Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've had this unit for almost two weeks now and have copied 30-35 VHS tapes to DVD; SO FAR it does what it claims to do and I have had no problems whatsoever. You can also record both VHS and DVD off the cable box. Installation looks intimidating at first glance but is really quite simple and unlike some competing machines this unit has several different ways to connect with televisions, other VCRs, cameras, cable boxes, et cetera, a feature I really appreciate. The editing features are fairly simple (as you would expect with the moderate unit cost) but have worked perfectly so far. I am so satisfied with this machine that if it breaks down in a month or two I still would have no hesitation whatsoever purchasing the same brand as a replacement. What do I use it for? I collect silent films and early talkies for my personal use and have videotaped hundreds of them off TCM and similar stations; I have had no problems converting those old tapes to DVD-R. Also OOP television shows like the Science Fiction Channel's Destination: Truth, a marvelous program that for some inexplicable reason has only released Season One on DVD. Why did I rate it a 4 and not a 5? Two reasons, one mature and one sort of little-kid-whining. The mature reason is that I wanted to reflect the fact that this is a basic unit, not a top-of-the-line device in terms of sophistication. The holding-my-breath-and-turning-blue reason is that Funai (a division of Magnavox I understand) seems a bit too concerned with copyright protection issues. One old movie that I probably videotaped off a DVD about 15 years ago wouldn't copy from VHS to DVD, citing protection issues. I imagine it was coded with a "copy once only" signal. I understand of course that when Magnavox and I disagree about what constitutes fair use, Magnavox is going to win, but it does seem to me that they've gone a bit further than they had to in this regard. Oh well, there's a lot of things about the world I do not agree with. All in all, seems to be a very good purchase.