You can remotely access and control the 2160 with or without external HDDs from another room or another country using a Slingbox as described in this help file:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=16376502&postcount=4887

Yes, but the recording will be in SD instead of HD

YES

It has the coaxial digital audio output. You can get a coaxial to optical converter online for about $20.

no usb. look at the thread on www.avsforum.com for all the details about this you'd ever want to know

If you are playing a commercial DVD you have upconvert to 1080p, but any video you record to the HDD and play back will only be at 480p (SDTV).

If your TV is capable of 1080P, this machine will upconvert to 1080P. In my case, mine is a 32" which is only capable of going up to 720P, so it maxes out at that level for me. Each time you press the HDMI button on the remote, it cycles through the settings up to the max of 1080P, but only if your TV can handle it.

This DVDR only has one tuner, so you can only record one program at a time, either on the hard drive or on a disc.

yes you can if you know the do's and don'ts. i know i can iffin i wanna.

Addition to my previous answer:

Altho you didn't ask this specific question, your title indicates you might want to play discs marked for other zones.

The 2160 can only PLAY discs marked for Zone 1 or for ALL zones, which is what the 2160 marks on discs created by it (your home-made discs).

If your relatives can produce their own DVDs in machines that also mark their discs for all zones, like the 2160 does, and are playable with NTSC equipment, you'll be OK with their discs. You just won't be able to play commercial discs not marked for Zone 1 or that don't INCLUDE Zone 1 like the 2160 does.

I vaguely recall someone trying what he said was a PAL disc in one of these PhilMag recorders and it did play, but not positive on that. He might have had one of the 2160 predecessors, the Philips 3575 or 3576? YMMV!

It might be an undocumented feature like Vizio HDTV's that show PAL discs w/o any special settings, something not documented anywhere?

You could do a test on a PAL disc if you have any.

YES. You will still need a Blu-Ray player if you want to play Blu-Ray disks. (Blu-Ray players will also play most conventionl DVD's)

If you have a HDTV television with an HDMI input, and you connect this unit to your TV using a HDMI cable, the unit has the capability to "upscale" commercial DVD's to near 1080i or 1080p definition.

This Magnavox H2160MW9 unit plays regular DVD's and records/plays programs either using the built-in HDD (hard disk drive) or the built-in DVD player/burner. You can also copy your HDD recordings to a DVD and visa versa.

The tuner in this unit is a SDTV tuner, therefore all recordings you make, whether to the built-in HDD or to a DVD disk, will be in SDTV (Standard Definition) format. On my 32 inch 720p HDTV, I cannot see much difference between watching a live TV program or viewing that same program if it was recorded on the built-in Hard Disk Drive(HDD), using a recording speed set to either SP (the 60 hours recording time) or HQ (the 30 hours recording time) mode.

Its a great replacement for the old VCR.

I forgot to add that the 2160A has a SATA HDD (today's most common interface for computer and AV HDDs), so you don't need the IDE>SATA Adapter and conversion cable discussed by the early Pioneers, who upgraded their IDE HDDs in the Philips 3575/3576 and Mag 2080 DVDRs.

Replacing the 2160A's SATA HDD is "Plug and Play" except that you DO have to open the case.

A list of all help files is here, incl. the SKIP 079 procedure for replacing or upgrading the HDD:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940657

Oops, I missed the fact you were asking about tuning CANADIAN stations with the 2160.

Yes.

Here's a post by a Canadian using the Mag 2080, older brother of 2160, in Canada for OTA antenna tuning:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=16090216&postcount=4122

Here's a post by a Canadian using a Philips 3576, predecessor to the 2160 (same design/op system) for Cable TV in Canada:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=16920715&postcount=6113

There are many other posts in this help-file resource by Canadians using the 4 PhilMag DVDRs in the Philips/Magnavox line that the 2160 is part of:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940657

Single region - US only.