Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


Chainsaw

357 posts

Ultimate Geek


#74698 5-Jan-2011 17:40
Send private message

My DVD player is scratching discs. I still use my VCR to record stuff. I have a Samsung 40" HD TV with freeview built-in.

It looks like the PanasonicBW880GZK is the only one? http://www.panasonic.co.nz/at-home/entertainment/blu-ray-products/blu-ray-players-recorders/dmr-bw880gzk.html

If I move to somewhere I can't get terrestrial Freeview, will it still get satellite?

Or maybe I should get home theatre (about which I know nothing).

Thoughts appreciated.

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2
mattRSK
822 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #424383 5-Jan-2011 18:55
Send private message


dontpanic42
1574 posts

Uber Geek


  #424395 5-Jan-2011 19:57
Send private message

mattRSK: Have you thought about getting a PS3 with Play TV?
http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4d24078d025219c6273fc0a87f3b0661/Product/View/YG0255P4


+1 to that.
I've been using the PS3 - PlayTV combination for over a year now. It's great. Haven't looked back since.

Gilco2
1556 posts

Uber Geek


#424406 5-Jan-2011 20:37
Send private message

i have the Panasonic 880.  I like it with couple of hates.  Hate the freeview guide to use to record. I have to switch to the channel I want to record then wait while the guide loads then I can select record.  Quicker to do timer record.   Seems maximum record on HDD is 72 hours. Its dr only. Cant select HE or any other quality settings when recording tv programs.  Only selectable when recording from external source.  Not bad otherwise.




HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard  graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner,  Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi




Chainsaw

357 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #424482 5-Jan-2011 23:45
Send private message

mattRSK: Have you thought about getting a PS3 with Play TV?
http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4d24078d025219c6273fc0a87f3b0661/Product/View/YG0255P4
No, because I have no idea what that is! But the less boxes the better for me. Can it record to blu discs?

Chainsaw

357 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #424483 5-Jan-2011 23:46
Send private message

Gilco2: Its dr only. Cant select HE or any other quality settings when recording tv programs.

Could you please explain what that means?

Chainsaw

357 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #424484 5-Jan-2011 23:47
Send private message

dontpanic42: +1 to that.
I've been using the PS3 - PlayTV combination for over a year now. It's great. Haven't looked back since.

There must be some things that combo lacks that things like the Panasonic have?

Gilco2
1556 posts

Uber Geek


#424522 6-Jan-2011 07:27
Send private message

Chainsaw:
Gilco2: Its dr only. Cant select HE or any other quality settings when recording tv programs.

Could you please explain what that means?

HE is just one of the quality settings for recording. There are quite a few quality settings which take up less space on the hdd. depending on setting you can have 70hour or over 300 hour capacity on hard drive.  They dont give you that option when recording live tv.
Also Terrestrial on.  If I move to where terrestrial only is, I would use satelite receiver hooked up to this to record 1 program




HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard  graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner,  Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi


 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
Gilco2
1556 posts

Uber Geek


#424523 6-Jan-2011 07:30
Send private message

the panasonic records 2 channela at once and you can watch a 3rd.  I have put media files on 500GB drive and it reads them.  Tried a 1TB drive but havent got it to work yet.  You can watch DVD/Bluray while recording. you can watch a hdd recording while recording programs




HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard  graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner,  Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi


Chainsaw

357 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #424772 6-Jan-2011 20:45
Send private message

Just read that Play TV requires broadband connection for EPG and can't record two things at once - rules that out. Seems a reasonable option if you already have a PS3, but that's not me.

The only glitch, for me, with the Panny so far seems to be it's probably not region-free, and I haven't been able to find a hack for it. It seems to be the ONLY Blu-ray/Freeview/HDD recorder available at present in NZ, staggering, I thought there'd be heaps!

Gilco2
1556 posts

Uber Geek


#424869 7-Jan-2011 07:02
Send private message

The Panasonic is not region free BUT you take it to your nearest authorized repairer with your receipt and they will make it region free for free.  I read it here on another thread and I have contacted the one nearest and they will do it while I wait.  I will have mine done once things settle from holiday period




HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard  graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner,  Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi


JimmyH
2886 posts

Uber Geek


  #425034 7-Jan-2011 18:49
Send private message

@Gilco2

Be aware that they only make it region-free for DVD playback. Blu-Rays are still region locked. This is what I was advised by the guy in JB Hifi.

Gilco2
1556 posts

Uber Geek


#425039 7-Jan-2011 19:20
Send private message

oops, yes you are correct, I forgot to say that DVD regionfree only. Bluray still region locked.  Been thinking I may not bother with getting mine done.  I have about 20 zone 1 disks and I will back them to computer




HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard  graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner,  Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi


thorax
75 posts

Master Geek


  #425040 7-Jan-2011 19:27
Send private message

Could you deal with having a htpc ?

It would provide you with the most features and be upgradable in the future.

Alot more work in setting it all up to begin with. but could save yourself some money if done right.


Dunnersfella
4086 posts

Uber Geek


  #425046 7-Jan-2011 19:45
Send private message

The quickest and easiest way is to get a Panasonic DVD recorder...
The most affordable / functional would be a Freeview Set Top Box (STB) and a seperate BluRay player - working in tandem.
Personally, I have enough issues with multiple boxes in the lounge - so a simple, do it all box works for me. But then, I have MySky...

sbiddle
30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
Trusted
Biddle Corp
Lifetime subscriber

  #425049 7-Jan-2011 19:54
Send private message

Gilco2:
Chainsaw:
Gilco2: Its dr only. Cant select HE or any other quality settings when recording tv programs.

Could you please explain what that means?

HE is just one of the quality settings for recording. There are quite a few quality settings which take up less space on the hdd. depending on setting you can have 70hour or over 300 hour capacity on hard drive.  They dont give you that option when recording live tv.
Also Terrestrial on.  If I move to where terrestrial only is, I would use satelite receiver hooked up to this to record 1 program


Virtually every STB that's out there now just dumps the raw MPEG TS (transport stream) straight to HDD. This means it requires no transcoding and is the best way of doing things.

To transcode a 1080i H.264 TS is realtime you need some very serious CPU performance and would probably find the box is suddenly a lot more expensive. The older Panasonic DVD unit took ages to trancode H.264 to MPEG2 to burn DVD's.

 1 | 2
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.