Thanks so much for the offer, Bob. We do have Cox Cable, and it is connected to the TV monitor. Our VCR-DVD is a Toshiba DVR620KU, and the TV is a Samsung Led TV monitor, SyncMaster, series 3, TA350 and series 5, TA550, whatever that means. I don't know which letters and figures may be useful, so am repeating them all. I am sorry for not having gotten back to this problem for several months. There has been illness in the family, as well as computer problems, which are now solved, hopefully, with the aid of a friend, and what with personal problems and job demands, I just didn't feel like concentrating on the TV/recording problem. What I want most now, and can't do, is to record TV shows. Not HD or HBO or anything--just a few KPBS or sit-com things. Our TV cable service is basic. A visitor showed me that with an HDMI cable, I can watch tapes and DVDs from the Toshiba unit, a step in the right direction. However, I seem unable to bring up anything on the TV screen that will let me record to either the tape or the DVD. There is no place to plug in a coaxial cable to the Toshiba, so I figure that any recording would have to be from signals sent from the TV. (In fact, even if I could send signals directly from the cable connector in the wall to the Toshiba, there would still be no way to select channels to be recorded.) The problem is that all the ports and other places for hitching the TV to the Toshiba are labeled "IN" and, unlike our old TV, there are none for "OUT". Well, Bob, or any other kind person, does it seem that there may still be a way to record to the Toshiba device? Even to be able to record to VHS tapes would be great.

blue: I also have a Panasonic DVD Recorder, a combo unit with a VCR. You can record basically anything EXCEPT commercial videotapes, most often they are copy-protected. Likewise, you usually cannot make a copy of a commercial DVD to a VHS tape. However, you can record whatever signal comes into the unit (cable for instance) on either format. The tricky part is the format of the disks: +R, -R, etc. Difference machines take different formats, the Panasonic takes several, the different formats have somewhat different procedures. I've posted on this topic in the past, you might try a search.

First off let me say that I prefer Mini DV camcorders to the direct to DVD type. If you plan on editing you video then a Mini-dv will end up giving you a better quality result because it will stay uncompressed until you are done and ready to author the DVD. In the DVD camcorders you get MPEG compressed video on the disc so any editing will uncompress and then recompress resulting in lower quality. To answer your questions: 1. The mini dvd's are either DVD-R or DVD+R discs these differ not in the content on the disc from normal DVD's but in the actual disc itself. The recordable disc's both mini and full size use a color changing dye to record the bits of data while a normal dvd is a pressed layer. Most newer DVD players and DVD-ROM drives in PC's will read either format with no problems. However you can go to Video Help.com and look up your DVD Players, others have put in feedback about what type's of disc your player works with. 2. The CCD is the electronic device that actually converts the incoming light signal to the electronic format, the number value attached is typically a resolution number, the higher the resolution (pixel count) of the CCD the higher quality the captured visual information can look. There are higher end models that employ three CCD's to give an even higher resolution image. 3. Both digital camcorders (a sony and a panasonic) I have owned had this feature, its name varies by manufacuterer. 4. Nope no adapter is typically required. If you look closely at the tray there is normally an indention to hold the smaller disc's, this has been a standard back to the mini CD. 5. Sound sync issue you experienced is likely due to the way you captured the video/audio. You dont say much about it so I can only speculate. In any case the MiniDV and the DVD camcorders should not have this issue is setup properly. You can also go the videohelp website for tips on how to capture analog video and convert if you are still interested in that for you old tapes. 6. Dont know check the manufacturers specs for their camera. Are you certain that the Panasonic was mini VHC (VHS-C)?? If its miniDV then I think you need to reconsider a new camera and look at how you edited and converted the video to DVD, it should not have the problems you described. Here is an excellent camcorder buying guide at Cnet.com

I've had Dish Network for 6.5 years. Not really any complaints. Only have one receiver. The price does seem to go up. Started out paying $23 per month (was 60 channels back then) and now have maybe 100 channels plus local channels (I added the local channels which is maybe $6 extra) and it is $40 month which isn't bad. cheaper than cable. It does go out in storms but I have never had an outage that lasted more than an hour. Normally its just a few minutes and it comes back on. I dont' have Starz or HBO or anything like that. Installation was free (no start up costs at all) and I own my receiver now. Only thing I had to pay to replace was the remote (button went bad last year) and that was $30. I've never had Direct Tv so I can't compare the two but from viewing their prices online, they seem to be more expensive than Dish and also have higher cancellation fees if that is a concern.