I'm in the market for one, but am not quite sure what I'm looking for. I'd like it to have a hard drive, but I'm not sure one is essential, since I'm primarily planning to use it to dub old VHS tapes to DVD. What features do you feel are essential in your DVD recorder, and are there any models you specifically recommend? One friend speaks highly of his Sony RDR-GX300.

Also, is having a dual VHS/DVD recorder handy or does it present additional maintenance problems (such as too many moving parts)? Or is it a good idea since there's less fuss in hooking up the current VCR to the DVD recorder?

I'm surprised that no one else has responded to this yet. I'll throw in my own experience in hopes that it'll help, although I'm no expert.

I've had a Panasonic DMR-E80 for the past year and have been very happy with the purchase. I had gotten it for much the same reason you plan to - to transfer old VHS tapes (mainly home movies, old televisions, sporting events, etc) to DVD. The harddrive on the Panasonic allows up to 18 hours of recording at the best picture quality mode, and I find that I use that function a lot more than I first suspected I would. There have been several times when I've gone through the videos and found that there were places a little tightening and editing helps to save space and/or make for better programming on the DVD-Rs. I also found it tremendously useful in cases where I've recorded off of television. Great for editing out commercials after-the-fact before putting them on discs.

I've read a couple of mixed reviews of the DMR-E80, but I've never had a problem with the recorder, with the exception of running into an occasional bad disc (and with them getting cheaper, that's not completely surprising). Having a machine that records DVD-Rs also worked well in the ability to have the discs play on a majority of players now (although some still won't play them). That's nice to have in circumstances where you want to give a disc to a friend (or, as we did, made Christmas discs for friends and family this year).

I've always been a bit iffy about buying multi-functional recorders (i.e. the DVD/VCR recorder you mention). If you have one part go bad, it's usually a nightmare to get repairs done, and without the function of one side or the other, it's pretty much a waste of money. Especially when a good VCR is very cheap to get nowadays.

Like I said, that's just my limited evaluation of the situation. I'm not into HD, nor big into sound quality due to hearing problems, so some of the more technical aspects of such a decision I really can't help much with. Still, I hope this helps a little.

I also recommend the Sony 300 model, especially since it can record on both the "plus" and "minus" platforms with either single use or erasable discs. In other words, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW are all supported recording formats.

I've also got a relatively old Panasonic E20 (DVD-R/DVD-RAM) that I use mostly for time shifting, and an RCA Model (DVD+R/DVD+RW) which I bought for my work.

All of these have performed well and I haven't used VHS to record anything in nearly three years. I like the DVD+RW discs the best, since they are the only erasable discs that are nearly 100% compatible with most DVD players these days.