Panasonic Details Pricing and Availability for SC-BT200 and SC-BT300 Home Theater Systems
Written on Mar 11, 2009 by Brian and filed under News, Panasonic
Panasonic launched new home theater in a box systems at CES this year, the SC-BT200 and SC-BT300 are powerful 7.1 Blu-ray systems, but they didn’t talk specifics about release date or pricing. Today they resolved both issues and those wanting a great feature set from a known brand name are going to love what Panasonic has to offer.
Thankfully Panasonic is driving down their prices on these HTiB systems, the same behavior we’re seeing from Sony and others. Here’s a rundown of the systems and when to expect them:
- SC-BT200 – 7.1 channel Blu-ray system with 1000 watts of total power, iPod dock, graphic user interface for setup and reduced power consumption – April $599
- SC-BT300 – All the features of the BT200, but with 1250 watts of total power – April $699
- SC-ZT1 – This system features 4 slim wireless speakers that have subwoofers integrated into the base. There’s no optical player, but one can be connected to the system. Initially this one was supposed to be released this spring, but it’s been delayed to the fall. No pricing has been released.
It’s hard to look at the feature set of the SC-BT200 and the SC-BT300, combined with the price point, and not get a little excited. Assuming the quality is there, which we’ll have to test, $600 on the low end for Blu-ray, 1000 watts, 7 surround speakers, subwoofer, iPod dock, VIERA Cast content network and a lower power consumption is pretty compelling. And if you need more power, $100 more gets 250 watts.
UPDATE 8/4/09 – Panasonic adds Amazon VOD support to the SC-BT200 and SC-BT300
Update – 12/21/09 – Panasonic SC-BT300 Review Posted (Also covers SC-BT200)
I’m really excited about this. I’m anxiously awaiting your reviews of the systems. Right now the stand-alone Blu-Ray player from Panasonic is one of the top-selling and top-rated players. I hope that the players included in this bundle follow suit.
I have recently purchased a Panasonic Viera 50inch Plasma and I have been looking for a Blu Ray theatre system to go with it. The choice is between the Panasonic SC-BT300 (natural choice) and the Sony BDV-E500.
Going the Panasonic route will give me greater integrated functionality but I am disappointed that the Wireless speakers are a cost option whereas the uquivelent (S-AIR) are included with the Sony, also the Sony rear speakers are far better looking than the panasonic.
The real decider will be the tests and reviews by the Hifi bods to see which provides the better overall experience.
For now I will sit tight and wait …
As of June 22 the SH-FX70 wireless rear speaker repeater was not available for any price, much less the $129 list price. I purchased a SC-BT200 for wireless rear speaker system and it looks like I am going to have to return it to the retailer for the SONY system when it becomes available.