I've owned a Tascam DA-30 since 1993, and it's needed service once (after 7 years of use), and of course the innards cleaned on a regular basis, something I do myself.

I've also been hearing good things about the newer Sony consumer-type DAT machines, which sell for $600-700. Some DJ's I know use the Sony "Walkman"-type DAT machines, but these are quite delicate, and the audio input stages are easy to overload in a way that you can't see from the meters (results in *really* nasty-sounding spikes in the recorded audio)....and if you leave on the limiter by accident you end up with a really cruddy-sounding recording (I had to master a CD for someone who did that, and ended up spending hours with Pro Tools drawing volume-automation to un-do the pumping during quieter sections...no fun!).

All of that said, what I use to record my own sets is hi-fi VHS. The machines are dirt cheap (under $120 at Costco), the VHS tapes are way cheaper than DAT tapes, and if you're doing long sets the 6-8 hour capacity in EP mode is a great thing...and as long as you're careful with your input levels (takes some experimenting, since most hi-fi VHS machines have no level controls or meters...if you go too "hot" on the input levels, the recording will end up with what sound like dropouts on peaks) the sound quality is quite adequate for the purpose.