I would appreciate any help you guys can give me in making a choice between these two recorders: Samsung R145 and Toshiba D-R5.

I will have my Sony 40 inch LCD HDTV in operation March 6th when DirecTV installs their equipment. I will be using the DVD recorder to copy material from the DVR and also VCR tapes, and playing pre-recorded DVD movies.

Since I am really new to this, I would also appreciate the information as to what kind of discs to use; for example, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD+RW. Are there any differences relative to quality of recording?

Thanks for your help!

There is forum for DVD recorders. You will be better served posting your question there and searching thru the threads. There are a lot of threads on DVD formats and brands as well as the recorders you ask about.
Link to forum
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=106

Link to DR-5 vs a 135
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=777938&highlight=DR5

I searched but couldn't find anything on the Samsung R145. In a review of DVD recorders on Consumer Reports website, they rated the picture quality at XP much better on the Samsung R135 over the Toshiba D-R5 and I assume the R145 is equal if not better that the R135, but that is only an assumption.

I have read threads on both R135 and D-R5 and there seem to be issues with both units, however, I don't see anything here on the newer R145 model.