Mustek R580M: DVD/HDD Recorder for £200

We loved Panasonic's DMREH50, but then this Mustek DVD/HDD recorder landed on our desk with almost exactly the same specifications. The exception? The Mustek costs £100 less, clocking in at under £200. Hey, it's even got an i.Link/FireWire input too -- something that the DMREH50 couldn't even be bothered with.

So what else has been packed in this Taiwanese box of tricks? Try an 80GB hard drive, DVD recorder and progressive-scan video output for size. You want more? It'll also record to every disc format apart from DVD-RAM, and play back Kodak Picture CDs, JPEGs and MP3s. And the good people at DivX have also given it their seal of approval -- meaning you can play back all those compressed movies from the DivX website (ahem).

Our previous Mustek experience was with the PL510 portable DVD player -- the screen was massive, but it wasn't a patch on Toshiba's SD-P1600. We'll see if the Mustek DVD/HDD recorder has the muscle to take the Panasonic DMREH50 in a fight when we post our full review soon. -GC