Hum, Jeff, seems no takers. I'll reopen with a simpler question.

I see a DVD recorder advertised in Circuit City for just over $100. This is a lot less than the last time I looked. Anyone have a DVD recorder that cost around $100?

I'm also interested in buying a DVD recorder, so I'm bumping this forward in hopes that someone has some input?

I ordered a Lite-on (I believe it was a 5005x model) but had to send it back, because it didn't work. Anyone have a DVD Recorder that they are happy with?

Thanks
Don

Stopped by WalMart tonight and saw a unit for $99 that seems to have all I need: VHS/TV/Digital inputs. Records DVD-R and RW I think, and assume that means Read-only and Read-Write.
Hey, this is digital recording, the only thing more money can buy is bells and whistles, I'd guess.

FYI.

Consumer Reports reviewed DVRs in the November, 2005 edition. That review is online at CR as well.

FWIW. Panasonic ranks in the top two, or more, positions in all the categories they reviewed...

TJ

Second the Panasonic recommendation. Please see my post under the DVD recorder thread. You are paying for reliability, IMO. The Pana DVD/VHS unit we got does not have firewire; I'm wondering if there is an adaptor that you could use for one of the other inputs? It has an S-video input, I believe. Steve

I've had a panasonic DVD recorder for about 6 months now. It had to go in for service once when it froze with an error. Unfortunately the fix required a new hard drive so I lost everything on the drive. It was still a bit flaky for a few weeks after I got it back - it kept rebooting and losing all programming every few days. It settled down just as I was about to pack it off to service again and has been fine for the past few months.

Ergonomically it's pretty bad... and I work with computers for a living. For basic stuff like recording tv and playing back it's fine. It gets tricky when it comes to burning DVD's - I don't do that much and I always have to break out the manual when I do. Otherwise it's a fantastic replacement for the VCR. The only reason I haven't tossed my VCR is because the VCR (also a panasonic) switches channels much faster than the DVR. The DVR is terrible for channel surfing, so I only crank it up when I want to watch recorded programs, otherwise it stays off.

chiefneil, from what you say you've got a DVD with an internal Hard Drive. Too bad about the problems, I believe the other inputs on Panasonic were for DVD-R or +R, only way to save a program is to burn it on a DVD disk. They cost less than the hard drive version, and will be what I buy when I get around to it, sometime in the next ten days.

Jerry, and Others. I'm not an electronics person. I have a few VHS tapes (taped movies; taped Olympics; etc) I would like to put on a disk. Also, I have a Cannon 8mm camcorder (bought new 2003 and still in box) I'd like to start using and be able to convert pictures to disk. I'd like a recorder that the final product would play on any CD player (haven't bought one yet. Thought I'd get both at the same time). Also, that would record on any disk. Is this what you're talking about from WalMart? Thanks, Gene

I have a Pioneer DVR-320 that I used to put all my old VHS Home Movies on DVD.Works great and is very easy to operate.Uses DVD-R media and they work in every DVD player I have tried them in.

I tried a Panasonic and ended up taking it back and going with the Pionner because the Panasonic would not except blank media other then there own branded disks.I have mentioned this here in the past and was told that this is not true?However a friend also found this out also?Also you must becareful not all DVD recorders will record in a format that will work in all DVD players.

The only thing I do not like about this unit is.Now that I have placed all my videos on DVD I only use it to put my Digital high 8 camcorder taped to DVD and that is not very often.Also I now have a DVD burner in my computer and as soon as I learn how to use it im sure the standalone will be a paper weight?

Just to comment on johndeere's question about Panasonic not accepting other branded disks. When I bought mine I asked for a recommendation for a brand of disk and TDK was recommended. I have 50 of them (+R format) and have not recorded all of them yet. They work fine in this player and others. The only other disk I've used is the Panasonic RAM disk that came with the unit. Regarding the "paperweight" don't you record off cable or off the air? Steve

Steve I use -R Format.Because that is what I was told is compatible with all DVD players?If I remember correctly the Panasonic was as you say +R and was not able to use -R?It was about a year ago so I forget.Anyway I think I tried a Sony brand disk.I recieved a Not compatible message error.So I boxed it up and returned it for the Pioneer.

Glad to here it worked for you.I am not knocking Panasonic in anyway.I have mostly all Panasonic electronis.Surround Sound system, DVD player, VCR,Phones,etc.

As for my paperweight comment.I have mine hooked up to a second TV and use it strictly as a editing tranfering tape to DVD.Perhaps I should hook it to my main set and give it a try.Mine does not have a harddrive however?So I would not get the full advantage.

John: I'm pretty sure that my Panasonic also uses -R format. I didn't choose to use that format because my understanding is that they have to be formatted before recording, as well as finalized after. My recorder does not accept all formats (no +RW, for instance). LG makes some machines that do, but they had too many negative user reviews for me to take a chance. Panasonic is pushing the RAM disk format since those can be re-recorded and edited many times. But the disks are much more expensive than the others. I use my one RAM disk to record TV programs that we want to see once, or may fall sleep during watching, so we can see the end later. Check your instructions to see what formats your machine can use. It's confusing, you might want to take a look at some of the sites like About.com and Crutchfield, for explanations of the disk formats. Recording off the air or off of cable lets you collect movies, and TV shows, just like the old VCRs did. Depending on the quality of the signal, and the availability of commercial-free channels like HBO or TCM, you can build up a library, if you like. No having a hard disk just means that you can't save the programs to the hard disk and do the editing tricks that those machines can do. But you can record a movie for less that $1 (cost of a disk) and that's not bad. Steve