Boa Noite Marcos !
I wish I were in Rio right now. It is very cold and beginning to snow outside here.
Your DVD plan:
As I understand, you have a new LG Plasma ( excelente-parabens ! ) and find a suitable SD DVD player that will work with your plasma screen in Rio, yes ?
That I believe would be a muiti-region DVD player, which today is done automatically rather than switching back and forth between regional code selections. Having logged more than a few foot miles in the past with my wife, also looking for one in Rio, Sampa, and Fortaleza, I agree that it is best that you bring one with you from outside Brasil.
In Europe and in North America and Asia, these units (SD DVD player) are usually found at specialty electronic stores, or online.
Now to enhance your entertainment possibilities, you are also interested in recording programming by cable. An interesting question propostion arises here, as to the ability to do both with the same machine.
I have seen one machine in the past (a Panasonic) that allowed that, and there were many complicated steps to get to the recording functon to work properly. I will do some checking for you on the latest machines that may now be available, if you like. Other FT members here my have good suggestions to offer you.
Are you travelling to North America or Europe to make your purchase ? That would be helpful information.
On the subject of HD recorders I am only familar with using a Bang & Olufsen model, a somewhat expensive option. That brings us to a somewhat easier option of having:
1.) Two machines ( an HD recorder and a muti-region SD DVD player ). It would be more easy to find two that are HDMI, than an all-in-one machine as desired.
A simple and better suggestion:
Our computer does all this for us here, and more. It is a Gateway Home Theatre PC, model SX 2800 series, and at one-third the size of a PC, it appears to be normal a VCR player when resting on it's side.
It records programming, and burns or converts back to DVD (using programs like AVS 4 and Nero). It also serves as a prime computer for streaming, surfing, music ( meda player, media centre or B&O beoplayer ), internet radio ( 17,000 staions using Beoplayer ), DVD stereo sound, and allows PC work in a more comfortable living room environment. 8 HDMI slots. for example, I can pull up most radio stations in Brasil with a push of a button, and pipe the music in through the speakers anywhere in the house.
I use a Logitech Edge BT keyboard, and gyroscopic mouse with Media Centre to control it from 3-5 M away from the screen. No need to be hardwired.
Given the price considerations, a 1T HD version is comparable to a muti-region DVD player alone. That is a lot of music and video to store and enjoy, and would provide you with more capabilities for the future. The Gateway SX computers are sold at most electronic stores anywhere.
Aguardo seus comentarios !