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JVCs are junk. At least this is my experience. I have a JVC DVL-505u, and it has given me nothing but troule -- I should have spent the extra $200 and got a canon. Granted, this was a while ago.

I'm into digital video. I used to work with ancient Macintosh computers, back in the days of MJPEG analog capture cards, about the time Premiere 2 came out. Ad nauseum, I'm into portable video, especially as gagetty as I am.

I'm looking for a digital camcorder which does 720x480, or x486 -- I think the extra 6 aren't needed if you are not capturing from an analog source. I'm also looking for MPEG2 or better. Compact Flash formats have disks of -- what, 4 gigs? I'll settle for SD or MMC.

There are a couple units like the Canon S2, this thing, and others. I didn't find a link to this ultra generic model. They're all 640x480, which bothers me.

Here, have a bunch of opinionated spooge.

I purchased the Pioneer 810H-S a few months ago. Yes, the TiVo service is great. (All the Anti's in the peanut gallery can leave now...)

I would do it again given that while I am highly tech-savvy, my wife is not. She knows her way around a computer but let's just say I won't be hacking my box any time soon. It's just not worth it to mess with what is working. FYI, I've only HAD to restart my box once due to any sort of technical issue.

As far as what you should buy "now" (vs. waiting indefinitely for the "perfect" device), I highly recommend looking at one of the TV Guide-based HD recorder/DVD burners out there. Even with the $100 rebate on activating the Plus service (I went with the unit lifetime), I'm still out $500-600 for the pleasure. FYI, TiVo equipped DVD burners come with a free Basic service. Off-brand units (LiteOn, et al) can be had for under 4 c-notes (like here or here...) with many of the same functions. Though I can't vouch for their usability. One thing that could really be an advantage would be the ability to edit out the commercials for burning to DVD, which my unit won't do.

Another consideration you had was the noise and I'll just tell you my unit is NOT quiet, thanks to a rear-mounted ~60 or 80mm fan. To keep it in perspective, it IS being used for television and movie watching. So it's not as though you can hear it very much. I wouldn't recommend this unit for a bedroom.

The nifty, but lesser used, features are nice. Like the Photo & Music over the wireless network from my computer. Or the online scheduling. Nice & handy, but those shouldn't be a deal breaker. To me, this new TiVoToGo "feature" falls in this catergory.

I think I covered the bases, but if you have any questions: shoot.

Just a cautionary note: the iHP-120 doesn't come with a dock, a la the iPod (something that will probably be added in the next iteration). Also it doesn't come with any music management software, a la iTunes. For me this was a plus as I'm not a fan of ITunes or Musicmatch, but YMMV.
You can get an iHP-120 for U.S. $334.00 here. I got mine at E-cost for around $345.00.

You can find them for about here for $289 and there's a fun $20 rebate available also. So you can get it for $269 AR and there is also free shipping. So it's below the iPod it's 20 GB AND it supports Ogg and FLAC. It also has unofficial support for Linux so you lose the apple 'coolness' but your pocketbook and open source will thank you!

You can actually find the Dazzle DV Bridge for about the same price by now, so there's no competition, Eye TV loses. That is unless the TV tuner is key for you, but you can still rig up some programmed recording using AppleScript, cron and Final Cut Pro and just use it with whatever tuner works for your TV service.

I've had the archos jukebox (6000) for about 8 months now. and i must say that thought it is not without flaw, it has fulfilled all my expectations.

first of all... 6 gigabytes... of course you can swap out the included hdd and replace it (but not without voiding the warranty).

second of all.. it's a simple USB hard drive. so it'll work on just about any OS you can toss at it. newer models have usb 2.0, and recording features. but I have been very happy with mine. and since it's a simple usb hard drive, you can store anything u want on it, not just audio. keep a copy of your favorite linux distro on it. backup yer system. whatever

the batteries tend to last me about 5 hours on the average, and i've never had to change them.

of course if u wanna go apeshit there's this thing.

I just bought a Belkin 4-Port KVM switch a while back for $100. There is a huge, huge difference in prices between stores. My local Fry's and Micro Age carried the same one for around $270. After cruising Pricewatch I bought mine at Harmony Computers. Gotta love the Internet.

JOhn