Customer Reviews

Toshiba RD-XS32 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with 80 GB Hard Drive

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Unfortunately, I have decided to return my Toshiba RD-XS32, but not without a lot of thought and experimentation. First, the good news....

The XS32 is a great DVD Recorder by itself. It has numerous features that many other units do not have. The picture quality of the recordings I made on both HDD and DVD discs was excellent when you play them back on the Toshiba even though I only used the default SP setting which gives you about 2 hours of recording on a DVD-R, DVD-RW or DVD-RAM disc. You can adjust the bit rates up and down if you want more space or better quality.

The XS32 has so many adjustments and settings that some people may find the unit intimidating. However, I personally liked the extra features and amount of control that you have with this recorder.

I came close to buying the Sony RDRGX-7, but I was told by more than a few people that I should get a recorder with a Hard Drive. They were correct, and having the 80GB HDD on the Toshiba convinced me that I will not own a DVD Recorder in the future without the HDD. Setting the timer to record your favorite shows is easy, and having the HDD means that you never worry about finding a blank disc. It is also fairly easy to then transfer your recordings from the HDD to a DVD disc. However, when you play those discs on a DVD player other than the XS32 the pictures don't look so good, and that's the bad news....

The black level bug that has been discussed in several other reviews, here and on other forums, is very real. DVD disc recordings that I made looked great on the Toshiba, but they would not play at all on one of the other DVD players we own nor would they play on the kid's PlayStation. The discs did play on the DVD player I use most of the time in our family room, on my computer and on a few of the other players I tried, but the images in all but one of these players were very bright and "washed out". I tried both DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. I tried using different brands of media and I tried most of the other settings and suggestions I read in the technical forums. Nothing significantly changed the image black level problem.

If your only recorder and player is the Toshiba RD-XS32 then I think you will be very satisfied with the performance of this unit. If Toshiba could fix the black level issue the XS32 would be awesome. But, my reason for wanting a DVD recorder was to make discs that could be portable and played in other players without problems or hassles, like VHS tapes use to be. In this respect the Toshiba has failed and that is why I am returning the unit.

I was on my way to best buy to get the Pioneer DVR810-HS as I really wanted a HD unit that would record DVD-R and DVD-RW (Didn't want DVD-RAM, as the price of the discs are too high).

I was not crazy about Tivo, but didn't think I had a choice. When I got there, they had just gotten this Toshiba unit in (that day). Though they weren't able to answer many questions about it, since they had just gotten it, I figured I would give it a shot, and return it if I didn't like it.

Well, the only thing I can say is WOW!!! You can choose to record on the HD (no Tivo needed) or the disc directly.
The choices of record quality is HUGE! Anywhere from extreme quality (less than 1 hour per DVD), all the way to Low quality (over 6 hours per DVD) and everything in between. Best part, it will record on DVD-R, -RW, and RAM as well.

Even at the lowest quality recording, it still records at higher quality than my VCR. The built in noise reductions is awesome (you can turn on or off as you wish), stopping lines or blocks from appearing when image gets very bright or action gets fast.

The best part is the editing function. You can edit recording at will, creating chapters and deleting any of them at will. (create chapters for the commercials, then delete them. You now have the program without the commercials. How cool is that!!!)
Another great thing is if you record 2 programs on a DVD-RW, and delete the first, it moves the second up, so you don't loose the space. My last unit left the space blank, which means I had to record a show of the same time as the one I deleted. If it was longer, it would record over the second one.

The High speed dubbing works great. You can go from HD to disc very easily and fast (4 hour show dubbed to disc in about 15 minutes or less). When editing a show, it will create a playlist (i.e: original show divided up in chapters - show and commercials. Create playlist that will only play the show chapters, therefore eliminating commercials). You can then copy it on the HD or disc, creating a new original without commercials and delete the old original. Watch out though, if you delete the original without copying the playlist on the HD or disc as an original, it will delete any associated playlist with it.

The DVD creation feature is great as well. You can rename each chapters individually, and whole shows (titles) as well.
You can combine chapters and/or titles together as well. It gives you a few options on colors and display as to what it will look like, and the finished (finalized) product will then work in any DVD player and look very professional (though it does show in the upper right hand corner it was created with this unit).

For the price, you just can't beat it! I am thrilled with it! Great editing functions, incredible image quality, and easy to use. No Tivo monthly fees, which is the best part. Composite, digital audio out...

Another couple of great features as that you can record a program on the HD, while watching a DVD at the same time. The other great feature is when you are watching a show on the HD or disc, you can engage the PIP feature and see what is playing on the regular TV Channels.

You can't go wrong!

Hope this has helped you.

I've had this unit for about a month now, and here are my observations:

1) The manual needs to be re-written. It's not horrible, but it definitely needs work.
2) Note that the RF Out (to the TV) only passes on the original channels; you will not see any of this unit's output on it. In that regard, it differs from a typical VCR.
3) Note that the remote control has a hinged section at the bottom. I searched for over an hour to find the "setup" button. This was shown in the manual, but never caught my attention.
4) I've not noticed the problem with the black level that other reviewers have noted.
5) There are about three different ways to do anything. Sometimes it can get confusing, but you figure it out after a while.
6) The remote's not bad. Inputting names is tedious, but not overly so. You can get very good at skipping over commercials.
7) It doesn't replace a TIVO or ReplayTV, but does give you about 90% of what they do, and no subscription costs.
8) Recording, time-slipping, chapter definition and playlist editing all work very well. I've burned about 8 discs now, and they're all fine. I've only put one title per disc, so I haven't bothered with the menu stuff yet.
9) I really appreciate that when I turn it off, the hard disk stops spinning. I have this in my bedroom, and the noise difference is important. I sure wish my ReplayTV stopped the hard disk when it was turned off.

All in all, I'm very pleased. I used to use my PC with a TV tuner card to record and playback programs, but have now almost completely moved over to using the Toshiba instead. The combination of a hard disk with a DVD burner is very powerful.

I loved the RD-X2 enough that I would only have considered another Toshiba. (Much as I love this machine, it *does not* do 90% of what a Tivo will do. Tivo has season passes, suggestions, wish lists, search functions, and other features that make it absolutely fantastic. Buy both -- they really compliment each other.)

This is an absolutely great DVD Recorder. Picture quality is very good. You can record programs onto the hard drive, edit out the commercials, create custom thumbnails and titles, even customize your menu screen, and with a 4x DVD-R burn a DVD in 15 minutes. Its definitely more difficult to use than a VCR, and the manual isn't particularly well written or organized (it lacks an index), but its not that hard to get the hang of it. It works like a computer, not a VCR.

Features I Really Love (in no particular order):
1. Burning a DVD-R in 15 minutes. If you want to control the burn speed, use a 1x or 2x disc instead of a 4x.
2. Editting functions. I can set the timer to record programs on the hard drive while I'm away, then come back and edit them with ease and speed. I mark the chapters, can batch delete (its quick) and then recombine the chapters to make a single title. Or I can manually set the chapters, almost down to the frame.
3. Recording quality settings. You can select the video and audio recording settings, from 1.4 (EP equilvalent) to 4.6 (SP)on up to 9.2. Adjust your settings to get the best possible PQ and still fit your movie on the disc. At 1.4, I can get about 6.5 hrs on a DVD-R, at 2.2, 4.25 hrs, at 4.6, 2 hrs 6 mins.
4. You can watch another program you've already recorded while you record "live" programming. Or you can use the "timeslip" feature to watch a program from the beginning while its still being recorded.
5. You can give titles to "timer recordings" so everything has a title in advance.
6. For DVDs you've created yourself (*not* prerecorded DVDs) you can recopy programming back onto the hard drive and burn additional DVDs.
7. To copy to VHS, you can create a "playlist" and have your VCR copy all six hours worth of programming at once.
8. Out of town for a 48 hour Star Trek marathon? No tapes or discs needed, you can record all 48 hours on your hard drive as long as you have enough free space (135 hours at lowest setting).

About the black level bug issue, I've seen it reported, but I've played DVDs I've created on a variety of different DVD players (Toshiba, Sony, Hitachi, a PC and a Mac) and never experienced what some of the reviewers have complained about.

I bought this unit 6 days ago and am sharing my experience so far.

I have about 100 hours of miniDVs. I wanted to make a DVD of a friend's wedding, and also I want to make backups of all my old videos to store offsite in case of a house fire. It would take months to make copies of all my old videos onto a PC-based burner.

The RD-XS32 does for video what my cassette recorder did for me back in the 1980s: back then I used to make a ton of party-mix tapes. To make a 1-hour tape, it took an hour plus however long I spent digging out source material between tracks. If you have ever made a party-mix tape, you can make a DVD of your favorite video material using this Toshiba model. You spend an hour copying source material onto the Toshiba's hard drive, then a few minutes tweaking the chapter stops, then a half-hour writing the DVD. (Other reviewers here claim you can make a 4x DVD in 15 minutes. I don't find that to be true, it's more like 25 minutes.)

The user interface of this unit is easier than the PC video editing packages I've looked at. It will not replace your regular DVD player, though, for a couple of reasons: you won't want to hand the complicated remote control to your guests or non-computer-savvy family members, and it won't play a DVD quickly when you insert it. It's a computerized tool, not a smoothly-packaged consumer device.

Toshiba has a really neat button called TIME BAR which depicts graphically where you are in playback, along with all the chapter stops.

Others have spelled out the great things about this unit, I will write up some of the flaws which I hope Toshiba will address:

1. Some actions take too much time, particularly the lag after loading a DVD into the drive. (And the unit is non-responsive during that lag which is about half a minute.)
2. As noted in the manual, the unit will delete all chapter stops if you rate-convert from the HDD onto a DVD. That sucks. I want to copy source material and do my editing at maximum quality, then dub onto DVD at whatever level of compression fits. Why can't chapter stops be regenerated during dubbing?
3. There is a bug in the chapter stops generated on a DVD: if you press skip-track on the remote during playback of the DVD, you will see about 1/2 second of the previous track flash by, and then the desired chapter starts. This is *very* disconcerting.
4. Why don't devices like this have wi-fi or Ethernet? It would be nice to share data between RD-XS32 units in different rooms, or backup to a PC.
5. How come consumer-electronics companies don't post firmware updates to products like this on their website? This is obviously a big complicated embedded system, and no matter how good their QA is, there are bugs to be fixed. I want access to future bug fixes.
6. You can get the installation guide from Toshiba's website but they don't seem to have the owner's manual posted there.
7. I'd like to be able to plug in a QWERTY keyboard for title editing.
8. The generated DVD menus are nice but not flexible. And if you have multiple titles and want chapter menus in each, access to the sub-menus is depicted in small print at the bottom of the main screen. I want to define my own menus or at least download a variety of templates from toshiba.com.
9. There are some places where the menus should have a straightforward "copy from" -> "copy to" dialog. Instead, you have to specify the copy-from source via buttons on the remote, and you get an error message if you haven't done this correctly.
10. The user interface requires you to select options by moving the cursor and pressing ENTER. The pause/record/stop/play keys usually don't work the way you would expect them to in some places. And there are places where ENTER causes the label on a screen item to change, so if you accidentally double-click ENTER, you get an unintended result. Basically someone needs to go through and streamline this user interface.
11. You lose DATE/TIME frame data when dubbing from miniDV. Why can't this be encoded on the DVD output? At least put this in the chapter stop titles, or subtitles, if there isn't anywhere else in the MPEG2 standard to put it.
12. I don't think the "TV shape" selections do anything. I twiddled with the setup menu and couldn't get it to generate letterboxes or sidebars no matter what setting I picked.

Well I've gone beyond my 1000 words so I better post this now. There really isn't a rival product on the market; the RD-XS32 stands on its own in meeting the needs of the amateur videographer with a pile of old miniDV tapes that need to be brought to life in DVD format.

Footnote: Some hard-to-find technical info on DVD vs. miniDV: a miniDV tape holds about 13 gigabytes, and has its own intra-frame compression which is nowhere near as efficient as MPEG2 compression on DVDs. What makes this recorder so much faster than PC software I've tried is that it captures video from miniDV in MPEG2 format (by running it through hardware compression on the fly). If you capture at 4.6MBps, your video files are only about 2.5GB/hour instead of 13GB/hour. You don't have to re-render in order to produce a DVD; all data is already in MPEG2 form. Thus far I have not figured out whether there is enough of a quality difference between 4.6 vs. 9.2 MBps to make it worth copying all my old miniDV tapes at 1 hour per DVD vs. 2 hours (there is *nothing* I can find on the web about this). Note that I am playing all this material back on a 16x9 HDTV monitor.

Not to be overly harsh with the reviewers who found this product too difficult to learn, but the RD-XS32 is not for the tame of mind. This is not a dumbed-down piece of consumer electronics. You will need to read the manual, which, truth to tell, could have been better written. You will also need a modicum of analytical intelligence. If you have yet to figure out all of the intricacies of your VCR, this product is not for you.

This unit has a hard drive, which realistically records about 35 to 40 hours at a decent-quality recording (say, 4.0 to 4.6 mbps for us folks with non-HD televisions). A hard drive is essential for a DVD recorder; aside from not having to worry if your disc has enough space, it allows much more freedom in the way of editing and re-dubbing. Hard drive units also allow time-slip capability (i.e. pausing live programming); although DVD-RAM can also serve in a time-slip capacity.

The RD-XS32 records to discs in three formats: DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM. To my knowledge, this is the only unit in its price range with that kind of versatility.

DVD-R and DVD-RW (not to be confused with DVD+R, DVD+RW) are fairly commonplace formats. DVD-R is for permanent, write-once recordings. DVD-RW is re-writable, recommended for temporary recordings. Both need to be "finalized" before they can be played in other DVD players. DVD-RW blank discs are about twice as expensive as DVD-R discs.

DVD-RAM disc format is more like a miniature hard drive, and provides similar functionality. If your hard drive is full, it's nice to have DVD-RAM. You have a choice as to whether to use cartridge-type DVD-RAM or cartridge-less. The cartridge is protect the disc from damage; however, decent-quality cartridge-less will have a protective coating on them to provide some measure of protection. I prefer the cartridge variety because I think they look cool.

DVD-RAM allows more re-writes than DVD-RW. For this reason, I typically use DVD-RAM for short-term temporary storage and DVD-RW for long-term temporary storage. DVD-RAM costs about twice as much or more as DVD-RW; shopping around is well worth it.

This unit will not record well on all brands of blank media. You shouldn't expect any DVD recorder to be able to do that. For DVD-R, Taiyo-Yuden (which Amazon does not sell, but should) is recommended; Panasonic and Maxell also work. DVD-RW: Victor/JVC is recommended; Maxell also works, and I suspect Panasonic would, too. DVD-RAM: Panasonic is recommended; Emtec (BASF) also works.

Results with Fuji are mixed. Stay away from Memorex. TDK may also be an unwise choice, although I can't say that with absolute certainty.

This unit is very good with timer recordings. Many other recorders in this price range have a paltry 8-event timer. This model features a 32-event timer. Timings can be set for a specific date up to 2 months out, for every day, for every [day of the week], for Mon - Sat, for Mon - Fri, or for Mon - Thu. The timed recording menu will list the events in chronological order, beginning with the events closest to the current day/time. Events may be deactivated without erasing them. You may provide a title to be assigned to each event recording.

Many DVD recorders in this price range limit the variability of the video bit-rate setting to a few pre-defined settings. The RD-SX32 has 2 pre-defined settings, and 3 manual settings which may be set anywhere from 1.4 to 9.2. The higher the bit-rate, the higher the quality (keeping in mind the quality can never surpass that of the source material) and the more disc-space used. I use 4.6 or higher for fast-paced shows and animations. I use 2.2 to 4.0 for slower-paced shows or lower-quality source material. When in doubt, and you have the space, use a higher bit-rate; you can always re-encode at a lower bit-rate later, but you can't do the reverse and expect the quality to improve. (A warning, though: rate-conversion dubbing is done at a speed of 1x; basically the program replays at normal speed and re-encodes it at the new bit-rate; chapter marks and thumbnail images will be lost.)

The black-level bug is a real phenomenon, but a minor one, in my opinion. To explain: American-compatible VCRs (and DVD players) add brightness in their output to TV sets. This unit fails to subtract that brightness when recording from a VCR; therefore, when played back on a DVD player (which adds its own brightness), the video will appear overly bright. Oddly, this will occur only when played on other DVD players, not the RD-XS32; so it appears that Toshiba knows about the problem and decided to work-around it rather than fix it. Points off for that. However, enabling the "enhanced black level" on your DVD player should compensate for the problem. As the technology matures and becomes more affordable, I would imagine future DVD recorders will be able to re-encode and adjust the brightness for any DVDs you create that are affected.

The remote control is somewhat poorly designed, as are practically all remote controls. Over a quarter of a century making remote controls, and they haven't figured out back-lighting is a requirement? And the flip-open panel-- very irritating. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to do things with this recorder, so you can learn to do things so that you don't have to open it very often.

The only other problem I have with this unit is the lack of precision in placing chapter marks. After placing chapter marks at the precise location desired and recording the title to DVD, the chapter marks may be off a few frames. You can learn to kind of compensate for it, but it is annoying. I suspect more precision is available on high-end recorders, but I'm not willing to pay the extra bucks.

I am still discovering all of the RD-XS32's capabilities. For instance, today I discovered that there is a variable bit-rate mode mode of recording, and that there appears to be a way to customize DVD menus with images from recorded programs.

All in all, the RD-XS32 is-- hands down-- the best DVR/DVD-recorder currently available in this price range.

I thought long and hard about creating DVDs on a computer versus getting a stand-alone recorder. I am glad I got this one, it really has everything except DVD + R capability. In the few days I have had it, I have recorded several TV shows, transferred and edited Hi-8 tapes, time-shifted viewing, and created DVD's without any failures.
Features I like:
Controls your cable box (changes channels)
Programs like a VCR to record TV shows, very easy
Easy copying between hard drive and DVD's
Almost infinitely variable bit rates, 0.2 increments from 1.4 to 9.2.

Things to note:
179 page instruction manual, you actually have to read it to make DVD's, its not the clearest document, no index, somewhat confusing, but when you actually do it, works fine.

It has iLink DV input, but in fact I did not find the quality to be any better than S-video when transferring home videos. Actually, I prefer the S-video because I can intermittently record the date onto the DVD.
reuse, use DVD-R for recordings you want to keep forever. Keep in mind that DVD-RW is not a totally flexible rewriting format,
You edit your home video on the hard drive by creating chapter breaks in your home video, then piecing together the chapters in a playlist, which you then copy. I have found so far that chapters pieced together from separate parts of a video have a tiny noticeable pause in the video, unlike the instant transitions in the original.
Then you create a menu, you get thumbnails of either titles and/or chapters, 6 frames per page, with limited choice of colors (or your own background). Even the simplest computer-based DVD creation software gives you more options. It works fine for me, but do not expect to create masterpieces.

With a hard drive, there is almost no need to buy the expensive DVD-RAM discs, just use the hard drive. Use DVD-RW for recordings you want to keep for a little while but reformat for to reuse a DVD-RW you can either ONLY erase the last recorded item or reformat the whole disc (erasing everything).

I read with interest the other reviewers about the "black level" problem. I played the DVDs I made on another DVD player (RCA cheapie) and they appeared to be the same color level as when played on the Toshiba. I also dug into the instructions, and it appears there is a way to adjust the recording level to make your recordings darker (1 setting) or lighter (3 settings). However, I have not tested this function yet.

I admit, I didn't buy my RD-XS32 from amazon--I went to a national chain electronics store (one known for its buys which aren't good buys, not better buys, but one level higher...)

I went in with the intention of buying just a basic DVD-R drive, without the hard drive. While I was there, they had the RD-XS32 as an open-box special for $15 more than I was planning to pay for the DVD-R, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

And boy, am I ever glad I did! I can't imagine trying to burn DVD's without having the hard drive available. I've got over 300 videotapes (not pre-recorded movies, but stuff I've taped over the years) that I'd been planning to transfer to DVD. With the hard drive built in, I can go through my collection, digitize stuff to the hard drive in whatever order I want (rather than burning one tape to one disc, then burning another tape to another disc, etc.), reorder, reorganize, and make my video collection the way *I* want it to be.

The first I'd heard of these issues with player compatibility was when I read the reviews here at amazon. I've had absolutely no problems with disc compatibility, and boy, should I know--I've got no fewer than three different players. Obviously, the Toshiba plays the disc perfectly, but so does the Panasonic player the Toshiba is replacing. As does the Playstation 2. And as does my Philips "home theatre in a box" receiver. (The Philips doesn't play the menus on the disc properly, but it's *always* had problems, even with commercial DVD's.) Black levels look fine, colors look fine, everything looks fine.

Don't be fooled--there is absolutely, positively a learning curve with the Toshiba. It's a serious piece of equipment--this ain't the $30 Funai VCR from Wal-mart. Plan to take a few hours, maybe even a couple of days, to get really familiar with everything in this unit. Once you learn how the system works, it's actually fairly easy to use. But the more a piece of equipment does, the more you'll need to learn.

Everything your old VCR does, the Toshiba will do as well--other reviewers have suggested that there's no way to program recurring recordings, or that there's no way to delete channels from the channel lists. Both problems are easily solved by reading the instructions. Again, this is not a unit that you're gonna be able to pull out of the box, plug in, and start doing stuff with it. It's all about reading the manuals...the Toshiba has already assimilated itself nicely into my daily routine.

It seems like all the other reviews have mentioned the downsides of this recorder, so I suppose I'll have to do so as well. First of all, the manual is a bit confusing in spots--nothing beyond comprehension, but there's sometimes some dodgy translation from the original Japanese. (Interestingly, the RD-SX32 has a series of preset genres in its library system, but on my model, they're all Japanese themed categories...I doubt I'll have much use for a "kabuki" category...:-) ) Another downside, which is definitely minor, is that the front-panel buttons on the unit aren't on the front panel--they're along the front edge of the top of the unit. Not a problem if it's sitting on top of a desk, but once you put this unit into a cabinet, the buttons become somewhat inaccessible. (Even leaving room for ventilation, you can reach the buttons, but the labels aren't visible.)

But the good far outweighs the bad on this unit, and overall, this is an excellent unit which I'm happy to have as part of my home theater system.

I've had this RD-XS32 for almost 5-months now, and I'm still totally thrilled with this purchase. I'm a computer-geek, having ripped/edited video and DVD on a PC for a few years proved good background training for this unit (it basically feels like a PC, not a VCR). For newbies, this has all the same basic functions as a VCR. But, for people who want to do some serious video editing (chaptering and removing unwanted scenes) this thing rocks.

Downsides to this include a manual an inch-thick and a multi-function menu-system with a zillion options. Also, don't buy this if your TV doesn't have video-inputs (this only has coax throughput, there's no RF-modulator for channel 3/4). But, for those willing to learn, you can make this do some really cool things! I dropped-down my record quality for most-everything TV-related I record (1.4MB/s), and I had something like 85-hours of programs recorded on it before it started yelling at me (and the quality was fine). The "timeslip" chase playback is useful (play back while you're still recording), but the most-useful feature is recording one show while you play something you've already recorded from the content menu.

I am so thrilled with this unit (and, I don't know what others are talking about with the "black"-problem, I've made hundreds of DVD-R's off TV and my own Mini-DV camcorder, and had no problem... what they may be explaining is copy-protection of copywrited DVD-movies and they deserve to not see good copies), I'm about to buy another one for a different room!

I bought it when the price was $370 and Amazon had $30 off $250 certificate. At that range, it simply creams everything else. Most others were about $100 more. Unlike most others, it plays -r, -rw and -ram formats (all panasonics or sonys do not). Only catch is u have to be in the -r/rw camp. Note that this will effect your future choice of dvd camcorders also -- so be careful. You want both -rw and -ram formats as you do not know which will win out.
Only problem is that most TVs do not have a S-video OUT so you cannot record higher resolution.
Else, works as advertised provided you buy "standard" discs like Memorex etc (Compusa dvds did not work).

AFTER 5 months...
***************
The DVD will not often load -R discs -- even the discs it created! It is a crap shoot -- sometimes, the same dvd will load and sometimes not! The -r disc is the right version and this used to be great 3 months ago. A user in avforms suggested he opens/cloese the drive and sometimes this solves the problem. The RAM and -rw discs load fine. Unfortunately, WARRANTY IS ONLY 90 DAYS FOR LABOR. Toshiba has discontinued the model.