I use a Panasonic at work ... The model number is DMR-E80H. I think this one is a little more expensive than some other DVD recorders because it has a built in 80 gig hard drive.
So far, I've only recorded shows to the hard drive, I haven't tried to record anything to a DVD but it seems like a pretty straight forward procedure. I really like that it has the time slip function ... It's really nice not having to wait for the entire show to finish recording before I start to watch.