Man, they're down to $80 now. I really need to try to fit that into my budget and get one myself.
A whole season of most shows fits onto one DVD-R formatted as a data disk, compared to about two episodes on a disc formatted in DVD format. That'll get you back the $80 in DVDs in no time.
Not to mention the hassle of dealing with converting to DVD format. Personally, I tried several freeware programs, got frustrated, and gave up on it.