Does anyone know if there is a way to set the recording bitrate manually rather than having to use the 4 presets.

For example if I wanted to record a 2hr 30min program I'd need to set the preset to LQ which is 4hrs, my previous recorder would allow me to manually set the recording time and would adjust the bitrate accordingly.

It does imply in the manual that it is possible to set the recording quality manually, but doens't provide an example on how to do this. In the manual it says the following "You have the full choice of recording quality options, including the manual mode", anyone know how to access this?

I had a quick look at the manual and it appears that the word 'quality' was a typo. Manual mode, particularly back in the days of VCR meant manually starting and stopping the recording, i.e. pressing the 'Record' button to start the recording and pressing 'stop' to end the recording and the recording options would include instant recording time (30, 60, 90, etc. minutes) and timers.

If this does imply a manual quality option, you should get it as a choice when selecting the recording quality on HDD (since this phrase is mentioned in the 'About HDD Recording' section'). On my LiteOn LVW-5045, I get the choice 'Just Fit' as a recording choice when setting up a timer only (shows as a choice whether I select DVD or HDD as the target), so it may be worth seeing if you get a manual recording quality option when setting up a timer.