The First Blu-ray Recorder Finally Becomes Available Outside Japan

The war is over, Blu-ray has defeated HD DVD in the battle for the high definition disc dollar. But the big hole in the Blu-ray story has been a lack of a standalone Blu-ray recorder for the living room. Until now. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) June 19, 2008 - The Panasonic DMR-BW500 is the first standalone Blu-ray disc recorder to be launched outside of Japan, and Australia is Panasonic’s launch country of choice for this powerful new machine. And GadgetGuy.com.au has the first full review of the Panasonic DMR-BW500.

In the words of the GadgetGuy reviewer, “Once every year or two a new product comes along that lifts my job beyond mere routine, and provides genuine excitement. The first Blu-ray player I reviewed comes to mind. And the first full high definition projector. And now, here, the first Blu-ray recorder. Those words - 'Blu-ray recorder' - would alone be pretty exciting. But this unit is from Panasonic, so it is not just a Blu-ray recorder. It is a useful Blu-ray recorder - no, more than that; it's a useful home entertainment device in all respects.”

The Panasonic DMR-BW500 is a premium 'Bonus View' Blu-ray player, with high quality twin tuner high definition 250GB hard drive, and ships with three Panasonic Blu-ray rewriteable 25GB discs (25GB BD-RE). The discs currently retail for around $30 each, a price that will fall as the Blu-ray format matures. Not only will Blu-ray become the disc of choice for movie and TV releases, but also for storing personal data like high definition video, photographs and music, as well as archiving business data.

Current Blu-ray discs hold 5 times the data of a DVD - as we put more and more of our personal, business and entertainment data into digital formats, and we become more diligent in backing up and storing our data on a variety of media, Blu-ray looks a very attractive and practical repository for this explosion of data.

There are currently no dates given for a worldwide release of the Panasonic DMR-BW500, but considering the quality of the product and the enthusiasm it’s generating Down Under it can only be a matter of time until it gains a wider release.

Read the full review of the Panasonic DMR-BW500 online at http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/panasonic-dmr-bw500-review-152256-.html

GadgetGuy is Australia’s leading online gadget and technology review website.

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