Panasonic DMR-BWT850EB Smart Network 3D Blu-ray DiscTM Recorder with Twin HD - Black

My fourth Panasonic HDD/Disc recorder so maybe I find it easy to use because I'm familiar with Panasonic's way of working, but I reckon it's pretty easy to work out. The User Guide can be a bit cryptic in places but, again, a couple of minutes' trial and error usually sorts it. The machine is my second Blu-Ray machine and it was really easy to copy all the stuff I wanted to save onto Blu-Ray R/W disks and then back onto the new machine's HDD. One nice feature is that it saves the programme info when recording which can then be displayed when searching for a particular episode (press the 'i' button while the item is selected in the playback menu). The, 'smart' function now works at a reasonable speed - the previous model took forever to respond to selection commands - although I'm not quite sure how much I'll use it given that I have a smart TV and I am fairly sure that one cannot record material from The Internet. All in all, a good box if you can afford the price. By the way, I cannot comment on the 3D recording - I have no use for 3D - I bought it mainly for the large HDD, the twin tuner and the ability to write Blu-Ray as well as conventional DVD.

This product was mainly purchased for its capability to write Blu-Ray discs. Overall, it is a good machine but it has some missing functionality. For example, it won't allow titles on unfinalized DVD-RW discs to be copied to the HDD, and it's difficult to correct the 4:3 aspect ratio all of titles on +RW discs when copying them (via the HDD) to a Blu-Ray disc.The User Guide could be better. Some of the FAQs that are on the website should also be in the user guide - for example, it should be explained that the machine can't record straight to discs; it is necessary to record to the HDD first, then burn the recording to disc. When copying to a DVD disc, it is necessary to convert the DR mode recordings to a suitable format (e.g. SP). The conversion can be done in advance, or as part of the copying process.I found one significant bug - a finalized DVD-RW disc containing home recordings won't start if I try to play it through Function Setup -> Media -> Disc. Fortunately I found a solution - use the Device Select button and select Disc, then press Play (to resume playback) or Video Menu to show the title menu. I'm not sure why the Device Select button is mentioned so little in the User Guide!The facilities for watching TV and viewing past programmes using catch-up all work, with one exception - the ITVX app doesn't work (because it tries to use the old ITV Hub). For me, this is not a major problem because I have a smart TV - but people without smart TVs would not be happy at the lack of catch-up facilities for ITV programmes. I'm not holding out too much hope that Panasonic will release an update to fix the problem, but a lot of users would be happier if they did.

We bought this when our previous wi-fi streaming device became unsupported at the same time as our old DVD player packed up. While the free view box was fine, it seemed like a good idea to replace the whole lot with one device. I am glad we did. Three devices of varying sizes, with separate remote controls and endless different cables have been replaced with one unit taking up much less space but which does more than the previous ones could.It was very easy to set the new player up. It came with the power and HDMI cables. According to the instructions, there should have been a coaxial cable too, which was missing in this case. Luckily we already had one so didn't delay in setting up. The simple diagram in the instructions showed where all the relevant wires go. After putting these in place, it was simply a matter of switching everything on and following the on screen prompts to register the details, sign into the home wi-fi and scan for the channels.Everything on the remote control is fairly self explanatory. I have only referred to the written guidance once or twice since setting this up. I can switch between the different functions, Freeview TV, DVD and online catch up services. A nice surprise was finding that I can access the BBC Sounds App through this – previously I only had it on my phone.Recording films and shows is very easy. It simply involves going through the on screen TV guide to highlight the item you want and pressing record on the remote control. This sets the timer. The only thing I have to remember, is not to switch it off at the wall, like I did on my first attempt. It can't do anything without power. The memory equates to between 29-30 hours in total, based on what I have recorded so far and what the screen says is left.This is an excellent product, that does everything it was bought for in an easy to use way.

Excellent product have used this recorder for a number of years and had no trouble.

This was bought to replace an earlier Panasonic Blu-ray hard-drive recorder DMR-BTWT740; an excellent machine (until the aerial termination failed). The new BWT850 is similar in almost every respect, except that while it allows the creation of a list of favourite channels (but now only one list), it is unclear how to access that list afterwards in order to use it! Instead you have to step down through all the dross before you reach the Freeview HD channels 101 onwards every time. Not impressed...

Bought Panasonic due to history. As expected, improvement on last model. So far so good.