DVD/HDD Recorders DVD & PVR

Sony RDR-HXD995

Despite all the awful shopping channels, there's a wealth of great TV to record on Freeview. For maximum flexibility you'll want a DVD recorder and PVR with plenty of storage space, and that can record cable or satellite from a number of inputs. The Sony RDR-HXD995 fits the bill, with 1080p upscaling to boot

Editor's rating 7.5

Panasonic DMR-EX88

The Panasonic DMR-EX88 comes with a high-end price tag, but its features are certainly up to scratch. A Freeview recorder PVR with a massive 400GB hard drive and a DVD recorder built in, it will also play Xvid and DivX files and upscale your DVDs. That should clear out some space under the TV

User rating 4.0

Editor's rating 7.7

Philips DVDR5520H

The Philips DVDR5520H's main attraction is its built-in Freeview PVR. DVD and support for downloaded Internet material is also available. It looks sleek and attractive and has excellent connectivity, and a very well laid out electronic programme guide. Picture and sound quality are also good, with full 1080p upscaling

Editor's rating 7.0

Samsung DVD-SH855M

There's nothing better than kicking back and watching your favourite shows when you have time. As a DVD player, Freeview receiver and recorder, the Samsung DVD-SH855M offers you just this luxury. With excellent price and picture quality, you'll be in TV land in no time

User rating 2.0

Editor's rating 7.0

Panasonic DMR-EX77

Stuck the VHS in the loft? Need to record something while you're at a barbecue? Panasonic's latest solution is the EX77, a 160GB hard-disk Freeview PVR with a DVD burner built in. This means you can archive old programmes and keep those classic shows you can't bear to delete

User rating 7.5

Editor's rating 7.7

Pioneer DVR-545HX

Pioneer's DVR-545HX gives you the flexibility of recording analogue or digital TV channels using the integrated 160GB hard drive or to blank DVDs, including DVD-RAM and dual-layer discs. HDMI out enables video upscaling too

Editor's rating 8.1

Panasonic DMR-EX85

The EX85 is Panasonic's most comprehensively equipped digital recorder. It's crammed with more recording and playback features than you can imagine, including an enormous 250GB hard drive, universal disc compatibility and integrated video scaling. The impressive on-paper specification is supported by quality performance in practice

User rating 7.0

Editor's rating 8.6

Toshiba RD-85DT

The RD-85DT features a timeless, stylish design with a decent specification that includes an integrated Freeview tuner -- fast becoming an essential in this market. Connectivity could be better, however -- there's no DV input for camcorder users or an HDMI digital output for upscaled DVD

Editor's rating 8.1

JVC DR-MH300

JVC's DR-MH300 offers almost every recording option imaginable -- use either the 160GB hard disk drive or software discs using DVD-RAM or –R/RW formats and there's lots of editing and dubbing functions -- useful if you're a budding camcorder Spielberg. It also upscales to hi-def resolution using an HDMI output

User rating 6.0

Editor's rating 7.4

Sony RDR-HX725

The HX725 offers the versatility of disc and hard drive recording, a full range of easy to use functions and superior style and build quality -- and recordings are impressively accurate to the original. It is lacking an integrated digital tuner though, and this exclusion causes usability and performance issues

Editor's rating 7.3

Panasonic DMR-EX75

Panasonic's DMR-EX75 features a 160GB hard drive and compatibility with all disc formats -- in a single system. This versatility is complemented by excellent usability and great quality images, particularly when upscaled to high definition and output to an HD Ready TV through HDMI. The only drawbacks are the steep price and the single digital tuner

User rating 7.8

Editor's rating 8.3

Liteon LVW-5055

More than capable of competing with high-end models from the bigger manufacturers, the LVW-5055 has a huge 250GB hard drive, a DVD recorder with near-universal format compatibility and all the other quality features, such as progressive-scan video, DV input and DivX video playback

User rating 5.7

Editor's rating 7.3

Panasonic DMR-EH80V

Panasonic's DVD recorders are renowned for ease-of-use, boding well for a machine that dares to combine DVD, hard drive and VHS recording. While recorders that feature the former two are commonplace, the addition of VHS is relatively rare and a useful function for many

Editor's rating 6.7

Sony RDR-HX510

Sony's RDR-HX510 is a dual-layer DVD recorder, meaning you can record high-quality movies to a single disc. It's stylish and easy to use, but its small hard-drive size and lack of Freeview tuner limits its functionality.

Editor's rating 7.0

Panasonic DMREH50

This DVD recorder is bursting with supported formats -- only DVD+RW is missing -- and it offers an incredibly intuitive recording system as well as the world's best remote. But 80GB is a tad stingy for a hard drive recorder and there's no Freeview tuner or FireWire support

Editor's rating 7.0

JVC DR-MH50

The DR-MH50 looks beautiful, has a massive 250GB hard drive and offers progressive-scan video output. But it has one monumental problem: it's lacking an RGB Scart input, meaning that recordings never look as good as they should

Editor's rating 5.7

Liteon LVW-5045

Far Eastern companies such as Liteon can enter a market with a product set at the lowest price possible. With subsequent generations, however, these same manufacturers come back with feature-packed upgrades that are still comparatively cheap

User rating 6.0

Editor's rating 7.0

Toshiba RD-XS34

Editor's rating 8.3

Pioneer DVR-520H

Editor's rating 7.0

Philips HDRW720

Editor's rating 5.4