Sharp DV-HR300U DVD Player/Recorder with 80-GB Drive
Best deal going.
The DV-HR300U is a fabulous product.  VERY easy to setup and use.  The manual can look a bit intimidating at first, but it is fairly well written for as much as it's trying to cover and if you are at all comfortable just diving in and pressing buttons, then the manual becomes more of a reference book since the on screen prompts are pretty much self-explanatory. Sharp isn't usually known as being the best in home A/V, but I have to say this unit seems to be built quite nice (the remote is absolutely hideous though) and it's features and performance are on a par with any of the &quot;higher end&quot; manufacturers. I haven't had any trouble recording to HDD or DVD, everything works just like it should, right out of the box. I suspect that if you are having as much trouble as some seem to have you might have a bad machine, as everything I have tried so far (recording from satellite, and camcorder to HDD then dubbing to DVD) has worked flawlessly and the picture and sound have been spectacular.  It will not copy commercial, copy-protected DVD's (or VHS, I suspect) by itself...if that is your intention, you'll need one of the devices by Sima to bypass the macrovision (or one of the old APEX DVD players), or use your PC for copying DVD's and keep all the menus and extras. I bought this when the price was $379, but even at $449, it's a heck of a deal, especially when compared to the similar Panasonic models or the TiVo with DVD-R and there is no monthly fee. Easier than most VCRs to program to record. If you think you want/need it, get it, you'll probably like it.