Refine search for Home Cinema

Panasonic DMR-EX769 DVD/HDD Freeview PVR Review

Author Danny Phillips
Published 19th Apr 2009
Manufacturer Panasonic
Price £210.25 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed £241.79 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price Click here
Design Score 7 for Design
Features Score 8 for Features
Performance Score 9 for Performance
Value Score 8 for Value
Overall Score 8 for Overall
Panasonic DMR-EX769 DVD/HDD Freeview PVR
Bookmark and Share discuss this article  4 comments    Email  Email trustedreviews newslettersTrustedReviews Newsletters

On the whole the unit is slick and responsive. The ergonomic remote is close to perfection, using the now customary large buttons and foolproof labelling. The buttons are laid out in such an intuitive way that we only needed to look at it for the rarely-used functions. The unit features Power Save and Quick Start standby modes, and in the former it takes longer to boot up and shuts down the Scart loopthrough, while the latter uses a lot more power (13W compared with 0.9W) but starts up in a few seconds.


Although the EX769 doesn't offer direct bitstream video recording to the hard-disk like Panasonic's new Blu-ray recorders, it still produces excellent recorded picture quality in XP mode. Edges are sharp as a scalpel with no colour bleed to sully the clarity, while the strength and purity of its colour reproduction gives the image instantly gratifying warmth and richness, which looks great with daytime TV's brightly-lit studios and eye catching graphics. This model lacks the Chroma Processor found on the EX89, but even without it the captured colours look stunning.

You get more of the same in SP mode, with the slightly lower bitrate introducing a smidgeon of extra mosquito noise around edges. But the real revelation is LP mode, which retains a high amount of detail and only a slight increase in noise, making this a great option for archiving lots of content on a single DVD disc. EP mode's soft, juddery pictures are no good for archiving but okay for watching once if disc space is tight.


The EX769 also makes a top-notch DVD player, replaying our Men In Black disc with fantastic sharpness and strong, realistic colours. Will Smith's black suit looks satisfyingly solid with lots of shading visible within it, while the combination of crisp 1080p upscaling and Panasonic's Adaptive HD Enhancer makes the picture look effortlessly sharp, which helps when conveying the intricate textures of the movie's alien effects.


Verdict

If you want a solid, dependable DVD/HDD recorder that places the emphasis on TV viewing and recording duties over flashy multimedia trickery, then the EX769 is a great option. It's bursting with indispensible recording and editing functionality, and although you don't get USB ports and SD card slots, the rest of the connections are generous. Recordings look superb too, but perhaps the deck's biggest virtue is its wonderfully simple user interface, which makes up for in simplicity what it lacks in glamour. If we're being picky, perhaps that price tag should have been even lower considering how many of the EX79's features and connections have been stripped out, but despite that the EX769 certainly won't leave you feeling short-changed.

 

Newsletters

Register to receive the latest Reviews and News Headlines directly to your Inbox every day, and enter our regular competitions. More Info.

Your Name


Email Address


Latest 4 of 4 Comments

Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.

comment Pbryanw said on 19th April 2009

I see that the Countdown screenshot is identical to the one featured in the Panasonic Panasonic DMR-EX79 review. Also a few of the other EPG screenshots also seem to be identical. ... more

comment ffrankmccaffery said on 19th April 2009

less than sum of its parts as always with panasonic. Sony although now a shadow of its former self at least maintains a balance between features and practicality. The reviewer ment... more

comment Alan Unwin said on 20th June 2009

I notice that the specs page suggests that this item can view divx but according to the manual this is not the case and I cannot view and dvd's in divx that I have on my syste... more

comment Foxtrot said on 30th August 2009

Suddenly in need of an inexpensive but reliable & simple to operate DVD recorder I was encouraged by your review of the DMR-EX768 to search for that model locally. I soon disco... more

See all 4 comments on this article.

add comment Add your comment

You must be logged in to comment. Login or register here.