Total newbie with limited knowledge of any type of dvd recording. I tried to search. I have read quite a bit. But do to the fact that I don't really know what to call my problem, the search isn't yeilding much. I hate to say I'm not sure what to search and what I have found is so far has jargon over my head. Sorry for the questions, esp if they are tired. Here is my issue...

I just purchased a RCA DRC8335 DVD Recorder and VCR combo. I had hoped it would be an easy way to transfer my old VHS recordings to DVD. Well the tapes are of TV programs that I recorded at SLP. The episodes I recorded commercial free and I just want to get them on DVD with a picture quality similar to the original VHS. I went with RCA since this is what my family always used in VCRs and had good luck with.

I had hoped to go with the 3hour mode the unit offers. That would be perfect for 4 episodes @ approx 42 mins a piece. Would make it a simple to edit before finalizing and waste little of the disk. Well I gave it a shot with everything as it was set from the factory (not sure if the unit is tweakable). Well I got a picture that was much like a one you see when a digital is affected by a storm and showing boxes (bad pixelation?) Not sure what to call it. Its especially apparent with action scenes.

I tried the SP (2hr) mode. The pic was a bit better, but nothing in near like the original recorded VHS. I still get the boxes even in slow pan scenes.

Do I have a defective unit or is it just out of the unit's capability? Are there settings I can adjust? I looked for things similar to what I read in posts here, but it seem to only have adjustments for the screen (4:3, 16.9...) and something that gave a choice btw RAW or PCM. Factory default is RAW.

If it's inherant of the unit do i just return it and get another combo? Though I'm not opposed to a seperate DVD recorder to just hook up with RCAs to my existing VCR. I was just under the impression that an all in one would yield a better quailty conversion. Which is the better way to go?

If I went wth separate units I planned on a recorder with a hard drive in the $250 range. What do you reccommend? Panasonic or JVC? The sticky that showed the flaws of the manufactures on the market I saw had a list of units but the most concrete part was in 2005. So I'm not sure if any manufacture has fixed their inherant flaws and built a better unit. Again I would love a unit that could get a near perfect duplication of the original VHS in 3hour mode.

Thanks so much!

Shannon