Blu-ray Recorder in NZ, At Long Last!
I just read the news, on tone.co.nz no less, that Panasonic will soon be releasing a Blu-ray recorder with a 500GB hard-drive built it! It’s about time that the NZ market had a real alternative to DVD Recorders, especially in this age of Freeview and Sky both offering HD programs. And no, I don’t consider the MySky HDi or the MyFreeview HD boxes alternatives as they offer no way to get the content off the internal drives and onto something standard or for archiving. The Panasonic fixes that by offering one box that give dual digital tuners, and allows programs to be recorded in HD to the internal drive and also copied to Blu-ray, which whilst not quite as good as an external HD or a network interface, is still fantastic. Plus the 500GB is a nice step up in drive size and allows more recording than either the Sky or Freeview units.
PC World in Ausi have a nice review here which is worth a read, although it’s important to remember that the Ausi’s use a different format for the HDTV than we do, so importing one will just give you a very expensive Blu-ray player.
Price wise the unit is VERY expensive, at over $2000 in Ausi dollars, well into the territory of Home Theater PC’s (HTPC) which offer more flexibility and features, but can more complicated to use.
I envy whoever gets this to review at Tone, Gary, hint hint!!!
There are a few changes to this issue of Tone. We’ve said farewell to our fine cover girl in favour of some lads in white (it’s not a statement of preference, but the World Cup only comes around once every four years). In order to stimulate maximum creativity, our designer hasn’t slept since the last issue went to print, resulting in some crazy new fonts and unbelievably sleek breakout boxes possessing a level of sophistication not previously imagined. Like Saruman forging his army of fighting Uruk-Hai, we’ve dug new writers from the earth’s very gut, who now swarm across the world’s gadgets, crafting their infernal reviews. Though we’ve changed a little on the outside, we’re still the Tone you know and love on the inside. As always, we’re committed to providing the latest technology news and the best, unbiased, independent reviews of hot new products – and that’s never going to change. Enjoy.
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