Panasonic DMR-HWT250EB Smart HDD Recorder with Freeview Play, Black

A great bit of kit, quick and easy to operate. I read many reviews to choose between this & other competitors, and have realised that many of the negative comments are because the user doesn't understand the system. Previous negative comments about speed & jumpiness of the Guide (EPG) & Freeview Play are wrong - the guide & all Freeview Play comes via the internet. So, if you have a slow wifi then these aspects will be poor. However, I fitted a Passthrough Powerline adaptor to make sure that the box gets high speed internet feed. So, the result is excellent. The set loads very quickly, and gives very good HD quality playback of either live TV or recorded programmes. All advertised functions work really well. I opted for the 1TB version to make sure I am not restricted on recording time.

My Humax youview box died and after a lot of online research and looking I decided on the Panasonic freeview play box, partly as I was advised in various shops that freeview will replace youview, which will be phased out. The Panasonic looks and feels to be better built than other units I looked at, both you and freeview. The unit was relatively easy and quick to set up, although freeview was not available for an hour or two. For security you can enter postcode, house number and select a choice of questions. (Which I hope isn't deleted, when rebooting, like humax boxes) It runs rings round my humax box in respect of programming and the like. What I don't like is the poor catch up guide, which basically is a just list, it doesn't have the look or feel of the main TV guide. It's other shortcoming is the lack of channels that support this format (only found 'catch up' available on channels 1to 10, unlike youview) hopefully this will change in future

Easy to use . Has so many features. Records 2 channels at once and surprisingly let's you watch a 3rd if that channel is in the same group or ''bouquet'' as one of those you are recording from.The file conversion is particularly good if you are recording a series of maybe 9 or 10 programs you can say to it to record them in 'hm' or any of the other formats to save space. Although after all this time I've never got anywhere near running out of space. It can miracast your phone to the screen. Its inbuilt apps are great too. Bargain I feel

27/06/16As soon as you can update the software/firmware 1.12 is the latest version!ota or wifi.This is a brilliant machine,dont understand the negative reviews,YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN EDIT YOUR RECORDINGS!! P37 IN MANUAL!well IMPRESSED so far and already better than my humax!29/06/16Wifi is excellent but if you want to stream from this too mobile or whatever its recommended to use a 5ghz router but not necessary for normal use,but it can be done.A little disappointed in freeview play as its just catch up apps ie:bbc i player,itv player,5 demand,stv player,4 catchup and bbc news and sport!so if you program isnton bbc itv stv 5 4 or news and sport you cant catchup!Lag/slow menus is not a problem on mine just as fast as the humax.You can convert your recordings to upscale (HG) or save space (EP) or just leave it its up to you and your needs, but it only converts recordings you cant set it to record in the ep or upscale they get converted in standby when sleeping after being recorded!There is a web browser and an app store panasonic one not google,not much in yet but you can get youtube and games,i would imagine more will come.You cant record freeview play programs but you can record a normal channel and watch catchup/freeview playRecord 2 channels and watch a recording or freeview playJust discovered this when recording 2 channels if you use the page up down button on tv channels you can even watch a 3rd program not all channels though,thought this was a humax glitch but this one does it too EXCELLENT!Also expandable storage by usb hdd or usb pen drive to export and import your webcam vids and music ,pictures for permanent storage on or off the pvr or plug your camera straight into the usb to do what you like!

The hardware seems well-engineered but unfortunately the design and execution of the user interface is very poor and as a result the usabilty of the device is terrible. It does most of what it claims to but there are so many obstacles and hurdles to circumvent that using it becomes an exercise in frustration. A typical example is that if you want to look at the guide, or even to set a series record, you can only do this if you are watching in real-time. If you have paused to go and make a cup of tea, and then start watching again, you can't carry out any other tasks without first jumping back to real-time (and therefore missing content). you can create favourite-lists of channels but actually using them requires searching on-line for the special route to do this - the manual is of no help whatsoever. The device has clearly been designed by engineers, without any real-world input, and it is very primitive when compared to VM's Tivo.

Got this when we decided we no longer wanted to pay for Sky tv (after 27 years!). You can record two programmes at the same time and access catch up tv, Netflix, prime etc easily. The only slight negative is that response from the remote isn’t instant.... it takes about three seconds. It’s definitely worth considering if you decide you want the facility to record tv programmes without the cost of a monthly subscription