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As Christmas gets nearer, we're continuing our current focus on smaller - and therefore more Christmas stocking-friendly! - TVs in the shape of LG's 26LG3000: a neat-looking little 26in set that follows on from Toshiba's recently reviewed 26AV505DB by sporting another marvellously affordable price tag.

Seriously, £300 and 88 pence really isn't a lot to ask for a 26in LCD TV - especially one as apparently well specified and nicely designed as the 26LG3000.

Regarding the design, it's surprisingly glamorous for such an apparently price-driven model, thanks to the way a dramatically narrow bezel is neatly finished in a piano black gloss finish.

Helping make this bezel possible is the set's use of LG's Invisible Speaker technology, which uses exciters in the bezel to produce sound rather than conventional speakers bolted onto a TV's edges.

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Another nice touch about the design is the fact that it can be rotated on its smart little desktop stand - a touch of flexibility we really wouldn't have expected to find on such a cheap bit of kit.

Turning to the 26LG3000's connections, the news is probably best described as ‘solid'. For while the inclusion of two HDMIs and a D-Sub PC port mean it pretty much gets the job done, it's hard to ignore the fact that bigger versions of the LG3000 range come with a third HDMI. What's more, unlike those of its bigger siblings, the HDMIs on the 26LG3000 aren't compatible with LG's SimpLink system, meaning you won't be able to enjoy enhanced two-way communication between the 26LG3000 and other HDMI-connected LG devices.

It turns out there are a few other features the 26LG3000 lacks that it bigger sisters and brothers don't, too. The first of these is LG's XD Engine processing, meaning the 26in model won't benefit from the engine's efforts at boosting contrast, detail, colour and motion.

The speakers hidden away in the 26LG3000's frame, meanwhile, are only a pair of one-way affairs rather than the four two-way speakers used from 32in upwards, while trying to set the TV up reveals that it also lacks the fancy, graphics-heavy Easy Menus System and tweak-filled Expert picture menu found on the bigger LG3000 models.

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