Panasonic  DMR-ES40VS VHS / DVD Recorder Silver
Very good DVD/VCR recorder unit
I purchased this unit after a little hesitation from the initial online reviews. I wanted the flexibility of transferring VHS tapes to DVD and my camcorder. I own a Toshiba TIVO DVD recorder unit (TX20) which is excellent but tedious for transfer of tapes.    In short this is very good DVD/VCR recorder unit except for some quirks. The VCR portion is like any other VCR. The DVD recording quality is excellent for XP (1 hour) and SP (2 hour) and better than most for the EP (4 hour) mode. EP on the Panasonic was as good as high quality (2 hour) mode on my Toshiba unit. Pixelation and image blurring is a problem with both for fast moving images in this mode when recording from TV sources. With VCR sources, image quality suffers in EP mode from old VCR tapes and is better with SP mode. I have not experienced DVD compatability problems. DVD's made with the ES40 play on my Toshiba player. DVD's I have made on my Toshiba and on my Dell using Nero 6 and a Plextor burner work fine on the ES40. I also have not experienced any unit lock ups that have been reported.    The one button recording is fairly simple to record from VHS to DVD and vice versa. However editing features are tedious and nearly indecipherable from the owners manual. The owners manual is about as readable as a federal income tax worksheet. The unit cannot insert chapters easily for DVD-R discs. The trick to this machine is learning how to record and finalize as well as add names to the disc and chapters which is not easy. As with many DVD recorder units, it does not remember where you last stopped a DVD if you turn the unit off so you have to go through the intro screens again and the scene index to get to where you left ff (my toshiba has the same problem).    Conclusion: If you can get past the not-so-user friendly interface this is a good unit to purchase if recording quality is important to you.