CD Freaks take a look at the Lite-On LVW-1105HC+ standalone DVD recorder.

To sum it all up, this DVD recorder can easily replace an existing DVD player as well as possibly the VCR and we would recommend it to anyone looking for a very user-friendly easy to use DVD recorder. For anyone looking to change from VHS to DVD to record daily shows, TV programmes, transfer camcorder footage, to do away with wearing out tapes or the tedious rewinding & fast-forwarding process associated with VHS tapes, this would also make an ideal replacement.

Positive:
- Supports DVD+/-R and DVD+/-RW
- Excellent DVD+R, DVD-R and DVD-RW recording quality.
- Decent recording quality in its long play modes.
- Former 1GB minimum data (~14 mins @ SP mode) restriction not enforced on DVD-R/RW.
- Good retail bundle including AV leads, RF cable, blank DVD+RW and batteries for the remote.
- Wide selection of AV inputs and outputs.
- Features component out and camcorder DV input.
- User-friendly guider, very useful for those new to DVD recorders.
- Supports MP3 and WMA files from both data CD and DVD, including folders.
- Supports MPEG 1, 2 & 4 (XviD & DivX) files from both data CD and DVD
- Supports 2nd soundtrack, Quarter Pixel, specified aspect ratio and AC3 audio with XviD encodings.
- Supports non-standard resolutions.
- Region coding can be set to match disc or be turned off altogether with secret remote sequence (not an official feature).
- Passive video support to allow viewing of equipment attached to Aux port while recording is taking place.
- DivX Certified including DivX 6 playback
- Very low cost for a slim line DVD recorder with MPEG4/DivX support

Negative:
- Poor DVD+RW recording quality on most of our discs, particularly with the included DVD+RW, resulting in compatibility issues with two of our test discs.
- Disappointing recorded picture quality with both HQ and SP modes.
- No manual tuning support for TV broadcasts - A new terrestrial or cable TV channel requires a full rescan, resulting in losing all existing presets and channel names.
- No audio or video CD recording support.
- Menu thumbnails cannot be edited in recordings.
- DVD-RW initialisation method cannot be changed without erasing disc in a PC DVD writer.
- No file browser for data discs.
- No Videoplus+ support: timers must be manually set up.
- Does not warn if no disc or an unsuitable disc is loaded when a timer is scheduled.
- No chapter editing, splitting or merging support.
- Certain low bit rate WMA files causes recorder to crash.
- No front display apart from two led indicators.
- Poor MP3 sound quality regardless of bit rate.