to banner status may be a workable option.

...or there is trinculo's ultimate option: Don't buy it.
Panasonic would have to take notice of that if it happened enough ... but by what mechanism would they find out the reason?

[comnut]

well its gemstar that will have to be complained to.... and with switchoff less than 5 years away, they will need some other way to download their data, that *anyone* can do easily...

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by comnut

well its gemstar that will have to be complained to.... and with switchoff less than 5 years away, they will need some other way to download their data, that *anyone* can do easily...

This is a digital EPG. Not the old Gemstar sytem, so it is here to stay.

Also see Post no 7 in THIS thread for detail of the commercial arrangement.

[JohnG]

Perhaps someone should start up a protest thread with a poll.

[comnut]

I am talking about the gemstar system, where it can only get content from analog TV... what will happen when this is switched off in less than 5 years???

I am thinking about the majority of viewers, that will not know how to do more complex things....

[alsina]

Originally Posted by comnut

I am talking about the gemstar system, where it can only get content from analog TV... what will happen when this is switched off in less than 5 years???

I am thinking about the majority of viewers, that will not know how to do more complex things....

Here in the Granada region we are less than a year from the Analogue switch off. The Gemstar Guideplus has been available for a long time via Freeview, so not sure what you are refering to when you mention viewers not knowing how to do more complex things?

[comnut]

I am saying would you be able to show your 90 year old gran how to do it, when she has difficulty setting the timer on VHS???

[alsina]

Originally Posted by comnut

I am saying would you be able to show your 90 year old gran how to do it, when she has difficulty setting the timer on VHS???

Taking the Panasonic recorders as an example, using the machine such as programming a timer via the programme guide, has become easier with each new generation of recorders. So, yes, my gran would be able to work them fine.

[comnut]

well you are lucky, many people cannot do this!!

eg, this guy is having problems..

http://www.avforums.com/forums/dvd-r...ml#post8567515

Going by Countries & Host Channels it needs 'ITV (terrestrial)' - does this mean DVB or analog??

[alsina]

Originally Posted by comnut

well you are lucky, many people cannot do this!!

eg, this guy is having problems..

http://www.avforums.com/forums/dvd-r...ml#post8567515

Erm... this guy has just been sold the wrong tool for the job. The Panasonic machines are Freeview recorders and this chap cannot receive Freeview so he is not able to set his up properly. His problems are not related to how easy the recorders may or may not be to use.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by comnut

/countries_hostchannels.html] Countries & Host Channels[/url] it needs 'ITV (terrestrial)' - does this mean DVB or analog??

Panasonic recorders only have digital tuners and use the digital version of the Gemstar guide.

They cannot receive ITV on analogue or any other analogue channel.

[STdrez625]

This is also true of the Philips recorders using Guideplus.