Is there an easy to use vcr?

No, this is not.

Tok2000's comment is a bit flippant, but it's dead on the money. Getting a Tivo to record your soaps is 999999999x easier than doing it with a VCR. (OK, so the VCR is .000000001 and very hard, so even Tivo isn't so easy, but hopefully you see my point...) If you really, really must put the stuff on tape, I'd suggest a Tivo and a dirt-cheap VCR. But you don't have to program the VCR - just tell Tivo to dump to tape, then press the record button on the VCR. If you botch it up, tell Tivo to play again and start over.

Of true VCRs, I have had a couple of Sonys (1992 and 1996), an old JVC (1986), a mid-range 1995 Mitsubishi, and a pretty new JVC S-VHS unit (HR-9600U, got it in 2000). The 1996 Sony is the easiest to program; the current Sonys are almost the same user interface, so should be the least bad of the lot. The HR-9600U is not nearly as a bad as the Mit or the old JVC. But again, none of these hold a candle to changing the paradigm and using Tivo or Replay.

Jdh9:

I currently have two VCRs. One is a Sony SLV-R5UC (which was a top-of-the-line deck with all of the bells and whistles on it in 1991-92..... which I still have by the way. Might I add that it was the first "VHS" deck they made after they have finally abandoned the "Beta" format), and the other is a JVC HR-VP638U (not sure of the actual vintage, but I am willing to bet that it is a mid-to-late 90's deck), and out of both of them, the Sony is the easiest one to use believe it or not. But now, if I were to buy me a VCR today, I don't know which brand I would buy, nor would I know if one is easier to use than the other. But I would know this, if my beloved Sony SLV-R5UC was to kick the bucket today, and if I wanted another VCR like it, I would try to hunt down a used Panasonic AG-1980 somewhere on "e-bay", otherwise, I would buy an inexpensive one that has VCR+ on it.

But if you want a simple, easy to use one that is available now, I don't know which brand I would recommend that you buy, and frankly, I wouldn't care either. But just like I said, I would buy one that has VCR+ on it, and then when you first set it up after you get home, if your TV has a clock and a timer on it (like my TV does), then the VCR will practically set itself up. All you have to do is when you find a show that you would like to see later on, and if the VCR+ codes are in your TV Guide, all you have to do then is key in the program number code that is listed next to your favorite program in your TV Guide into the VCR's remote, and then press the transmit button on the remote. Afterwards, the VCR should do the rest for you. It will program itself automatically.

But for me, if I cannot find me a Panasonic AG-1980 after my Sony SLV-R5UC kicks the bucket, then I may forget about VCRs altogether and buy me a TiVo instead.

--Charles--