I bought one of these recorders in February to transfer VHS home movies to DVD but liked the fact that it was also a standalone recorder with Freeview. Had many problems - machine insisting no TV aerial present or its scan not finding channels. Without mastering this initial setup process it is not possible to move on to transfer tapes. The machine kept 'freezing' or 'locking up'and having to be reset by switching off the mains current. This usually occurred every second day, but sometimes several times on the same day. It also 'froze' during transfer of tapes. One could not be certain it would record any TV programs using either the electronic program guide, manual timer, or instant record. It gave mixed messages as to whether a DVD was compatible or not - recording on it one time and rejecting the same disc on the next. I returned it to the suppliers (not Amazon unfortunately). Eventually and after hassle, I was sent a new machine. Guess what? Yes, it still appears to have similar problems and I see from the Web reviews this is not unusual!
Given the price and the fact that when it works it is really good, I will probably keep it for occasional use although I am consulting with trading standards about my options.
I would not recommend this machine.