Panasonic DMR-ES20S

Pros: Excellent product quality, which should give me excellent reliability.

Cons: It cannot use +RW discs.

Summary: I have tried two different makes of DVD recorders before settling on the Panasonic DMR-ES20S. The first model failed after several days of use. The second model is very sensitive to the make of the discs. Finally, it won't let me open the tray to retrieve my disc. A replacement unit also had some inconsistencies in responding to discs recorded by itself.

This Panasonic never gave me any temper tandrums. It accepts different makes and types of discs, as long as they are not +RW. This is the only letdown that I encountered, because I have bought a few of the +RW discs for use on the previously purchased units. But its ability to use DVD-RAM more than made up for this shortcoming. Besides, -RW discs are readily available at the same price as +RW discs. Some other manufactures would only allow -R and -RW (or +R and +RW) discs. Also, this unit cannot record on CD's.

The fact that this entry level model was made in Singapore gives me more confidence on its quality over other similarly priced units that were made in China.