So after what has been an eternity,I picked one of these up from Tesco, and so far I'm impressed. Costing a little under £125, it's a fairly compact entry level DVD recorder for those who like technology without hassle.

Opening up the box, you will find it comes with the unit itself, a remote control plus battery, RF cable, AV cable and the all important instruction booklet. Finished in a glossy black plastic on the front, with matte metal on the other four sides, it measures 430mm x 49mm x 245mm and weighs a little under 2.6kg.

As standard now with most items of this nature it comes with DV and USB connections, so you can plug your camcorder or camera in. It has the feature of recording upto 21 hours of programmes onto a single disc. However as with VHS and SP/LP the quality declines in stages from high to goo to average.

It also has a built in freeview reciever although this is mostly redundant as most TV's are now coming with at least this and in some cases FreeSat or HD. The dvd can also upscale dvd's to a superior quality although not Blu Ray level.

The main benefit of this item and the reason I purchased it was twofold. Firstly you can connect it to an old VHS recorder and convert tapes to DVD. The quality is that of VHS of course but it's handy for stuu you've recorded and cannot obtain on DVD. Secondley, this is an absolute godsend for getting stuff off your Sky+ box. It is a little complicated to hook up of course and their will be wires everywhere but it's worth it in the long run. A word of warning, you will need access to the internet and an AV forum for a bit of help here. Secondley, the unit records what is on screen, so if you're moving stuff from your Sky+ box then do it before going to bed and leave it running.

If I was to make one complaint, then it is the instructions are a little thin, but with internet access there are plenty of resources out there to offer assistance. The unit is practical and once you get the hang of it you'll wonder what you did without it, and as such I would recomend this to anyone.