Panasonic DMR-E80H Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with Hard Drive , Silver
Fantastic Buy
I did a lot of reseach before buying this machine.  I am glad I did.  This machine can do an abundance of things.  I have recorded shows off TV and saved them to DVD-R after editing out the commercials.  That was the most important function I required of this unit.  The DVD-R can save at 4 speeds.  XP (1 hour per disc) ,SP (2 hours per disc) ,LP (4 Hours per disc) &amp; EP (6 Hours per disc).  I did a test of all 4 speeds on the same clip of a tv show.  EX is as good as the originial, SP is also as good as the original (I couldn't notice any difference).  LP is what I use for most recording, it is acceptable for most shows.  (EP showed noticable glitches, like jumpy movements of people and a grainy picture)  I don't think I will ever record at this speed.  I have dubbed movies from video tape and they are quite good.  You loose a little quality in the conversion process but it is acceptable.  You can never improve a video source only maintain it.  <br />Editing is time consuming, but if you record the show at the time you want to burn it to disc, you will be able to use the Speed dubbing technique.  This technique allows you to burn the DVD-R disc at a fast speed.  You can burn a 1/2 hour show in 8 minutes and a 1 hour show in 11 minutes (recorded and burned at the LP mode).  The reason editing takes time is because you can very precicely cut a show at the precise moment when a commerical begins, so the edited show will have no notice of a commerical in it.  This is the amazing part of doing this.  I have been saving the last few episodes of Friends and the 45 minute episodes edit down to only 27 minutes when you cut out the commericals.  A normal hour long show usually edits down to 41 minutes.  What a waste of time.<br />The time slip feature is great where you can watch anything on the hard drive while still recording to the hard drive.<br />I hope the price drops more so that I can replace all my video recorders with this wonderful machine.<br />It has surpassedmy expectations and it sure beats sitting in front of a computer editing video.<br />Thank you Panasonic for giving us what we need.