Lite On LVW-5006 DVD Recorder

The other reviews are fairly comprehensive. I have just a few things to add. I bought the device a few weeks ago after being very disappointed with a $169 model from Wal-Mart. It was finicky about what brand of media it would accept, and difficult to operate.

I hooked the Lite-On up to the TV upstair (20 inch, older model with mono and video in) and have been really pleased with the picture and ease of use. I have tried Philips DVD+R and Memorex DVD-R media plus the DVD-RW that came with it. No problems so far with media.

The recording features are very easy to understand and use right out of the box. There's also a guide button that steps you though a process to record disks from various sources etc.

One particularly nice feature is that recording stops automagically if you're dubbing through the Digital Video in (1394/4 pin located on the front of unit) the recording stops when the digital tape runs out. This is convenient because I had more than a few 60 minute tapes with only 24 minutes on them. The player recognized that the recording was over without me having to monitor it. So, it's fire and forget when video dubbing from DV-In.

I bought the player for 150 from Radio Shack and plan to take advantage of a $50 rebate. For this price, I've already gotten my money's worth.