Panasonic SC-BTT490 Energy Star 5.1-Channel 1000-Watt Full HD 3D Blu-Ray Home Theater System with Built-in Wi-Fi
- Stainless Mesh Front Tallboy Speakers
- Wi-Fi Built-In, Universal iPod Dock
- HDMI Input x2 / HDMI Output x1
Panasonic Blu-ray Disc home theaters have been developed under the concept of reproducing an ideal theater-like surround sound environment. The SC-BTT490 employs advanced technologies to reproduce clearer, enhanced theater-like surround sound to skillfully match high-quality 3D imagery. It features a down firing subwoofer and Full HD 3D Blu-ray Disc playback. The integration of smart networking functions including Smartphone remote control, DLNA, Wireless LAN, digita
List Price: $ 499.99
Price: $ 403.50
Samsung HT-E5500W HTIB 5.1 Channel 3D Blu-ray 1000-Watt Home Theater System
- 1000 Watts
- 3D Blu-ray
- Built-in Wifi
- Wireless rear speakers
- Web broswer
5.1 Ch 3D Smart BD, Built-in Wifi, Web Browser, and Wireless Rear Channels Home Theater System.5.1 Ch 3D Smart BD, Built-in Wifi, Web Browser, and Wireless Rear Channels Home Theater System.Connection: Anyent+ (HDMI-CEC), ARC (Audio Return Channel), USB Host 2.0, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, Composite Output, 2x HDMI Input, 1 Audio Input, 1 Optical Input, 1 Coaxial Input and Wireless LAN.Dimension: Disc Player: 16.93 x 2.17 x 10.07 Inches, Front: 3.54 x 8.17 x 2.7 Inches, Surround: 3.54 x 5.57 x 2.7
List Price: $ 499.99
Price: $ 499.99
Home Theater Unit +3 of Enjoyment.,
The system is one of the better mid range Home Theater in a Box setups. Build quality is on par for what you are paying for it, which is really a polite way to say it doesn’t suck, but you won’t change anyone’s religion with the quality. The front “Tall Boy” speakers are my main gripe, they should be named skinny, anemic, fragile, wobbly boy speakers, but I suppose that would tough to fit on the box. Their plastic mounting stands seem a little flimsy and even screwed together and placed properly they tend to feel fragile like they could snap in two with marginal force. I’d caution having them anywhere near young children or any other bouncy kinetic forces that could snap them. That being said the sound quality is, quite frankly..amazing. With the fine tuning options in the Audio setup, finding that sweet spot on sound is relatively easy. The Highs and Mids are crisp, and the lows are punchy, even in content not optimized to use the 5.1 setup, it sounds good. The Image quality and 3D abilities are crisp and vivid.
The setup from unpacking to enjoying content is about 15 minutes with minimal fine tuning. The two HDMI In ports are a nice touch and allow you to connect a Set Top Box or Game console and take advantage of the Theater’s sound. The ports are cleverly labeled “In” in case there is any confusion between “In” and “Out”. The speakers connect to the Theater using a proprietary plug that is color coded, so even if you sustain crippling brain trauma while setting the system up, you should be able to drool your way to a fine home theater experience. The functionality when paired with a Panasonic TV with VIERA Connect is nice as the devices talk to one another regarding proper settings, although I’ve never remained in the room long enough to see if they discuss anything else, presumably not.
All in all the product was worth exactly the price I paid for it, and overall i’m satisfied with the purchase.
PRO’s:
Excellent Sound Quality
Crisp Clean Image Quality & 3D so lifelike you reach for Jessica Alba on the screen.
Extra HDMI Inputs.
Box makes an exceptional hat.
CON’s:
Flimsy front speaker stands.
Jessica Alba not actually reachable via Home Theater Unit.
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Really GREAT !!!!!,
System works great and I could not be happier. I also purchased the Panasonic SH-FX71 Wireless Rear Speaker System with two extra speakers. This thing connects to the Panasonic SC-BTT490 3D Blu-Ray Disc 5.1 Surround Sound Home Theater System and I can add two more speakers the the system. It also runs just under the 2.5Ghz of most wireless phones and has the same range. So I can play music from my iPhone (which connects to the Home Theater System) and extend the music anywhere in the house or back yard. Also I can place those two extra speakers behind my 5.1 system and essentially have a 7.1 system. Though I really just use the two extra speakers to extend my music outside the reach of the Home Theater System.
Also I use WiFi for the Panasonic SC-BTT490 3D Blu-Ray Disc 5.1 Surround Sound Home Theater System and have had no problems. You get free games, and if you are an Amazon Prime member a bunch of free movies.
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Good sound, lousy user interface,
I bought this all-in-one blu-ray/amplifier/radio because I live in an apartment and want a compact, dead-simple unit to watch TV, Netflix, and AppleTV shows with, as well as to stream music from my iPhone with. It does all of that just fine. Sound quality is great for movies, and so-so for music (it lacks low midrange) – about what I expected in this price-range with small speakers. The speakers are stylish, and can be wall mounted or mounted on the pedestals included. Bass sound is excellent, as is treble. I purchased the Panasonic SH-FX71 wireless rear speakers, which complements this system nicely. They include a transmitter that plugs into the back of the stereo, along with an AC-powered amp that can be hidden behind a sofa that connects via wires to the rear speakers.
Assembly was easy. The product was packaged well, and instructions were acceptable (but not great). Included were color coded wire labels for the speaker cables, which was a nice touch. The jacks on back of the machine are color coded like the speaker plugs, making it easy to put together. I paired this with a Panasonic VIERA TC-L47E50 TV. Picture from the BluRay disks are excellent. Disk load times are fast. My only grip with the BluRay player: It doesn’t remember where I stop a movie after turning off the machine, forcing me to restart movies from the beginning, which is infuriating. The instructions claim it has this feature, and that some disks are designed to prohibit this feature, so I’m not sure whether the machine or disks are to blame. The unit has a built-in cooling fan, which is inaudible.
There is a slide out tray for inserting an iPhone to play music/videos. However, if you put the Panasonic machine in a cabinet or on a shelf below another shelf, this tray is useless since it doesn’t pull out far enough, causing the iPhone to hit the shelf or cabinet above the machine.
The user interface of this machine is horrible, other than the ability to select NetFlix via a single button on the remote. To select other sources (e.g. Cable TV box, HDMI inputs (mine’s connected to an AppleTV), radio, etc.), it is necessary to either (1) Press “Home” on the remote, wait a few seconds, and then navigate two levels through a graphical menu of inputs and click “OK”; or, (2) Press one of two source buttons on the remote repeatedly to cycle through various source inputs until the desired one of ~5 is selected. This is a joke. There should be dedicated buttons on the remote to immediately select “TV”, “HDMI 1″, “Bluray”, etc. I attempted to deal with this by getting a Logitech Harmony 650 universal remote, but was unsuccessful. (The Logitech remote was only able to cycle through the various inputs on the Panasonic just like the OEM remote; it couldn’t directly access various inputs. It’s not clear whether the unit will recognize remote codes that directly select specific inputs; the logitech configurator didn’t provide that option.) This is a big minus for me – my kid and mother have a horrible time using this machine to watch TV as they cannot figure out how to change the inputs, and there’s not “TV” button. The main purpose of me getting this machine was to avoid that problem, so I’m not impressed. I hope a firmware update from Panasonic will fix this.
Integration with other Panasonic devices is so-so. For example, when I change the volume with the remote control, depending on what input is selected, the volume indication may or may not appear on the (Panasonic) TV. This inconsistency is due to sloppy software coding, and needs to be fixed.
Aesthetically, the main unit is plain looking. It’s not nearly as nice looking as Panasonic’s standalone slot-load DMP-BDT320 blu-ray player, and for something in this price range, I’d like a slot-load BluRay player, not a tray load unit. The tray for this unit is hidden behind a spring loaded front panel that automatically opens and closes when the tray opens and closes, for a fairly clean look. The digital display shows minimal information. Buttons on top of the machine exist for power, volume up/down, and eject, which is convenient.
The iPhone interface is mediocre. It works, but album art is of very low resolution. There is no Apple AirPlay capability. However, I have an AppleTV connected to the unit that does support AirPlay, so this is not a big issue to me.
The NetFlix interface is pretty good – better than the older Sony bluray player I had. It’s a bit sluggish, but a tad faster than the 2-year old Sony bluray player one was. Annoyingly, it doesn’t remember at what titles I was browsing, so everytime I return to the NetFlix screen, I have to start navigating through the titles anew. Because the “Home” button is very close to the “Up” button on the remote, it’s easy to accidentally hit “Home” and exit the NetFlix mode when navigating through titles, requiring the slowish accessing of the…
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Wonderful system!,
I ordered this system after having 3 Sony systems over the previous 5+ years. I was looking primarily for a wireless speaker system and finding a Samsung with the Smart Hub was an added bonus. This works well and compliments my Samsung TV very well. The Anynet+ system allows me to have a backup remote to my Logitech all-in-one since it controls both the HT system and TV with one. The sound is rich and crisp and even has an equalizer that can be customized in the settings.
With 2 HDMI inputs, an optical audio in with a dedicated input, and a single HDMI out, this is the perfect system – and the price can’t be beat! Hooking the system up in a breeze, just be sure to plug in the wireless speakers BEFORE turning on the system for the first time. Failure to do so can cause problems with setting it up, but nothing that a restart or 2 can’t fix.
Some wonderful extra features that aren’t mentioned in the product listing:
+ Custom equalizer
+ Built in Wi-Fi
+ ms sound delay settings (if sound doesn’t match TV)
Overall, I would strongly recommend this system to anyone looking for a great priced wireless speaker surround sound system.
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|Somewhat disappointed but can’t beat the value,
I am a current owner of the HT-C6900W and completely satisfied with the system. My review of the 6900W is available here on Amazon and everything I stated there still remains the same. Never had an issue with performance or reliability for over two years of use. It just sounds great (for an HTIB) and works without a hiccup.
I recently relocated to a second home and purchased the E5500W for it. The price of the E5500W is cheaper than that the C6900W (even at the end of model year fire sale price) was but I still had high expectations as I was attributing the price decrease to newer and cheaper technologies.
While the performance is similar, there are a few “compromises” that diminishes the quality of the E5500W compared to the C6900W:
- No autocalibration. This isn’t a big deal as you can still dial in the distance and dB offset of each speaker.
- No onboard 1gb internal memory for BD Live. Don’t really care about that.
- Still no Amazon Instant! Come on Samsung, I’m a Prime member!
- The remote is skinny with smaller buttons and not backlit.
- Front left, right speakers are single woofer while the C6900W are double (the E6500W looks to be equipped with double). Center, rears and sub looks to be the same.
- Sound quality is very good but speech and low bass seem just ever so slightly muffled compare to the C6900W.
- Some static noise comes from rear speakers. It is infrequent, maybe a few seconds for about every hour of use but this never happened on the C6900W. I don’t think it’s the speakers themselves but the wireless rear connection. I’m not factoring in this in the comparison as I will exchange if the problem continues or worsens. It could also be an issue with the cable feed.
Of course being two years newer, there are some feature upgrades:
- Smart Hub layout is better organized.
- Equipped with a web browser that works in a pinch. Too clumsy for everyday use but nice new addition.
- No more typing in search fields by pressing number buttons like sending a text message on old cell phones. A letter selection box comes up so you can use the directional keys. This is much more convenient.
- Remote, though a bit cramped as stated above, now has direct buttons for Nexflix and Pandora. This is great for me as I use those two online features the most.
- 2D to 3D conversion right on the remote.
More importantly, there are also some performance enhancements compared to the C6900W:
- The 3D sound feature. It does add to the immersive effect by pumping more volume to the rear satellite speakers. This is right on the remote and can be set to High, Med, Low and Off and you will use all four settings depending on the content you’re watching.
- Equalizer now available to customize the sound setting. This is a very welcomed addition. You have much more control in tailoring the sound to your taste.
- Disc load times improved. Still not the best around but notably better than the C6900W.
- Picture quality for blu-ray and dvd upconverted still on par with the best blu-ray players.
Bottom line: The system still sounds very good, better than that of Sony, Panny and LG’s equavlents. It should be equal to that of last year’s D5500 rated by Consumer Reports as the best BluRay HTIB by far even though it lacked wireless rears and NO HDMI inputs. It was the only HTIB to be rated “Very Good” on sound quality while others were just good or worse. Still, it just doesn’t have quite the same punch and clarity as the C6900W. Perhaps that’s the difference between the 5xxx and 6xxx series. Given the price, I will keep this system as this year’s price difference between the two is over $200! Subjectively speaking, I would exchange for the E6500W if the price difference was $50 or less. The E6500W has these new vacuum tubes that supposedly makes it sound better (advertised as professional grade surround) but could also be a gimmick. I listened to it at the store and I recall thinking that it doesn’t sound that different from the C6900W.
Yes, I am somewhat disappointed as my title says because I expected the same, if not better sound performance as my two year old system. It’s a notch below. What I am experiencing is effect of stepping down a series even though 2 years apart. Don’t let my disappointment fool you. This is still a very good system for the price.
UPDATE 11/26/12
As noted in the comments section, our wireless rear issue was due to the cable signal and has been fixed by the cable company. A friend who purchased this system on black Friday deal had similar issue but could not fix. Both the system’s wireless rear and his wireless Uverse digital box would constantly lose signal (main wired Uverse box ok). Unlike my system that had static or no signal to the wireless rears on cable programs only, his wireless rears failed…
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|Good System,
System is easily set up and has good connectivity options, hooked up to satellite reciever and xbox as well as TV. Connected to wireless network easily. Sound quality is better than average, but not spectacular. The wireless rear speakers make installation a breeze, but are somewhat weak in sound delivery. Disappointed that there is not a multiple disk changer, and the single drive is slow loading. Disk drive makes loud clunk and whirl noises when the system is turned on and when loading disks. No complaint on visual output, crisp and clear.
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