If you haven't yet made the leap from analogue to digital TV, this Freeview PVR could encourage you to do it in style. For a start, it features two DVB-T tuners, so you can watch and record two different TV programmes at the same time. Then there's the eight-day EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) that makes setting up a weekly recording schedule a cinch.

And then you have the 160GB HDD, that can store up to 80 hours of TV. That should prove capacious enough for even the most compulsive of time-shifters.

The unit itself is slim enough to fit under even the most crowded TV areas and has a fashionably glossy black fascia. More importantly, tucked away on the back panel are all of the AV connections it needs to integrate with a home cinema setup.

There are two Scart sockets, one of which will send an RGB signal to your telly, while the other sends a composite or S-video signal to your DVD player. Meanwhile, there's an optical SPDIF output to deliver bitstream audio to your digital AV receiver.

Inside, the DVB-T cards and 160GB hard disk drive (HDD) are cooled passively by vents in the roof of the casing. This is significant because it means that the Sharp runs silently. Compare this with Sony's SVRS500 - its main rival in this category - and you'll be appalled by Sony's noisy cooling fan.

And while I'm on the subject, it's worth pointing out that for the same money, the Sony offers no digital audio output, no S-video output and a hard drive with only half the capacity. If your shortlist was down to these two models, it really is a no-brainer. Another welcome specification is the Sharp's low energy consumption. In standby mode, it uses less than half a watt.

When you switch on the TU-R160H for the first time, you are prompted to run the auto setup procedure so sit back and watch as all 40 or so of the Freeview TV and radio channels are sought out. This is as easy as inputting the country you are located in on the remote control. After that, it's a case of following the intuitive onscreen graphics to set your preferences for screen ratio and video output etc.