Panasonic DMR-ES10K DVD Recorder , Black
Leap of faith rewarded
I bought the Panasonic to record shows I wanted to keep from my TiVo.  After reading some Amazon reviews and Consumer Reports, I decided Panasonic was a great DVD recorder brand and went with it.<br /><br />I've already recorded to DVD-R and DVD-RW and both were easy and turned out great.  The 1-hr and 2-hr quality is excellent.  It also has a \\"flexible\\" recording mode that maximizes the quality of a recording if it's just over a certain length, but just below the next recording mode.  The unit itself doesn't feel like it's built very solid, but I'm not too concerned.  The unit also seems to get pretty hot while recording, so make sure you have ample ventilation and don't put it right on top of your amplifier.<br /><br />My only usability complaint is that to finalize the disc, you have to go through a lot of menu options.  I wish there was just a finalize button on the remote and then one confirmation option.  I guess I also don't really like the random thumbnail images that it displays in the disc menu either.  It'd be nice to pick a thumbnail that might better represent what the recording is, but this is a very minor complaint.  ** edit 09/13/05- I just found out how to edit the thumbnails-- yay!<br /><br />I couldn't be happier with the performance and value of this unit.  I'm going to transfer my wife's collection of exercise VHS tapes to DVD next and a couple of home videos then retire the VCR.  BTW, pick up a Verbatim 100-pack spindle of DVD-R's from Amazon.  They're a steal right now at under $35 (ASIN: B0002IQ1FS).