Looking for recommendations for a MyFreeview STB

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DickDastardly

227 posts

Master Geek

#1249525 2-Mar-2015 14:57

Yeah - Like others have said - the Panasonic is pretty good at what it does and doesn't take a genius on how to do things differently as compared to MySky. The cost savings from not having Sky have been great - like a hundred bucks a month better off!

Ive not seen the Netflix app on my Panasonic - but reading other forums here on Geekzone it seems Panasonic launched then pulled the app - seems they jumped the gun! Will update tonight and see if the app appears. My Apple TV has Netflix so for me - I have options....

Yes the Panasonic has a browser....

I think what impresses me is the number of formats it plays and how easy it is to swap things between drives and copy etc...

One thing that did stump me is that the Panasonic will play drives that are formatted in NTFS which in an Apple Household was a small challenge!

I don't want no sugar in it - thank you very much

MileHighKiwi

782 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#1249561 2-Mar-2015 15:36

We have the STB from Vodafone with Freeview. They chucked it in for free when we upgraded to unlimited broadband from an 80 gig plan. Works fine.

littleheaven

2130 posts

Uber Geek

#1249652 2-Mar-2015 16:45

I got the impression from this page that the Netflix app was on there: http://panasonic.net/avc/viera/global/internet_apps/area/11 Granted, it's TV-specific but I'm making the assumption the range is the same on the Blu-Ray players. I'd be interested to see if you can use the built-in browser to go to tv on demand sites that it doesn't have an app for (could you browse to the TVNZ On Demand or TV3 On Demand desktop page, for example). I also have an Apple TV which I can switch between regions, which I have Unotelly DNS settings on, but it would be nice to use the Freeview box for local content so it cuts down on the hopping back and forth.

Will the Panasonic not work with FAT32 formatted drives? I don't think it'll cause me too much drama if not. To watch non-recorded content from my computer I stream it from my Mac via Playback app to my Sony home theatre system. Would I be able to transfer off the Panasonic to the Mac over the network? That would cut out the need for external drives, unless I got nuts recording things and run out of HDD space.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

trig42

5810 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1249655 2-Mar-2015 16:52

You should be able to use DLNA to stream from your PC.

Pity about the reviews on the Samsung, but their Smarts are the best. Another one that you can get for SmartHub is Plex - brilliant for streaming from PC/Mac.

littleheaven

2130 posts

Uber Geek

#1249660 2-Mar-2015 17:14

trig42: Pity about the reviews on the Samsung, but their Smarts are the best. Another one that you can get for SmartHub is Plex - brilliant for streaming from PC/Mac.

Yeah, it really is a pity, I was quite keen on it until I read them. The main complaints seem to be that the series link is patchy, often not adjusting to schedule changes, and navigating through the interface to retrieve and manage recordings was complicated and not user-friendly. Given that's two of the core functions of a PVR, I can imagine it would drive me mental quite quickly. Maybe when I upgrade the old TV I will get a Samsung and get the benefit of the SmartHub that way.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

mattwnz

20155 posts

Uber Geek

#1249661 2-Mar-2015 17:20

jonathan18:
littleheaven:
stocksp: I have a Panasonic dmr-pwt530gz available for sale if you are interested . Used for a couple of weeks and then I picked up a TiVo. In box and like new.

Thanks for the offer, but I would prefer one with a 1TB drive. How do you find the Tivo? Is it Freeview compatible? I know very little about them.

There are many good posts on TiVos on Geekzone, and many of us still use them (we have two) but, personally, I think they're starting to get a bit long in the tooth. I'm kinda hanging out for one of our TiVos to die so I can justify purchasing one of the contemporary crop of recorders.

TiVos are not Freeview-certified, but receive all FTA terrestrial TV/radio channels; TiVo supplies its own EPG, which is 14 days (compared to 8? for the official Freeview one, but in all honesty many listings are missing beyond the first week).

Pros include that they were (when more readily available) well-priced; the remote is supposedly excellent; good ease of use; can transfer material between TiVos (if you purchased a 'key'); can transfer material off TiVos onto a computer (again, with this key), remote recording.

Cons include a dated and clunky interface (SD, relatively slow to respond), small capacity (320GB drives, though potentially expandable or drives can be switched for larger ones), poor ability to play non-TiVo recorded content, no ability to play TiVo-recorded content on other devices on the fly.

They were also one of the first devices to support Quickflix, but everyone knows the quality and future of that service! I've never bothered to use their Casper service either (does it still exist, or was that replaced by Quickflix support?).

(Edit - typos)

I don't think tivos are any more dated today, than they were when they came out. The interface really doesn't matter that much, and it is quicker and better than many others I have seen. SOme interfaces, esepcially freeview certifed devices are terrible. The freeview EPG is that most laggy thing ever on most devices I have used. The tivo EPG is pretty quick. The best part about tivos is you can copy content off them onto your PC to watch later, so the 320Gb drive doesn't really matter to me. I've got 3 of them, so about 1Gb of storage in total. I don't know what I would replace them with. STB of these types are possibly an old technology with ondemand content.

mattwnz

20155 posts

Uber Geek

#1249663 2-Mar-2015 17:23

trig42: You should be able to use DLNA to stream from your PC.

Pity about the reviews on the Samsung, but their Smarts are the best. Another one that you can get for SmartHub is Plex - brilliant for streaming from PC/Mac.

I setup Plex on a $40 PC I got on trademe, and it is really good software for streaming content from other PC's. Got a cheap infrared remote for the PC, and it is a really good system and it can be done on the cheap. I am not a fan of smart tvs, as the smarts behind them date.

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rphenix

985 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1249664 2-Mar-2015 17:28

I would pickup a Tivo HD if they can still be had for cheap on trademe. If you can score a MAK - then you can use the pc client to upload vidoes to the Tivo just fine. Putting in a 2TB hard drive isn't hard, you can record two channels and watch one tivo remote is also a universal remote so can learn to turn TV off and on volume up and down etc series link etc basically it might be an old interface but it works well unlike some PVR's I've seen.

littleheaven

2130 posts

Uber Geek

#1249686 2-Mar-2015 17:49

mattwnz: I setup Plex on a $40 PC I got on trademe, and it is really good software for streaming content from other PC's. Got a cheap infrared remote for the PC, and it is a really good system and it can be done on the cheap. I am not a fan of smart tvs, as the smarts behind them date.

Good to know! I stream from my Mac using a little programme called Playback which is awesome. My home theatre system (which is staying where it is) streams both MP4 and MKV just fine from it over our wireless network, so that part is covered for now, but I will keep Plex in mind if I ever need an alternative solution. I have it on my Mac as a backup at the moment, actually. I'm mostly concerned with being able to view and record Freeview channels, but hoping that whatever I buy will help me cut down on the number of devices I need to pull all my SVOD content together. It's not a major drawback if the new STB can't do that, just a nice to have.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1249720 2-Mar-2015 19:14

I also endorse the Panasonics. They work well. Provided you want something to record and play back, as well as stream the recordings across the network, they work great. However, for more general access to the web and streamed content etc I wouldn't recommend them - you would be better with a custom media player or a HTPC.

I still have a Tivo somewhere (I think I bunged in in the garage a couple of years ago) that I keep meaning to put on Trademe. I decommissioned it in favour of a Panny unit - which I personally prefer, but I know there are differences of opinion on this.

Edit: Typing accuracy

mattwnz

20155 posts

Uber Geek

#1249723 2-Mar-2015 19:22

JimmyH: I also endorse the Panasonics. They work well. Provided you want something to record and play back, as well as stream the recordings across the network, they work great. However, for more general access to the web and streamed content etc I wouldn't recommend them - you would be better with a custom media player or a HTPC.

I still have a Tivo somewhere (I think I bunged in in the garage a couple of years ago) that I keep meaning to put on Trademe. I decommissioned it in favour of a Panny unit - which I personally prefer, but I know there are differences of opinion on this.

Edit: Typing accuracy

They seem to die when they aren't powered, so I would make sure it still powers on before selling. You should get $200 I would think for it, and possibly more as they become rarer

littleheaven

2130 posts

Uber Geek

#1249781 2-Mar-2015 20:28

JimmyH: However, for more general access to the web and streamed content etc I wouldn't recommend them - you would be better with a custom media player or a HTPC.

Noted, thanks. The Apple TV works pretty well for me in that regard for now. May look into setting up a Mac Mini as a media server/streamer at some stage in the future.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

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