My combo unit is long dead (samsung) so I now dump Hi-8 tapes and VHS to DVD using a magnavox dvd recorder unit. The firmware is pathetic but it gets the job done after shouting swear words for a while. Only thing I've found is that, on my unit, DVD-RW is unusable even though the manual says its OK. It'll record fine, but at the end it 'finalizes' the dvd and on RW it will never complete. Wasted a lot of time figuring that 1 out
But yeah, I've made a few dvd-r's which look fine and play fine on other dvd decks.