LG DRT389H

I was bought this as a present to replace a old video and DVD player combo. This old unit still worked but tapes are getting old now.

The first unit did not power up out of the box so was taken back to the shop where it was exchanged. The second unit powered up but I could not get the DVD drawer to open. That was taken back the same day and again the unit was changed.

The LG unit looks slim and swish. Once I had connected it I was baffled on how to set it up so had to read the book. Very complicated and took most of a afternoon to set up the freeview and understand how to switch between modes, discs etc.

When scanning for channels it seem to lock up and after 30 minutes I had to unplug it to turn it off.

Once it was set up the free-view bit worked fine, but difficult to navigate around the TV guide etc.

The DVD part is very quirky and often takes as long as 5 minutes to read a disc, during that time the unit appears frozen. If it takes longer then you have to open and close the tray. if no response then unit has to be unplugged and plugged back in again.

So if you keep pressing the remote nothing happens, then it burst into life and seem to remember all the key presses. Took it back to the shop and we operated it in the shop. It did the same thing a couple of times. Was told they all do that, and to be fair the one on display did the same thing.

When it is playing a DVD the picture is good and the record function with timer works well once you have worked out how to set it. Before you can play any recorded disc on another player you have to finalise the disc which is not that easy to do.

Manual is very badly written in my view.

Cannot say I used it very much over the last months because it hard to use. Then it failed again (dead no display) just after Comet went bust, so wife currently talking to LG to get fixed again again again!(still within the 12 months) but not getting much response. We are awaiting instructions about when they are going to collect etc.

Will wait another few days and then contact the credit card company to make a claim under section 75 of the Consumer Credit act as it appears to me that this one is not fit for purpose.

in my view a real lemon product, first product I have owned from LG, certainly does inspire me to buy another.

If it never comes back I would not be bothered.

having originally had a liteon that played and recorded any format and was ultra easy set up ,i bought an lg and the speed of the discs has to be correct even the make is recommended to you . it is fussy ,difficult and temperamental . if a first date was like this there wouldnt be a second