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LiteOn LVW5045
Buy Now...
I do hope the should in the title sentence gave due warning. I have had this unit for some time and after trying everything I could think of - while waiting for the manual to arrive - I passed on to other things. The manual arrived and I read it from cover to cover, re read the bits that I thought might help and then resorted to their technical support, I will not bore you with a long diatribe but this did not help either despite the efforts of the LiteOn PR company.
As the basic recording and playing back work well you may think I am over critical but having seen other such devices - they manage to do certain things that the LiteOn cannot - without any difficulty.
Firstly any program set to record via the timer remains showing in the list after recording and nothing I could do will shift them. I even tried erasing the hard disc so even though the data goes the programs are still listed. After a time they are shown as 'expired' but the names and times are still shown. On every other device be it in a similar type or even a humble video recorder the program records and then the details disappear.
Second there is no manual tuning method, there are two automated recording methods but no manual tuning method. So I watch the tuning process and when a perfectly acceptable picture is shown for channel 5 it is not stored so I could work only with BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV and Channel 4. Other devices would still detect Channel 5 even if it is less than 100% in quality around here. Even if they don't it can be manually tuned. So if any station is less than perfectly received in your area do not expect this unit to pick it up.
Third this unit has a mode to allow for recording of programs that run late. This is a brilliant idea it only it works. The manual says you must set the recording to start at the exact time the program is scheduled to start - you run the risk of missing a few seconds while the unit spins up - and then once you have ticked the right boxes it should keep going after the scheduled end if the program is still on. Great for live programs or for programs on after a live program. You know what I am going to say next don't you, I could not get it to work. But here I received a reply that almost makes sense 'it only works with national channels' and no one was sure when I queried this if ITV is considered a national channel. As in fact you are watching whatever your ITV company is in your area, even if they are all showing the same programs.
The unit is 42x34x6.5cm and is the standard silver grey in colour. Almost everything can be done from the 42 key remote control even if some of the names it gives the keys are a little unusual.
The unit can also play CD's and DVD of music, images etc and these rate headings of there own making the menu structure a little unbalanced. It also has the ability to record from a point such as when the phone or door bell rings among other facilities.
Like other such units it can record in a number of modes making the supplied 160GB hard disc able to store a great deal of programs, I tried several recording modes and was happy with the output quality even in LP mode. Cost seems to be just under £300
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