I can't help but think some of the reviews are very biased...perhaps based on operator error more than anything. Although its possible to get a bad unit. I almost didn't make this purchase based on the reviews. But after some thought and the fact that I've owned a JVC t.v. for the past 11 years, I decided to give this unit a try. Thus far, I have no complaints. Set up was pretty simple. I have been able to play both DVDs and VHS tapes without problems. The picture quality could be better but its good enough. I had no problem setting up for recording. The one touch recording option was also pretty simple. I like the fact that you can record with both the DVD and VCR and the timer setup allows you to choose between the 2. So if you are away for the week and need more recording time than what is allowed via your DVD, you can also record the remaining shows you want to record on VHS tape. This is a very nice feature. If I run into problems with the unit (which I hope I don't)... Read more

The bottom line with this machine is that it works. We've been able to record OTA and cable broadcasts, in standard definition and HD, to DVD-R and DVD+RW discs and we copied a VHS tape to DVD-R. All have worked well.

The ATSC (digital) tuner works great, but the NTSC (analog) tuner seems a little poor. We only get basic cable, so we expected to use the NTSC tuner and had tested the ATSC tuner for OTA signals for a few days. The NTSC output seems a little fuzzy, though that might be due to its A/D and D/A conversion, since we're using the digital output to our receiver and then component video into our standard definition TV. (The ATSC tuner output was observed through this same connection as well as via HDMI to a 22" LCD TV.) It turns out that we have digital channels, often two, corresponding to each analog channel in our cable lineup, so we're using those channels instead.

One of the first things you notice about this machine is that access to the Setup... Read more

I purchased this two weeks ago.

It took a short while to figure out how to operate the recorder.

Customer support was superb and helped me immensely.

Be sure to purchase the correct DVD blanks. They are listed in the manual, which is a page I kept overlooking.

I miss the old dvd/vcr recorders that don't require the HMDI. It was so nice to click on/off vcr. With this and other new ones, one must go to the menu for the t.v. and the recorder to switch things around. The t.v. is really a form of computer instead of the off and on switch.

Progress is hard for me to adjust.

However, I can now record off the t.v. to either vhs or dvd blanks. I can dub the vhs tapes to dvd blanks. All pretty easy with practice.