After the Cricket World Cup finishes I am considering getting rid of MySky HDI, as we now get most of our entertainment via Netflix and Hulu Plus on an AppleTV, thanks to the wonder of Unotelly. I use the MySky recorder often, but I've just realised all the shows I tape are local or Australian and are on the standard Freeview channels. I'm keen to get the best MyFreeview box I can. I've got an old Sony Bravia - one of the original true HD models -so it would be nice to get a bit of fake Smart TV functionality going.
I've been considering this Panasonic model: http://www.panasonic.com/nz/consumer/tvs-home-theatre-and-audio/blu-ray-dvd/blu-ray-recorders/dmr-bwt840gz.html and this Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/nz/consumer/tv-audio-video/blu-ray-player/blu-ray-player/BD-F8500A/XY both of which are recommended on the Freeview site.
The Samsung seems to have an advantage in the apps side of things, with support for both Lightbox and TVNZ On Demand, if I have researched correctly, but I'm not sure how good it is compared to the Panasonic, which seems to have some great features although I can already use my Sony home theatre for the DLNA stuff and the 4k upscaling is no good to me at this point. Plus, it's quite pricey. However it seems to have better customer ratings. I'm assuming both have expandable storage.
Does anyone have experience with either of these who could give me their thoughts? Or is there another unit I should be considering, like MagicTV?
My main requirements are dual channel recording, decent storage space, good wireless performance (although I could get some cable run to ethernet connect if it was totally necessary), good range of apps for streaming services (like Netflix), and it would be nice to have some SmartTV functionality.