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Panasonic SC-BTT362 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £341
inc VAT

A 2.1 system that struggles to justify its high price against the superior 5.1 competition

We’re used to seeing all-in-one Blu-ray systems that include a set of 5.1 surround sound speakers, but it’s less common to find 2.1 systems, which makes Panasonic’s BTT362 something of a surprise. It comprises a Blu-ray player, a compact subwoofer and two tall satellite speakers. There’s no surround sound, then, but this system should still make a welcome upgrade to the integrated speakers on the average TV.

Both the subwoofer and satellites connect to the main unit using proprietary connectors. The subwoofer cable is non-removable but the satellites use standard spring terminals, which should make it slightly easier to extend the 2.9m cables if required.

Panasonic BTT362 rear

As well as the speaker connections, there’s a reasonable number of ports on the back of the main unit. Two HDMI inputs are ideal for attaching a games console or set-top box, while analogue and optical digital inputs accommodate other audio devices. There’s an FM antenna socket for analogue radio stations, and a USB port supports Panasonic’s Skype camera for internet video calling. An integrated iPod dock to the right of the disc tray is another welcome inclusion.

Panasonic BTT362 front

There’s another USB port and an SD card slot on the front underneath the flip-out faceplate, but format support was disappointingly limited. Only JPEG image files and MP3 audio files are supported, and video support isn’t much better; we could play DivX and Xvid files but our MKVs refused to play, despite claimed support for this format. WMV and MP4 videos didn’t even show up in the list of available files. The same was true when we tried over the network using DLNA, so this isn’t the ideal set for anyone with a large multimedia collection.

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Details

Price £341
Rating **

Connections

HDMI inputs 2
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 0
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 2.1
Main unit end speaker connection type proprietary
Speaker end speaker connection type spring terminals
Other connections 2x 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 Essential
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 2.1
RMS power output 520W
RMS power centre N/A
RMS power front 320W
RMS power surround N/A
RMS power subwoofer 200W
Wall mountable yes
Centre speaker cable length N/A
Front speaker cable length 2.9m
Surround speaker cable length N/A

General

Extras remote control, FM antenna
Size 430x279x38mmmm
Subwoofer dimensions 180x300x408mmmm
Centre speaker dimensions N/A
Front speaker dimensions 135x135x404mmmm
Surround speaker dimensions N/A
Power consumption standby 10W
Power consumption on 23W

Buying Information

Price £341
Warranty one year RTB
Supplier http://www.amazon.co.uk
Details www.panasonic.co.uk