I recently bought a Panasonic EZ45 VCR/DVD recorder. Very pleased with it - though the first one had to go back, as (basically) DOA... It works well with DVD -R/-RW disks and quality is excellent, though running time is not as long as would be ideal (roll-on HD or Bluray!).
But, as recommended by Panasonic, and other reviewers, you only get the best out of the Panasonic machines by using RAM disks. I bought these from Comet - after trying many other stores - for only £9.99 for 5.
They really transorm use of the recorder - effectively giving you a (small) hard disk drive, that can be used for editing (eg removing commercials) and Timeslip (i.e. watching the beginning of a program while still recording the end - HOW???) - both very useful.
The 9.4GB RAM disks are only double sided versions of this type - and they must (it seems) be manually turned over (like an old-fashioned LP!), so no great advantage, compared with using 2 of these (4.7 GB) disks, instead. (More chance of losing valuable recordings if double sided, and more confusing, too..)
So I would highly recommend this product - with two small caveats:
1. Capacity not huge - 4 hrs recording time in LP is actually worse than VHS, tho' quality is probably better, and much easier/faster to find your programs.
2. RAM disks will NOT play in the vast majority of ordinary DVDs - so you need another Panasonic (or similar model from Toshiba, etc) if you want to watch your recordings in the bedroom, for instance.
Hope this review is useful to you.