This is my first experience with a home DVD recorder. I suspect a lot of my issues with ease of use are really applicable to all devices in this class. Never understanding the subtleties of DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW & DVD+RW, I made sure I bought a machine that worked with all of them. Thought this was end of story, but no. Different media types require different processes such as "initializing" and "finalizing." Having been into stereos & computers for decades, I have to say that I found the DVD recorder to be just about THE least intuitive product I have ever worked with. That said, the machine has done everything well since I've had it (about 2 weeks). I have made several recordings (all on DVD+RW) and have successfully copied some of these to DVD+R on my computer. Quality is decent but even with the step up to 1080i through the HDMI connector, it does not compare to the original HD programming from my cable/DVR. But it is certainly better than VCR. Also watched a couple of pre-recorded DVD's (again using the HDMI connection set at 1080i). Can't say I see any improvement over my 4-year-old progressive scan Toshiba. But, my TV supposedly upconverts anyway so I suppose if the upconversion logic is similar, there shouldn't be a difference. All-in-all, seems like a good purchase so far.