I have a JVC hard drive DVD player which you can set to record anything you are watching.
However, my trick is if there is something I want to see on TV I just record it and do not watch it for the firts 10-15 minutes. Then, when I do start watching the programme I can skip the adverts, and pause if I need to 'make a visit', or if the phone rings. Once the programme is over I delete the recording.
DVD RAM is just a recording format designed by Panasonic like DVD R, DVD RW etc. I'm not sure what you mean by backlog storage though? My JVC will only record onto a DVD RAM if I tell it too.