The Panasonic DMR-BW880 is one singing, dancing, multitasking set top box. But at £799, it’s also a lot to ask when the similarly skilled Sony PS3 may be sitting underneath your telly already, and costs so much less. Which one’s for you? Read on and we’ll break it down in this part of our Panasonic DMR-BW880 review.
Read the rest of our Panasonic DMR-BW880 review
Panasonic DMR-BW880 review
Panasonic DMR-BW880 review: web TV skills
TV
If you want the absolute best picture by the time the World Cup rolls around, you’ll want the Panasonic DMR-BW880. The Sony PS3 has a very handy PlayTV add on for piping through free to air channels and even recording them, but it hogs a USB port, and can only receive standard definition channels in the UK. The Panasonic DMR-BW880 has twin Freeview HD tuners, so you can record one hi-rezzy show while watching another, and pause live TV whenever you feel like it.
DLNA
The Sony PS3 actually proved to be a superior network streaming box than the Ethernet-only connected Panasonic DMR-BW880. The PS3’s Wi-Fi option is vastly more convenient for anyone who doesn’t live in a house where the walls are made of Cat-5 cabling, and while it won’t play high def MKV video files, images, and most AVI and MP4 files can all be merrily played off your laptop in another room still. The Panasonic DMR-BW880 meanwhile will only act as a server rather than a client, meaning you’ll have to store everything you want on it rather than a server or computer elsewhere.
Blu-ray
It’s a close call on this front. The image quality on both is top notch, both have support for Blu-ray Profile 2.0 extra features (Not that we enjoy them). If one has an edge though, it’s the Panasonic DMR-BW880. It’s prompt about loading discs, in about 12 seconds, and can be used to copy high def recordings onto Blu-ray discs too. It’s worth noting that the PS3 is slightly more future proofed, with support for 3D Blu-rays coming later this year, but given the Marmite division in attitude towards the new dimension, that might not be a dealbreaker for you.
IPTV
This is where the Panasonic DMR-BW880 really falls down: Panasonic’s Viera Cast web TV service is by far the weakest feature inside the machine. You can watch YouTube videos, and search recommendations in realtime as you type make finding the right one easier, but there are no HD streams. Other than that, you can jump onto Picasa for slideshows, or look at the weather and news headlines. And that’s it. Sony’s PS3 streaks ahead with BBC iPlayer and movie rentals aplenty on the PlayStation Store, while even new Bravia TVs and Blu-ray players are also starting to add BBC iPlayer and Lovefilm streaming.
Storage
True, you can put a 500GB hard drive inside a PS3, but you’ll need to buy it separately first. The PS3 currently tops out at 250GB: that’s a copious amount of space for games, movies and music, but if you want a central depository for all your pictures and music, the Panasonic DMR-BW880 is a very easy way to store them all. 500GB should prove more than enough for all your HD recordings, camera piccies and music (Which you can rip from CDs automatically on it), and if you run out of space, you can always free it up by shoving video onto Blu-ray discs, or compressing it down with no great image loss.
Connectivity
Though the Panasonic DMR-BW880 might see most service as a TV tuner, it’s an easy solution for anyone who’s constantly taking photos or camcorder videos and wants to see their efforts on a big screen instantly, and store it at the same time. You can plug in and play or copy the contents of USB and SD cards across, with slots in the front of the machine. It gets major marks down for a lack of Wi-Fi, but the latest generation PS3 still isn’t quite so friendly for amateur photographers seeking instant results, lacking as it does an SD card slot for loading up your snaps and the quite common AVCHD video format.
Price
The PS3 currently sells for £249.99. The Panasonic DMR-BW880 sells for £799. This sadly is the latter’s downfall: you could buy three PS3s for one and kit every TV in the house with a multimedia juggling console.
There’s no question that any gamers should buy a PS3 and a cheaper Freeview HD PVR if they have the space: for something with such a huge pricetag, the Panasonic DMR-BW880 doesn’t do that much more. But if you’re a home cinema fan who rarely leaves home without a camera, the convenience of it might just justify the cost. Regardless, we can’t wait to see the mid-range models Panasonic follows the Panasonic DMR-BW880 up with.
Read the rest of our Panasonic DMR-BW880 review
Panasonic DMR-BW880 review
Panasonic DMR-BW880 review: web TV skills
