works great when it works

I've owned this unit now for about a year and only have one BIG complaint: it works well when it works...but only works about 60% of the time. I use Maxell DVD-RW discs for TV time-shifting, usually recording between 6 and 8 hours on a disc. But, to make sure I get the shows I want, I have to run a VCR backup as about one in 3 discs fails to record properly. Had I known, I would have bought -R discs instead as I've burned a bunch of -RW discs: they'll usually only re-record once or twice after the initial formatting, then they either fail to format, fail to finalize or lock up somewhere in the programming without finishing. Panasonic blames the discs and claims it will work fine on DVD-RAM, but DVD-RAM won't play on my Panasonic home theater system, so it won't do what I bought it for. I would NOT recommend this product even though it is easy to use and flexible...none of that is worth anything unless it actually works all the time!