LG RHT497H

...choice this time was the LG RHT497H, I purchased this about four weeks ago for a little over £180 and have so far enjoyed using it and the picture quality it serves up is excellent.

I should probably give a mention to the TV I have it attached to before I go much further just so as you know exactly what I am using and then you do not expect the same picture quality from a 14 inch CRT portable. My TV is a Samsung next generation 63 ...
...for someone else. The LG RHT497H has a built in freeview tuner but can of course be linked up to Sky or Cable services allowing you to record from those instead, the recorder is also HD so it is capable of recording HD images from the HD channels should you have them, I have recorded Sky Sports in HD and it looks every bit as good played back as it does straight from the live presentation.

The recorder as well as being very impressive ... more

I have not owned a video recorder for over two years but have instead gone through three cheap DVD recorders, having wasted money on three cheap ones I decided to spend a bit more this time and went out and bought myself a good DVD recorder.

The recorder of choice this time was the LG RHT497H, I purchased this about four weeks ago for a little over £180 and have so far enjoyed using it and the picture quality it serves up is excellent.

I should probably give a mention to the TV I have it attached to before I go much further just so as you know exactly what I am using and then you do not expect the same picture quality from a 14 inch CRT portable. My TV is a Samsung next generation 63 inch crystal plasma and when combined with this DVD player/recorder the outcome is very, very good.

The recorder itself has a 160 GB hard drive but can also record onto discs if you prefer or perhaps you are recording for someone else. The LG RHT497H has a built in freeview tuner but can of course be linked up to Sky or Cable services allowing you to record from those instead, the recorder is also HD so it is capable of recording HD images from the HD channels should you have them, I have recorded Sky Sports in HD and it looks every bit as good played back as it does straight from the live presentation.

The recorder as well as being very impressive working wise is also a very good looking unit in shiny piano black which ties in with my plasma TV excellently and it is not covered in annoying illuminations but has just the one circular blue light in the centre and the timer display.

This recorder can record up to 21 hours of video on a single DVD+R disc when set to the low-quality MPL mode but I would suggest you stick to recording in long play mode which allows 7 hours recording but keeps the superb high image quality that comes straight from Sky or whatever you are recording.

My favourite thing about this DVD player/recorder is that it can play DIVX discs so there is no need to convert movies downloaded from the internet as you can play them in their original AVI format and can also therefore get four or five films on one disc which saves a lot of space over time and you can if you choose copy your favourite films to the DVD players hard drive and then they are there at the press of a button.

Speaking of buttons, the entire right hand side of the fascia drops down to reveal a row of buttons - play/pause, stop, record and HDMI resolution - plus DV, composite, analogue stereo inputs and a USB port but personally I never use these buttons and only ever drop the fascia to insert a USB memory stick to view either photos or video that I have put on there rather than using discs all.

On the rear there is a wide selection of connections including the now very important HDMI connection to transmit your HD and as it has a built in upscaler it can send video to your TV in 1080p, 1080i or 720p, therefore covering both HD ready TV`s and full HD TV`s. Then there is the typical RGB Scart and S-video outputs, while on the audio side you'll find analogue stereo output and a choice of optical and coaxial digital outputs, which supply Dolby Digital, DTS and PCM signals to your AV amp.

Now it has to be said I am no expert when it comes to the setting up of TV`s and DVD recorders and the HD connections and all that goes along with modern TV`s but I found connecting this and setting it up to be simple, the instructions are very, very easy to follow and the on screen set up and installation is really self explanatory.

The first time you power it up it runs through a series of installation screens with fetching graphics, setting the language and clock, checking the antenna and tuning in the digital channels to save you doing it later, from then on most of the functions are located from the home menu button on the remote. The home menu bar when on screen is very simple to navigate and again self explanatory.

You can record programs manually on the day and at the time of them showing or you can set exact times and dates up to 8 days ahead for the recorder to come on and record your desired channels and programs. Again figuring out how to set the recording times and dates is all covered in the manual and is relatively easy and once you have done it a few times it is like second nature.

I am overall very impressed with my purchase and feel that the LG RHT497H is worth every bit of its £180 price tag and the picture and sound quality it produces are every bit as good as what comes straight from my Virgin media cable box, the fact that my TV is of such high quality no doubt helps this DVD player/recorder create such brilliant image quality but I know of at least one other person that owns the same DVD player/recorder and a lesser TV and still swears by its quality.

As I mentioned earlier I am no expert on these types of things but I would gladly stick my neck out and recommend this DVD player/recorder to anyone looking for such an item, it has its own large hard drive and the ability to play almost any type of disc and also images or video straight from a USB memory stick so it is very versatile and will suit almost all needs!

MY SCORES:

LOOKS - 10/10

FEATURES - 8/10

PERFORMANCE - 9/10

VALUE FOR MONEY - 9/10

OVERALL - 9/10

Thanks for reading.

© thebigc1690

 

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