hdd/dvd for my mum. advice please

i'm buying a dvd for my mum (she's paying) and i'm looking for the best advice. I myself currently have the panasonic e50 but rarely use it because i have skyplus.

On looking at ones for my mum the pioneer jumps out as the best at the moment but i would like advice.

it really has to be a hdd machine as hard drive is great for my mum and guide plus looks good for her as well. i don't want her to pay too much as she is only wanting it for the basics but i still say hard drive is a must.

she doesn't have sky and has an old telewest cable box.
she wants to tape eastenders etc and wants to record the occasional disc and play some discs

my dad wants to tape old vhs onto discs (but that really shouldn't come into thinking of what machine to buy)

as i have the panasonic the fact that the pioneer plays the dvd ram as well could be handy although again it should not really come into the equation

any advice please with the summary being
easy to use
hard drive
cheap as poss

thanks in advance
tony

I don't know of a Pioneer that plays DVD-RAM.
Best to check if you think it does.

Yes they do play RAM

the pioneer 530 does but i think i am going to go for the panasonic eh50 as it's about 100 cheaper but the only downside is that it doesn't have guideplus but reading about guideplus elsewhere i don't know if it is that reliable and if it will be around for long

the pioneer 530 does but i think i am going to go for the panasonic eh50 as it's about 100 cheaper but the only downside is that it doesn't have guideplus but reading about guideplus elsewhere i don't know if it is that reliable and if it will be around for long