LG 42LC2RR 'Time Machine' LCD HDTV

With HDTVs finally hitting the Indian shores in full swing and the level of understanding about this new technology also increasing at a respectable rate, there's now a rush going beyond the ordinary and offering you more than a mere 'flat panel display' for your precious money. LG's new 42-inch 'Time Machine' LCD TV gives one of the most innovative solutions.

The Time Machine has a native WXGA resolution of 1366x768 progressive—equivalent to 720P in simple terms; and it goes up to 1080i but not 1080p. It has a contrast ratio of 1600:1, which is quite low considering that much lesser models boast a contrast ratio of 3000:1 and above.

The reason the LG 42LC2RR is referred to as the Time Machine is because it comes with an 80GB hard drive built into the TV unit, which allows you to record TV shows and play them back at your own convenience. The good thing about this feature is that since it's built inside the panel itself, there's no extra equipment or wires on the outside, and all the functionality of TV viewing as well as recording is built into a single remote control. Plus, since the recording media is a hard disk drive—file control, deleting old shows and freeing up space is a synch.

The 80 GB hard drive allows you to record close to 33 hours of normal quality or 20 hours of high quality video, both of which are good enough to record your favorite shows everyday so you can catch them at night. However, in case you prefer doing all your TV viewing over the weekend, you may find the recording period a bit too limited.