Panasonic DMR-E55S Progressive Scan DVD Recorder / Player , Silver
Good for the price
Yes, there are better DVD recorders out there - ones that support more diversity in the media they will play and ones that have slightly easier connection options.  However for the price this one is selling at, I have to say I like it. I've had mine for about a week now and have burned about 20 DVD-Rs from movies I had saved up on a cable DVR box. Each one at varying lengths - so I've had a chance to play around with speeds and recording quality. Recording at 2hour or using flex recording a recording at 3hour gives you good quality pictures when played back on a digital/hd tv or on an analog tv.  Remember the quality of the picture is never better than the original - so when you record from VHS tapes don't expect amazing results. But it's not bad - and maybe even slightly better - as long as you chose a recording speed equal to or less than the one the original recording was made in (i.e. I cut out a lot of useless stuff from home videos and shortened the recording time). <br /> <br />Some of the bells and whistles, such as watching one program while recording another, etc. are not possible with a cable box, but then they weren't on a vcr either - so while I'm disappointed, I'm not surprised.  I think it's up to the cable companies to address that one! <br /> <br />The body of the machine is a little thicker than my regular dvd player but not by much and looks attractive (I have the silver one). The mechanism which takes disc in and out does have the potential to fall apart - if any part of the machine is flimsy that's it. But if you're setting this up in an environment that it'll be used carefully I imagine it'll hold up - at least until the next new gadget comes out! <br /> <br />Overall I'd say you'll like the machine.