Replacing DVD recorder
 

Can anyone recommend an online store/site from which one can purchase a DVD recorder? My Panasonic DMR-E85H has given up the ghost. I really liked it and would like to get another (have to be used, apparently) or something very similar. My local Fry's and Best Buy were absolutely no help; the former only carries one (without a hard drive) and the latter actually told me manufacturers were no longer making DVD recorders. Thnx.

The fellow at Best Buy is correct. They stopped making DVD Recorders a few yrs back, at least Panasonic did. Seems all the Manufactures are just making DVD Bluray Players these days. As far as getting a unit with a Harddrive, DVR's which you can get from your cable Co put those to the grave early on.

Actually, that's NOT correct. Funai still manufactures DVD recorders, which are sold under several brand names: Toshiba, Magnavox, Philips. If you go to Walmart, for example, you can pick up a Maganvox branded Funai recorder for $98 + tax. Not all Walmarts carry the full stock of Walmart merchandise, but most do.

However, I'd suggest buying one from Amazon instead.

Pretty much any DVD recorder works well enough to record 2-hour "SP mode" vide off of TV. If you're converting VHS tapes to DVD, however, then you really need to pay attention to the brand/model of recorder. Most recorders makes DVDs that look worse than the original tapes! (And it's not like VHS tapes were high quality by modern standards, so there's not much to lose before it truly looks like crap.)

Panasonic has ALWAYS been the worst quality DVD recorder, so you don't want those anyway.

If I were buying a new recorder for recording TV only, I'd look at the Toshiba models

The Toshiba DR430KU is $96 + free shipping.
Get it from Amazon, at this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B0038JECKY

The only DVD recorder sold new, that comes with a hard drive (HDD), is the Magnavox MDR513H/F7 for under $350.
Amazon has it for $330 + free shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B003DPKOKK

The modern HDD DVD recorders (since around 2007) also recorder HDTV in SD, as they come with ATSC/QAM tuners. It's not analog only like your old Panasonic was. You can record HD channels as 16x9 widescreen DVDs! It's a rather nice feature. I've had a Philips 3575 unit since 2007, and so far it's holding up well. I record a few PBS programs weekly, and quite a bit around holidays.

The Magnavox won't make VHS tapes look worse, though it won't improve them either. There are several older (available as used only) recorders that were actually able to make DVDs look better than the original VHS tapes that the video came from. Most notably, the JVC DR-M10 and DR-M100 units, which are well-discussed in past posts on this forum (2005 to now), as well as at the digitalFAQ.com forum.

I'd get the Magnavox from the above link. :)

A Different Approach
 

Suggest you forgo the DVD Recorder route. Just a lot of hardware you don’t need to pay for and maintain.

Check out something like PLEXTOR PX-AV200U. You can get them for about $30 at various sites.

You plug it into your cable or satellite box and into a USB port on your computer. It allows you to capture directly to your hard disc. You can then edit out the commercials, etc., create a VIDEO-TS folder that can then be written to a DVD.

It comes with capture and editing software. I would suggest you pick up a different editing software package since the one provided is somewhat cumbersome to use.

Takes me about 5 minutes to edit the raw data file. Generating the VIDEO-TS files and writing to disc depends on the speed of your processor. I have a four (4) cpu system so it’s less than 10 minutes for most films of two (2) hours or less.

Check out this link: http://www.world-import.com/panasonic-dvd-r.htm

I purchased a Toshiba R420 DVD Recorder from this site. Not a problem since purchase.