Time moves quickly in the consumer electronics market. For around half the price of the first simple DVD recorders, you can now get an all singing and dancing HDD/DVD Recorder from Sony.

With a large 160GB capacity, HDMI output, TV Tuner (with Freeview) and advanced electronic programme guide (EPG), this device has almost everything you would want. The only thing that might be lacking is a second freeview receiver that would allow you watch and record different digital channels at the same time. The machine can also dub recordings to DVD in multiple formats. All round amazing value for money as you can get this for less than £300 if you shop around. Main features are :

• Hard disc drive DVD Recorder
• Digital Tuner
• HDMI Output
• DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD-RW/DVD+RW Recording (dual RW compatibility)
• EPG
• Progressive Scan Output
• Dynamic VBR dubbing (HDD only)
• Synchro Rec
• Quick Timer