LG RH1888H

buyer beware of LG – This machine was always breaking down. It had to be fixed by LG 4 times in two years and each time I had to send it to Sydney, so I was without a digital tuner, ie no tv channels. The ease of use while it worked was quite good. Just its quality was quite bad. It was easy to use and the way EPG was setup was excellent Overpriced, Poor quality (always breaking down)

OK – No failures with this one, the extended warranty helps immensely, although a 160GB HDD can fill up very quickly in a short space of time. On-screen menus are easy to understand, simple operation, no lock-outs. A reasonable unit considering it is LG. Be advised: DVD+R DL discs may not play correctly in other players even after finalisation in this… Read more

unit, but that is a medium limitation. I don't recommend DVD+R or DVD+R DL of any branded disc for domestic everyday video recording - always go with DVD-R or DVD-R DL. Ideal for the budget-conscious among us. One of the 'smarter' models. Sleek design, ease of use, quick easy setup options, records most DVD media. The HDD capacity could be a bit larger though. 160GB in my experience is not very big. Extended warranty is recommended for this model - and should include all parts and labour.

Good – I owned this LG model for 2½ years and used it on a daily basis. It needed repairs every year, which was a shame because it was a very good all round model. I would think that these problems were addressed before releasing the next model of it's kind. I would gladly upgrade with LG providing it still had the same excellent features. While using… Read more

it every single day to either record, play, edit, delete, combine, dub or all these things, Is it too much to expect it work flawlessly for more than a year without repairs?

The ability to combine two or more programs into one can be very useful. You can completely edit a program, and the machine will put it all together in one action. Not so with the Panasonic DMR-EX79 model. It's quick and easy to use. You can dub a program from HDD to DVD, and set up a recording to take place later. Again, not so with the DMR-EX79.

With todays technology, we're getting more for our money. The more features a machine has, the more likely it will malfunction. By the same token, the more it is used, the more likely a breakdown. So, it is wise to take out an extended warranty because of these possibilities. In so doing, any repairs are taken care of worry free. The cost of an extension, would more than outweigh the cost of one repair. By the time the extended warranty runs out, you'll probably have an almost new machine. As for having to travel long distances to the repair agent, one should get answers to these little problems before purchasing. After all, we have to be happy with our purchases, don't we?

In conclusion: An excellent all round machine that does the business quickly and efficiently. It's potluck whatever we buy today. Unless you personally know someone who has such a machine, you won't know any different. Getting opinions and reviews like this one on line, is merely a person's thoughts and experiences. The like of which you may not encounter.

If the thought of having it repaired once or more per year, and you either don't want or can't afford an extension to the warranty, then don't buy it.

On the other hand, if you do buy the satisfaction of worry free repairs, then I say you will not be disappointed. Nice neat design. Very good editing feature. Ability to combine programs. So easy to operate, you don't need the manual all the time. You can use just about any make of media.

A 3 year warranty (was Essential) Repairs?

On the two occasions for repair, the machine failed to recognize a DVD

Terrible – I will never buy another LG DVD recorder, its a frustrating piece of equipment, had trouble from the beginning, now it will not record anything. Anyone tell me what is the best to buy? Will not read DVDs, it displays unreadable disk. Have had very little use out of it, too hard to set up... total junk...

Terrible – Crap. Too expensive for what you get. Its performance, or lack of it, casts a worrying shadow over LG generally and Harvey Norman for selling such rubbish. Document read well. Noisy hard drive. Very complex to operate. DVD fails to recognise disks.

Bad – Absolute junk - we initially purchased this machine to play and record DVD's, but have NEVER recorded a single DVD with it. Fortunately we purchased it with a 3 year warranty - the hard drive failed after only 12 months (about 25 screenings) and took 3 weeks to repair (the nearest service agent is a 65km drive away). The warranty is due to… Read more

expire in January 2010 and the machine looks like it has now suffered yet another hard drive failure so I guess that I will be up for another 270km drive to get it repaired before the warrantly expires. After my experience with this unit I would not touch another LG recorder with a barge pole. Good features, slimline design, able to interface and control TV. Unreliable, poor servicing availability.

Excellent – te best product I purchased for a long time, go to "The Good Guys" and get one for about A$300.00 huge HDD allows you to record mane movies without wasting a blank DVD, it allows you to edit the recording to get rid of the comercials before you burn it to a disk the editing is a little time consuming

Terrible – Purchased in August 2007, so 18 mths old. Problem reading DVDs began after about 8-10 months. In for service now (luckily I purchased extra 4 years warranty from Hardly Normal!). Service agent said they normally just replace the DVD drive. Having read the other reviews of various LG DVD recorders, I'm not expecting any miracles. Very… Read more

disappointing for what is an excellent idea for a machine with very few niggles. Hopefully the recorded DVDs I tested in my old DVD player that did not work just need finalisation (earliest, finalised, ones work ok). I get the feeling that Hardly Normal are going to rue the decision to sell me that extended warranty. I will not be buying an LG DVD recording device ever again. Nice looking machine with a very good bunch of features. Ideal VCR replacement until the below problems hit. Editing the recorded files on the hard disk makes the files dub to DVD in real time. Unedited files dub in much higher speeds. When watching a HDD file while timer recording is active it shuts down when the timer recording finishes, leaving you to FF through to where you got up to after turning the unit back on. No auto-chaptering when recording to HDD.

OK – bought just over a year ago but am waiting to take it to a service centre. For the past couple of months it will not play dvds - some times after a couple of tries loading it will eventually play. Next time I try the same disk it wont - very frustrating. My $40 AWA player has no problems with the same disk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 recording is easy play back problem