Toshiba RD-XS34 DVD Recorder with 160-GB Hard Drive
Not your granny's VCR - this one is hot!
This machine rocks! Can Granny use this machine? No! How about with some training? Probably. And yes, the TV Guide may take a week before finally showing up. If you have a totally incompatible cable box you can still put a $5 splitter and feed the cable or TV signal into this directly and get channel listings. Scheduling to record all your shows at 7 p.m. weekdays (or any other day/time combo) and changing your cable remote to your favorite channel via the supplied IR Blaster is just what you need to live life on your terms. Add commercial skip and you wonder what those poor advertisers are working on now.<br /><br />I pity those users that gave up when their TV Guide did not work. Toshiba has excellent support hours and knowledgable staff, even on weekends. Tip for those who feel like they can't scheduled recording to work w/o TVG - hit the menu button when Schedule is selected from the TV Guide screen even though you may have no data. Flawless video and blazing fast response compared to DVD or DVD-RAM with the monstrous 160 GB drive. The bright LEDs and blue illumination may be a bit much for some rooms but the slick editor, jitter-free chase play and very smart FF and rewind make this an easy choice at the $300-$400 pricepoint this comes in at.