Sony RDR-GX330 Single Tray DVD Recorder
You need to know about -RW(vr)
This recorder offers different features depending on which type of media you use.      To get all the bells and whistles you need to use -RW or -R media formatted in the VR mode.      -RW(vr) is the only recording method that allows CHASING.    -R(vr) and -RW(vr) also allow you to use the PLAYLIST function, which allows you to do some really nice editing like cutting out commercials at the exact frame that they start in.  It allows you to combine scenes from different recordings and it allows you to change the order of playback.  It took me a while to get the hang of this, but now it takes me about 20 minutes to edit 40 minutes of commercials out of a 2 1/2 hour movie.      Now the bad part.      The VR format is not compatible with most DVD players.  -R(VR) is not the same as -R(Video).  This unit will record -R(Video) and -RW(Video) mode, but then you don't get the sophisticated editing features.  Those editing features are really important because as other reviewers have noted there IS NO RECORD PAUSE BUTTON.    The last thing I want to do is edit a recording and then have it be playable on ONLY that machine!.     This is how I solved my dilemma. I bought a Sony multi-format DVD player DVP-NS55P and it will play the Sony -R(VR) and -RW(VR) file formats and you don't even have to finalize them first.    When I am satisfied with the edit I put the DVD in the player and output it back to my recorder where I can make one clean copy in either -R(video) or +R depending on where I want to play it.  Then I erase my RW DVD and I'm ready to record my next movie.       I really think SONY was forcing us into the VR mode by removing the REC PAUSE button.  Unfortunately they didn't think it through enough because sometimes you'd like a higher quality recording and maybe removing a few commercials during recording might buy you some extra space to get a higher quality recording.  And sometimes you might want to play your recording on something other than a SONY.  I've been able to get the DVD player to pause using a JP1 programmable remote, so this is something they took out for for a reason.  It couldn't have been that expensive to include a REC PAUSE button on a remote.      I just wish I understood this before hand. I'd read lots of reviews and nobody mentioned this compatibility issue.   I tried to play the  -R(VR) disks on all the DVD Players I could find, and the only one that could read it was another SONY.  Maybe people haven't encountered the problem because they only have Sony equipment.  Why don't the just come out and say that -RW(VR) is proprietary to SONY. Anyone remember Beta vs. VHS?     I love the picture quality of my DVD's.  I love the chasing feature.  I love getting away from VHS!      It's a very cool tool.  I'm a movie nut, and I love having a library of movies that I can view without having to sit through hours of commercials is great for me.  I've burned about 150 -R(video) DVD'S so far and only 10 of them turned out to be coasters (meaning that they couldn't be played on my Toshiba).