Purchasing a good DVR

[Evhmoon]

Thought i would stop by here and ask a few questions to the experts.......

About a year ago i was looking to upgrade to a really nice DVR that had a internal HD so i could store shit so that i could make compliation dvds of various things..

However, when shopping at best buy last week. I was told that manufactures no longer produce DVR's with internal hard drives.. is this true??? Salesman said there was a problem with all those and that they just stopped making them a year or so ago.......

So IF this is true...... what do i need to go buy to do what i wanna do??? I had posted a question a while back about these VCR/DVR combos that lets u transfer VHS to DVD....Everyone said to just transfer from seperate VHS player to seperate DVR which i have done.. Right to disc though. I thought the hard drive thing would be a better thing to get..

any suggestions?

[wabjxo]

..

[orsetto]

In the USA, the only easy-to-buy-new options with hard drive are the Phillips and Magnavox units recommended by wabjxo. They are not quite as nice as some of the discontinued models by other makers, but they're pretty good, have up-to-date ATSC tuners, and are priced very well for the features they offer. Also, wabjxo has kept an ongoing treasure trove of tips and tricks for these models going back over two years here on VH, if you choose one of these you'd have one-stop definitive info just by clicking his signature.

Just as background, your salesperson was wrong: there are no "problems" with the HDD feature. The only "problem" was American consumers rejected them as being too expensive and hard to use compared to $10/month cable boxes with built-in timeshift DVRs, so most mfrs pulled them out of the USA in 2006 rather than sell them at a loss. If you don't use off-the-air much, have cable/satellite service, and don't mind setting manual timers, another option is to import a Pioneer DVD/HDD recorder from Canada. These have more elaborate recording and editing features than the Phillips/Magnavox, are more expensive at $300/shipped to USA, and lack the mandatory-in-February ATSC tuner. But they can be more conducive for VHS dubbing than the Phillips units: its a matter of personal preference. The easiest Canadian model to buy is the Pioneer 460. The Sony RDR-HX780 is nearly the same recorder, and sells for less, but has been reported as having more bugs than the Pioneers: I would avoid it unless you live in Canada and can conveniently return it to a store for a refund if you experience problems. The Canadian Panasonics were pulled from the market last spring, the remaining stock sold out immediately to Americans who are nothing if not obsessed with the Panasonic model EH55, the most popular machine of all time due to its reliable automated timer feature. You might still find a demo Panasonic with HDD in a remote Canadian shop, but don't count on it.

[handyguy]

Search for 'dvd recorder' topics there are a few.

[samijubal]

There's no such thing as a good new DVD recorder in the U.S. anymore. Sometimes good new recorders can still be found on ebay but you have to keep a constant eye on the listings, they go fast. The Toshiba HDD recorders were the best ever made.

[Evhmoon]

Thanks for all the feedback.. will check out wabjxo's links!

[Evhmoon]

You might still find a demo Panasonic with HDD in a remote Canadian shop, but don't count on it.

I do live in detroit near canada.. so i can hop over and look haha
thx again for all the info.. i will also keep checking criagslist and ebay for those older ones..

i got soo many VHS videos i need to transfer to DVD, its sick..