Pioneer DVR-533H-S Slim Design DVD Recorder with 80 GB Hard Disk Drive
Love it! Well ... I did until ...
I bought this machine even after reading negative review after negative review about the TV Guide On Screen or the endless chirping sound it makes. And I haven't had a single problem with it. The machine is connected to the TV in my bedroom and even though I'm a light sleeper, the \\"chirping\\" has never bothered me to the point of anger. It does sound like a computer's hard drive, but it's nothing horrendous. The TV Guide On Screen feature worked perfectly. It took a few days to fully gather all the information and each day it has to download more, but I'm able to find the shows I want to record and record them with ease. I've made DVDs of some camcorder tapes and am thrilled with the results. I'm guessing that the negative reviewers either got some bad machines or didn't fully read the operating manual because I have nothing but praise for this amazing machine. And no, I don't work for Pioneer!!    Edited To Add: It's now June and I feel like a sap. The TV Guide no longer works since my cable company changed up a few channels and it sent the DVR into a tizzy.  Manual recording only works about half the time. Sunday morning at 6 a.m. it worked for about ten minutes and then promptly disappeared. Half the time I try to make copies of camcorder tapes, the blank DVDs don't register. The recorder is good for something though ... it has a nice little digital clock on its front.