I am seeking advice on a *reliable* dvd/vhs recorder. I recently bought a SONY RDR VX-555, and it was defective. Sony could not repair it. The problem was with the DVD player. The main use for me will be to copy from VHS to DVD, with occasional recording of tv programs.

I am looking for reliability, decent quality, ease of use.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S. I do not need a tuner in the recorder.

In the current marketplace there is often no advantage to a combo recorder. There is usually an advantage to playing your videotapes on the same VCR that originally recorded them and connected to an input of a DVD recorder.

Certain brands of DVD recorders and combo recorders, especially Sony and some brands manufactured by Funai (Magnavox, Sylvania, etc.) find copyright protection where none exists. Read customer reviews for models you may consider purchasing.

The Philips DVDR3576H/37 Hard Drive/DVD recorder with analog and digital tuner may be purchased at Sam's Club stores for $248.28. I have last year's 3575 model purchased "renewed" directly from Philips.

See this thread for more information on the Philips:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940657