Looking for a high definition personal video recorder, but feel like the TiVo Series3 isn't prestigious enough now that you can pick it up for far less than its original $800 price? Gefen has got the answer for you. Gefen's new HD PVR records high definition video, but compresses it to MPEG-4. That means you might be able to store more hours on the device's 80GB hard drive than you could with a Series3 TiVo's 250GB of storage.

Gefen's recorder also sports HDMI inputs for recording high quality HD sources. There's also an SD card slot for recording directly to removable media. And since video is recorded in a standard MPEG-4 format, you should be able to watch your videos on pretty much any device with an SD card slot.

The HD PVR can handle resolutions from 480i to 1080i and is available for pre-order for $999.

[via EngadgetHD]

Shinco has come up with a unique way to add personal video recording functions to an LCD TV without driving up the cost. Leave out the hard drive.

The 32-inch TV has a USB port and ships with a 2.5-inch USB hard drive enclosure. Of course, you can plug your own 3.5-inch case, a flash card reader, or pretty much any other form of USB storage you like into the TV.

The TV includes a single tuner, so you'll only be able to record one program at a time. And you can't watch one live show while recording another. But it does included an MPEG-4 decoder, so you can watch prerecorded shows while making new recordings.

The TV is available for HK$6280, which is about 805 US dollars. But it's not clear that we'll be seeing this model in the US any time soon.

[via Gizmodo and Everything USB]