newbie needs answers

looking at two machines to replace my gx3 ,XS32 AND E85 how do they compare to my old sony picture wise.Also does the Tosh have a similar function to the Pany variable bitrate recording feature?

 

Yes. With either machine you can modify the bitrate to suit. This is known as Flexible Record. Variable Bitrate is just dynamic modifying of the datarate in response to the amount of activity on screen - most DVD recorders do this these days.

Subjective of course but in DVD playback terms picture quality is going to be a slight step down. DVD recording quality should be an improvement: and a dramatic one on recordings over 2 hours in length.