Questions about Blu-ray recorders and Panasonic DIGA DMR-BW830 too

KingKRool2002 · Member Joined: 22 May 2008 Location: United States

Since this is about Recorders, I thought this would be the best place to post this topic. I found a Blu-ray recorder (Panasonic DIGA DMR-BW830) on a Japanese site and I had a couple of questions about it (and Japanese Blu-ray recorders in general).

(1) Do most Japanese Blu-ray recorders (and this one in particular) have an option to change the menu language to English? If not, how easy is it to figure out all the menus and options in Japanese?

(2) Does this particular Blu-ray recorder play burned Blu-ray discs perfectly on a PS3 system? (I've read that some Blu-ray recorders don't work well when playing the discs on the PS3).

(3) If I buy a Japanese Blu-ray recorder, will the DVD-Rs I burn work on a USA DVD Player? Or will they be Region 2 DVD-Rs instead?

(4) Is there any chance of a Blu-ray Recorder being released in the US?

(5) Is a 320 GB hard drive big enough for regularly recording stuff for Blu-ray discs?

Please let me know about this stuff. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone knows of any reviews for Japanese Blu-ray Recorders (especially this one), please let me know about them.

Thanks.
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jman98 · Member Joined: 08 Oct 2004 Location: Freedonia

You're asking about something that is insanely expensive to import. If we have even a single person here who has one, I don't recall them ever talking about it.

1) Unless the player is specifically designed for being exported outside of Japan, and that is HIGHLY unlikely, there will NOT be an option for English language menus. Will it be easy to figure it out in Japanese? NO!!!
2) This question, as stated, makes no sense at all. What I think you wanted to say was this-

Will a PS3 perfectly play BluRay discs that I recorded with this recorder?

It's not that hard to write it correctly. Bassackwards helps no one. To answer the question - you will have to find someone who has tested this.
3) DVD recorders do NOT put region coding on burned DVDs. However, the Japanese do some weird copy protection crap. I don't remember the name because it's not used in the USA. Whether that would come into play or not with a DVD, I have no idea. Maybe not as I think it's used on TV stuff, but I don't know.
4) Eventually if the format takes off more and the media comes down in price. It would be pointless to release one at this time given the relatively low penetration of BluRay in the US market and the prohibitive cost of the media.
5) Yes as long as you don't keep stuff on the disc forever without burning it or erasing it.

KingKRool2002 · Member Joined: 22 May 2008 Location: United States

Okay, thanks for the fast reply. I think I'll have to do some more research into it.

Thanks.
_________________
"it's a me Mario"

(Super Mario 64)

KBeee · Member Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Location: United Kingdom

Well the twin DVB-S tuner Panasonic DMR-BS850 (500GB HDD) & DMR-BS750 (250GB HDD) are out now in the UK, so I guess there's a US equivalent about.
Both the above models are NOT region free for DVD's or Zone Free for BD as standard, however there are UK retailers selling them modified for Region Free DVD, though still Zone B for BD