don't know about panasonic but any of the philips i have seen are a nightmare to understand and operate--i had one--player/recorder--can't remember the model--i am good with technical stuff--always have been but it was so needlessly complicated--gave it to my son--lol--he thought i was being so generous--i couldn't wait to get rid of it--he thought the same--anyway i now have an lg--few yrs old now and straight forward--if u r buying online, note the models u fancy then go to a stockist and ask to see the instruction manual --have a read at that and u will get an idea of how easy it is to operate--then go buy it online--can't understand why more people don't read instruction manuals b4 buying such equipment--i do it all the time--cheers