Hi there. That big shop that everyone goes to, the price asda be right mind, are selling multi-region dvd players for less than £40.
Tie this in with sky+ and you are on to a winner. Sky+ lets you record easily without knowing how to programme(you just go to the tv guide, select what you want recording-one touch and it is done) and it goes onto a hard drive built in. It can store over 20 hours of stuff on there for you. That seems the best way.