Blimey, that was quick. We’ve only just had a hands on with the DMR-BS850 and already Panasonic has let slip the price. Find out how much you’ll need to shell out for the ultimate set-top box after the jump!
How much do you reckon? The DMR-BS850 is a Blu-Ray player, Blu-Ray recorder, PVR and media streamer all in one. Oh, and there’re two Freesat receivers inside too.
£400? £500? No such luck. We’ve just heard from a Panasonic rep that the DMR-BS850 will cost “around a thousand pounds.” Yes, our heart sank when we heard that too, but after thinking about it for a while it’s not too bad.
See, the only other Freesat recorder, the Foxsat HDR, currently costs £300. Add a separate Blu-Ray recorder and you’ll need to add another £200 at least, and that’s for an entry level SONY RDRHXD890B.
All that, and you still won’t be able to easily transfer content from one to the other, or stream it around the house. Both things the Panasonic DMR-BS850 handles easily.
OK, so a grand is still pricey. But is it too pricey, given that once you’ve got yourself a DMR-BS850 you might never need another set-top box? Give us your thoughts below.
TBC | £1,000 | Panasonic
Nice piece of kit but £1000 is too expensive. It needs to be half this price to be popular.
Most people with HD TVs already have a blu-ray player, for £274 extra you can add a Humax PVR with a 4* rating.
Blank blu-ray disks are too expensive and personally I find recording to hard-drive adequate. We previously had a combined DVD recorder and hard drive and only ever once recorded to DVD.
In a year or two it will be possible to pick up a low cost stand alone blu-ray recorder and I would consider upgrading my player when that time comes.
Actually Simon, I think you’re wrong. Most people with HDTVs don’t have any HD source at all. Sky has 780k HD subscribers, while Freesat has 200k. Virgin Media has 600k. In total that means there are only around 1.6 million HD subscribers in the UK, and Blu-Ray sales are still tiny too: 1.5 million discs in December, compared to 250 million DVDs. I think a single box that brings HD in all its forms is a great idea, and yeah, £1,000 is pricey, but it won’t stay that way for very long.
I agree with Simon. I have a PS3 (comes with DLNA media player and Blu-ray player for £300) and networked 1GB media server and subscribe to Virgin HD. I’m considering Freesat to increase my HD viewing without additional subscription. I would not consider the DMR-BS850 for more than £500.
A grand is way too much for a blue-ray recorder … but I remember when I bought my first Panny E-85. It cost nigh-on £600 (about 5 years ago). When it recently died from overwork, I bought a replacement recorder (bigger hard drive) for about £220.
Based on that, today’s £1000 will be about £350 in a few year’s time …
Personally I’m in the market for a bluray player, Freesat receiver and was considering a FoxSat HDR – I’m only new to HDTV (KRP 500A) so this news is very timely indeed.
I hope there will be indepth reviews soon. I do think that it is over priced compared to the alternatives mentioned but I would pay £7-800 region