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Panasonic SC-BTT270 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £295
inc VAT

Acceptable audio, but a basic online portal and limited connectivity can't compete with better equipped sets from other manufacturers

The BTT270 is Panasonic’s entry-level all-in-one home cinema system. The slim Blu-ray player, five mug-sized satellite speakers and compact subwoofer should be all you need to take your movie-watching experience to new heights – just add an HD TV to complete the set-up.

Each of the five satellites has a single driver that covers middle and high frequencies. They connect to the main unit using proprietary cables, but because they use spring terminals at the other end, it should be relatively straightforward to add cable extensions if required. The subwoofer uses the same connection, but because it has a non-removable cable you would have to cut it to fit an extension, thus voiding your warranty. Neither the sub nor the satellites feel particularly sturdy, and the black plastic finish doesn’t really do much for us. At least the speakers are wall-mountable, so you can place them almost anywhere.

Panasonic BTT270 front

The main unit was something of a mixed bag. It looks reasonably attractive with a glossy black mirror finish, but connectivity is seriously limited. Amazingly, there are no HDMI inputs on the back, which means the BTT270 can’t be used as a hub for all your AV equipment. That’s not so bad for people with TVs that support the Audio Return Channel – piping audio back down the HDMI cable and making the TV the hub of the system. Otherwise, wiring up a set-top box or games console involves HDMI cables for the picture and separate cables to the BTT270 for the audio. It has just one optical S/P-DIF and one stereo analogue input to accommodate these sources.

Panasonic BTT270 rear

Connectivity is slightly better around the front. An SD memory card slot and second USB port will play local multimedia files, and it can play music directly from an iPod using the pop-out dock. We had no trouble playing music from an iPhone, using the remote control to switch between tracks, but video files over USB were much more troublesome. File format support was so poor, we could only play DivX HD and Xvid video files, MP3 audio and JPEG images; other files either refused to play or simply didn’t show up at all.

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Details

Price £295
Rating ***

Connections

HDMI inputs 0
HDMI outputs 1
Component inputs 0
Component outputs 0
Output resolutions 480i, 480p, PAL (576i), 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Total SCART sockets 0
SCART socket type N/A
S-Video input 0
S-video output 0
Composite inputs 0
Composite outputs 1
Stereo phono inputs 1
Stereo phono outputs 0
Coaxial S/PDIF inputs 0
Coaxial S/PDIF outputs 0
Optical S/PDIF inputs 1
Optical S/PDIF outputs 0
Multi-channel input yes
Speaker configuration 5.1
Main unit end speaker connection type proprietary
Speaker end speaker connection type spring terminals
Other connections USB, SDXC, iPod dock
Wired network ports 1x 10/100
Wireless networking support optional 802.11b/g/n

Playback

Surround sound formats Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD HRA, DTS-HD MA
Optical drive yes
Supported playback disc formats BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE, DVD, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD, CD-R, CD-RW
Audio format support MP3
Video playback formats DivX HD, XVid
Image viewing formats JPEG
Radio FM

Speakers

Speaker configuration 5.1
RMS power output 1000W
RMS power centre 160W
RMS power front 320W
RMS power surround 320W
RMS power subwoofer 200W
Wall mountable yes
Centre speaker cable length 2.0m
Front speaker cable length 3.0m
Surround speaker cable length 7.5m

General

Extras remote control, FM antenna, AM antenna
Size 430x279x38mmmm
Subwoofer dimensions 80x258x290mmmm
Centre speaker dimensions 145x71x81mmmm
Front speaker dimensions 80x71x117mmmm
Surround speaker dimensions 80x71x117mmmm
Power consumption standby 1W
Power consumption on 26W

Buying Information

Price £295
Warranty one year RTB
Supplier http://www.amazon.co.uk
Details www.panasonic.co.uk