2-Channel Stereo Recording from the Soundboard

["Krispen Hartung" <info@krispenhartung.com>]

I'm curious as to what stereo digital recording units others are using
to record their live performance off the soundboard. I'm currently using
a Sony Minidisk MZ-R70 to record from the tape out of my Mackie.  For a
$225 unit, it does a pretty damn good job, with automatic input
leveling, etc.  In fact, the last CD I released with the didgeridoo
player was recorded to this unit, then re-mixed to my Digidesign mBox
(where I added some EQ, compression, normalization, dithering, etc).
When I look at this thing, which is about the size of a pack of mini
cigars, and listen to what it records, I'm still in shock at the
clarity.

However, I want to step it up another level of quality. I'm thinking of
a DAT recorder, like the Panasonic SV-3700 or SV-3800. Any experiences
with these? The crazy thing is that these sell new for anywhere between
$700 and $1200, yet eBay has them for Buy Now prices of $150 to $300!
Is there something going on here that I'm not aware of that I should
consider? I've never seen such a huge depreciation on eBay. They are
quit big...three or four spaces.

Other options I'm considering are a higher grade minidisk recorder, like
one of the full rack space units, rather than the portable hand-held I
have now. 

Kris