Panasonic DMRE85HS Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with 120 GB Hard Drive Recording
Terrible Implementation!
Wow, did the Panasonic DMR-E85HS unit ever spark my ire!  As others have pointed out, the TV Guide integration is highly problematic, and it has to be active in order to control the cable box.  There are many highly annoying idiosyncracies that reveal themselves when using this unit.  The list is long, but other reviewers have already covered them in detail, so see below.  Yes, the TV Guide data downloaded overnight, but not for all stations, and things only got worse from there.  We returned this DVD/DVR recorder the next day after much swearing and frustration. <br /> <br />The unit we now have and love is the Pioneer DVR-520H-S.  It's very easy to use and it is exceptionally well designed, except for the Sharp TV tuner card inside, which has somewhat mediocre picture quality and introduces a bit of interference on several stations.  A proper cable box control would have been nice, as the auto-on function didn't work with our Comcast Motorola DCT5100.  Everything else is pretty much terrific about the box.  The remote is MUCH better than the Panasonic's, and editing programs and burning them to DVD-R(W) is a breeze compared to using the Panasonic. <br /> <br />Note that the Pioneer TIVO and Panasonic TV Guide DVR's have not had the best implementations, so going with the Pioneer DVR-520H-S is probably the best bet at the moment.  I doubt there's a better DVR on the market! <br />