Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver
The Best DVD/HDD Recorder Yet...
First of all, kudos must go to Panasonic for insisting on sticking to the far superior DVD-RAM technology for re-recordable discs since the discs physical surfaces are fully protected and the data is apparently better organized.<br />I have to say that I absolutely love this device!<br />Record to HDD, then burn what you want to keep to DVD-R or the far superior DVD-RAM, and finally erase what programs you don't need.<br />The only limitation is that the DVD-RAM's will only play back on Panasonic DVD players, however, the DVD-R recordings in my experience will play on all modern DVD Players.<br />The remote control has been fully perfected as opposed to the one they had for this model's 40 GB predecessor which was a horror show.<br />I liked the look and design of the earlier 40 GB unit a little better and it also had a few more plug in ports for memory sticks and the like, but this one is far more functional in terms of button location, ease of use, and the remote control.<br />Realistically, you have to use SP or XP speed for best visual clarity so the 106 hours of storage it claims to record at EP speed is not something you'd really be using.<br />However, with the HDD to DVD-R or DVD-RAM transfer capability (It does this at higher-speed rather then playback speed) you can record, transfer, and wipe.<br />The next model should have more drive space but this will do nicely for most of us for now.<br />I will never record to VHS EVER again!