[Ian_m]

I`d be interested how your Mum gets on with TiVo as opposed to say a DVD recorder. My Mum cannot get the hang of using recordable DVDs at all mainly because you have to erase a full disc before you can reuse it as opposed to a video which does not stop you recording over stuff.

Its a cheap +RW make or -RW make then, my very old Philips DVDR890 treats a +RW just like a tape. Try to record a 3/4hour programme in a 1/2 slot, it overwrites the next recording by 1/4 hour, just like a tape would.

A mate bought a cheap (at the time) £149 DVD recorder from Sainsburys, ended up taking it back due to the issue that you could only record "at the end" of a +RW disk as well as only having S-vid input from external source. Unfortunately for him, recorders that "do it properly" were out of his price bracket (£280 in those days).