Toshiba D-VR650 Super MultiDrive 1080i Up-Converting DVD Recorder and VCR with Built-In Tuner

by Toshiba

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 16.9 x 3.6 inches ; 15 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000MY1DFU
• Item model number: D-VR650
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,064 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Toshiba D-VR650 Super MultiDrive Up-Converting DVD Recorder and VCR

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Performance, Irksome User Interface, June 15, 2007

By 

K. Tanaka (Midwest USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba D-VR650 Super MultiDrive 1080i Up-Converting DVD Recorder and VCR with Built-In Tuner (Electronics)

Good:
This unit has been an excellent performer for me. DVD recordings are sharp and have good contrast and color, even at the SP and LP (greater compression) setings. Dubbing from VHS to DVD is simple. The HDMI interface made connection to a LCD television literally a snap.

Not So Good:
It's been 30+ years since the Japanese have been designing remote controls and on-screen menu systems for video gadgets. In that same time the personal computer's user interface has evolved by several orders of magnitude of friendliness and sophistication. Yet this Toshiba's user interface seems like version 1.1, little different from what I would have expected in, say, 1985. The menus are maddeningly awkward to navigate and illogically organized. Making matters just a bit worse is the mushy tactile feeling of the unit's remote control, which must be used for nearly all functions. (I've long suspected that crazy user interface designs such as this represent a form of multi-generational post-WWII retribution against Americans and Europeans.) Be sure to be in a calm, relaxed state before attempting to program this unit.

Still, the effort is worth it if you want a good combo VHS and DVD recorder.

-----------UPDATE----------
Having a bit more actual experience with this unit I feel compelled to amend, and slightly downgrade, my previous review. All of my prior comments remain accurate. The unit really produces terrific-looking DVDs, even in LP compression. Its facility to enable adjustment of black levels really makes a big difference when recording b&w films from the tuner.

BUT beware; the unit's timer recording firmware is a bit buggy. On three occasions I have set the timer to record a DVD only to find a "Failed" message, and no recorded program, when I returned to inspect and finalize the DVD. On the first occasion I figured that user-error must be the problem. Perhaps I had not completely set the Timer-Rec status (which, itself, can drive you nuts as it will deactivate with no provocation). But the other two incidents were definitely the unit's bug. Either the Timer-Rec status turned itself off (which I actually caught it doing once) or the "Source" setting for the material to be recorded reset itself to "Line 1" from my explicit setting of "Tuner". This "Source" reset issue has appeared at least three other times when I returned to triple and quadruple check my timer recording settings.

This unit is still a reasonably good value and good video performer. But its firmware is badly in need of debugging. Be warned before proceeding with its purchase! If I could do so I would downgrade my rating to THREE STARS.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Toshiba DVR650 DVD Recorder with VCR, August 13, 2007

By 

Pearl King "purlie1" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba D-VR650 Super MultiDrive 1080i Up-Converting DVD Recorder and VCR with Built-In Tuner (Electronics)

I was very disappointed with this product. I did quite a bit of research before buying this unit and I chose the Toshiba DVR650 because it seemed to offer everything I needed: Built-in ATSC tuner, 1080i up-converting feature, recorded DVD to VHS and vice versa, recorded all the various disc formats, and had both HDMI and S-Video connections.

My biggest problems with the unit were as follows:

* There was always a 5-6 second delay between when I pushed a button and
got the desired response.
* Sometimes the unit would "freeze up" and would only work again if I
unplugged and re-plugged the unit.
* Some functions never worked--i.e., the ability to delete specific
chapters, the Delete icon was "grayed out" and never worked.
* The manual was poorly written. I like a manual that assumes the user's
ignorance and takes you step-by-step through each process, and lists
processes in a logical order.
* I was irritated by the loud fan, but could have lived with this if all
the functions worked properly.

I had to return this product, because I can't use a "brand-
new" unit that works "sometimes." I feel it has some bugs that need to be worked out. If this happens, I think this unit would be great for my purposes. Unfortunately, the actuality didn't live up to the promise.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works well so far..., August 17, 2007

By 

Amazon Buyer (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba D-VR650 Super MultiDrive 1080i Up-Converting DVD Recorder and VCR with Built-In Tuner (Electronics)

First I had a Panasonic DVD recorder and the remote kept on failing. Then I got a Samsung VR-330 with the well-known (and very irritating) audio sync problem. Seeing as I have a Toshiba TV that is more than 20 years old and still going strong, I figured I'd give this a try.

I've had it for about a month and so far so good. Burned about a half dozen discs and all is well, good picture quality and no sound syncing issues. It's a little difficult to use (manual is thick, remote and menus could be a little more intuitive) but everything is there and after awhile it all makes sense. My only other complaint is that the styling looks a little "dated" compared to other boxes, but who cares as long as it works!