After beating competitors out of the gate with a high-definition video disc player, Toshiba launched its first high-definition recorder in Japan in July.

The RD-A1 is the world's first HD DVD recorder and it's a monster of a machine. Weighing in at 15 kilograms and 16 centimeters tall, it will make quite a statement in your living room -- if you can afford the price tag of ¥368,000 (£1,700 or $3,200 in the US).

For day-to-day recording, there's 1TB of hard disk drive space. That's enough storage for 130 hours of HDTV. A 30GB HD DVD R disc will hold about 230 minutes of video.

Read the Toshiba HD DVD recorder review from digitmag.co.uk.