DVD Recorders > LG DVD Recorders > with Dolby Digital

Advantages: Multi-format recording/playback
Disadvantages: Unreliable

I've had one of these for just over a year now and lets just say it has been... problematic. First the good points (yes there are some!) It will record on DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW discs and play DivX, VCD's and MP3/WMA files and also view JPEG images, in fact pretty much anything you can throw at it. Also has component output so if you have a HD television you can take advantage of it's progressive scan output, and standard digital and analogue audio ...
...no digital tuner, so once the analogue tv signal is switched off the internal tuner will be redundant. Also it will not 'pass-through' an RGB Scart signal from one Scart socket to the other - for example if I connect my Sky Digibox to the recorder's AV-in Scart socket it will not output the Digibox's RGB signal from the recorder's AV-out resulting in inferior picture quality. The biggest problem though is what I believe to be poor design. The recorder ... Read review

Advantages: None, avoid this product
Disadvantages: Smoke, burning smells, and trapped discs

...with the “new in stock” LG RH-277H DVD recorder, now I have had an LG television for donkeys years and it was incredibly easy to work, so this seemed like a really good indicator, not only that the remote could be made as easy or as simple as I wanted it to be. At a price of £199 I thanked all the staff and scouried out of the store with it. Set up seemed straightforward once I had tackled the multitude of packaging materials enclosed, I plugged ...
...recorder. I rang the LG helpline which was closed “please call back Monday”; but while I was on the phone I noticed a whiff off burnt toast, my Grandmother was badgering about in the kitchen so thought little of it. I packed up the DVD recorder and headed back to Currys, where the trio had served me earlier were all still stood in the same section I had earlier ransacked. I apologised and told them my tale, to which the manager quickly emerged with ... Read review

Advantages: A lot of functionality for the price
Disadvantages: Reliability is a concern. Noise.

...for a new replacement, but LG only suplly a reconditioned unit with 3 months waranty. OK, but could have been better. The menu created on a DVD is fairly basic, but does the job. Recording quality is fine, but there are a couple of rough edges in the menu and operating system. There are some limitations in recording flexibility when using the cheaper DVD-RW rather than DVD+RW, and there is also a restriction on fast dubbing tracks that have been ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent playback and recording. Extremely easy to set up and use
Disadvantages: Can't think of any. Unit is quite deep in size but this is not a problem for me

...the sound coming from the LG (I have to say played through my Marantz SR4300 AV Amplifier) it was cinema brought home except that it was even more detailed and not just loud. to put it simply I am amazed by the sound quality. So I recorded my team playing and winning their cup match. This was a good test as football matches can be dodgy on recording unike soap or flims made in specially lit studio. The quality was brilliant. So far I have thrown ...
...collection) and yet no coaster. Choosing a recorder was not easy. The Panasonic DMR E55 has received so many good reviews. However things have moved on the Panasonic machine has become a good machine that is rather basic in feature. It has up to 16hrs recording on one disc, but who would want to cram 16 hrs of low quality recording into a single disc when discs are so cheap these days ... Read review

Advantages: 80gb hard drive
Disadvantages: Large and unreliable

The LG RH 177 is easy to install and set-up, and as you'd expect it has one touch record, time shift and playback. It comes with a 80gb hard drive. When you attempt to go beyond the basic features you will notice a number of annoying features, such as; 1. When you set the player to record at set times, the system will not record if it is already switched on, particularly annoying if you're watching a DVD. You will receive a message on screen reminding ...
...to returning the system to LG for repair twice, initially I had a problem where DVDs would skip or get stuck, following the first return this problem was not fixed and it later led to the system being unable to play DVDs at all, including the ability to copy from the hard drive to a DVD. These issues aside, to date I haven't had a problem with the hard drive, and while the player is a little on the large side, it has become almost invaluable, but ... Read review