>From: Ted Langdell <ted at tedlangdell.com> > >Considering the time and hassle involved running things through the >computer in order to burn a DVD of your tapes, have you looked at >standalone DVD recorders? >I have a Panasonic DMR HS-2 that I got a heck of a deal on from Best >Buy because it was a customer return. >I can burn directly to DVD in real time, or go to the hard-drive if I >need to do some trimming or whacking. I don't know about the Panasonic, but on my Sony HX900, the A-B erase is not very precise. You can only predict within about half a second of where it's going to make a cut, and although you can preview the cut as much as you want before you make it, once you do make it, that's the end of it. Plus, you can't make a cut of less than five seconds, so if you leave a second or two of a commercial in, there's no way to get it out. That's why I'm looking at bringing a bunch of TV shows onto my Mac for editing in iMovie before sending them back to the Sony for burning onto DVDs. Patty