Unfortunately, LG have (imho) lost their way a bit since the the breakdown of the LG-Philips partnership, their products nowadays seem to be not much better than cheap no-branded tat that you can buy in the likes of Asda etc... it does appear that Philips were the brains (and indeed they were the money) behind the apparent success of LG during the 2000's.
Personally, when it comes to Blu-ray, Sony or Panny only for me, unless you want to go to a higher level such as Denon, and even then id probably prefer a Sony unit. Panasonic Blu-ray recorders ftw when it comes to Blu-ray, even if they arnt the fastest at loading a disc, at least they are compatible with everything!!
It was the same old story for cheap tat DVD players that offered DivX support - they were riddled with problems and a lot were useless. Never had a single problem with my Toshiba DVD-Recorder has never had any issues playing back any DivX content, and its a DR17DT so its not exactly a new unit.
Beware also of premium brand licensing out their branding for cheap shite brands to use on their products as well; there are many brands at the moment who make really good high end products, yet the "cheap" products you see in the shops are usually made by some unknown and are essentially the same models as the no-brand models (Hitachi and Wharfedale spring to mind straight away).