Hi, not sure if I can help. I have the tivo with the built in dvd recorder. Are you trying to watch tv and record to dvd (off your play list) at the same time?? I have my cable on 2 different inputs on my TV 1 input for tivo and one stright off the cable box. I can watch 1 channel and still record another thru tivo. That way you can set a program on your play list to play and record it on your dvd while you watch another channel thru the other input. Also I have it set up on a wireless network and can send programs to my computer where I can burn them to dvd. Not sure if any of this helps or if I really understand your situation. Good Luck

I couldn't find any current postings regarding this question and with electronics, "current" is important. I record the same shows each day from my DVR (ReplayTV). I subscribe to Comcast cable. I want to record these same shows to a DVD so I can take it with me to play on a DVD Player occasionally. Most of them seem to require connecting it to a PC afterwards to burn the DVD. I want to avoid that step. I want to be able to take out the DVD and have it immediately available for use. I was told by a Best Buy employee that what I'm looking for is the Sony RDR-GX355. It has unconversion to 1080i with an HD tuner, multi-format recording, HDMI output and one touch dubbing. It sounded like it does exactly what I want it to do. However, the reviews I've read on it have not been very good. Some of them say you can't record from HBO or other movie channels because of copyright messages and that it isn't reliable and various other "cons." I was wondering if any of you have experience with that one or any other that would work well for me. Basically, I only want to record ABC, NBC and CBS channels. And its important that it complete the recording without having to hook it up to a computer to burn it to the DVD (UNLESS THAT'S EASIER THAN IT SOUNDS). I'm basically electronically challenged so please speak English.

Check to see if they have a web site and if there is a "firmware" update available for your model. Be careful, though. These firmware updates can be a fix or render the machine totally unusable. You usually download a file, burn it to a CD, then put the CD into your deck and turn it on to load it to your machine, or something like that. I had an ILO machine with a similar problem, but even though the update fixed it, the machine flaked and died about six months later anyway. Good luck.

Yes, I finally did that. I was without a computer for a while, and I see that this thread had no activity until yesterday. I ended up buying a Panasonic, for exactly that reason, and also based on our general good experiences with Panasonic products in the past. I got the "30" model (don't have the full model number with me) DVD recorder/VCR combo unit. I learned a lot about the confusing topic of DVD recording formats, and also about home theatre and video in general, during my research. Since our HDTV has only one set of component inputs, and we have no home theater receiver, I have to switch TV inputs to get the best picture, etc. However, it's easy to do with either of the remotes. I found that the DVD signal using the S-video input is very good. This is a 27" TV, so there's not a lot of difference between the HD picture and the normal picture from cable (depending on the channel); both are excellent. I haven't tried recording with this new unit yet, but I like it in general so far. For anyone else facing a similar situation, I would only say that all of the other brands seems to have at least a few people posting who have had problems (sometimes multiple problems) with the machines. So be careful. Steve