Picture quality

Thankfully the LG's recording quality is up to scratch. Recordings from the Freeview tuner in XP mode are virtually indistinguishable from the original broadcast, boasting high levels of detail, sharp edges and bold colours.

There isn't a dramatic drop in quality in SP mode and when taking advantage of LP's extended recording time, the increased amounts of noise are perfectly tolerable, although the pictures don't hide their lower bitrate as well as the equivalent mode on Panasonic's latest recorders.

EP recordings are inevitably riddled with artefacts, but you could just about put up with them if you stick to programmes without fast movement or loads of detail. No one in their right mind would find the soft and juddery MLP recordings enjoyable to watch.

Pre-recorded DVD playback is on a par with a budget DVD deck – upscaled 1080p images are solid across the board, boasting decent levels of colour and detail with no obvious artefacts, although they lack the wow factor of a decent mid-range or high-end disc spinner.

Dolby Digital-encoded stereo sound is open and audible, even through bog-standard TV speakers; movie soundtracks bitstreamed to an amp are as crisp and dynamic as you'd expect and CD playback through the analogue or digital audio outputs is at least enjoyable.

Two hundred smackers is an absolute steal for a good-looking combi with this many features on board: multiformat DVD recording, a reasonably sized hard disk and excellent digital media support, plus a healthy range of Freeview features. It also boasts solid recording quality and enjoyable DVD playback.

That said, it's a shame that LG hasn't ironed out the flaws found on last year's models that are still present here, such as the muddled Freeview+ function and poor remote. One reason why you might be tempted to pay a bit more for one of LG's slicker rivals.

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