The unit works fine but the manual is overly complicated and dense. It is definitely not vey user friendly. Mind you, this is coming from somebody who is very comfortable with audio-visual gadgets. I have 3 VCR's, 2 DVD/VCR recorders ( the other one is an LG) and 1 DVD player all connected to a KENWOOD amplifier and a PANASONIC 54" Plasma TV, all of which I connected myself, so I know what I'm doing. Nevertheless, I had to read the manual to get it working. It is not intuitive, but the picture quality is very good. This unit has a dig. tuner that will work with the VCR. If you want to continue recording tapes off the air, this is a good choice. Price is very variable, so shop around!