Brand NameToshiba
Color NameBlack
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Product Specifications
Technical Details
- DVD Recorder/VCR Combo
- Progressive Scan
- 1080p Upconversion
- ColorStream Pro
- JPEG Photo Viewer
Product Details
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Product Description
DVD Recorder/VCR Combo with 1080p Upconversion
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
323 of 332 people found the following review helpful
After half a decade of waiting for a machine that'll do merely what I want it to do--transferring my old VHS library to the more permanent DVDs--I jumped at the opportunity to get the DVR-610, at a great price (I purchased it at BestBuy, which allowed me to return it within 30 days for full refund if it wasn't up to scratch).
I must say: it passed the "probationary" period smashingly, though with a few small reservations I will mention later. Supposedly this deck is Toshiba's new improved version of its DVR-600 from last year. That deck brought forth quite a few frustrated reviews from buyers, and with this buyer-beware in mind, I assumed we were still in the Dark Ages as far as preservation on home DVD's was concerned. I initially thought a deck with merely a DVD recorder would do the trick (i.e., wiring my old VCR to its inputs to do duping), but I received conflicting and discouraging reports on these machines, too.
And so, the present model does a very, very nice job concerning the purpose for which I bought it: it will transfer my old (blank recorded) videos I made myself with almost no occurences of the "RECORDING ERROR" message; I had just one instance of this so far, which made me relegate that blank DVD to the "toss-out" pile. Actually, I'm using the discs with abortive recording projects for "test discs": that is, using them to see if a particular VHS video will transfer OK or not. I'm finding most '81-'85 rental tapes (pre-copyguard-era) will transfer OK, but you're up the creak without a paddle as far as dubbing your old prerecorded videos from '86 onward: specifically from the majors (Columbia, Warner, MGM, etc.). If your friends with similar movie tastes still have off-the-air broadcast tapes, by all means tell them to dig them out of storage!
While preserving taped-off-the-air movies has been a top priority, my FIRST DVD project was duping the one-hour tape full of films my old college animation class did. I made it a point to dub it at the high-quality speed (XP), and the transfer came off quite well, though there was a bit of picture jitter here and there. But after finalizing it, I found it played back well not only on the DVR-610 itself, but on my OTHER two DVD decks: my old Samsung player, and my 11-year-old Compaq computer. I used a Fuji blank disc for this one. The playback was smooth, and in time I learned how to make menus for later discs I recorded.
You would do well to reserve, as I did, a small pile of blanks for practice & test purposes; you will want to do comparisons of the sound quality of the highest speed compared to that of the slowest (for music videos--even those taped off a small 14" screen mono TV--the differences in sound reproduction are revealing). For feature films taped from mono television, the picture reproduction isn't that significantly different: not only in comparing your final DVD copy with the original tape, but also at the different DVD recording speeds. (I may think differently, of course,when I finally get a widescreen TV, but newer programs aren't of concern to me).
One thing I'm glad I learned quickly is how you can make individual cue-ups for separate films: unfortunately, you have to stop the DVD recorder at the end of each film. (For a cartoon collector like myself, this becomes VERY complex & involved....patience is mandatory!) At least I didn't find an alternative to this method in the owner's manual; and with my budget, I can only go with the cheapie DVD-R's that can be recorded only once. You CAN separate scenes for cue-up in a feature-length film, but THAT process is complicated by the machine's own automatic insertions of its OWN chapters in anything running over ten minutes. As for myself, I don't even bother separating scenes--only one movie from an entirely different one.
I was apprehensive during my first one or two tries at the "one-touch dubbing" feature, but this proved groundless (I used home-recorded tapes, of course). But I hasten to suggest: PLEASE DON'T throw out your old VCR, for a small number of tapes (yes--even your prize blanks) won't record on the new machine's all-in-one, two-decks-in-one feature.....you will have to wire patch-cords from your old videotape player to the front input jacks on the DVR-610. It is the only way around on these tapes.
One or two things I have to concur with on the other reviews of this machine: the manual CAN stand a bit better organization (it's categorized well, though not necessarily in the order you'd anticipate); two weeks back, when trying to find a mistake I made accidentally (I pushed the input button to "camcorder," or "DV," making it impossible to do tape-to-tape dubbing), the manual didn't list this problem which had me panicking for a few hours till I corrected it on my own. I have little quibble, though, with the English translation, which makes perfect & grammatic sense. AND: YES, the remote IS a pretty feisty critter! I've had about a dozen-and-a-half endings on some recordings where the "STOP" button goes to sleep, and I must rush to the machine itself to use the stop-button on IT. And the remote's own RECORD button is also as aggravating as a toilet handle. They work, alright (and you DO have to wait close to half a minute for the information from a just-finished recording to write itself onto the disc--as well as when you first turn on the deck with a blank disc still in it).
As for recordable discs, I've stuck with NAME BRAND blanks--those from Fuji, Maxell & TDK; and as yet, I've only recorded on DVD PLUS R (DVD+R) discs. All three brands play flawlessly when they're finally ready, and of course you must acquaint yourself with the "DVD MENU" feature which shows the option of finalizing the disc (necessary, of course, to have it play on other decks).
FINE deck, overall: there's still small room for more improvement, but this one gets an "A" for the job I want it to do: it's my main RECORDER now, and I'll be saving the playing for "play-only" decks (which I'll feel confident of buying in the future). It'll at least give me the security of knowing that the only film/TV fare that matters to me will be preserved to the time I kick off.
I must say: it passed the "probationary" period smashingly, though with a few small reservations I will mention later. Supposedly this deck is Toshiba's new improved version of its DVR-600 from last year. That deck brought forth quite a few frustrated reviews from buyers, and with this buyer-beware in mind, I assumed we were still in the Dark Ages as far as preservation on home DVD's was concerned. I initially thought a deck with merely a DVD recorder would do the trick (i.e., wiring my old VCR to its inputs to do duping), but I received conflicting and discouraging reports on these machines, too.
And so, the present model does a very, very nice job concerning the purpose for which I bought it: it will transfer my old (blank recorded) videos I made myself with almost no occurences of the "RECORDING ERROR" message; I had just one instance of this so far, which made me relegate that blank DVD to the "toss-out" pile. Actually, I'm using the discs with abortive recording projects for "test discs": that is, using them to see if a particular VHS video will transfer OK or not. I'm finding most '81-'85 rental tapes (pre-copyguard-era) will transfer OK, but you're up the creak without a paddle as far as dubbing your old prerecorded videos from '86 onward: specifically from the majors (Columbia, Warner, MGM, etc.). If your friends with similar movie tastes still have off-the-air broadcast tapes, by all means tell them to dig them out of storage!
While preserving taped-off-the-air movies has been a top priority, my FIRST DVD project was duping the one-hour tape full of films my old college animation class did. I made it a point to dub it at the high-quality speed (XP), and the transfer came off quite well, though there was a bit of picture jitter here and there. But after finalizing it, I found it played back well not only on the DVR-610 itself, but on my OTHER two DVD decks: my old Samsung player, and my 11-year-old Compaq computer. I used a Fuji blank disc for this one. The playback was smooth, and in time I learned how to make menus for later discs I recorded.
You would do well to reserve, as I did, a small pile of blanks for practice & test purposes; you will want to do comparisons of the sound quality of the highest speed compared to that of the slowest (for music videos--even those taped off a small 14" screen mono TV--the differences in sound reproduction are revealing). For feature films taped from mono television, the picture reproduction isn't that significantly different: not only in comparing your final DVD copy with the original tape, but also at the different DVD recording speeds. (I may think differently, of course,when I finally get a widescreen TV, but newer programs aren't of concern to me).
One thing I'm glad I learned quickly is how you can make individual cue-ups for separate films: unfortunately, you have to stop the DVD recorder at the end of each film. (For a cartoon collector like myself, this becomes VERY complex & involved....patience is mandatory!) At least I didn't find an alternative to this method in the owner's manual; and with my budget, I can only go with the cheapie DVD-R's that can be recorded only once. You CAN separate scenes for cue-up in a feature-length film, but THAT process is complicated by the machine's own automatic insertions of its OWN chapters in anything running over ten minutes. As for myself, I don't even bother separating scenes--only one movie from an entirely different one.
I was apprehensive during my first one or two tries at the "one-touch dubbing" feature, but this proved groundless (I used home-recorded tapes, of course). But I hasten to suggest: PLEASE DON'T throw out your old VCR, for a small number of tapes (yes--even your prize blanks) won't record on the new machine's all-in-one, two-decks-in-one feature.....you will have to wire patch-cords from your old videotape player to the front input jacks on the DVR-610. It is the only way around on these tapes.
One or two things I have to concur with on the other reviews of this machine: the manual CAN stand a bit better organization (it's categorized well, though not necessarily in the order you'd anticipate); two weeks back, when trying to find a mistake I made accidentally (I pushed the input button to "camcorder," or "DV," making it impossible to do tape-to-tape dubbing), the manual didn't list this problem which had me panicking for a few hours till I corrected it on my own. I have little quibble, though, with the English translation, which makes perfect & grammatic sense. AND: YES, the remote IS a pretty feisty critter! I've had about a dozen-and-a-half endings on some recordings where the "STOP" button goes to sleep, and I must rush to the machine itself to use the stop-button on IT. And the remote's own RECORD button is also as aggravating as a toilet handle. They work, alright (and you DO have to wait close to half a minute for the information from a just-finished recording to write itself onto the disc--as well as when you first turn on the deck with a blank disc still in it).
As for recordable discs, I've stuck with NAME BRAND blanks--those from Fuji, Maxell & TDK; and as yet, I've only recorded on DVD PLUS R (DVD+R) discs. All three brands play flawlessly when they're finally ready, and of course you must acquaint yourself with the "DVD MENU" feature which shows the option of finalizing the disc (necessary, of course, to have it play on other decks).
FINE deck, overall: there's still small room for more improvement, but this one gets an "A" for the job I want it to do: it's my main RECORDER now, and I'll be saving the playing for "play-only" decks (which I'll feel confident of buying in the future). It'll at least give me the security of knowing that the only film/TV fare that matters to me will be preserved to the time I kick off.
132 of 134 people found the following review helpful
This is the 3rd attempt I've made at purchasing something to transfer my old videos to DVD and I think I finally have a winner! The user's manual leaves a little (ok, a lot!) to be desired, but after deciphering the badly translated English, I was able to transfer my videos to DVD with no problem. It literally takes about 3 button pushes and off it goes.
The quality so far seems excellent in both video and DVD playback too. And everyone I've given a DVD to has been able to play them so far!
The quality so far seems excellent in both video and DVD playback too. And everyone I've given a DVD to has been able to play them so far!
109 of 112 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
This Toshiba D-VR610KU took away my headache and fustration from other DVR/VHS recorders that I own. Other DVR's did not copy to certain brand DVD blanks or if it did copy the quality was poor at all settings.
Pro(s):
I use Verbatim Archival Grade and Taiyo Yuden blanks from Japan in this Toshiba DVR and it copies with NO problem.
Playback quality after recording at all settings. VHS-DVD dubbing is EXCELLENT and picture is very close to Blu-Ray.
Con(s):
Another remote control you do not want to lose. 48 BUTTONS!!!
Owner's Manual is poor.
VHS Rewind is very slow.
Pro(s):
I use Verbatim Archival Grade and Taiyo Yuden blanks from Japan in this Toshiba DVR and it copies with NO problem.
Playback quality after recording at all settings. VHS-DVD dubbing is EXCELLENT and picture is very close to Blu-Ray.
Con(s):
Another remote control you do not want to lose. 48 BUTTONS!!!
Owner's Manual is poor.
VHS Rewind is very slow.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
When it works, it's fine. Horrible when it doesn't
I've been using VCRs for over 30 years and DVD players since they first came out. I'm not a whiz kid, but I can figure things out. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Allan Conroy
likeit
I use this alot. I refuse to pay to record my favorit shows. I've had this for years. Toshiba DVR610 1080p Upconverting Tunerless VHS DVD Recorder
Published 4 months ago by Polypocket
Complicated operation, terrible user manual
I bought this machine with the intent of transferring home vhs movies to dvd. I am not interested in fancy edits or titles or transitions. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Zwigster
Hook up not what I'm used to.
I just got this recorder. I'm in CA. I have Comcast as my cable provider.
The Dvd recorder has no coaxial cable in put. Read more
The Dvd recorder has no coaxial cable in put. Read more
Published 23 months ago by James Benson
After 6 months this is what its like after a shakedown cruise
Ease of use I gave it a 2 Star rating. Its not that it is hard to use but if you plan on adding any text to the DVD's you make, prepare to spend some time typing stuff up. Read more
Published on May 21, 2010 by Steve H. Wisher
It is worst purchase I have experienced!
I have discovered that there was broken lid of DVD portion at the time of unpacking the item. It was obviously unserviceable item, I mean it was completely broken, and I can not... Read more
Published on April 21, 2010 by Julian Y. Choi
If it's too good to be true - this is.
I spent a lot of time trying to copy VHS tapes to DVDs. This unit is fine for VCR playback but the DVD recorder did not work. Read more
Published on March 21, 2010 by Ron Fredericks
Just What I Wanted
I wanted one machine to provide VHS and DVD recording and this Toshiba has performed well. It is also easy to transfer your VHS tapes to DVD. Read more
Published on March 15, 2010 by E. Ricard
Horrible Unit for Dubbing
Like most, I chose this unit because of price. We got it to archive all of our home videos onto DVD. Read more
Published on January 4, 2010 by K. Phillips
Good product.
I have bought Toshiba in the past, and once again I am very satisfied with their product. I purchased a refurbished model, so it didn't come with a manual. Read more
Published on December 29, 2009 by John J. Vandenheuvel
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