Hi, does anyone know when Panasonic will announce the new range of dvd recorders?
Dave

Probably March... for May / June release.

Thanks Gavtech, it'll be interesting to see what they grace us with.
Dave

Hi Dave

I've heard, unofficially only, so I cannot vouch for the veracity... that there is little change.

Some minor tweaks: MP3 ripping & storage, plus USB camcorder transfer.... and DivX playback on all but the non-HDD models... which will please some.

Still no Freeview Playback/Series Link/Digital PDC? Blimey.

(If Panasonic really wanted to wow the market they should introduce the first dual tuner DVD recorder to the UK, IMHO.)

Some of these models due for a March release but it is not yet known which ones.



* DMR-EX98V: DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner, VHS VCR, SD Memory Card Slot, USB Terminal and 250GB HDD
* DMR-EX88: DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner, SD Memory Card Slot, USB Terminal and 400GB HDD
* DMR-EX78: DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner, USB Terminal and 250GB HDD
* DMR-EX768: DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner and 160GB HDD
* DMR-EZ48V: DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner and VHS VCR
* DMR-EZ28: DVD Recorder with Digital Tuner

What's the usb for? Is it so that you can fast transfer video from recorder to pc.
And thanks Gavtech for the information, doesn't look like I'll be updating my recorders this year.
Dave

Hi Dave

There's more information on the USB function here...

See post no 3 :

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=714188

Freeview Playback and series link are now confirmed as present [ ...at least in the HDD models - Not sure about DVD only models ]

DivX also confirmed.

It also looks as though the HDD models will have true 'Pause live TV'.

Excellent news Gavtech - any word on pricing?

None yet.

I'll post as soon as I have any news on that ... but I would expect them to locate exactly the same price points as the machines they are replacing.

Comet are asking £500 for the 400GB EX88.

There's a price that has to fall.

See: http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/pro...ification#spec

BT shop asking £470... but they have evidently misquoted the model number- Calling it the EX48... but referred to within the same ad as EX88.


http://www.shop.bt.com/productview.a...224,4294956401

Crazy price!

I've seen the EX78 (250 Gb) at 330.00:

http://www.cheapelectricals.co.uk/ac...8_dmrex78.html

Both the new Panny and Sony ranges mention 'pause live TV' as a selling point. Existing models have been able to do this in a rudimentary way already so can we assume that the new models will work more like a PVR ie. they will have a continuous automatic buffer which can be paused or rewound on the fly?

Up to now the only DVD recorder range that could do this was the Philips.

Yes - Agree.

BT offering the EX78 at £360.

http://www.kelkoo.be-direct.co.uk/sh...AN-DMREX78EB-K


Regarding the Pause live TV, I'm still waiting to find out if it is actually a true automatic buffer.

Will post, as soon as I know for sure.

Any idea if the DMR-EX768 will have this too? I see it loses USB.


Really? Do you mean the same way PVRs work?

Thanks.

I don't have enough good hard information on either of these points yet to answer definitively.

Panasonic are being really tardy about releasing official information on the new models.

But for what it is worth - as far as I know currently - with the above proviso, it is only the hard disc base machines that have DivX and .... Yes, the Pause live TV uses a true auto buffer like PVR's [ Subject to confirmation ]

Thanks Gav.

I thought they all had a hard disk? The DMR-EX768 does.

I was always led to believe it wasn't possible to PLTV with DVD Recorders. If they do definitely support PLTV I'd definitely be interested and combining my PVR and DVD Recorder into one. PLTV that is whereby it is always recording so I can just Rewind when I like and Pause when I like, obviously this wouldn't work when Recording. The buffer would also need to be stored separately and wipe itself.

The Sony 870 has a kind of PLTV but it puts recording in along with regular recordings so you have to then mess around deleting them. It would've been so easy to section recordings off when you press "Pause TV" and then say once a day/hour wiped that buffer. This would've been dead easy to do even within the constraints of how the Sony 870 works.

Personally I cannot see the PLTV being as efficient or automatic as PVRs. I just cannot see it. All PLTV features on DVD Recorders to date have been rubbish compared to PVRs. My Pioneer 540 cannot even PLTV from the internal tuners, you have to use some rubbish external tuner idea. It's utterly useless.

Re. 'pause live TV' I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Panasonic (and Sony) are just throwing this into the sales blurb of the new range even though it's already been a feature (in a very basic form) since at least last year.

I'm sure that if this really was true pause and rewind live TV (PVR style) they'd have made more of a fuss about it. The only brand that bothers to have this facility on their DVD recorders is Philips. No other range does it up to now.

I'm not sure how the buffer is cleared on the Philips, I think it's when you change the channel.

As far as I know the Philips range doesn't offer Series Link or EPG Link (whereby the start/end time is adjusted if it changes in the schedule). Which the Pioneer, Panasonic and Sony does offer. The Philips doesn't also support DVD-RAM and like the new Panasonic range only offers the Guide+ EPG.

As much as I want PLTV I want EPG Link/Series Link more.

on the ex78 model, the usb flash device is brilliant but just a pity you can't copy movies from the usb to the recorder's hdd.

I hope Sony and Pioneer add that to their new models.

What a pity Panasonic cannot seem to upgrade existing models to Series Link and true Pause Live TV via OTA as my much missed Humax did. But then I suppose we would not be tempted to buy a new machine. I did contact Panasonic their reply was in so many words Tough!

I'm sure that's exactly the reason. PVR makers seem to be more kind to their customers than the big Korean/Japanese makes.