Do you use Cable/Satellite DVR or TIVO to record your Television programming? If so, you are a part of a growing trend that has made Japanese consumer electronics companies, such as Sony and Panasonic, very reluctant to market DVD Recorder/Hard Drive Combinations and Blu-ray Disc recorders in the U.S. You see, in the rest of the World, DVRs are actually more of a rare commodity than in the U.S.. Due to this lack of signficant competition from DVRs overseas is why you find that DVD recorders, especially DVD Recorder/Hard Drive are very plentiful in Europe and Asia. However, as DVRs increase their presence overseas, they may impact the availability of DVD recorder/Hard Drive Combos there as well.

The DVD recorder/Hard Drive combo allows users to copy raw footage or record a series a programs to the hard drive and then copy them later to a blank DVD. Also, another benefit of this type of unit is that if the DVD runs out of space during recording, the excess video is automatically recorded onto the hard disk, which, once again, can be copied onto another blank DVD at a later, more convenient time. The hard drive feature on a DVD recorder is very useful for temporarily storing your video, either from you camcorder, TV programs, or other video sources.

With this type of flexibility it doesn't quite make sense that the big Asian manufacturers feel that DVD recorder/Hard Drive combination recorders can't hold their own in the U.S. market, even with the DVR alternative also available. After all DVRs are just temporary storage devices; to save a recording permanently you need to transfer the video from a DVR to a Disc or Tape using a separate DVD recorder or VCR. Alas, we still have the DVD-only recorder still available; at least for the time being.

For information on the differences between a DVR and a DVD Recorder/Hard Drive Combination, check out the following FAQ: What is the Difference between a DVR and a DVD Recorder with built-in Hard Drive