Panasonic DMR-BWT700 & 800 Twin Freeview HD Bluray Recorders [Wireless LAN 800 Only]

nwhitfield

Established Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2005
Messages
1,628
Reaction score
238
Points
240
These were unveiled at the Panasonic Convention this week.

Twin tuner, Freeview HD units, with 3D Blu Ray player/recorder. They include VieraCast, with support for Skype, and also DLNA server capabilities, which will allow access to recorded programmes on other devices around the home (though according to the rep I spoke with, only Panasonic ones, so looks like no support for DTCP-IP).

Both have wireless LAN as well; the 700 has a 320GB hard drive, and the 800 comes with 500GB.

I don't yet know about pricing, I'm afraid, but if you want something that has just about everything, these might fit the bill - almost certainly at a price.
 
Thanks for the info Nigel.

Have you any expectation of the release time... June would be typical?

... and definitely coming to the UK marketplace?

Are you certain about 'allowing access to programmes on other devices'? ... as current machines will only act as servers and not as clients ... albeit this would be typical of the way Panasonic 'leak' gradual improvements with each generation.

Edit - I've just re-read that and see that your statement can be read two ways: 1)... allowing access to programmes(recorded on the machine) on other devices ... or 2) allowing access to programmes (recorded) on other devices.
... so I may have mistaken what you intended.



(I'll move this to the Bluray recorder section)
 
Definitely for the UK marketplace - it's branded with the FreeviewHD+ logo. It acts as a server certainly, though the press release says less about playback functionality, which they tend to stick in the TVs instead (and that seems to have been beefed up this year too).

No dates mentioned on this - for other products it ranged between April and June. Last year's player arrived with me as a white box marketing sample in May, and went on sale a couple of months later.

Still waiting for a few more answers from Panasonic.
 
Why would I choose a BWT800 over a BW800? I am not bothered about the 3D abilities at all. Is there anything else I should be tempted by, maybe the Chroma Plus processor is a big update to the picture quality over the BW800? But I have not seen anybody say the BW800 has picture problems, so I doubt I care too much.
 
Why would I choose a BWT800 over a BW800? I am not bothered about the 3D abilities at all. Is there anything else I should be tempted by, maybe the Chroma Plus processor is a big update to the picture quality over the BW800? But I have not seen anybody say the BW800 has picture problems, so I doubt I care too much.

Its always the unwritten stuff in pre-promotion that tends to be the most impacting... for which we have to wait to find out.

For example, we are at the stage where they are going start dropping scart.
Will this unit reduce to one?

And from an entirely personal perspective, the sooner the pointless novelty of 3D dies, the better.
 
Why would I choose a BWT800 over a BW800? I am not bothered about the 3D abilities at all. Is there anything else I should be tempted by, maybe the Chroma Plus processor is a big update to the picture quality over the BW800? But I have not seen anybody say the BW800 has picture problems, so I doubt I care too much.

Maybe less sluggish with updated prepossessing power?
I hope anyway :)

P.S. Hummm... was that the Panasonic DMR-BW880 you have or BW800? Not sure the have seen the BW800 in the UK. For clarification I was thinking between the new Panasonic DMR-BWT800 and older Panasonic DMR-BW880
 
Last edited:
I meant to wrote BW880 in each place I wrote BW800! Sorry.

Same here, I am looking at the BW880 right now and trying to see why I would want to get the BWT800 instead. For me, I think the BW880 will fit my needs until any YouView box becomes available sometime next year.
 
I meant to wrote BW880 in each place I wrote BW800! Sorry.

Same here, I am looking at the BW880 right now and trying to see why I would want to get the BWT800 instead. For me, I think the BW880 will fit my needs until any YouView box becomes available sometime next year.

I heard that they will still use the dreaded Guide Plus, that forces advertisements in your face? :thumbsdow
 
Yes, they still have GuidePlus. And I've not found anyone at Panasonic who likes it, or who even gives the impression of wanting it. But somehow it's been foisted upon them, by someone higher up the food chain.
 
But somehow it's been foisted upon them, by someone higher up the food chain.

No doubt by the same corporate idiot that thought disabling fast forward for the irritating junk at the beginning of commercial discs which users have paid for.

It is jaw-dropping that these buffoons do not realise that such things will never do anything other than profoundly irritate the end user.
 
Do we at least get one meaningful positive with these new models that they will decode and display correctly Dolby Digital sound? ..as mentinoed on another thread?

When I asked about it to Panasonic in the past, they claimed that the format the Freeview adopted was communicated late to them and they would only get it right with the next model.
 
I've seen somewhere that the new models will record 3D.
Seems this is something else we are going to pay for even if we won't use it.
I wonder if the new models will have any real advantages over the current ones.
Lets hope we get some prices soon.
 
Couldn't agree more.
I really can't see us sitting at home wearing glasses and/or paying for the limited content.
Without glasses seems a long way off and from what I've heard still needs you sit in exactly the front of the screen. So does all the family sit on each others laps?
 
Why would I choose a BWT800 over a BW800? I am not bothered about the 3D abilities at all. Is there anything else I should be tempted by, maybe the Chroma Plus processor is a big update to the picture quality over the BW800? But I have not seen anybody say the BW800 has picture problems, so I doubt I care too much.

Well the BW800 is a shoddy piece of rubbish IMHO so not surprised they are releasing something to replace it.
 
New models are released annually as a matter of routine.
 
New models are released annually as a matter of routine.
You can say that again and again ...and again! Just another practically pointless new model with a new high price tag... without any really useful new features or improvements!
 
Purchased one of these on 3 June and am very pleased with it so far. Did a deal with my local SS&V for £718. There are a few differences between my XW380 in the recording sequence(I have yet to sell it) Apparently one can set the recording mode on this beforehand. What I can't understand is,with the different rates(HG,HX,HE,HL,HM) does this mean I can get a film of 2 1/2 hrs or 3hrs on a 25GB BD disc and still watch in HD? On another tact; everybody was saying what do we want a freeview recorder that can record 3D for? Well now I see that the good ol' beeb has gone forward again with the showing of the mens and womens final at Wimbledon live in HD 3D. I will be looking forward to see how the recordings come out. I have seen a couple of 3D films on it so far and am very impressed. Also watched Apocalypse Now in the 2D to 3D conversion and was quite surprised as it wasn't so bad as I thought it might be. By the way I thought I got a good deal on a pack of 10 TDK BD-RE 50GB for £59.96 +£12.38 p&p from Japan.
 
So you bought one?
I've been trying to decide between the DMR-BW780 or 880 or one of these new ones.
I definitely don't need 3d but I was wondering if they are any more responsive than the old models.
Does it seem ok to you?
e.g. how long does it take to load up a DVD or Blu Ray disk, and how is the general responsiveness of the menus to record or playback stuff either from disk or the HDD?
 
In fact Dorix do you see an improvement on time accssing the EPG, recordings etc? Is it any faster when you press "pause" when you watching a recording and then press again to start watching again? Any faster on this operation too?
 
Purchased one of these on 3 June and am very pleased with it so far. Did a deal with my local SS&V for £718. There are a few differences between my XW380 in the recording sequence(I have yet to sell it) Apparently one can set the recording mode on this beforehand. What I can't understand is,with the different rates(HG,HX,HE,HL,HM) does this mean I can get a film of 2 1/2 hrs or 3hrs on a 25GB BD disc and still watch in HD?

Broadly the functionalism is still the same as with previous models regarding the recording mode.

As always the off-air recording is done in DR mode.
What they have done with these new units is integrate into the timer function the option to instruct them to do the DR conversion routine ...and that still is done as a separate process later.

Regarding the various modes - DR mode is very efficient and you may find, as others have, that staying in DR mode will allow you to get 6 to 8 hours of HD material onto a Bluray disc.
Converting to the other HD modes can be less efficient and you may get less on a disc... depending on mode used.

They will be generally more compatible elsewhere though as support for DR mode on players will take some time to filter through.
 
Regading the response times,I don't belive that Panasonic have improved much.I haven't had a bluray player before so I can't comment if the load up is quicker,but this one loads up and starts playing in under a minute. The Philips HDD/DVD recorder was quickest and had more logical controls.I don't like the near shutdown when accessing EPG (no PinP and no sound)I would like to have got a Philips product but they don't make HDD/DVD recorders anymore and Sony told me that they believe that the future was not in optical disc and would not be making anything like the BWT800. Don't forget that if you're deciding between the BW880 and the BWT800 that the 880 can't convert the Dolby 5.1 sound from freeview, nor record it I presume.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom