Sony BDPS760 and Humax Foxsat HDR or Panasonic DMR BS850

[admin_exported]

I want to add HD in the form of Freesat HD and BluRay with a budget of up to £700. I have scoured all the mainline reviews which are positive all round except for the price of the Panasonic - but that can now be found for £300 less than it was at the time of many of the reviews. However some of the user reviews of both Humax and Panasonic raise negatives regarding poor remote layout, clunky interfaces and menu systems and missed timer recording glitches.

Does anyone have experience of either of these systems, or ideally both and can they recommend either?

The one product that seems to have unanimous approval is the Sony BDPS760. I have seen a review that the Panasonic has a Blu Ray performance to match even the best sub £400 players - but is it a match for the Sony.

Does anyone have experience of both? because if the Sony is clearly better then this route may be the safest bet and I can live without BluRay recording.

Many thanks

Penfold

 

[Clare Newsome]

The Panasonic is a superb all-rounder - hence us giving it an Award win recently - but its Blu-ray performance can't quite match that of the Sony BDP-S760. Essentially, the Panasonic recorder is on par with the company's 'BD80 Blu-ray player: a superb standard, but the Sony does both sound and vision that bit better.

As for usability - both the Humax and (I believe) the Panasonic have had recent firmware updates to iron out some issues, and (again, as their Award-winning status shows) we'd wholeheartedly recommend both as Freesat recording solutions.

The Panasonic recorder also offers a range of camcorder archiving options, if that interests you. If not, and - as you say - you can live without Blu-ray recording, then the two-box Sony/Humax solution would be a better use of your money.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice Clare, any camcorder stuff is archived to PC for editing so it looks as though Sony/Humax is the way to go.

And thanks also for an excellent mag - have been a regular reader on and off for about 20 years or so and has helped me throught he hi-fi jungle and now the AV jungle.

Cheers

Penfold

 

[Clare Newsome]

Thanks - we're happy to help.

Enjoy getting your system sorted!