Panasonic DMR-PWT530

Long Lasting – I bought this around 2013 but can't be absolutely certain but amazingly it's still going strong and is used every day to record TV. Just for its longevity I give it 5 stars. I add 10 minutes to the end of each program to be sure of not missing anything. Recording is simply done from the program guide. When it dies as it surely will now as I've… Read more ·  1

given it a big rap then I will buy another one. Well here I am 1 year later (2nd of September 2024) and the Panasonic is continuing to operate perfectly and being used every day. I think they can still be purchased for around $450

Poor qaulity – How can Panasonic go from one of the best products to the worst products on the market ignorant staff over priced don’t care about the customer as long as they have sold the rubbish to the customers never will buy anything from Panasonic ever again

Great product - perfect for us – We have found this product to be amazing and we love it for its ease of use. I will note that we aren't tech experts so probably haven't explored all the functionality and we have no interest in recording and playing elsewhere as others seem to want to do when reading other reviews. The product is very easy to use, flawless in its operation and… Read more

has huge memory when recording programs. It is sleek in design and looks good.

The remote control isn't the easiest to use because it is hard to find the button or function you are searching for when you are a beginner but once you learn what button does what you will be very happy with this purchase.

Convenience of product – It enables me to not miss a programme in which I have sn interest for convenience at times I would like to tape from it but that is a bit beyond my comprehension. Apart from that no problems after 3 years I love Panasonic. I may look forward to an upgrade in the future but in the meantime more than satisfied.  Show details

Very Handy Unit – We Have 2 of these in our House, We Tend to Watch programs when it Suits us Not When the channels see Fit To play them. This Saves a Lot of Wasted Time. Our Original unit is about 6yrs old Our Newer one is about 3yr old. Both are Still Going Strong, I would Definatly Recomend them

Does the Job – Bought this to record tv. It does that fine. The machine or remote however, is not that intuitive to use, but once you have it sussed, obviously its not an issue. Recording a tv series is easy from the guide, but if you record a tv based on a specified start and end time, then you have to enter that each time for each day which seems very… Read more

lacking since old vcr recorders had repeat and mon to friday etc options.

Basically, if you just wanting this to record tv and use basic functions, then its a good model.

okay BUT – Totally agree with various others about the woeful USB HDD limitations. Most other things are fine, but a machine that can record TV but then won't let you do a damn thing with your recording other than store it and watch it on the same machine (or store it on a Panasonic-only-configured separate HDD) is a hugely insulting punch in the face and… Read more

kick in the groin to each and every customer who has purchased the item, whether they realise it or not. I was more than happy with this machine, and my Panasonic TV, until I realised this. Now I'll be very unlikely to purchase Panasonic again. Or recommend it to friends or family. Or say anything good about it on the web.

Turn on AND WAIT – My Samsung Tv is tuned through the Panasonic DMR PWT530. I need to turn it off at power point as the DMR turns the TV on 30 min after turned off via remote. When I go to turn it on it takes 10min before it comes on. Not good enough for a $300 purchase. I like recording capability As said in review

An expensive Blu Ray – Bought a Panasonic DMR PWT530 specifically to be able to record tv shows to an external hard drive and watch them on the go on my laptop. But turns out that any external drive you attach to the device will now only work on the PVR itself! Strike 1 Then I discover that the PVR doesn't have a "series record" option like anything invented since… Read more

2005 to automatically record every instance of a show. Strike 2.

It doesn't even offer a daily record option - I have to set a different recording for the same show every day of the week it's on. 5 different recordings a week to record the same show! Strike 3

Then I discover that you can only have a maximum of 30 pre-programmed recordings on the device! How in 2014 is this possible? There are GIGS of space on the hard drive. I should be able to set 1,000s of recordings per week. Strike 4

Then just today I had the final straw.

Daylight savings finished yesterday so the stupid machine decides to change every single recording to an hour earlier than when the show is on to somehow compensate for the time shift. 30 programs to be manually changed again to record the actual show. Strike 5

How are bad are their engineers and designers? How could such a product be put on the market in 2014?

Five hundred bucks down the drain for a stupid machine! Just a glorified blu-ray player!

I am telling all my friends to never again buy Panasonic because it's just such a clunky stupid machine.

I'd love to mail the PVR to so they too can own an expensive piece of junk! The box was nice looking Too much. No series link to record, no daily record option (only weekly), maximum of 30 pre-programmed timer recordings allowed - external hard drive option is useless as you can't use the external drive on any other computers