dvd recorders

I just ordered one of these last week to transfer/archive my ever growing pile of 8mm & Hi8 to DVD. The picture quality of the copies are great, even on 4hr mode. A couple of hints which the manual does not cover very well. When recording to DVD-R, which has few editing options compared to DVD-RAM, use "stop" to break the recording into separate "titles"- otherwise you will get one long title broken into 5 minute segments which don't appear on the title navigator (menu) as separate thumbnails. The other hint, especially on dubbing, is to make a (-R) copy first. After finalizing, use this as your master. Play it from another DVD player to your recorder and edit in real time by "pausing" out unneeded material or "stop" for title breaks. On (-RAM) just let it run and go back later to edit it. Use the edited (-RAM) as your archive, to view off the Panasonic machine, or run another (-R) copy for use on a standard player. If you are looking to make multiple copies, or do extensive editing of the master, you might want to spend the extra $300.00 for an internal hardrive machine. This unit will handle all your typical VCR needs and basic dubbing at a reasonable price.

If you are looking for a DVD Recorder to replace that old VCR and want up to 8 hours of continious recording time then this is the unit to get until Blue Lasers hit the market in a couple of years. With the 9.4 GHz RAM disks (rewriteable) you can record up to 16 hours (double sided) or 8 hours per side. Once I got past the AUTO SETUP problem I was able to set up the unit with very little trouble. After setting the basic setup functions (timer and channels) I was able to figure out the recording features within a couple of minutes. Once you view the recorded program you can erase it in a matter of seconds. The timer program featrure also allows you to program upto 16 programs, not like the usually 8 with a VCR. The only drawback to this unit and others on the market today is not being able to add more than one of these to my system and control multiple units with just one remote as I was able to do with three Sony VCRs.

This was a very good thing to get. i just wish that there were 2 of me .it takes along time to get all of my old tapes on DVD. good price but the only thing is that it is too picky about what kinds of blank disc it will record to.you have to be carefull what kinds of blank disc to buy.