2010 Panasonic Dmr-xw380 And Xw480 Dvd Recorders

[shortlived]

Hi

What recording modes are there, what is DR mode?

Is there any difference between xw380 and xw480 apart from the hdd size?

I know someone who has the ex88 and its manual covers both ex78 and ex88 and there are many differences apart from hdd size.

HN here has xw380 $650 and xw480 $820.

[taffy62]

Hi

What recording modes are there, what is DR mode?

Is there any difference between xw380 and xw480 apart from the hdd size?

I know someone who has the ex88 and its manual covers both ex78 and ex88 and there are many differences apart from hdd size.

HN here has xw380 $650 and xw480 $820.

I think the only difference is the size but I did not go into that as my mum wanted to save a couple of hundred bucks and the smaller one would suit her as she will delete the recordings after she has watched them.

good guys had it on shelf for $699 less for cash, so I asked how much and he said $629 I asked if he would throw in a hdmi cable which was $50 and he said I could have both for $650, which was the best deal I could get out of all the retailers.

You can do a comparison test on the panasonic website so that will help you.

Edited June 6, 2010 by taffy62

[diesel]

What recording modes are there, what is DR mode?

There are 11 recording modes (quality)

DR = same as broadcast (no conversion)

HG, HX, HE, HL, HM = HD quality produced by conversion of broadcast data (transcodes the broadcast data to a smaller files)

XP, SP, LP, EP, FR = SD quality (transcodes the data to varying quality levels of SD)

Is there any difference between xw380 and xw480 apart from the hdd size?

No

[shortlived]

Thanks for the replies.

Using the Pana comparison option shows apart from HDD that the power consumption in normal use is 37w for xw380 and 34w for wx480 and more significantly in standby 1w for xw380 and 8w for xw480. If this is correct then the xw480 has very poor standby power efficiency. I have read that no well manufactured AV equipment now should use more than 1w in standby.

[diesel]

MEPs requires appliances to use no more than 1w in standby, but there are many devices that still use much more than this.

[Peter B]

Thanks, that makes it very clear. So do HDMI cables vary in quality?

Do I just buy the basic HDMI cable sold by EzyHD?

Received the XW380 yesterday and am very impressed by it and very pleased. Easy to use after a bit of a read. Timer recording is great, did 2 programs at once. took a while to find them for replay, but I'll soon learn.

The HDMI connection has resulted in better TV picture all round.

On sale for $546 with VCR trade-in at RetraVision today.

[Hebbletp]

Just bought th 380 for my mum from the good guys.

We can record any station but when we try to record win or go it will only let us record the program that is currently shown. Even when we press the info thing it just goes back to what is being shown.

We spoke to panasonic and he suggestet we take it back and try another one. so I will do that tomorow, hopefully they will exchange the unit, and I will get them to connect it to a tv to make sure I can record these channels.

The main reason she wanted it is to tape the tennis!

Has anybody else had this problem?

I also thought it was a bit dodgy in when you want to record 2 stations at the same time, it seemed you have to record 2 hd channels for it to happen. if this is the case I wonder if a single tuner would suffice as they are a lot cheaper!

Hello

I am having the same trouble that you are describing, can you give me any more information on what was happening to you as I am currently speaking to Panasonic and they are telling me that program guide troubles are not usually a fault of the machine and that they are unlikely to accept it as a return for replacement. I have another recorder and TV and their guides work perfectly but they still seem to want to blame my reception.

[zver333]

Hey, can they record programs without ads? If so, how do i do it? Cheers

[BigBad64]

Received the XW380 yesterday and am very impressed by it and very pleased. On sale for $546 with VCR trade-in at RetraVision today.

That's a pretty good deal.

I just got one at Retravision Rochester VIC for $600, no VCR trade-in mentioned.

It was in their catalogue for $675 and I managed to get it for $600 as I'd just bought a TV there as well.

Edited June 11, 2010 by BigBad64

[wheelz]

Hey, can they record programs without ads? If so, how do i do it? Cheers

No they cant,have to edit ads out yourself.

[taffy62]

Hello

I am having the same trouble that you are describing, can you give me any more information on what was happening to you as I am currently speaking to Panasonic and they are telling me that program guide troubles are not usually a fault of the machine and that they are unlikely to accept it as a return for replacement. I have another recorder and TV and their guides work perfectly but they still seem to want to blame my reception.

If your other set up has no problem I would think it is the recorder.

The only other thing is If the tv station has not got all their programs showing on their guides (win tends to do this) then I dont think you can record something by doing it the easy way by highlighting the program as it is not there, so I think you will have to go in to the manual part where you name the program and set the start and stop times. We have not tried this as the programs we want to record have so far been listed.

I think there was definately something wrong with my other one as when I went into information button, which tells you what a program is about, that didnt work on win either, it just went back to the current show.

So if this is happening to you it could be the same problem.

This only happened on win and go channels all the others I had no problem with.

The new one works fine and my mum is happy with it.

But now we are going to buy one for ourselves so I hope we dont get another dud one!

[BigBad64]

The only other thing is If the tv station has not got all their programs showing on their guides (win tends to do this).

This only happened on win and go channels all the others I had no problem with.

On the 380 I just bought my parents they don't get any program guide on Win (Ch 9) either.

This is in Northern Victoria near Echuca.

Don't Win broadcast an EPG in country areas?

[diesel]

I know they do in Wollongong (sth of Sydney)

[sns]

I have seen the issue with the EPG on my bw880 also. I found that if I view the broadcast for the channel not showing the information for the EPG, then going to the EPG, the schedule information is then shown.

[diesel]

Each of the stations broadcast their own EPG data - this will apparently change with Freeview EPG where every station will transmit all EPG data - so you may have to channel surf to each station for a minute or two to download their EPG data

[Peter B]

Each of the stations broadcast their own EPG data - this will apparently change with Freeview EPG where every station will transmit all EPG data - so you may have to channel surf to each station for a minute or two to download their EPG data

Just had an interesting call from Panasonic about the clarity of the EPG. He said the problem lies with the TV.

He suggested adjusting the brightness/ contrast of the TV.

I said that is not the problem. It is the font that is wrong, it is too thin.

He then said that if eyesight was not so good, we could sit closer.

again with the brightness and contrast.

He again said it was the TV, not the recorder.

I said that the EPG includes menu options from the recorder, implying that the recorder is involved with the EPG.

So I asked-who is responsible for the font choice. He then finally admitted, very curtly, that it was Panasonic.

Like drawing teeth.

Apart from that, we love the XW380. Adult daughter played with it, held out for a week and then had to get one.

She emailed a few places and several were agreeing to $549, one was with free freight too.

So I went to HN with an ad for that price, and they price matched. RetraVision also were happy to do a $549 deal, but they had to get it in.

[BigBad64]

Just had an interesting call from Panasonic about the clarity of the EPG. So I asked-who is responsible for the font choice. He then finally admitted, very curtly, that it was Panasonic.

Sounds like Panasonic have gone backwards since the DMR-XW300, which I have. The EPG is very easy to read on that.

I bought a 380 for my parents who are getting on in years so I'm sorry to hear Panasonic have inserted a hard to read font.

Maybe they'll fix it with a firmware release.

Edited June 17, 2010 by BigBad64

[Peter B]

Sounds like Panasonic have gone backwards since the DMR-XW300, which I have. The EPG is very easy to read on that.

I bought a 380 for my parents who are getting on in years so I'm sorry to hear Panasonic have inserted a hard to read font.

Maybe they'll fix it with a firmware release.

Hope so.

I should have asked him why the EPG is not presented the same as their own on-screen menus, which are excellent.

The EPG must be an after thought, tacked on with a minimum of effort.

[Ibis]

Does anyone know the difference between the XW350 and the WX380.

I can't find any tech differences but the XW350 is larger and heavier.

Is one made in Japan and the other China?

Thanks,

Ibis.

[BigBad64]

Does anyone know the difference between the XW350 and the WX380.

I can't find any tech differences but the XW350 is larger and heavier.

Is one made in Japan and the other China?

Thanks,

Ibis.

I don't know where they're made, but you can go to this page and compare them.

http://www.panasonic.com.au/products/categ...cfm?objectID=55

Apart from being a bit smaller, lighter and having a lower RRP, the 380 is;

"DLNA certified : Seamless integration into the home network, enabling recorded content to be watched in a different room"

As per Peter B in the post before yours, the EPG display on the 380 is apparently not presented as well as it could be.

The 380 has superseded the 350, which superseded the 300.

Edited June 17, 2010 by BigBad64

[Ibis]

I don't know where they're made, but you can go to this page and compare them.

http://www.panasonic.com.au/products/categ...cfm?objectID=55

Apart from being a bit smaller, lighter and having a lower RRP, the 380 is;

"DLNA certified : Seamless integration into the home network, enabling recorded content to be watched in a different room"

As per Peter B in the post before yours, the EPG display on the 380 is apparently not presented as well as it could be.

The 380 has superseded the 350, which superseded the 300.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for the prompt reply BB.

I know it probably isn't relevent but weight seems to equate with quality, the older 350 is one full kilo heavier and $170 more expensive than the newer 380.

what did they leave out that weighed a full kilo amost a third of the original weight ?

Edited June 17, 2010 by Ibis

[diesel]

There's probably more plastic used and less metal. devices get smaller with every iteration. It doesn't necessarily mean lighter is inferior.

[Ibis]

Thanks Diesel,

I bought one today from Myers $599 and returned it this afternoon when it couldn't get any signal from the five

stations that it found.

I get at least fifteen on my Bravia TV and ten that have signal but this couldn't give me anything at all to watch, shame.

cheers,

Ibis

[diesel]

There's a few people reporting less sensitive tuners in Panasonic recorders. Seems a shame, as the rest of the product seems pretty good, and the tuners in their TVs seem pretty sensitive too.

[taffy62]

If your other set up has no problem I would think it is the recorder.

The only other thing is If the tv station has not got all their programs showing on their guides (win tends to do this) then I dont think you can record something by doing it the easy way by highlighting the program as it is not there, so I think you will have to go in to the manual part where you name the program and set the start and stop times. We have not tried this as the programs we want to record have so far been listed.

I think there was definately something wrong with my other one as when I went into information button, which tells you what a program is about, that didnt work on win either, it just went back to the current show.

So if this is happening to you it could be the same problem.

This only happened on win and go channels all the others I had no problem with.

The new one works fine and my mum is happy with it.

But now we are going to buy one for ourselves so I hope we dont get another dud one!

Looks like I have spoken too soon!

The same thing has started happening to this one too, so now my mum thinks hers have come from a bad batch!

But I dont know if she has done something without realising.

Spoke to the store and we have to take it back within 14 days to get a refund (which is today)Grrrr

Cant understand how it can be ok one min then nothing, even tried to restore it to default and shipping condition and it wont even do that!It shows some tv stations still tunned in and now a lot of the other guides are missing!

Also after trying to restore it to factory condition, I was expecting the set up eg select region etc to come up but cant get that either!

She wants to tape the tennis so it looks like she will be going back to her old faithfull video recorder even though the picture is s...

Its put me off getting one for myself now as the only way to record win or go is to press the record on the remote to start recording and let it run until the show finishes, which is a bit of a waste.

I am wondering if earlier models had this problem also, so it looks like I have a few forums to read through!