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Panasonic Freeview Play PVR's |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Panasonic Freeview Play PVR's
Does anyone have any info on when the Panasonic Freeview Play PVR's are being released? There is nothing on their web site other than the images and specs.
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
Does anyone have any info on when the Panasonic Freeview Play PVR's are being released? There is nothing on their web site other than the images and specs.
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 5
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Copied & pasted from my reply on the FVP-400T page:
Looks like the new Panasonic Freeview Play recorders are now available, but John Lewis are (incorrectly) saying the DMR-HWT250EB and DMR-HWT150EB both have Blu Ray players. If I buy one, do you think they should supply a DMR-PWT550EB instead? I was waiting patiently for the new Hummy, but am not impressed by some of the news here, so await news on the Panny's - or I may just give up & get a BT Youview for £`150! |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
Copied & pasted from my reply on the FVP-400T page:
Looks like the new Panasonic Freeview Play recorders are now available, but John Lewis are (incorrectly) saying the DMR-HWT250EB and DMR-HWT150EB both have Blu Ray players. If I buy one, do you think they should supply a DMR-PWT550EB instead? I was waiting patiently for the new Hummy, but am not impressed by some of the news here, so await news on the Panny's - or I may just give up & get a BT Youview for £`150!
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 5
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They are there, but not were you expect them: they have listed them under Blu-Ray & DVD players.
http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-d...order/p2257251 http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-d...order/p2257227 http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-d...order/p2199611 Oops! |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
They are there, but not were you expect them: they have listed them under Blu-Ray & DVD players.
http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-d...order/p2257251 http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-d...order/p2257227 http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-d...order/p2199611 Oops! |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 6,571
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Quote:
Just found them but as you say description is wrong, price is a bit higher than other places as well. I want to wait until I have a look at the user interface, if it is like the TV's Freeview Play then I will be more than pleased.
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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John Lewis will price match most places.....Like you, I'm just waiting to check out the UI. If it's like the TV then My Humax with it's awful UI will be going back and the Panasonic will be bought.
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 6,571
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Quote:
There is one negative point that i discovered 2 or 3 years ago which made me buy a samsung smart PVR and that was while you were recording you couldn't use the app side of things,I hope this has been improved.
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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New Panasonic PVR's
Now that some of the new Panasonic PVR's have filtered into some of the retailers, can anyone who has had the opportunity to see or try one or even buy one, can you please give your opinion as to what you think of them.
![]() PS: I am referring to the DMR-HWT250 and 150 |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 501
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There is a manual for it here:
http://www.panasonic.com/content/dam...structions.pdf |
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
There is a manual for it here:
http://www.panasonic.com/content/dam...structions.pdf No doubt their EPG is going to be good as opposed to Humax but I want more for all that extra cost that I would have to pay.
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Manchester
Posts: 37
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Quote:
I might be giving the Panny a miss due to a few negative points. I would have put up with just two tuners but you cannot watch a live third program while recording two (on my DigitalStream PVR I can do this). On the Panny you cannot use the App side of things for example Netflix while you are recording. The skip button is limited to 60sec.
No doubt their EPG is going to be good as opposed to Humax but I want more for all that extra cost that I would have to pay. ![]() To address your points: 1. Yes, there are only 2 tuners. However, you can watch a 3rd channel live, provided it's on the same mux as either of the recording programmes. When changing channels it automatically skips channels not on those muxes. 2. Netflix/Amazon/etc do work whilst recording. It seems they've resolved this issue. 3. Yes, the skip forward is hard-coded to 60 seconds. However, one nice feature is that recordings are automatically 'bookmarked' following the recording, and it does a decent job of finding the adverts. A few issues: 1. All 'Freeview Play' elements (EPG, catch up screen, etc) seem just slapped on top of the standard Panasonic interface, which is getting very long in the tooth. The recording list, to-be-recorded list, etc are all the standard Panasonic interface. Everything Freeview Play-related feels like an app running on top of the regular interface...maybe it is? 2. No EPG search functionality. You have to look through the EPG manually; you cannot search for a title, actor, etc at all. I'm hoping this will be resolved with the firmware update. 3. Can't bring up the EPG (or anything else, really) while viewing a recording. It brings you back to live TV and then brings up the guide. This is annoying when you're watching a recording and see an advert for something you'd like to record and have to deal with this. 4. Can't record from the buffer. At least I can't find any way to do it. It always starts the recording from the moment I press record. 5. Pause/rewind aren't very well integrated into live TV. You 'activate' them by pressing pause or rewind, but now you're in a 'pause live TV' mode, which you have to specifically exit out of to use any other features. Also, skip back/forward don't work as expected with live TV or whilst in this 'pause live TV' mode. 6. No standard time bar at the bottom when pausing, rewind, fast-forward, or skip back/forward. You have to press 'info' first and even then the time display is very confusing. 7. Mobile scheduling/viewing works but is incredibly slow and clunky. And again there's no search function. Out and about and hear about an interesting new show you want to record? Good luck finding it and scheduling it with the app. 8. The DLNA server seems to be compatible only with other Panasonic equipment? I was looking forward to viewing recordings (and possibly live TV) on my other TVs throughout the house (which are Samsung). They don't see the Panasonic DVR's DLNA server at all. The only thing that can see/use it is my Panasonic TV. 9. There is no way to disable the front panel display; you can only dim it. I might have to resort to black electrical tape if this isn't resolved. 10. Lackluster app selection...a perennial issue with Panasonic. At least Netflix and Amazon are there. All the BBC apps are there as well. And ITV, All4, Demand5 will be there after the firmware update presumably. (I really wish NowTV would start supporting all the major TV brands.) Other than the Freeview Play functionality, I have no idea if any of this will be resolved in the upcoming or future firmware updates. I'm on the fence as to whether I want to keep this just for the sake of having Freeview. I've used TiVo for years (most recently with Virgin, but for many years before that in the USA), and I still consider TiVo the gold standard for a DVR. (The Virgin models are horribly slow compared to the American models, but they do exactly what you expect them to do, and they do it well.) |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
I picked up the DMR-PWT550EB from John Lewis on Monday. It currently says the Freeview Play features are 'coming soon', so the catch-up services aren't there and the guide is only half-functional. I would expect a firmware update will be out within the next week if these are meant to be officially available next week.
To address your points: 1. Yes, there are only 2 tuners. However, you can watch a 3rd channel live, provided it's on the same mux as either of the recording programmes. When changing channels it automatically skips channels not on those muxes. 2. Netflix/Amazon/etc do work whilst recording. It seems they've resolved this issue. 3. Yes, the skip forward is hard-coded to 60 seconds. However, one nice feature is that recordings are automatically 'bookmarked' following the recording, and it does a decent job of finding the adverts. A few issues: 1. All 'Freeview Play' elements (EPG, catch up screen, etc) seem just slapped on top of the standard Panasonic interface, which is getting very long in the tooth. The recording list, to-be-recorded list, etc are all the standard Panasonic interface. Everything Freeview Play-related feels like an app running on top of the regular interface...maybe it is? 2. No EPG search functionality. You have to look through the EPG manually; you cannot search for a title, actor, etc at all. I'm hoping this will be resolved with the firmware update. 3. Can't bring up the EPG (or anything else, really) while viewing a recording. It brings you back to live TV and then brings up the guide. This is annoying when you're watching a recording and see an advert for something you'd like to record and have to deal with this. 4. Can't record from the buffer. At least I can't find any way to do it. It always starts the recording from the moment I press record. 5. Pause/rewind aren't very well integrated into live TV. You 'activate' them by pressing pause or rewind, but now you're in a 'pause live TV' mode, which you have to specifically exit out of to use any other features. Also, skip back/forward don't work as expected with live TV or whilst in this 'pause live TV' mode. 6. No standard time bar at the bottom when pausing, rewind, fast-forward, or skip back/forward. You have to press 'info' first and even then the time display is very confusing. 7. Mobile scheduling/viewing works but is incredibly slow and clunky. And again there's no search function. Out and about and hear about an interesting new show you want to record? Good luck finding it and scheduling it with the app. 8. The DLNA server seems to be compatible only with other Panasonic equipment? I was looking forward to viewing recordings (and possibly live TV) on my other TVs throughout the house (which are Samsung). They don't see the Panasonic DVR's DLNA server at all. The only thing that can see/use it is my Panasonic TV. 9. There is no way to disable the front panel display; you can only dim it. I might have to resort to black electrical tape if this isn't resolved. 10. Lackluster app selection...a perennial issue with Panasonic. At least Netflix and Amazon are there. All the BBC apps are there as well. And ITV, All4, Demand5 will be there after the firmware update presumably. (I really wish NowTV would start supporting all the major TV brands.) Other than the Freeview Play functionality, I have no idea if any of this will be resolved in the upcoming or future firmware updates. I'm on the fence as to whether I want to keep this just for the sake of having Freeview. I've used TiVo for years (most recently with Virgin, but for many years before that in the USA), and I still consider TiVo the gold standard for a DVR. (The Virgin models are horribly slow compared to the American models, but they do exactly what you expect them to do, and they do it well.) Thanks for the low down on what you have found so far. Viewing that third channel live while recording two was important to me, I only use HD BBC1, BBC2, ITV and CH.4. The other was being able to use the likes of Netflix while recording TV channels, it's about time they got round to fixing that. Would you mind checking those out again once you have been able to do the Freeview Play update. Thanks. |
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 5
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Looks like John Lewis have amended the descriptions of the '150 and 250' models to remove the reference to them to be able to play Blu Ray DVD. Shame they still have them listed under the DVD/Blu ray section (despite me emailing them on Saturday, from which I got no response), and the spec of both still quotes 'DVD+R/RW/DVD-R/RW/DVD-RAM/DVDRAM'
Doh! |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
I picked up the DMR-PWT550EB from John Lewis on Monday. It currently says the Freeview Play features are 'coming soon', so the catch-up services aren't there and the guide is only half-functional. I would expect a firmware update will be out within the next week if these are meant to be officially available next week.
To address your points: 1. Yes, there are only 2 tuners. However, you can watch a 3rd channel live, provided it's on the same mux as either of the recording programmes. When changing channels it automatically skips channels not on those muxes. 2. Netflix/Amazon/etc do work whilst recording. It seems they've resolved this issue. 3. Yes, the skip forward is hard-coded to 60 seconds. However, one nice feature is that recordings are automatically 'bookmarked' following the recording, and it does a decent job of finding the adverts. A few issues: 1. All 'Freeview Play' elements (EPG, catch up screen, etc) seem just slapped on top of the standard Panasonic interface, which is getting very long in the tooth. The recording list, to-be-recorded list, etc are all the standard Panasonic interface. Everything Freeview Play-related feels like an app running on top of the regular interface...maybe it is? 2. No EPG search functionality. You have to look through the EPG manually; you cannot search for a title, actor, etc at all. I'm hoping this will be resolved with the firmware update. 3. Can't bring up the EPG (or anything else, really) while viewing a recording. It brings you back to live TV and then brings up the guide. This is annoying when you're watching a recording and see an advert for something you'd like to record and have to deal with this. 4. Can't record from the buffer. At least I can't find any way to do it. It always starts the recording from the moment I press record. 5. Pause/rewind aren't very well integrated into live TV. You 'activate' them by pressing pause or rewind, but now you're in a 'pause live TV' mode, which you have to specifically exit out of to use any other features. Also, skip back/forward don't work as expected with live TV or whilst in this 'pause live TV' mode. 6. No standard time bar at the bottom when pausing, rewind, fast-forward, or skip back/forward. You have to press 'info' first and even then the time display is very confusing. 7. Mobile scheduling/viewing works but is incredibly slow and clunky. And again there's no search function. Out and about and hear about an interesting new show you want to record? Good luck finding it and scheduling it with the app. 8. The DLNA server seems to be compatible only with other Panasonic equipment? I was looking forward to viewing recordings (and possibly live TV) on my other TVs throughout the house (which are Samsung). They don't see the Panasonic DVR's DLNA server at all. The only thing that can see/use it is my Panasonic TV. 9. There is no way to disable the front panel display; you can only dim it. I might have to resort to black electrical tape if this isn't resolved. 10. Lackluster app selection...a perennial issue with Panasonic. At least Netflix and Amazon are there. All the BBC apps are there as well. And ITV, All4, Demand5 will be there after the firmware update presumably. (I really wish NowTV would start supporting all the major TV brands.) Other than the Freeview Play functionality, I have no idea if any of this will be resolved in the upcoming or future firmware updates. I'm on the fence as to whether I want to keep this just for the sake of having Freeview. I've used TiVo for years (most recently with Virgin, but for many years before that in the USA), and I still consider TiVo the gold standard for a DVR. (The Virgin models are horribly slow compared to the American models, but they do exactly what you expect them to do, and they do it well.) |
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Manchester
Posts: 37
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I agree. I'm not making my final decision until I see what the firmware update brings. I think JL gives 90 days for return anyway.
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Lancs
Posts: 14,455
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Mine is an older model DMR BW750 but i may wait longer unless this one packs up until 4K comes in proper.
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
I agree. I'm not making my final decision until I see what the firmware update brings. I think JL gives 90 days for return anyway.
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Manchester
Posts: 37
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Nothing yet. Any day now I would think.
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#21 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
Nothing yet. Any day now I would think.
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,738
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Quote:
I agree. I'm not making my final decision until I see what the firmware update brings. I think JL gives 90 days for return anyway.
Quote:
Terms & conditions
◾If you're unhappy with your purchase, please let us know. Unless faulty, we'd like this to be within 90 days of purchase ◾... ◾It's important that any unwanted item, unless faulty, is returned in a re-saleable condition. We'd expect this to mean that you've kept all original packaging and labels, and that it's undamaged and unused ◾... |
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#23 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,669
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There is a manual for it here:
http://www.panasonic.com/content/dam...structions.pdf |
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 501
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Thanks Big-les.
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 109
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Quote:
Although this manual refers to the correct model number it doesn't appear to be the correct model, I got my manual from here.
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