LG LRM-519 Digital Media Recorder : Home Theater

At CEDIA 2005 LG announced the LG LRM-519 Digital Media Recorder, it is a all-in-one digital video recorder (DVR) and DVD recorder combo. It includes Microsoft Program Guide and it is powered by Windows XP Media Center and a 160-gigabyte hard drive. This product is a groundbreaking and innovative product, as it is the first DVR and DVD combo product in the world.

It has up to 90 minutes of "live" TV pause and for those less- interesting TV moments, one press of the remote control's skip button automatically jumps forward 30 seconds in time.

It can be added to a home network via wired Ethernet or an 802.11a/b/g wireless connection, access to the Microsoft Program Guide service data is fast and easy.

If your not home when their favorite TV program airs, the LG LRM-519 can record and store cable, satellite or over-the-air programs for later veiwing.

It has two USB ports that are compatible with a external hard drive device, so you can increase storage capacity and record a unlimited amount of hours of TV.

LG LRM-519 Digital Media Recorder retails for $599.00 and it will be available in October. The Microsoft Program Guide service subscription is available for a $249 one-time fee, $99.99 for a one-year subscription, or for $9.99 for a one-month subscription. http://www.lgusa.com/ .

The Microsoft Program Guide service makes it easy to search up to 14 days of programs by title, keyword, actor, director or category; allowing new programs and old favorites to be discovered and automatically recorded at the touch of a button. Any scheduled recording can be configured to record only once or for an entire season of shows, making it easy for users to decide exactly what will be recorded. The Microsoft Program Guide also provides the engine for the "parental controls" features that allow parents to monitor the programs their families can access.

Of course, even home theater enthusiasts sometimes need to leave the living room. For those times, the LRM-519's ability to quickly save stored programs to DVD will allow TV shows to be played back on the go, wherever there is a DVD player. With support for the widest variety of major DVD recording formats, including the latest DVD+R Dual Layer recordable discs, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R and DVD+RW, DVD recording and playback compatibility are not a concern.

With a connection to the home network, TV shows can quickly be sent to the home office for viewing or archiving on Windows(R) XP or Windows XP Media Center Edition -based PCs. Further, JPEG photo files, MP3 and WMA music files stored on the PC -- or even on a variety of portable devices such as portable digital music players, digital cameras and USB thumb drives that had previously been confined to the PC's small screen and tiny speakers -- can now be accessed through the LRM-519 for slideshow playback and enjoyment by the whole family in the home theater environment.

Comments

All the specs on the LRM-519 sound impressive, problem is they aren't accurate. There are problems with the USB connectivity - i.e. according to their customer support there is only one USB wirless device that is compabible (even though half a dozen models are listed on the website), and that isn't sold in most stores because its an older model.

An even bigger issue is customer service. I bought a LRM-519 for xmas. Paid the one time subscription fee of $249. Spent hours with customer service trying to get it setup, only to find out I had a defective unit. I brought it back to best buy and exchanged it for another. Problem is, the $249 fee IS NOT TRANSFERRABLE, and microsoft has a no refund policy. Therefore, at the time of this writing I am out $249 and have another unit with no subscription service! Buyer beware.

Posted by: sincebaugh | January 20, 2006 03:03 AM