Panasonic DMR-BW780 / 880

Good - but not good enough – Neither this model (or the DMR BW780, which I also have) recognise blank Bluray disks - 25GB or 50GB removable discs - even if the discs are the same brand (Panasonic). The only Gargantuan disappointment with both units! Show details

Very impressive unit – Used regularly to record and occasionally to watch or record to DVDs for nearly six years with flawless performance. Very easy to use and simply allows set and forget recording. Never missed a recording, except through a mistake of my own and never had a glitch with playback of recordings. Only problem now is the inability to tune into the newer TV stations but nothing much on these yet anyway.

Easy to use and great long lasting quality – I love this machine. It's easy to use, program your favorite TV shows/movies, and excellent picture/sound quality. At the time it was a bit expensive but I saw the competitor's versions and it was impossible to use and took forever to load anything. This device is very quick and can record up to 350+ hours of TV shows/movies. Mine is now 5 years old and still works great.

Good – A good unit, but a weak amplifier for tv reception was a disappointment. So don't be surprised if you have to install an amplified tv antenna as well to get a signal, or at the very least, a little power pack that lets you boost the signal if you have an old antenna or are in a weak reception area. If you have more than 1 digital tv, spring for… Read more

a new antenna. Easy to connect and directly compatible with their Viera tvs. Managed to work out how to record things without reading the manual. You can just bring up the electronic tv guide and click on the programs you want, but it looks like it can only be done for 7 days. Probably a downfall of the online program guide rather than the BR recorder. 2 receivers means at least 2 programs recorded at once. You can find your recorded programs pretty simply. Maybe I'll read the manual one of these days. Bought it in Melb, but live in the country. Worked fine in Melb, but couldn't pick up many channels in the country. After about 5 or 6 hours of messing around, I worked out that the amplifier in the blu-ray recorder is kind of pathetic and the incident showed me that my antenna needs replacement (the one in the VCR was great in comparison). The short term work around was to buy a little signal amplifier from dick smith for about $40 that plugs into the powerpoint and boosts the signal but up to 20 dB. Seems to work, but for about $1000, you would think you would get a half way decent receiver. Also, no HDMI cable in the box. Don't let television stores sell you one for $90 and give you the line about quality. It's all rubbish. You can get a good one them for half that price from places like Dick Smith that came out of the same factory.

Sleek design, but let down by faulty blu-ray laser! – The BW-780 is a sleek unit, however after only 18 months (now out of warranty) of minimal use the Blu-ray laser on my unit has died - basically making the unit a very expensive DVD player/recorder and PVR. Going to contact Panasonic to see how much to repair, but may just put it in the corner to gather dust. Atleast my cheapo Kogan Blu-Ray LED… Read more

TV combo is still going strong (will see if that lasts more than 18 months). I still can't fathom why Pioneer dropped all of their recorders, they were the best recorders ever designed and may fail, but only after extensive use and 4-8 years, not 18 months like these Panasonic machines! Sleek, reasonably simple to use Slow to do everything, cheap/non working blu-ray laser (obviously), can't set variable recording setting for DVD

Excellent – This a very good unit, now available for $890.00 at some retail stores. This unit is great in low signal areas!! If you all do a bit of research on the net, you'll find that this unit actually has a very sensitive tuner and the issue with no reception is caused by having too strong a signal in your area, resolved by buying an attenuator from Dick… Read more ·  1

Smith or Jaycar (http://jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=LT3050) for around $13.00. This unit is great in low signal areas!! None that I can think of.

Terrible – Returned the second unit to Harvey Norman, they don't like giving refunds thats for sure, but I will confine my opinion to the Panasonic DMR-BW880 Blu-ray DVD recorder. I had to call Panasonic customer service to ask when the antenuator would be available as they didn't answer my email. I was told around a month?? So Panasonic expects me to… Read more

purchase a $1000 machine and then wait this long before I can use it! I was also informed that the part required to enable the DMR-BW880 to work is indeed an attenuator. Panasonic informed me that the DMR-BW880 player is so good that the TV signals overload the units receiver and hence the need for the attenuator. If this was the case every DMR-BW880 player sold in a city or town, where TV signals are at their stongest, would be having problems and regional areas with a weaker signal would be OK. The opposite is true so there is more wrong with this player than Panasonic is letting on. I suspect a lousy receiver and tuner and Panasonics fix is something along the lines of a notch filter or the like to modify the incoming signal frequency to match the DMR-BW880 tuner. All in all a jerry rigged effort to try and rectify a faulty product. It is a shame Panasonic can't explain the problem with their range of 2010 DVD recorders fully on their website as the amount of aggravation this has caused me will preclude me from purchasing another Panasonic product Nothing. I suppose it has some but it is a mute point if it doesn't work! Absolutely a con! Panasonic is conning people by selling this unit without disclosing that it needs another piece of equipment to make it work. Does not work in regional areas. Weak/off channel? receiver. Poor Panasonic customer service. Rude Panasonic customer service person. Panasonic won't disclose the full problems with the DMR-BW880 recorder. Known issues and problems with the DMR-BW880 recorder were not disclosed at the time of purchase.

Good – Fantastic product, highly recommended if your after to update from the older DVD recorders and enter the Blu- Ray/ Hardrive recording times. Great for recording Digital TV including two channels at once. Easy to use and set up is mostly automatic. Blu-Ray movies worked with ease and not bad loading times. Good looks and size for the unit. Little… Read more

bit on the expensive side. Possibly the fact that it can do a lot of different things that most people would probably never use. No Wi Fi.

Bad – In SD, a DVD recorded on a PC with a bitstream of 9 Mbps provides superior playback on the unit as one which has been recorded on it at the highest setting. In HD, the makers own camera has a bitstream of 13 Mbps, a Sanyo GH3 camera is half the size, half the price and records with a bitstream of 19.5 Mbps, what a quality difference. Even… Read more

converting the Sanyo 264-HD to Panasonic lesser AVCHD, no recordings are peossible to the blue ray disc. It seems that the greates effort in design has been placed in making it incompbatible with other brand products.

This also goes for the USB which is claimed to conform to 2.0, a typical PC standard. It wont even see the PC when connected nor any other USB source.

As is, only TV transmissions can be recorded for which other units are available for a much lower price.

All tests done have been on a 46 inch HD LED TV and with DVD, the units recording quality in the highest setting does not match that done by a PC. In HD, the recorded detail and quality equals that of a Sanyo GH3 camera, which also operates as a play back unit with through a HDMI cable, AVI at SD and USB to the PC. Nice, readable front display, simultanious recording of 2 TV channels. Selling now for $ 899 from a fresh food people owned retailer, I even got it for $ 799 from another large retailer. But, you pay for the brand and not for the product, which is very limited in performance and use. It will only record in SD (low quality) from outside sources and can NOT communicate with a computer through the USB port.

HD recordings are only possible with the makers own expensive and bulky cameras!