LG Electronics Australia has just announced the launch of its new, premium high definition digital video recorder. The unit sparks a recent push from the company to establish itself as a tier one brand with a premium range of products.

The LG MS400 Series HD DVR will be available in stores in the coming weeks and according to LG, it will bridge the divide between different types of media and change the way consumers consume media.

Speaking at yesterdays launch, Dan Duggan, national account manager, LG Electronics, commented on the launch of the new product.

“This is hands down the most exciting product I have ever talked about, this is really different to any other product LG has ever released,” he said.

Some of the features of the MS400 Series include HDMI v1.3 Full HD content playback, 1080p upscaling, built in DLNA and Wi-Fi and a twin HD tuners for timeshift capability.

The MS400 Series consists of two units, the MS408 (250GB) and the MS409 (500GB). But one of the main advantages of the new range is the expandability.

“250GB and 500GBis a lot of storage and you can do a lot with that, but what sets this unit apart is the expandability,” he said.

“You can add any 3.5-inch SATA drive straight into the unit directly for an extra 1TB of storage. Or you can use an external hard drive through the USB port located at the front of the unit.”

The MS400 also has YouTube and Picassa services built into the unit, which can be accessed via your home network’s internet connection.

In addition to this, the MS400 Series also has ‘Two Times Playback’ functionality, which allows users to watch recorded programs at twice the normal speed, with no drop in quality.

“A lot of people in this day and age are very time poor and this will save consumers valuable time,” he said.

“The unit re-syncs the sound and brings it down to regular pitch. This can dramatically reduce your viewing time, whilst still comprehending everything.”

Duggan commented that the retailer response to this new device has been very strong and all stock orders for the next two months have been sold.