I got one of these a couple of years ago and its been a very reliable performer. I paid £100 for this which seemed like a very good price at the time for a HDD/DVD recorder from a top brand like Sony.

Recording
The 160GB HDD can record up to 455 hrs which is more than i'll ever need! As stated in previous reviews and the technical specs this DVD Recorder can handle multiple DVD writing formats +/- R/RW and playback recordable discs in many formats too, which at the time some of the other players were unable to do.

Recording to the HDD is dead easy, it can be started at the touch of a button. There are also various other timer formats that can be used. This also has the GUIDE plus system which allows you to programme what you want to record. Where this Sony recorder really excels is that it has a subtle infra red controller that can be placed over the top of another set top box allowing you to change channel via the Sony DVD recorder and, if using GUIDE plus, will change the channel if required to record the programme you want to record when it starts. It is straightforward to record from the HDD to DVD as well.

Set Up
Setting up is pretty straightforward. Its pretty much plug and play. The remote is pretty sensibly laid out and relatively straightforward to understand. The on screen menus are pretty good as well, reasonably intuitive for someone who is used to this sort of thing. If you're a technophobe the number of options and capabilities this device has could potentially get a bit confusing. The HDD menu is great, it shows thumbnails of the programmes you've recorded and even plays short clips so you can check what you want to watch.

Picture quality
I've got this set up with an HDMI cable, the HDMI upscaling makes the DVD picture quality excellent as you would expect from Sony. Whilst its not quite Blu-ray it significantly outperforms a standard DVD player.

TV Tuner...biggest downside
This is where this DVD recorder falls down in my opinion as it only has a terrestrial TV tuner. Whilst you pay significantly more for the version with integrated Freeview (£160-£200) it would be worth it in my opinion.

This recorder is great if you have another set top box of some sort, Sky, Virgin, Freeview - it doesnt matter - as you can connect this recorder between the set top box and the TV making it easy to record what you want to. I used this set up with Virgin Media a year ago.

Having moved there is no Virgin Media cable connection at my new house so i reverted to the built in Freeview tuner in my HD TV. This is where the Sony comes unstuck! As the tuner is built into the TV you cannot connect the recorder in between a set top box and the TV, therefore you are restricted to the TV being on the same channel you want to record. Previously i was able to record one channel through the virgin box whilst watching a different channel through the Freeview tuner in the TV. This may not be a problem for some but i find it a bit annoying now, hence the slightly lower rating.

If this isnt an issue for you then please dont be put off as this is an excellent recorder...just think about your set up at home when buying a DVD recorder like this.