Jeff, I know what its like to not get an answer. Okay, I don't care what anyone tells you, anytime you transfer from one machine to another (DVD player to DVD recorder or VHS to DVD recorder) you loose quality! If you are transfering using wires (componet-the best, s-video- second best, composite-third best) you absolutely loose signal quality. So it absolutely always matters what speed you use. You might want to look into getting a DVD burner for your computer and use a software program like "Nero" to clone your discs. It absolutely duplicates the video files, it doesn't record or dupe them in real time. Hope this helps. Under no circumstances (if you care about quality) should you copy a copy (3rd generation) each time you copy an image the more the digital image breaks up or pixalates. All of this shows up more, the better resolution your TV has. If you have a standard round tube TV, it doesn't show up as much as on a flat screen Tube TV (which I have) I assume would be even worse with high def or plasma.