Panasonic DMR-XW390

Good product – Purchased two of these a number of years ago both have performed very well, easy to use no glitches so to speak they do everything the book says they will do, it pays to have very good signal if not change antenna & use a booster, tried other brands before these always had programing problems with them not on these.  Show details

Easy to use – Not being a tech wizard I thought this would be out of my league I was pleasantly surprised at the simple way to operate it I would recommend this item and when the time comes I would buy the same concept , it also has no trouble copying the programs, pictures are perfect.  Show details

So frustrating won't buy Panosonic ever again – Sound goes all the time and picture. Have to unplug from power point and a lot of the time that doesn't work either very disappointed and paid top dollar thinking I had a good PVR and all this happened from early on rang Panasonic and all they said was to unplug it.

I love this product – I am 65 years old and I can't understand how these younger people have not been able to master the operation .I use mine every day now that I have retired and have now a second system so I have more options of recording more channels. My original system I have had for years now and have not had one problem with it. I love this player.

Poor remote problems from day 1 – Same as another person here. Ir indicator in display keeps flashing when screen has a still picture. Have improved slightly by masking or receiver with black tape so it doesn't get light from TV. Even mounted beside TV still has issues. Sometimes I need to get up and shield or block for from TV and it comes right. Is a pain. Went to… Read more

pansonics support desk when we first brought it. But didn't have succes. Brought back to store and couldn't simulate so no one believed issue existed.

Seems to be a fault between display emissions on Samsung and Ir filters on dvr

Unfriendy recorder – Too many functions. Function titles are unfamiliar. Remote control is not user friendly and slow responsive. I bought this product without reading any reviews since I have been using Panasonic products for a long time. I hardly use this recorder due to its unfriendliness. Very disappointed. Need to refer to manual every time.

So far so great – The product is working perfectly. Initially I had a problem with the remote control 'talking to' other Panasonic devices, but one email to Panasonic help centre and within 12 hours they emailed me with directions on how to stop this. If I had read the manual I could have figured it out myself. Great product, very smart, well designed and I love it much more than the Sony equivilant which is sitting in the shed gathering dust.

Ready to throw it out of the window – I am so frustrated with not being able to access the (I would think) most basic of trouble shooting problems. I have followed the guide to programming the TV through the DVD remote - no result. I have 2 popular TV channels that say 'no service' when trying to view them through the player even though the GUIDE gives the menu for them. Have tried… Read more

manually programming them to no avail so thought I would rescan the whole lot in case that may work through the FUNCTION menu but the OTHERS option is not highlighted. I have wasted 2 hours looking for a result. Can't even find out how to reset the unit to the factory setting so that I can just try everything again.

Unimpressed – Bought this player after reading mostly positive reviews, so was disappointed after using it for a while. The menus are extremely sluggish. The player cannot be made region free without attending a service centre and expect to pay for the service also. For the price you'd think they could get the basics right. Have to pay to get it made region free, sluggish operation.

A passable DVD Recorder – Bought the XW390 after doing some research on twin tuners and found that this unit seemed to have the least problems unlike some other brands. Really, in the year of 2013 one should be able to buy a DVD recorder with no problems but it isn't so. One thing that you will find is, that if you believe you can insert either a USB memory stick or an… Read more

external hard drive with MPEG2 files on it, and view the files, forget it. It just ain't so. The manual is rather ambiguous about this. It mentions you can't read directly from the USB port but can copy the files to the HDD and then watch the files. Rubbish. This unit will only let you copy MPEG2 files from a Panasonic camcorder. Any other format of MPEG2 files is off limits. Very disappointing, especially when the salesman says it can be done.

The other annoyance is, what engineer decided to place the open disc button on the opposite side to where the tray is, but have the power button there instead. Must have been a Friday when he designed the placement of the button. Compact unit, easy to use Can't view MPEG2 files from the USB port or copy MPEG2 files to the HDD