dvd recorder all in one players

[lordmajax]

I have noticed a couple of dvd recorder/player/vcr all in one combo units and I was wondering if these were any good. Also, are dvds that are played back in a dvd recorder as clear picture wise as a regular dvd player?

[jimmalenko]

I'm a firm believer in one device for one purpose, so I generally steer clear of all in ones, be they software or hardware. My main problem with this is that if it does 3 things, that's 3 times the usage you're giving it compared to dedicated devices, which theoretically results in 1/3 of the product life. Also, if a mechanism of one particular part of the item requires fixing, you lose all three devices instead of just the one. I've also found that things that are built specifically for one purpose generally do that purpose well, as opposed to trying to do a lot of purposes and end up being subpar at all of them.