Panasonic DMR-BS850 Freesat Blu-ray & HDD Recorder Review

Hello all,

I am a bit naive about the DMR-BS850...

1) How do I get freesat from the DMR-BS850?
2) Do I simply link it to a satellite then I can I watch FREESAT?
3) Should I already have FREESAT before buying the DMR-BS850?

I've had one for about a month now and I'm quite disappointed. It is really slow switching from EPG to HDD index to channel selected. A quick view of the HDD index takes you about a minute to get you back to what you were watching live before.

The Setup menu is buried beneath about 4 layers of options which was a little tiresome if you need to change anything.

The words "Radio Channel" burn the centre of your plasma screen when a satellite radio channel is selected even with screen saver set to "ON". Who thought of that one! I spoke to Panny and they say this can't be swithced off and if I don't want screen burn to turn down the brightness on my TV everytime I want to listen to radio. Really user friendly stuff. This sounds like a lab testing feature which has not been removed from consumer models. I'm not sure if they can do something about this with a software update.

If you record consecutive programs you are stuck with those 2 channels for the few minutes either side of when the second program starts recording. This is quite annoying if you are watching the cricket but your wife is recording Corrie and Eastenders! This may not be unique to this Panny though as I've only had a single tuner PVR before. I still manage to get round this by using the TV's third tuner but had hoped not to have to do this anymore.

There is no EPG search function. The Humax PVR let's you search for program name (and actor, director, I think) and it will find all programs in the next week or so. The Panny has a basic filter (e.g. sport, movies) but even that doesn't work very well. I assume this is because the broadcasters don't send out the required tabs.

Skipping through commercial breaks is also quite laborious. You either have to "manual skip" x 5 to get through 5 minutes and then FF or rewind to the point you want. Or simply fast forward. Chapter skip does not seem to work. Again not sure if that is the Panny or the broadcasters. My previous Sony was much more slick although with about a 50% success rate depedning on the channel recorded.

On the plus side, it let's you archive recordings into folders on the HDD which help uncluter the index.

Generally I like this unit. When it displays stuff on the screen, it looks really good - and bear in mind that is what you will spend the majority of your time doing.

Sadly, the software interface feels like it was programmed in the way the physical unit has probably been built - made up of different technologies bolted together. The interface is, indeed, clumsy and slow and could take a leaf out of the more intuitive TIVO or even the childishly simple SKY interface. It surprises me that large companies do so much work to get an amazing box of electronics to market and then spoil it by slapping on a really poor interface (and a very poor manual - which, by the way, you should download before you buy it to ensure it does what you think it should because as some of these reviews indicate it fails to do some things you would have thought were no brainers).

Setting up is really simple - well done to Panasonic for getting that bit right. I was really relieved to find out I could just unscrew my twin satellite feeds from that awful SKY box and screwed them into this unit. Be aware though that the box comes with no SCART nor HDMI leads. It also doesnt even have one free blank disc either so you should pre-order some of those too (I would add that Panasonic do offer you a couple of free discs but instead of putting them in the box, they get you to jump through hoops by sending off a large SAE in another large envelope with a photocopy of your receipt to a company who will send you them - I suspect this is in order to get your address and personal data so they can market to you later - poor, poor show Panasonic)

Lastly, I would mention a possible inherent fault that has meant be swapping my unit over only to find my new unit has the same problem. When I switch to Viera Cast (The Internet Module that allows certain widgets e.g. YouTube to access the net) I lose all sound so I can watch a YouTube Video but its silent. Although there are only three widgets available (excluding weather and share prices) - YouTube, Picasa and Tagesschau (a German Streaming News Channel), oddly I only get sound when I switch to Tagesschau but it switches off again as soon as I try and watch a YouTube video. This bug was denied by the Panasonic Helpline but acknowledged by Panasonic when my local dealer spoke to "their support". They have tried to blame my Virgin Media ISP but, as bad as Virgin Media is, I don't think they have a racist firewall that only lets through German IP traffic but not English. Also the system pings as you switch between menus are not dictated by IP traffic and they go silent as well. I will put up with this - but you may not want to - so beware!

So to sum up, great technology, great picture - crudely bolted together and rushed to market which might give you a few nasty surprises unless you checkit out thoroughly first.