2010 Panasonic Dmr-xw380 And Xw480 Dvd Recorders

[ssar]

Yea, at a glance this XW380 looks pretty good.

The remote looks very similar to our EX77's which I find quite good.

Unfortunately it similarly appears to lack a Tray Open / Disc Eject function from the remote still!

We have an old LG DVD/VHS player combo unit with this feature and it's really helpful.

In any case, will be keeping an eye on prices for these units as the new potential twin HD tuner DVDR unit we might need soon.

[Peter B]

I downloaded both manuals and the remote for the 380 is very similar but has 4 extra buttons.

I didn't notice the lack of tray controls. This is a very handy feature for startling a nearby cat....

[Guest S_Bull]

Has anyone had any issues getting good quality Digital TV reception on these units?

I purchased a DMR-XW380 yesterday to add to our setup at home, which includes a Sony HD Bravia with Inbuilt HD Tuner and I can only manage to tune 2 channels. The auto tune was able to find ABC and SBS at low quality but could not get enough signal to show any other channels.

I have tried re tuning a couple of times but the results are still the same. I don't believe our aerial is at fault as we get perfect reception for all channels through the TV's inbuilt tuner when connected either directly to the wall socket or when looped through the recorders RF out connection.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions to try before I take this back to the store?

I have connected the Recorder like this:

Wall Socket (with Powered amp) into XW380 via RF Aerial Cable

XW380 into HD LCD TV via HDMI

XW380 into HD LCD TV via RF Aerial Cable (Dasiy Chained)

Thanks in advance

Steve

[Geoff_B]

Wall Socket (with Powered amp) into XW380 via RF Aerial Cable

XW380 into HD LCD TV via HDMI

XW380 into HD LCD TV via RF Aerial Cable (Dasiy Chained)

Thanks in advance

Steve

Just a thought - I assume there is an "In" and an "Out" socket for RF and you've got the wall going into the right one?

[wheelz]

Just a thought - I assume there is an "In" and an "Out" socket for RF and you've got the wall going into the right one?

Yes a coupl of people have gotten their Ins and Out wrong and the result is only picking up a couple of channls.

[Guest S_Bull]

Yes a coupl of people have gotten their Ins and Out wrong and the result is only picking up a couple of channls.

Thanks for your replies Geoff & Wheelz.

I double checked the RF connections and they are the correct, so I have no idea whats going on here. I am waiting on a call back from Panasonic Tech support to see if they any suggestions.

[sns]

I double checked the RF connections and they are the correct, so I have no idea whats going on here. I am waiting on a call back from Panasonic Tech support to see if they any suggestions.

Any luck from Panasonic tech support? I got my bw880 today and it does not pick up ANY channels.

I can play a DVD through the HDMI connection. I am able to rescan the TV stations on the TV, signal quality is excellent.

Connection is the basic one that Panasonic show. ie Aerial (wall outlet) --> bw880 --> TV

[Peter B]

Powerbuys still has the XW380 at that price, and I'm thinking I will have to get one as my 11yo Phillips DVD player won't stay on, so may be in its death throes.

RIP.

I also have Sony with a HD tuner like Steve, so will be quite interested in how his problem resolves itself.

Read that Powerbuys is backed by Retravision, so that is reassuring.

Few dodgy sellers and goods on line so need to be cautious.

Is an extra 4 years warranty worth $89?

Edited May 28, 2010 by Peter B

[diesel]

Is an extra 4 years warranty worth $89?

That's pretty good value IMO, but not all EWs are created equal. The 'value' is in the fine print.

[Guest S_Bull]

Any luck from Panasonic tech support? I got my bw880 today and it does not pick up ANY channels.

I can play a DVD through the HDMI connection. I am able to rescan the TV stations on the TV, signal quality is excellent.

Connection is the basic one that Panasonic show. ie Aerial (wall outlet) --> bw880 --> TV

Tech support are blaming my reception....

I took the recorder around to a friends place who has a direct line of sight to a relay tower and perfect recpeption, and I was able to pick up all channels. I can only assume the HD Tuner in the Sony works better with lower signal quality than the recorder does.

I have a guy coming around to try and get a better reception out of my aerial, but if that doesn't work I will be taking it back to store.

[niko1503559570]

I have the xw380 a week now ,got it from Powerbuys $599 plus postage with the standard 1 year warranty was here in Perth within 6 working days. No problems.

Very good quality build unit with very good HD tuners, broadcasting(full HD) quality in DR recording mode.

Very good upscaling Dvd playback via HDMI. Easy menus to navigate and use. I didn't use DVD recording yet .

The USB connection is extremely limited . You can't use an external drive for transfer/ storage your Recordings (so you can have space). Like other PVRS-DVDR do.(No second USB port in the back of the unit here)

Only plays Divx files and the very usual JPEG MP3 (almost everything plays the last 2 ,even my toaster)

Also you can't use the USB port at all , wile the unit is recording !! ??? And remember you can not transfer-copy, your Divx movie to the unit's HDD.

Only let's you transfer-copy video camera files (AVCHD-MPEG2) for edit and burning.

If the external HDD is not so important to you ,then this DVDR-PVR is a first choice !!

[sns]

Tech support are blaming my reception....

I took the recorder around to a friends place who has a direct line of sight to a relay tower and perfect recpeption, and I was able to pick up all channels. I can only assume the HD Tuner in the Sony works better with lower signal quality than the recorder does.

I have a guy coming around to try and get a better reception out of my aerial, but if that doesn't work I will be taking it back to store.

Thanks, I have also discussed the issue in the bw880 thread. For me it does appear to be a reception problem and as Diesel said too strong (my analogy: shouting) or too weak (my analogy: whispering) a signal can cause problems. The wall outlet were I am going to use it produces a really strong signal according to the info provided by the TV. The other outlet I have in my place produces a weaker signal, when the bw880 is plugged into that, it picks up the stations.

If you have a portable aerial give that a try.

[Peter B]

I have the xw380 a week now ,got it from Powerbuys $599 plus postage with the standard 1 year warranty was here in Perth within 6 working days. No problems.

Very good quality build unit with very good HD tuners, broadcasting(full HD) quality in DR recording mode.

Very good upscaling Dvd playback via HDMI. Easy menus to navigate and use. I didn't use DVD recording yet .

The USB connection is extremely limited . You can't use an external drive for transfer/ storage your Recordings (so you can have space). Like other PVRS-DVDR do.(No second USB port in the back of the unit here)

Only plays Divx files and the very usual JPEG MP3 (almost everything plays the last 2 ,even my toaster)

Also you can't use the USB port at all , wile the unit is recording !! ??? And remember you can not transfer-copy, your Divx movie to the unit's HDD.

Only let's you transfer-copy video camera files (AVCHD-MPEG2) for edit and burning.

If the external HDD is not so important to you ,then this DVDR-PVR is a first choice !!

I have just bought one as well, from Powerbuys, and also in Perth.

No doubt it will be a steep learning curve which I'm sort of dreading.

Is the HDMI cable, not supplied, worth getting for any better picture quality?

[diesel]

Is the HDMI cable, not supplied, worth getting for any better picture quality?

A HDMI cable is worth it for the ease of having just one cable connected to your TV for Video and Audio. It also means the DVDR will upscale DVDs to 1080p and make them look better, not as good as Bluray - but still pretty good.

The other benefit is VieraLink if you have a Panasonic TV that is capable.

Just don't get ripped off - check EzyHD for some good value HDMI cables.

Edited May 30, 2010 by diesel

[Peter B]

A HDMI cable is worth it for the ease of having just one cable connected to your TV for Video and Audio. It also means the DVDR will upscale DVDs to 1080p and make them look better, not as good as Bluray - but still pretty good.

The other benefit is VieraLink if you have a Panasonic TV that is capable.

Just don't get ripped off - check EzyHD for some good value HDMI cables.

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

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

Edited May 30, 2010 by Peter B

[diesel]

The main difference between really cheap HDMI cables and the ones Keith sells is that they may not support the newer 1.3 and 1.4 version of the HDMI standard. Keith provides a really good service and his cables a re very good quality.

Some people spend $300 on 1m Monster HDMI cables, but for the extra .00000001% in performance I don't reckon they are worth it.

[vbracer]

Could users of Panasonic DMR-XW380 / XW480 please answer the following question:

Do weekly timers only last for the month (4 recordings) and then switch off ???????

The manual states under timer recording section:

"(Date):

Daily or weekly timer programme is set. (up to a

maximum of one month from the present time)".

I am looking to buy one, but this feature would be very painful. For instance, if you were recording '60 minutes' weekly, you can bet you would not recall that your final week is done and then week 5 would not record for you.

Please let me know if this is the case!!!

[SUNSHINE 67]

I bought the DMRXW480on the 20/5/10.Took it home all excited,could not download the tv stations.tried again etc.Took it back to HN where they set up in shop and downloaded all tv stations.Took it home NO SIGNAL/NO SERVICE.Called a repairman in to chech antenna output,$70 later,no fault found in antenna.His conclusion,'SEEMS TO BE PROBLEM WITH DVD TUNER"

Swapped it with another identical set,worked ok at HN. This time downloaded stations and watched perfect picture foe 30 mins or so then picture froze and screen went blank.Fiddled around where the aerial comes in,as you do,and on came the picture. Let aerial go and screen went dark.Took it back to HN and bought another brand,second choice,that's another story.I did take the unit to my Daughters,two klm's from here and the unit worked fine.

Not being savvy with all this,seems that the tuner maybe sensitive to certain areas of Toowoomba.Pity because it was my prefered choice.

Having a friend who has a PVR,and after joining and reading about them on this site,thanks guy's you have really confirmed how little I know, It looks like PVR is the way to go.Question??? what to buy....Beyonwiz DPP2 or Toppy2400.

Sushine.

[EDGEAUDIO]

UH Oh.

I picked up a 480 on the W/End (with a TV) for $755 (Myers). Hooked it up and it scanned in all channels except it won't find channel 10 Sydney. Did a manual search and its was just blank .

I gave up trying as I wanted to play with other features. I have the unit connected to TV via HDMI and I also have it connected to a modem via LAN lead. Later that night it put itself into stand-by mode. When I woke it up a message appeared on the TV screen that firmware had received an update from Panasonic .

I decided to continue with the channel 10 issue and the first scan found it no problem (as well as all the South Coast digital channels). I'm not sure if this is a result of a firmware update but I thought it was worth mentioning.

One annoying thing I've got and haven't worked out yet is, when you are watching a DVD and then stop playing it doesn't switch back to the TV channel you were watching. It just shows the Panasonic page

[diesel]

I bought the DMRXW480 on...

sure it wasn't a dodgy fly lead from the antenna wall outlet to the DVDR?

It looks like PVR is the way to go.Question??? what to buy....Beyonwiz DPP2 or Toppy2400.

The Toppy is a bit newer and the hardware is more capable. The FW seems pretty good with more features being added, as well as TAPs capability which means users can develop their own additional features.

The Beyonwiz is a very capable unit, and very functional with many of the features you would expect from a veteran.

[Guest S_Bull]

I bought the DMRXW480on the 20/5/10.Took it home all excited,could not download the tv stations.tried again etc.Took it back to HN where they set up in shop and downloaded all tv stations.Took it home NO SIGNAL/NO SERVICE.Called a repairman in to chech antenna output,$70 later,no fault found in antenna.His conclusion,'SEEMS TO BE PROBLEM WITH DVD TUNER"

Swapped it with another identical set,worked ok at HN. This time downloaded stations and watched perfect picture foe 30 mins or so then picture froze and screen went blank.Fiddled around where the aerial comes in,as you do,and on came the picture. Let aerial go and screen went dark.Took it back to HN and bought another brand,second choice,that's another story.I did take the unit to my Daughters,two klm's from here and the unit worked fine.

Not being savvy with all this,seems that the tuner maybe sensitive to certain areas of Toowoomba.Pity because it was my prefered choice.

Having a friend who has a PVR,and after joining and reading about them on this site,thanks guy's you have really confirmed how little I know, It looks like PVR is the way to go.Question??? what to buy....Beyonwiz DPP2 or Toppy2400.

Sushine.

For all those having reception issues with these units, I was able to solve our problems by purchasing a FM Attenuator for Jaycar.

The Attenuator only cost $8 and just sits in between the wall socket and the recorder.

We now pick up all channels with great reception.

[taffy62]

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!

[wheelz]

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!

When recording 2 channls at least 1 has to be recorded in DR mode(best quality) tho i do all my recordings in DR mode.You can record any channels you want they dont have to be HD channels.

[diesel]

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.

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!

I wonder if these two issues are related Taffy. Were you already recording another SD station when you tried to record GO! or WIN? Was at least one being recorded in DR mode?

[taffy62]

I wonder if these two issues are related Taffy. Were you already recording another SD station when you tried to record GO! or WIN? Was at least one being recorded in DR mode?

It's all good

I phoned panasonic and they said to take it back to the good guys and exchange it, which I just did.

I think I had a faulty one as this next one works fine, the only thing that I can see that may happen, is if win has not got all their programe guide shown I may not be able to set recorder from that and have to go in and do it manually.

Another thing with this new one is when you put a dvd in to watch it starts automatically and when you take it out the tv comes back on. With the other one you had to go into settings and select dvd, so I think it may have had a few faults with it.

By the way, I got the 380 plus a hdmi cable for $650 from the good guys if anyone is interested.