Panasonic DMR-E100HS Progressive Scan DVD Player with 120GB Hard Disk
Fantastic Product!
I have had this unit for about 6 months and I absolutely love it.  I have successfully used it for the following: <br /> <br />- Setting up the HD to record TV shows like a TIVO without the monthly fee. For example, there are reruns on every weekday afternoon of an old show I like and I have set up my unit to record from the same channel at the same time every weekday.  I also automatically record Saturday Night Live every week while I am out.  Although the DMR E100H is not able to control the channel switching of a cable box (for instance, you are away for a week and want to record 5 different programs which all come on at different times and on different channels), there is an easy work-around for this.  Almost all cable boxes nowadays allow the user to separately program the cable box (with the remote usually) to switch channels according to a timed schedule for many weeks in advance.  So once you have programmed the DMR E100H to record what you want it to and when, you must then program the cable box to channel switch with a corresponding schedule (the cable companies built this capability in originally to facilitate VCR recording of cable TV).  This practice is not quite as easy as using a TIVO, but is still very simple to do (sounds more complicated than it is I am sure) and no monthly fee is necessary. <br />  <br />- Backing up VHS tapes onto DVD - I have transferred all my old VHS tapes to DVDs with great results.  Clearly, you need a good VCR for this as well. <br /> <br />- Backing up DV tapes onto DVD - great for preserving home movies. <br /> <br />- High speed dubbing of HD content onto DVD.  This is a fantastic feature, but this HD content must first have been recorded in \\"high speed DVD\\" mode (this must be manually switched on in the \\"Setup\\" menu - no reason to ever switch it off after this).  For example, you may program your unit to record an HBO movie onto your HDD at a certain time.  You can then edit slightly to trim off anything unwanted in thebeginning and the end and then make as many DVD copies (in high quality - SP mode has been very impressive to my eye) as you wish at high speed.  A two hour movie on your HD can be copied at high speed to a DVD-R and finalized in less than 20 minutes. <br /> <br />- Making copies of DVDs.  Note that you will need another DVD player as the input, but I have been able to make excellent copies of existing DVDs (even copies of commercial DVDs can be made if you have certain available devices which counter copy protection - obviously such copies are illegal other than for personal use (acceptable under \\"fair use\\" laws). <br /> <br />- Looking at pictures I have taken with my digital camera on my big screen TV.  I simply take out the compact flash card from my camera and plug it into the DMR E100H (I did need to buy a $10 adapter to do this - the compact flash card inserts into the adapter which mimics a PC card and is then inserted into the PC Card slot of the DMR E100H (SD cards can be inserted directly).