Panasonic DMR-E55K Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder/Player , Black
Consider the new model, Panasonic DMR-ES10
If you're considering the DMR-E55, you might look at the just-on-the-shelves Panasonic DMR-ES10.  As far as I can tell, though don't take this as Gospel, it does everything the E55 does (nifty DVD-RAM stuff like time slip; variable compression to make full use of the disc to record just exactly, say, a 1hr 23 minute program; etc) and probably has some new features as well.  But most of all, Panasonic seems to have actually listened to people's comments and fixed a few things -- <br /> <br />-- the ES10 uses not just 4X DVD-R discs, but both +/- and 4X/8X write-once discs (so a year from now you won't be vainly searching for media), and also re-writeable DVD-RW.  Since most computers won't read DVD-RAM without extra hardware, this lets you, for instance, record TV shows and edit them on the computer without creating a bunch of unusable coasters.  <br /> <br />-- many people found the E55 manual and operations obscure/difficult.  The ES10's manual is clearly written, and the operation is almost intuitive (at least what I've tested so far).   <br /> <br />And best of all, the going price of the ES10 is about $200 :-).  At least that's what I payed for mine - after much research I had intended to buy an E55 in spite of its limitations, but this model had just come in, and I've been very pleased in the few days I've had it.   <br /> <br />[I rated the E55K 4* to avoid skewing the rating; I haven't actually used it, but felt compelled to give this heads up.]