JVC HM-DH30000L D-VHS HDTV Digital Recorder, Silver
Finally, recordable HD using plain old VHS tapes*
This VCR may follow the laserdisk in being something that only serious video enthusiasts use but that never catches on in the general population, this time because of DVD, whereas VHS was the nail in the laserdisk's coffin. While DVD provides higher resolution than traditional VHS, (as Laserdisk did over VHS) the convenience, durability, and availability of DVD have almost sounded the death knell to anything VHS, even VHS in High Def. Even though D-VHS provides higher resolution than DVD, due to the perception in peoples' minds formed by enduring years of low quality VHS tapes, it is likely this format will not catch on.<br />Is this a good VCR? You bet. Despite a fairly confusing manual (see others' comments below for elaboration on errors in the manual), the set has a good build quality, is fairly easy to use, and records and produces stunning images in High Def. I have also used its normal VHS recording ability and it is an excellent recorder and player there as well (you can record and play standard VHS tapes but the machine will not normally allow you to tape HD content onto VHS or S-VHS tapes). Finally, the built in tuner (for watching either analog or the digital signals) is also excellent, producing a picture with even better contrasts than the tuner built into my HDTV (A Samsung DLP).<br />Some things to note:<br />It has only one way to receive High Def signals: IEEEE1394 or Firewire (also called i-Link). Firewire is cheap and seems to get around some of the copy protection built into DVI, so this is a good thing. Currently, there is only one set-top box--the Samsung SIR-TS165 that can pulls in the free over-the-air (OTA) HD signals that all of us are not getting and can output them to Firewire. Other boxes, both Satellite and OTA are sure to follow. My advice: buy yours now before the major studios pressure manufacturers not to output to Firewire. This VCR can also function as a regular VCR with standard AV inputs from your TV or a cable antenna.<br />Whyshould you buy this VCR? Because this machine is the FIRST to allow you to record in High Definition, and given the speed of decision-making regarding formats, it will be a while before High Def DVD (HDDVD) arrives, and recordable high def DVD without all the legal hamstrings of copy protection may never happen. So, while the major corporations argue over a single standard for HDDVD, you can tape all the OTA high def content you want, and on nothing pricer than a good VHS tape.<br />*Which brings me to the title of my review. Yes, you can easily modify a good S-VHS or VHS tape (use only high quality broadcast-grade tapes--a bad tape means data dropouts and can damage or wear the tape heads) instead of the very pricey D-VHS tapes that JVC and others sell. Optinally, you can also modify the machine to accept all tapes as D-VHS tapes. Am I going to tell you here how to do it? No. But if you look hard, you can find out for yourself. There's no earthly reason to spend three times as much on a D-VHS tape that is materially no different from a good S-VHS tape except for minor differences in their cases. Best of luck. . .