My Pioneer DVR-225 died last night (No complaints, it has a ton of hours on it).

I'm looking for a replacement. Preferably under $200. In the USA. I have a crt television & digital cable with a cable box.

Here's what matters to me (in order):
1. Picture Quality
2. Reliability
3. Variable Recording speed
4. If possible, muti region would be nice, but I'm not aware of any hackable recorders & I do have several multi region players, so it's not required.

Quality is much more important then bells & whistles.

I'm also looking into getting the Pioneer repaired, but only if it's cheap.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Panasonic and Pioneer seem to always be considered the best. I am very happy with my $200 Panny, they always have one at this MSRP. Can be found cheaper on sale. Maybe check some Amazon reviews to make sure a particular model wasn't a lemon, but otherwise I think you can safely buy anything from these 2 brands and be happy.

I agree on the Pioneers. I believe they've stopped making standalones & only used are available. Still waiting to hear if mine is reparable inexpensively.

I had a Panasonic briefly. I liked the picture quality, but the jacks couldn't handle the weight of the thick audiophile cables I used.

Nobody seems to make a high-end DVDR in terms of build quality anymore. You might have that problem with most of them. Get some ties and help hold the cables up, that's what I do.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but my DVDR (a Lite-On) died. It was also acting as my multi-region player after the earlier death of my Cyberhome. Can anybody recommend a decent value recorder that can also be made region free? Thanks!