Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic DMP-BD70V Blu-ray Disc/VHS Multimedia Player

Why would someone want to buy a video player that accepts both the latest Blu-Ray format and the perhaps obsolete VHS formats? Well, as someone who has their foot in both the past and the future, let me tell you why I love this player.

Yes, I can definitely appreciate the crispness and clarity of the high definition Blu-Ray format, and I wish to experience that format. But Blu-Ray discs are pricey, so I will likely choose to purchase only a few new select and favorite films in that format. I feel no need, and don't have the wallet, to replace my entire film library in a Blu-Ray format.

I also have a collection of nearly 500 VHS tapes, most of them unwatched, which I mostly purchased in thrift stores. (current standard price for VHS tape in a thrift - $1) I also have a fair number of films that have not yet been released on DVD yet.

It is nice to have a player that will accept both VHS and Blu-Ray, along with standard DVD formats. No switching back and forth of cables, etc.

The DMP-BD70V upconversion of the VHS to 1080p is really quite amazing. My current television is a 42" HDTV (one year ago it was a 19 inch color set) When I connected my previous standard VHS player to the HDTV, the picture quality, as expected, was quite poor, with much of the image being rather pixelated - it was quite painful and distracting to watch.

Then I hooked up the DMP-BD70V, and lone behold, the picture quality was much, much better - and very watchable. At first I almost thought that the VHS tape had been replaced by a DVD - the improvement was that great. There was no pixelation at all, and the colors were quite bright. The overall quality of the picture was much better than the picture obtained with my old 19" color TV and VHS player. The upscaling features of the DMP-BD70V is almost as if a magician had waved his wand over your entire library of VHS tapes, and suddenly replaced them, Cinderella-like, with a much higher quality product.

There are some things you cannot do with a VHS tape. The picture size remains at the older 4:3 format - meaning there is considerable empty space at the left and right sides of the HDTV screen. You also won't get the added commentary tracks that appear on DVD and Blu-Ray discs, but sometimes all one really wants to do is simply watch a movie, with no other frills involved.

For a few years, I will have several options for my home movie viewing. On one end, the $1 VHS tapes (upgraded to 1080p), in the middle the standard DVD format, and on the high side, the Blu-Ray format. This DMP-BD70V allows me to watch all three formats, and allows me to choose whether I want to pay $1, $15, or $30 for each movie format. That is what I call flexibility.

I did a comparison price check for the DMP-BD70V model, versus a similar model without the VHS tape compatibility - the difference was about $50 more. For me, it was well worth it.

Obviously those without VHS tapes do not need this DMP-BD70V model. But those who do have some older VHS tapes, and wish to still view them, will love this model.

As far as I know this is the only combo of this kind on the market, and I couldn't be happier. Despite the outdated format and my dwindling videotape collection, I wanted to replace my old Magnavox VCR instead of abandoning VHS altogether. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I not only could still do that, I could additionally upgrade to Blu without having to find more shelf space or another power outlet. Since it isn't really all that versatile otherwise, this player is a snap to hook up. There are no inputs (except LAN) and the outputs consist of HDMI, component and composite video, with analog and digital audio (fiber optic only). It only comes with a set of RCA analog audio/video cables, so plan ahead. I am only using the HDMI video and optical audio and it plays discs flawlessly. Pop in a videotape and it automatically switches to VHS mode and reformats itself to 4:3, while still outputting only through the digital ports. Yes, this is only a player--I prefer DVD-RAM for recording these days, anyway--but if you want the ultimate in all-in-one playback, including USB devices and SD cards, this device is for you.

Have about 300 movies about 70-80% VHS and the rest DVD. After a lot of research chose this make and model. I'm using this with a Monster HDMI connected to a new 46" Samsung 640. Tested with 3 movies: DVD of Parenthood, VHS of Gilda, VHS of Lion King. Lion King looked exactly like HD quality from cable company. The other two weren't as perfect as Lion King VHS, but despite that, I was thrilled at the quality of those two movies. My VHS does play full screen without any black bars. So, I'm happy with the up conversion. As for set up and programming: this unit is very easy to set up and fine tune in the programming features. As a female who hates all this tech stuff, the manual was very easy to follow and understand. I'm so pleased with this unit and it's ease of use that I just ordered a 2nd unit for my bedroom to use with the new 32" Samsung 640. EDIT: Just started playing blu ray and this model does freeze periodically for a about 5 seconds like the other models without the vhs. Also this model does not have any firmware updates like the other models. So, if allowed, I would reduce the stars from 5 to 4.

This DVD/VHS player is everything I expected and delivered all the positive aspects from the reviews I read.These reviews were a major influence in my decision to purchase Blu-ray disc/VHS player.The discs and tapes I played were were excellant on this player and I would recmmend this unit to anyone.

Like most movie lovers, I already have a bunch of VHS and DVD movies, and I'm not about to rebuy all my favorites. I chose this unit because it would allow me to play all three of these media types with one component, and boy am I glad that I did! Prior to purchasing this system, we had basically stopped watching our VHS collection. The fuzzy, pixelated mess was just too much of a distraction to watch on our 42" plasma. Panasonic made such a tremendous difference with the VHS picture and sound quality that we've actually been watching some of our old tapes. Mind you, the VHS is not as clear as a DVD or Blu-Ray, but our old favorites now have virtually no static or distortion and the sound is at least 10 times better. I'm truly surprised by how much the quality actually improved. This really has really brought our VHS library back from the dead.

As for the Blu-Ray and DVD, the picture and sound quality is just as flawless as you'd expect. The HDMI cable makes for easy hookup and there was virtually no additional setup or configuration required beyond choosing my TV Type. I haven't yet used the added online features (YouTube and whatnot), because I can already do that on TiVo, but I was also excited to see the USB and SD support. This unit does a great job of bringing your entire media collection together. I'm surprised that this hasn't caught on more... it is really such a simple and practical idea. I'm glad that I picked this up, and I'd recommend it for anyone else who wants to keep their old favorites.