LG intros stylish Freeview DVD recorder

With integrated 160GB HDD

By James Sherwood, 4th June 2009

If you’re yet to make the jump to Blu-ray then LG has got a stylish treat in store: a DVD recorder with integrated hard disk drive and Freeview+ support.

LG's RHT497H: records Freeview telly onto its 160GB HDD

The RHT497H can receive over 40 digital Freeview channels - each of which you’ll be able to pause, play and rewind live – and sports a 160GB HDD, enough for over 470 hours of telly.

You can schedule the unit to record your favourite programmes up to eight days in advance, while “series link functionality” tells it to record a show’s entire season.

This is where the Super Multi DVD drive recorder comes in handy, of course, because you’re then able to archive your recordings onto disc. Sixty minutes of content takes about 27 seconds to record, LG said.

Upscales to 1080p

RHT497H’s other technical highlights include 1080p up-scaling through an HDMI connection, DivX movie playback, optical output to a home cinema system and a USB port for connecting up peripherals, such as a digital camera.

The RHT497H is finished in high-gloss black with a silver trim and is available now, priced at about £300 ($492/€346). ®

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Posted Saturday 6th June 2009 00:04 GMT

Anonymous Coward

Whoopeedo!

This, I'm afraid, is another 'yeah, but so what' product!

This unit is trailing behind the currently available tech on everything else but the inclusion of the Blu Ray recorder. So where are the twin digital tuners that nearly everyone wants? And where are the USB2 and WIFI connections for hooking up to your PC/Lappy?

The USB2 socket should be added as standard by now. Many people want to be able to plug in a portable hard drive or flash drive and play mpegs and DVD folders directly from these devices. And on top of that it's only got a 160gig hard drive? That's miserly apart from anything else.

Most people I know that have PVRs / Freeview recorders archived programs for the first few months of getting their new units but then they realised that it's just a waste of DVD-Rs and now stash them on the hard drive and have a clear out when the disk gets near full. You need lots of space IOW...a lot more than the pathetic 160gig offered here. That size was entry level over 4 years ago. It should be double or better, quadruple that.

Not impressed. There's definitely no wow in this, and quite frankly, it shows that LG are more than a bit behind the times. My ageing Topfield twin digital tuner freeview PVR was purchased with a 160gig hard drive years back, and when I replace it I want to replace it with a twin digital tuner dvd recorder with good connectivity. This therefore gets a fail!