Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver
I SHOULD HAVE WAITED FOR THIS ONE!
IF ONLY I HAD WAITED FOR THIS BABY TO COME OUT BEFORE WASTING A LOT OF MONEY ON LESS CAPABLE, TROUBLESOME PRETENDERS.  YESTERDAY I THREW BOTH MY REPLAYTV AND PHILIPS DVDR985 IN THE DUMPSTER AND REPLACED THEM WITH THIS PANASONIC.  THE PANASONIC COMBINES ALMOST EVERYTHING I LIKED ABOUT THE PHILIPS AND REPLAYTV INTO A MUCH SMALLER BOX AT A FRACTION (LESS THAN HALF) OF THE PRICE.  THE ONLY THING KEEPING ME FROM AWARDING 5 STARS IS THIS MACHINE'S INABILITY TO CHANGE CHANNELS ON MY CABLE BOX.  ALSO, ONE NEEDS TO BE AWARE THAT THE FOCUS OF THIS MACHINE IS ON RECORDING, NOT ON A LOT OF FANCY FEATURES WHEN PLAYING DVD.  I FOUND THE OPERATION TO BE VERY STRAIGHT FORWARD AND INTUITIVE.  THOUGH THE MANUAL'S DESCRIPTION OF EVERY CONCEIVABLE SERIES OF KEY STROKES MIGHT SEEM OVERWHELMING AT FIRST, I FOUND THAT I WAS ABLE TO LEARN THE MACHINE'S OPERATION QUITE EASILY JUST BY PLAYING AROUND WITH IT AND FOLLOWING THE ON-SCREEN MENUS.<br />A WORD OF CAUTION ON DISCS.  FIND A BRAND OF DVD-R THAT CONSISTENTLY WORKS BEFORE DROPPING A LOT OF MONEY ON A LARGE SPINDLE OF DISCS.  I HAVE HAD NO LUCK WITH MEMOREX DVD-R, BUT FIND TDK 2X DVD-R WORK GREAT.  ALL OF THE DVD-RAM DISCS I HAVE TRIED WORKED FLAWLESSLY, BUT THEY ARE EXPENSIVE.<br />IF ONLY THE DAMN THING WOULD CHANGE CHANNELS ON MY CABLE BOX!