DVDs are one of the most popular storage media today. Their capacity to store large amounts of data, as well as their reliability as compared to floppy disks, hard drives or tapes, has made them a favorite with everybody. A DVD recorder is a device that enables the recording of data onto a DVD. DVD recorders read data from other media such as computers, CDs, tapes, floppy disks, hard disks, TVs or any other device, and write the data digitally onto the DVD. DVD recorders are also good CD/DVD players, with playback and recording features.

There are many different kinds of DVD recorders available today: DVD recorder-VCR combo, DVD recorder-hard drive combo or standalone DVD recorders. There are also different DVD recording formats: DVD-R (write-once), DVD- RW (re-writable format of DVD-R), DVD+R (write once), DVD+RW (re-writable format of DVD+R) and DVD-RAM (re-writable with random access capability). Most DVD recorders are compatible with only a few of these formats, but there are a few brands that can work for all these formats. DVD recorders also differ on the basis of the time modes: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 3, 3 and 4 hour modes. The shorter the mode, the better is the quality of the recording.

There are many brands of DVD recorders in the market today. The main aspects to be considered while buying a DVD recorder are your budget, specific needs (such as recording onto a DVD or a hard drive), the brand, and the kind of audio/video connections available. Prices of top DVD recorders range from $100 to $1,000 or more, depending on the brand, model, capacity and options available. Some cable and satellite providers offer DVR services for free or for a small fee on a monthly rental basis. Prices of straight DVD recorders start at $400 or $500 and may go up to $2,000. Other aspects to be considered are maximum recording time, electronic program guide, component-video input, type of digital audio output, ease of operation, compression capabilities, and others. Some of the top brands of DVD recorders are: Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Toshiba, Lite-ON, and RCA. There are also some cheap models available for less than $200.