OTHER TECH

DVD RecordersOne thing that's hard to ignore when you're buying a DVD player these days is how much better movies look and sound on disc than on VHS tape. But until recently, if you wanted to record TV shows, you needed to hang on to your dinosaur VCR. Not anymore: DVD recorders can be had for less than $300, making this an affordable option for high-quality TV time-shifting.

The big question when it comes to DVD recorders is, which disc format should you buy into - DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, or DVD-RAM? Which format "family" is best? All of these formats offer the same video and audio quality, so which ones you settle on will depend on more practical concerns - like who you plan to share your discs with (no players handle every recordable format) or which format your computer's DVD drive uses.

DVD-R ("minus R") and DVD+R ("plus R") are both write-once formats. Whatever you record on these discs is final - no editing or "recording over." DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM discs, on the other hand, are erasable, so you can edit them and record on them over and over again. Most models record and play discs in either the "minus" or the "plus" camp. A few so-called "universal" recorders can record and play both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW discs, and most DVD-RAM decks also record and play either DVD-R or both DVD-R and DVD-RW discs, but not DVD+R/RW. No recorders can burn all five formats.

If you regularly record TV shows and also like to send your friends recordings of programs they've missed, go with a "plus" or "minus" deck. You might want to look for a machine that will let you manually insert chapter markers while recording, something many recorders don't allow. This will let you easily skip commercials during playback - a time- and brain cell-saver your pals will appreciate, too. And if you're looking to make the most of your prime-time TV viewing, DVD-RAM decks let you watch a program you previously recorded - say, last week's episode of The Apprentice - at the same time you're recording a new episode on the same disc.

If you still have a sprawling collection of VHS tapes, a more useful spin on DVD than a basic player might be a DVD/VHS combo that puts a DVD player or recorder in the same chassis as a VHS Hi-Fi VCR, saving valuable shelf space. In inexpensive combos, the DVD and VHS sections usually share the same composite/S-video output, which can simplify setup. Combos that record on both discs and tape tend to be a little more expensive than bare-bones DVD recorders and will have a separate progressive-scan component-video output for the DVD side.

Hard-Disk HeavenUnless you've been in a monastery for the past five years, you've probably heard of the revolutionary TiVo and ReplayTV video recorders. Hard-disk recorders like these let you watch TV programs at your leisure, scan them in forward or reverse - even while they're still being recorded! - and either save or erase them and record others in their place. A number of new DVD recorders have built-in hard drives, giving you the option of recording loads of programs and transferring only the "keepers" to DVD.

The hard-drive capacity in DVD/hard-disk combo recorders varies from 80 to 160 gigabytes (GB), with the average being 120 GB - enough for about 30 hours of TV at the highest-quality record setting, or more if you're willing to settle for a lower-quality picture. A few DVD/hard-disk recorders, including models from Toshiba and Pioneer, come with TiVo's electronic program guide (EPG) interface, a fee-based service with many cool features - like Season Pass, which automatically finds and records every episode of your favorite TV shows. But many other combos simply provide TV Guide On Screen, a free, less elaborate EPG that's continuously updated and lets you record a program by selecting its listing in the guide.

Considering how many DVD players, and even recorders, are available, and how varied their features are, there's a machine to fit every need, whether it's listening to music in state-of-the-art surround sound or building a library of Da Ali G Show episodes to laugh at with your buddies. With so many options, you owe it to yourself to look carefully before leaping. That $50 player at Wal-Mart might seem like a good deal, but in the long run it's probably not the way to go.