All discussion relevant to Countdown that is not too spoilerific. New members: come here first to introduce yourself. We don't bite, or at least rarely.
Oops! I've just edited Julian's post instead of quoting it and presume it can't be recovered... (oh, the dangerous powers of being a moderator), but it was along the lines of... how can I (and others) copy my Countdown appearances to DVD? Sorry, Julian!
You can do it yourself but for only a handful of tapes the overhead of buying the gear is probably not worth it. There are plenty of services that will do it for you though, have a look on Google.
All you need is a VHS machine, a DVD recorder and either a SCART lead or phono cables to link the two together, then it should be a piece of the proverbial. I've copied a friend's wedding video and a few episodes of Countdown (although, ironically, not my own!) without any particular difficulties. As long as the original is of good quality the copy should be fine.
I used to have a DVD recorder and record Countdown from the TV onto DVD (before I discovered 4oD) and the recording quality wasn't great - it was slowed down quite a bit, so the clock sequence took 33 seconds and everyone's voice sounded a lot deeper... is that to be expected or was it just because I had a rubbish cheapo DVD recorder? It'd be a shame if that happened to my episodes that's all
I certainly wouldn't expect you to get any kind of time delays. I must admit I've always copied to a hard disc first, and then onto DVD, but I suspect the difference may just be that technology has moved on (or some recorders are better than others, as you implied). I can certainly recommend the Panasonic recorders from personal experience.