Help required for choosing a Panasonic DVD recorder

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Help required for choosing a Panasonic DVD recorder

alisam

837 posts

Ultimate Geek

#151234 18-Aug-2014 18:43

I have a Panasonic TV G10 plasma, so a Panasonic DVD recorder seems to me to make sense.

1) I will not record to DVD
2) I don't have any blu-ray disks and cannot see me buying any (ok, perhaps one or two just to see what they are like, but it is not a major consideration).
3) I watch Netflix on a Roku 3, BUT a dvd recorder able to get a Panasonic Netflix App would be good (presumably I will be able to change the region code to USA) so that I can put the Roku in a bedroom.

4) So I guess all I want the recorder to do is record NZ television.

5) A Plex Client App would be good for Movies held on a NAS.
6) 3D I have no interest in (and the TV is not 3D able, although I do have a Samsung H6400 which is, and has a Tivo attached to it).
7) I use powerline boxes throughout the house.

So far, I have tried to work out (with little success) which would be better for my needs and at an acceptable price point.

A) DMR-XW440GZ
B) DMR-PWT530GZ
C) DMR-BWT835GZ

All of the above are in the mid $400-$500 price range depending on what is on 'special' (and once I have decided I will probably wait for a sale or haggle).

PS I have read on other posts that Panasonic NZ had a comparison facility, but I haven't found it yet.

Also, whilst not being a true geek, I can find my way around settings etc.

Any advice would be appreciated, even it there are other ways of recording NZ TV.

PC: Dell Inspiron 16 5640 (Windows 11 Home), Dell Inspiron 7591 2n1 (Windows 11 Pro), HP ProBook 470G1 (Windows 10 Pro), Intel NUC7I5BNH (Zorin)
Net: Grandstream 1 x GWN7062 Router, 1 x GWN7665 Access Point
Storage: Synology DS216play NAS, 2 x 6TB
Media: 3 x Amazon FireTV. Echo, Dot, Spot
TV: 2 x Samsung H6400 55" LED TV, Panasonic TH-P50G10Z 50" Plasma TV
Mobile: Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
Wearable: Gear S3 Frontier

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1110733 18-Aug-2014 19:01

You can probably pick up the XW390GZ on clearance for cheaper than the XW440GZ, if that's what you decide to go with. It will do much the same thing.

What do you care about. If all you want to do is occasionally record and play TV then one of the cheaper units (Dish etc) will probably do the job cheaper. However, if you have a network and might want to stream via DLNA, want to record two channels at once, or (despite what you say above) might want to burn material to a DVD for whatever reason, then the Panasonic units are probably the best quality/value option on the market IMO.

I would say go with the XW390GZ, unless you care about blu-ray and/or want a 1TB drive because you record a lot in which case you should get the BWT835GZ.

Personally, I regard disc burning as handy. It's useful if you ever want to view material in another room that's not networked, record something for someone else, or move material you haven't had a chance to watch off the hard drive to make way for new recordings.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1110754 18-Aug-2014 19:23

Personally I'd go with the BWT835. I have the previous model (BWT720) and it is just great. I rarely burn discs anymore as I can easily transfer recordings to the PC directly with Windows 8.1 or using Twonky server on Windows 7. Easily records from my basic Sky box too.
I wouldn't go near the PWT models as they can't record from external equipment due to lack of inputs.
You may not have Blu Rays now but once you try them you'll see how good they are.

P.S. I'd dump the powerline boxes. They are massive radiators of rf interference.

shk292

2858 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1110805 18-Aug-2014 20:39

I have the BWT835. Good points - great recording quality, big hard disc, ability to access the recordings from a WDTV box over the LAN (I use powerline boxes too), OK HCI, accepts control from TV over HDMI
Bad points - seems unable to play many downloaded video file formats using UPNP; very basic internet features; unable (as far as I can tell) to have the internet apps region set to other than AU or NZ. I don't think you'd get NetFlix (or anything else very useful) working on this

The BWT840 didn't seem worth the extra money.

alisam

837 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1110815 18-Aug-2014 20:55

P.S. I'd dump the powerline boxes. They are massive radiators of rf interference.

Out of interest, what does that affect.
I use them, as I have found them to be much, much more reliable than Wi-Fi (in the areas of the house I have needed internet connectivity)

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1110859 18-Aug-2014 22:03

alisam:

Out of interest, what does that affect.

Sorry, off topic, but---
Pretty much all frequencies. Somewhat similar to the old butter warmers in refrigerators back in the 60's that used to nearly wipe out B&W TV reception all down the Street during their "on"cycle.
Any Amateur Radio Operator in your vicinity will probably not be pleased. "Touch" lamps are just as bad too.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1110909 18-Aug-2014 23:39

I also use the powerline boxes. I find them very reliable and much better than WiFi for streaming video etc.

shk292

2858 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1110978 19-Aug-2014 07:03

JimmyH: I also use the powerline boxes. I find them very reliable and much better than WiFi for streaming video etc.

...and they have the added bonus of annoying radio hams

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

bfginger

1272 posts

Uber Geek

#1111002 19-Aug-2014 07:46

You can probably pick up the XW390GZ on clearance for cheaper than the XW440GZ

Unless you can find somewhere willing to give a deep discount the price difference is so small there is no point getting the 390 over the 440. The 390's manual talks about "Viera Cast" which is the predecessor to Viera Connect so don't buy that if you want internet apps.

The PWT530GZ is the same as the 390 except it can play back Blu-rays and the manual says it has Viera Connect. I had thought it could write DVDs like the 390/440 but not Blu-rays but the manual says it can't write recordings to discs. The BWT835GZ can write to discs and has a larger hard drive and Viera Connect.

The 835 is discontinued so you should be able to get it for not too much more than $500. The 840 is the new model. If you aren't worried about price just get the BWT840GZ which is available for $749 and was available for $699 when Noel Leeming had it on sale.

I don't think you'll be able to set the region to US. When Netflix launches in NZ there might be an app for Viera Connect.

alisam

837 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1112003 20-Aug-2014 12:53

bfginger:
You can probably pick up the XW390GZ on clearance for cheaper than the XW440GZ

Unless you can find somewhere willing to give a deep discount the price difference is so small there is no point getting the 390 over the 440. The 390's manual talks about "Viera Cast" which is the predecessor to Viera Connect so don't buy that if you want internet apps.

The PWT530GZ is the same as the 390 except it can play back Blu-rays and the manual says it has Viera Connect. I had thought it could write DVDs like the 390/440 but not Blu-rays but the manual says it can't write recordings to discs. The BWT835GZ can write to discs and has a larger hard drive and Viera Connect.

The 835 is discontinued so you should be able to get it for not too much more than $500. The 840 is the new model. If you aren't worried about price just get the BWT840GZ which is available for $749 and was available for $699 when Noel Leeming had it on sale.

I don't think you'll be able to set the region to US. When Netflix launches in NZ there might be an app for Viera Connect.

It's a toss up between the 440 (DVD) and the 530 (Blu-ray).
Both are Viera Connect, but the Panasonic Web Site says nothing about Internet Apps for the 530.

The 440 is $499 at JB Hi-Fi and they will only sell it for $490.
The 530 is $448 and they will only sell it for $444.
So $46 difference, but with Unotelly I think I should be able to get Netflix working (as I have done on my new Samsung TV).

Can the 530 get Internet Apps (because it has Viera Connect)?

alisam

837 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1113510 22-Aug-2014 15:49

alisam:
bfginger:
You can probably pick up the XW390GZ on clearance for cheaper than the XW440GZ

Unless you can find somewhere willing to give a deep discount the price difference is so small there is no point getting the 390 over the 440. The 390's manual talks about "Viera Cast" which is the predecessor to Viera Connect so don't buy that if you want internet apps.

The PWT530GZ is the same as the 390 except it can play back Blu-rays and the manual says it has Viera Connect. I had thought it could write DVDs like the 390/440 but not Blu-rays but the manual says it can't write recordings to discs. The BWT835GZ can write to discs and has a larger hard drive and Viera Connect.

The 835 is discontinued so you should be able to get it for not too much more than $500. The 840 is the new model. If you aren't worried about price just get the BWT840GZ which is available for $749 and was available for $699 when Noel Leeming had it on sale.

I don't think you'll be able to set the region to US. When Netflix launches in NZ there might be an app for Viera Connect.

It's a toss up between the 440 (DVD) and the 530 (Blu-ray).
Both are Viera Connect, but the Panasonic Web Site says nothing about Internet Apps for the 530.

The 440 is $499 at JB Hi-Fi and they will only sell it for $490.
The 530 is $448 and they will only sell it for $444.
So $46 difference, but with Unotelly I think I should be able to get Netflix working (as I have done on my new Samsung TV).

Can the 530 get Internet Apps (because it has Viera Connect)?

Bought the 530 at JB Hi-Fi for $430 plus some cents.
It can get Internet Apps.
The user interface appears to be slow.
Still setting it up etc, so haven't given it a good work out yet.
PS Still think NZ should have a recent model TiVo in the market place.

shk292

2858 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1113705 22-Aug-2014 20:19

Let us know how you get on with the internet apps. I could only get my 835 to do NZ or Aus, neither of which were much good but I didn't try for long because the Samsung TV is so good