Panasonic DMRE50S DVD Player/Recorder , Silver
Great Price Great Quality DVD recorder direct from Amazon
This DVD recorder makes 2 hour recordings on DVD-R that I cannot distinguish from a live satellite tv broadcast. The unit was able to use one dollar generic brand DVD-Rs disc. It was possible to playback both on my computer DVD drive and on other home DVD players The unit is compact and quiet. There are three line-in inputs (RCA and S-video). A minor negative is the lack of a firewire connection for connecting a miniDV camcorder. I have not tested the DVD RAM feature that allows re-using the DVD RAM disc repeatedly. It comes with one free DVD RAM disc; these cost about Five dollars each. Set up is quick and straightforward. The remote is comlicated but does everything it's supposed to do. There is a \\"flexible record\\" (FR) feature that use the complete space available on the disc so that recording are of maximum quality. The unit is able to ecord up to 6 hours onto a single 4.7 GB DVD-R but the instuctions say that quality deteriorates noticeably if you go much over the two hour limit. Recordings that I have made in the 2 hour range looked great, better than anything I've seen from a VCR, but not as perfect as a store bought DVD. The source material affects the appearance: a broadcast of a grainy, faded movie looks grainy and faded on the recording whereas newer material looked very good. <BR>I bought this from Amazon. The item was in my PO box four days after I ordered it. The price was the lowest I saw from a major source. Shipping was free and the price came to nearly one hundred fifty less than I would have paid had I walked into C*rcuit C*ty to buy the exact same thing.  A minor shipping negative: Amazon sent this expensive item thorugh the mail in it's own box which obviously identifies it as an expensive piece of electonic equipment.