Newbie needs help, E50, E80, or another brand?

[mastrl]

Hi,

I am new to the discussions on DVD Recorders, but I am ready to purchase,will you experts help me? First is Panasonic the brand to buy? If so, should I buy the E50 or spend the extra cash and get the E80. My plans ar as follows: I want to hook up to Direct TV and Cable and have the ability to record from both. I will also take advantage of copying VHS to DVD, but the primary use will be time shifting. Any help or comments are greatly appreciated.

[Scootershaka]

I would definately go with the E-80. Originally purchased the E-50 but when I saw the new E-80 with the 80 gig hard drive I returned the E-50 to circuit city within thirty days and picked up the E-80. Lot's of options with the E-80. You can record up to 34 hours high quality (over 100 hours low quality) on the the hard drive and simply record to DVD-RAM or DVD-R.
This is a great player. It also plays 2 channel DVD-Audio discs. Interesting that this is rarely noticed. For the extra money, the recently released E-80 is your best bet.