Panasonic DVD-S47 Review

Overall Rating

Good looks, excellent performance, good value for money.

Enormous blue light may not be to everyones taste!

I decided to buy the S-47 to take over the duty of day-to-day DVD spinning from my Panasonic E-85 DVD Recorder. A combination of frustration over the slow user interface of the E-85 and the apparent fragility of the design (I am on my second unit), made me look for a second machine. After reading magazine reviews, I decided that the models from Panasonic, Sony and other 'premium' brands probably could not be split on performance in the average domestic setup and so I decided to buy on looks and features. As I already had the E-85 from Panasonic, I decided to go for the S-47 to keep the system looking tidy and to keep DVD-RAM compatibility. The S-47 is a good looking machine, slim and possessed of the requisite mirror facia which seems to be nailed on to everything nowadays and attracts dust like flypaper in a sandstorm. It also has a very large blue light running the width of the DVD tray. It is certainly a 'feature' of the machine and a potential source of irritation for the unsuspecting. Reliability of the E-85 apart, I have been happy with Panasonic products in the past and all the reviews of the S-47 rated its picture quality highly. Set-up was easy with a 'Quick' routine for technophobes or the option of delving more deeply into the comprehensive menu system to give compulsive button pushers their fix. A more comprehensive user guide would be nice as it is light on explaining the benefits of the esoteric features on this machine. However, I setup the player in 10 minutes or so and ran a RGB Scart to my LCD TV (the player supports component but my TV does not). Frankly I was blown away by the picture quality. The detail levels in particular are extraordinary and a whole order of magnitude better than the DVD recorder. The special extended LOTR ROTK was positively stunning and 4 hours on the sofa has rarely been so enthralling! Whilst detail levels are high, colours seem extremely natural and are complimented by a good contrast range. Low level detail on my LCD at least is excellent and the films gloomier moments still retain the detail they should. The excellent picture is complimented by a fine audio performance and although I'm still clinging to Dolby Digital 5.1, the sound through the optical out is clear and effects are accurately steered around the room. Other features on the player are of less interest to me as most of the time I just drop in a film and press play. However the mp3 capability is well implemented with a good menu system and reasonable sound. Other features such as the JPEG viewer and DVD-Audio etc etc are on my 'to do list'. The remote is a fairly uninspiring device but carries all the functions you could want and is very similar to the one on the E-85. A useful feature on the E-85 DVD recorder is the ability to select 'Remote Control 2' which stops both Panasonic machines responding to the same remote. Now when I switch on the S-47, the E-85 does not twitch about like a restless hound! To sum up, the S-47 looks good and performs extremely well, and for the money is excellent value.