Panasonic DMR-ES10S DIGA Series DVD Recorder , Silver
Great price, easy to use!!
I bought this for my folks for Christmas.  It took no time at all to hook up, and making DVDs was simple.  Everything from recording off the TV, to recording movies and shows stored on the DVR, to transferring home movies from the original VHS tapes.  I'm sure for about $300 more you could purchase some higher end recorders, but for under $200, you really can't go wrong.  The only flaw I could find is that the initial hookup (according to the book) didn't seem quite right.  After taking a whole 2 minutes to look up the easy to read instructions online, everything went smoothly.  Because of that, I'm still going to give it a full 5 stars..it's not as if those 2 whole minutes ruined our life.  Really, if you're new to this technology, you're not going to have any problems..believe me..A+++