[tilomagnet]

Tascam decks (the DA-30 in particular) were quite the standard in studios for a long time and therefore there are lots of these decks around with a ton of hours on the heads. Tascams are said to be much more durable than Sonys, the Sony consumer DATs are mostly crap and often broke down while still under warranty. The few really well build and durable Sony DATs are very expensive (DTC-2000 etc.).

I've got a Tascam DA-20 MkII, which is the little brother of the DA-30. Bought it a few years ago and it has worked like a charm. If you are only planning to transfer some DATs I can really recommend the DA-20. It doesn't have all of the additional features of the DA-30, which you do not need anyway for transferring . It is a nice durable deck and can be had for a lot less than a DA-30. And it does have coax out as well of course.