Lite-On LVW5001 DVD Plus Player/Recorder
A decent recorder  if you can keep it cool
I like this recorder, but it has a tendency to overheat if not positioned in a well ventilated area. In once incident, the unit got so hot that it literally cooked one of my DVD's (a DVD+RW) rendering it useless.  After I set a fan near the recorder to keep it cool, it had no problems.<br />Aside from the overheating problem, I'm actually impressed with this thing.  Picture quality is better than I expected and far better than a VHS recorder.  I transferred some SVHSC camcorder recordings to DVD as well as some miniDV recordings.  I tried to use the firewire port, but either it didn't work or the port on my camera doesn't work (I think it's my cam).  The recording quality using the S-video input was spectacular though. HQ and SQ modes were both excellent.<br />When recording, it automatically creates a chapter every five minutes (this is user modifiable) and whenever you begin a recording, it creates a title set.  When playing the DVD, the title sets are listed with a screen capture of the first frame along with the recording date.  This makes it easy to navigate to a desired recording.  The title sets are automatically named TITLE 01, TITLE 02, etc., and I don't think these titles are user modifiable. That would be a nice feature upgrade.<br />Overall, for the price, this unit can't be beat.  I read a recent article in Yahoo, however, that claims dvd recorder prices are expected to plummet this year. So if you're not in a hurry, I'd suggest waiting.  If you're like me and have to be an early adopter, go for it, you won't be disappointed.