LiteOn sent us the retail version of the LVW-5055GDL+ which included:

• The DVD recorder itself
• A remote control
• Two AAA batteries
• An Audio/Video cable
• Power cord
• A printed user’s manual and a quick start guide

The retail price of the recorder is around €390. The recorder is very big and heavy, since it includes a HDD, DVD recorder, PSU and of course the main board. We were quite satisfied with the construction quality of the unit.

On the front, there is on/off power switch, eject button, CD/DVD tray loader and the DV input.

Below the CD/DVD loader, there are several logos indicating with a quick glance the recorder's main features and capabilities.

On the right hand side of the front panel, you will find more inputs (S-Video and composite audio/video) and the control control buttons for operating the device.

On the back, there are the TV Tuner connections, Digital Audio Outputs, Scart In/Out, RCA/Component Out:

The model ID and serial number are also present. Notice below the bar code, several numbers which indicate the device's (G018) and the CD/DVD Loader's firmware (B20M)

If you want to have a peek inside the device, don't open up the case yourself as this will void the warranty, but instead use our pictures below.

The layout is quite simple and uncluttered. We've marked each component below for easy recognition:

The TV tuner comes from Philips, well known for their exceptional receivers:

The optical drive is the LiteOn DDW-813S and is enclosed within a metal casing with padded strips to keep it firmly in place. We take a closer look at the drive with following photos.

The main chipset comes, as expected, from MediaTek:

The HDD is from Seagate with the indication "DB35 1 Consumer Storage". Seagate has produced this series of HDDs for Consumer Electronics devices, with 7200RPM and low power consumption.

The LVW-5055GDL+ is powered by LSI's Logic Dimension 2 8652 chipset.

According to LSI Logic "...The DMN-8652 is LSI Logic's second-generation, single-chip hard disk drive (HDD)/DVD recorder system processor. The DMN-8652 supports record, playback and time-shift on the DVD and hard disk drives. The DMN-8652 provides advanced HDD to DVD archiving operations and supports DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD+RW disc formats. It provides DV camcorder recording to HDD and DVD. Features DoMiNoFX technologies..."

512MB of main memory are present, thanks to two Hynix 561622DTP-J chips.

The remote control is very good and fits nicely in your hand. While it is big, the four way joypad is located at the center, making most navigation functions very easy. The sensitivity is good, even at wide angles.