Great product to transfer videos and record off Tivo

I purchased this DVD/VHS combo recorder in May 2008 in order to transfer my home videos from VHS to DVD. I didn't realize that there were recorders out there to accomplish this. I almost went to a business and paid $20 per DVD/home video transfer!

My husband hooked up the recorder to allow TIVO and regular TV viewing. He also hooked it up to allow our BOSE stereo to work during playback on the recorder. It took about 2 hours to hook everything up.

It was a little complicated to figure out what channel we needed to have the TV on in order to transfer the videos over to the DVD recording. Also, it took a bit to figure out how to play our current camcorder through the TV to allow recording on the DVD. I suggest thoroughly reading through the manual (my husband is one of those to just read a small portion of the manual and then get right to work without all the info!).

I suggest using re-recordable blank DVD's when you record with this product. This allows you a lot more flexibility with deciding what to keep on the DVD and what to get rid of (erase). Also, if you make a mistake when dubbing from VHS to DVD (if you have the TV on the wrong setting), then you don't waste the DVD. I started out using the non-recordable DVD's when I started the dubbing process, and wasted about 5 of them.

I love that you can record your TIVO shows a lot easier through this recorder then through the TIVO menu. You just play your show through TIVO, and press the "record" button on the DVD recorder remote. So much easier than "recording to VHS/DVD" through the TIVO (still haven't figured out how that is supposed to work through TIVO!).

I completed my home video DVD transfer process. In the end, I transfered over all my home videos from '97 to the present. I ended up with about 14 filled DVD's (each holding 2 hours of recording). That's how I spent one of my week-long vacations, and I'm very happy that I did this. Now I can easily watch home videos with my daughter.

I also burned back-up copies of the home video DVD's and placed these back-up copies in our bank safety deposit box just-in-case. (I have a DVD burner/copier on my computer.)