The heir apparent to the VCR has arrived. The Pioneer DVR-810H ($1,200) is a digital video recorder that can hold up to 80 hours of television shows on its hard drive, using TiVo technology (that's the TV recording system that has won a cult of fans). But Pioneer goes a step further, adding a DVD burner to the mix. Just push a few buttons to save The Sopranos for posterity.

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TiVo's menus make the DVR simple to use. And the DVD burning isn't just for TV shows. Attach a VCR or camcorder to the extra input ports and you can save existing tapes to longer-lasting DVDs. For another $100, add-on software enables the TiVo half to pull digital photos and music from your PC across a home network to enjoy in the living room.

The hefty price tag only gets lifetime "basic" TiVo service, e.g. just three days of show listings; getting a full 14 days of listings and other services, such as automatically recording every episode in a show's season, costs another $13 a month. Use-once DVDs still cost about $1 each and hold only an hour's worth of TV at high quality; rewritable disks are available but less compatible with set-top players if you want to use your disks elsewhere.

Wait a year if the price tag is too steep. But don't wait long–you'll want to leave behind the complexities of VCRs and the hassle of rewinding tapes.
–Kenneth Terrell