I bought my first Hitachi when Hitachi were still making them, and I've never found a better machine for myself as far as DVDs go. The VCR element always stops working long before the DVD, but that's okay in the present era, isn't it? I have one of these in each of the bedrooms so that I can get comfy with what I'm watching, or recording, and the discs can be used in any of the machines as they're all interchangeable. I'm still sorry that Hitachi quit making these, as they're great machines. This one will even accept a dodgy range from Sainsburys, which the other machines refuse completely.