I have read several reviews on the Panasonic STB and it seems to be somewhat slower than other models ie: the RCA DTC-100. Has this been fixed with the software update that has come out through DirectTV? What about fan noise? Any info would be appreciated.

Mike

What about the fan noise? It is still way too loud and no software fix is going to correct that.

The slow menu and quide isues were greatly improved with a software update (7.4) that came out about a month ago.

Two issues remain: fan noise and a tendency to lose it's programming data (requires a restart or a re-acquistion). The software upgrade fixed the data issue for me, but I've heard from others that it still exists, albeit at a much more infrequent rate.

According to Panasonic, they believe that there might be an interference problem that causes the receiver to lose its data. The engineer I talked to said they are working on a hardware fix for this and the fan issue. Since the fan noise is caused by airflow through the case (the fan itself is quiet), I suspect the fix may be a newly designed case cover.

I've had this receiver for about 4 months and I'm perfectly happy with it, especially since the software update.

Have had Pani for a month. I have two SAT receivers, an older Sony (which goes througout the house) and a Pani for my HDTV. The fan noise is noticeable and the menus are much slower than Sony. Pani also lacks the live PIP of the Sony Menu, a nice feature when scolling. However, the Pani is clearer, more detailed (resolution) with much better color saturation. So... Convenience is traded for picture quality....As an early adopter, You are forced to choose. Strange given the competitiveness of these two companies.