i agree!
But i'd say wait 1 year, and they are payable :)
U can see these things are getting cheaper, only the ones with a harddrive are still very expensive...be a little patient :)
Get the Panasonic DMR-E95 with the 160 GB harddisk. It's the best choice. There are three good brands - Panasonic, Pioneer, JVC. Panasonic is the easiest to use (and it looks great :), Pioneer and JVC might be a bit cheaper.
Although I'm a big fan of Panasonic, I bought a JVC-MH20 recorder with a 80 GB harddisk because it was much cheaper than anything else.
Thanks for the advice guys... my biggest problems involves space / room.
I still need the VCR - family watch a lot of video tapes. Most DVD - Recorders don't play DVD-A in DTS - I will still need my Panasonic S-75, add the Sky digi box and your're not left with a lot of room.
Of course I could buy a combi DVD / VHS recorder but they're not as good as the standalone units.
depends where you live - if your satellite tv is prvided by something like Sky+ then you use the harddisk in thta to store and then copy out to dvd as required
we have sky+ and a panasonic dvd recorder without harddrive
"my biggest problems involves space / room"
Tell me about it - where am I supposed to store the VCR, satellite receiver, DVD player, DVD recorder, receiver etc.? :-)
"Most DVD - Recorders don't play DVD-A in DTS - I will still need my Panasonic S-75"
DVD-A AND DTS are two different things :-) But you're right that almost all DVD recorders play DVD-audio max. in two channels only (which is useless) so I kept my Panasonic S-75 too :-)
Whatever you buy, get a recorder with harddisk, that's a must. If you wait a couple months, you'll get a cheaper one, of couse. Btw. the Panasonic DMR-E85 is pretty good too (80 GB is enough) but the doesn't have input for digital video, that sucks.
Btw. I found out that probably the best prices are in Germany :-)