Customer Reviews

Toshiba RD-XS55 DVD Player/Recorder with 250 GB Hard Drive

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You don't have to read this review from beginning to end. It might be too overwhelming to read it straight through. It is long. Just skip around if you want to.

Some of the instructions I have included below for accomplishing certain editing tasks with this recorder may seem overwhelming when you read them. There are a lot of steps for some of them. It's only that you don't have the recorder there with you to try them on so just reading these instructions makes them seem complicated. Don't be overwhelmed, the processes themselves are straightforward and simple really. Anyway, you don't need to read through all those instructions unless you want to.

I have only just begun to use this unit. My understanding so far is very basic. I figure some people are wishing someone would post a review of it. I will be the first, but at this early point I can speak about it only so in-depth. I have not used many of its features yet.

Anyway, I guess I can describe the procedure I went through setting it up and also some of the recorder's basic processes and functions.

Just to clarify a little thing: Below, I make frequent use of the phrase "nav buttons". I am referring to the left, right, up and down arrow navigation buttons that surround the ENTER button on the remote control.

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

At the very beginning...

I started off by disconnecting the antenna cable from my tv and connecting it to the RF IN terminal on the recorder. I then used the supplied coaxial cable to connect the RF OUT on the recorder to my tv. My set up doesn't make use of a cable box so I can't really speak about that.

My tv is very primitve. It has only 2 composite connectors (yellow and white) on the front (one for video and one for audio). I had to connect with the recorder that way (using the supplied composite cable). I will use a better tv for the recorder sometime in the future and will connect via component and not composite connections because the signal quality is much better when using component.

I installed the supplied batteries for the remote control unit.

Connections ready, I set my tv to the A/V IN channel it has and turned on the recorder with the remote. When turned on, the On/Standby indicator light changes from red to green. After waiting a few seconds a pretty startup screen appeared. At startup a loading icon at the top right of the screen flashes for a few moments. When it does that it means that the recorder is checking the status and reading the data of the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and the DVD drive. You cannot do anything until it stops flashing but it is only momentary.

***

It is at this point that you set up the recorder for the TV Guide Program Guide feature. Actually, you don't even have to do it right then. You are given the options of doing it later or to not be reminded again. If you choose to set it up, it asks which country your recorder is in (USA or Canada). Then you enter your ZIP or postal code. Then it asks if you have cable service connected to the recorder. Then it asks if a cable box is connected to this recorder. If "NO" then you go to step 12 which asks if you have an antenna connected to the recorder. And finally, it asks if the above settings are correct. There is then a confirmation that you have successfully completed setup.

You must then turn the unit off and keep it off for at least 24 hours so that the information for the eight days worth of listings has a chance of being downloaded successfully.

An interesting thing is that at just about 4 1/2 hours after I turned the unit off so that it could download listings for the very first time, I noticed that the recorder's clock had set the correct time for itself. I guess one could take that as a hopeful sign the TV Guide listings download process might be going smoothly. Anyway, you might glance at the clock every so often during those first 24 hours to see if your recorder's clock has set itself to the correct time.

I did have a little trouble the first time through though. I actually had to wait through a second cycle of 24 hours because when I turned the unit on after the first 24+ hours and went into the TV Guide screen interface there were only two channels showing up there with very little TV Guide info for them. We have something like 75 or 80 basic cable channels here where I live. Obviously the process didn't take. I was disappointed and decided to go through the TV Guide setup process again. As soon as I began it an unexpected screen came up indicating that there are 3 cable system carriers in my area (region). One choice listed was Charter, which is my cable service. I chose that one and then turned the unit off for another 24 hours. When I turned it on again, there was an abundance of TV guide listings for most if not all of the channels for the next many days. It apparently had been confused about which cable system to go with initially.

I am satisfied with the TV Guide Program Guide feature so far and hope that I will never experience any difficulties getting accurate listings information using it.

Setting A Timer Recording Using TV Guide On Screen

Here's how to:

When using a satellite box, only manual timer recordings are available for setting recordings.

Preparation

*When you record on a DVD-RAM/R/RW disc, load it into the recorder.

-- Load a disc which has sufficient remaining space to record the program.

-- Make sure the loaded disk is not write-protected.

*Make sure the disk has enough space to record.

*Set "DVD Compatible mode" beforehand. (If you want to check on this, it is explained very simply on page 39 in the manual)

*To record satellite TV programs, set a recording manually.

With recording frequency only:

1) Press TV Guide

TV Guide On Screen Listings appears

2) Press up/down nav buttons to select a TV program to record

(You can also search for a TV program which is explained simply on page 24 in the manual)

3) Press the REC (record) button repeatedly to select the recording frequency

Each time you press the REC button, the little icon changes.

OR

Changing the recording options:

1) Press the TV Guide button, then press up/down nav buttons to select a TV program to record

(Again, you can search for a TV program as explained on page 24)

2) Press the remote's MENU button

"Episode Options" appears

3) Press up/down nav buttons to select "set recording" then press ENTER

"Record Options" appears

4) Press up/down nav buttons to shift and press left/right nav buttons to select

frequency:

ONCE: one time execution

REGULARLY:for a program on the same channel and at the same start time

DAILY: for a program on the same channel and at the same start time of Monday through Friday

WEEKLY:for a program on the same channel and at the same start time on the selected day of the week

OFF: keeps information without executing, until the frequency is changed

start:

Choices are between 120 minutes early and 120 minutes late, to "On time". (Default = "On time")

end:

Choices are between 120 minutes early and 120 minutes late, to "On time". (Default = "On time")

recorder:

HDD: Records onto the HDD

DVD: Records onto a loaded disc

quality:

Mode, bit rate, Sound quality and Recording time (all of those are listed right there on page 42)

5) When complete, press up/down nav buttons to select "schedule recording" then ENTER

"Record Options" is closed

The icon appears on the TV program

***

Of course, one does not need to use the TV Guide feature for recording. You can manually set the recorder to record programs that you know will be on at a specific time and on a specific channel. It is easy to do that:

1) Press the TV Guide button

2) Press the navigation buttons to select "Schedule"

3) Press Menu. "Schedule Options" appears

4) Press up/down navigation buttons to select "New Manual Recording" then press Enter. "Record Options" appears

5) Set the details (date, start and finish time, channel, recording source, recording media, picture quality, how often programmed recording is executed)

6) When finished, press Enter to select "Schedule Recording"

7) Press Enter again to close "Record Options"

There is also an almost exact duplicate set of instructions if you have a satellite box.

That's all there is to it!

***

Recording a TV program that is currently being broadcast is simple:

1) Press the HDD or DVD button to select which to record to

2) Select a channel to record

3) Press REC MODE button (on the remote it's located in the collection of buttons underneath the lid) Press it repeatedly to select the recording mode (SP, LP, MN)

4) Press REC (the red record button)

To stop recording just press STOP

***

Deleting Recorded Contents is simple:

1) Press CONTENT MENU button, then press nav buttons to select a title to delete

To display chapters, press the green button (with the star above it)

2) Press DELETE

Alternate method: Press QUICK MENU button, then press up/down nav buttons to select "Title Delete" ("Chapter Delete") and press ENTER button.

3) Read the message and press left/right nav buttons to select "Yes," then press ENTER

You are also able to delete multiple specified parts.

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

This recorder has something called the EASY NAVI feature:

The EASY NAVI feature is a main gate to this recorder's functions.

In either DVD mode or HDD mode press the EASY NAVI button (It is yellow, not to be confused with the yellow exit button.) and the EASY NAVI Main Menu opens.

It presents you with a display of items (options) including:

*TV Viewing (Return to current broadcast channel)

*Play Contents (Recorded contents are listed in a thumbnail view)

*TV Guide On Screen (TV Guide On Screen SCHEDULE appears)

*DV Recording (The setting menu for recording contents from equipment connected to the DV IN terminal)

*Delete Title (You can delete the current content)

*Dubbing (You can access a menu to dub the current content)

*Finalize R/RW (You can execute the DVD-Video finalizing process on the loaded disk)

*Format R/RW (You can format the loaded disk)

*Setup (A setup menu appears)

To exit the EASY NAVI:

Press the EASY NAVI button again

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Function Setup

In Function Setup you can customize all the function settings of the recorder.

You can change the default settings to customize performance to your preference.

To go there:

1) Press the SETUP button (it is located beneath the door. Also, you can get there via the EASY NAVI button).

The setup display appears

2) Press left/right nav buttons to select the icon of a group (at top) that contains a desired item, then press ENTER

3) Press up/down nav buttons to select a desired item, then press ENTER

4) Refer to the explanations on pages beginning from 176 in the manual to change the selection by up/down nav buttons or other buttons, then press ENTER

5) Press SETUP

The setup display disappears and the setting is completed.

Here are the many many settings you can customize:

These are the icons at the top of the screen:

DVD player settings:

*DVD disc menu language (To select a preferred language for the disc menus)

*DVD audio language (To select a preferred language for the sound track)

*DVD subtitle language (To select a preferred language for subtitles)

*DVD dynamic range control (To turn on or off a function that makes faint sounds easier to hear even if you lower the volume during late-hour playback)

*Karaoke vocal (To turn on or off the vocal output during DVD KARAOKE disc playback)

*DVD parental lock (To turn the parental lock function on or off)

*DVD title stop (To turn on or off a feature that automatically stops playback after a title has been viewed)

Picture/Audio settings:

*Pause/Still (To select the resolution of still pictures (Field/Frame)

*Output black level (To select the black level of playback pictures)

*Custom Picture select (To select from standard or three customized picture settings)

*Custom Picture setting (To customize picture quality settings and store them)

*Progressive conversion (To select the system of output signal. (Only when connected to a PROGRESSIVE TV)

*Play DNR (To select a setting for playback at a reduced noise level)

*Audio out select (To select an output sound format corresponding to your system connection)

*Virtual surround (To turn on or off expansive virtual surround sound effects from just two speakers)

*SAP (To monitor and record SAP broadcast)

Display settings:

*TV shape (To select a picture size according to the aspect ratio of your tv)

*On screen display (To activate or deactivate the operational status display on the TV screen)

*Transparency (To select the transparency of the on-screen menus relative to background pictures)

*Startup screen (To turn on or off the start-up screen setting that makes the background picture appear automatically when turning on the power)

*Screen protector (To turn the screen saver on or off)

*Background (To select a display status when no video signals are present)

*Closed caption (To select where you turn on or off closed caption)

Operational settings:

*Operation beep (To turn on or off the confirmation beeper announcing when each remote command is received)

*Completion beep (To select whether or not a buzzer sounds when dubbing and certain fuctions are finished)

*IR code (To switch the remote control codes that operate the recorder)

*Instant skip interval (To set the time interval to skip when INSTANT SKIP button is pressed once)

*Instant replay interval (To se the time interval to go back when INSTANT REPLAY button is pressed once)

*Title thumbnail point (To select the position of the thumbnail image counting from the beginning of the title that has been recorded)

*HDD/RAM title play (To activate resume play per title or continuous play)

*Still group interval (To select an interval of still picture display)

*Priority contents (To select the playback priority between JPEG (picture) files and MP3?WMA (audio) files)

DVD recorder operation:

*User record quality (To select picture and sound quality settings for a manual program recording)

*Picture record mode (To make further settings when you cannot adjust the image quality with "Custom picture setting" of the "Picture/audio settings")

*Input black level (To select the black level of recording pictures)

*Aspect ratio (Video mode) (To set the aspect ratio for DVD-R recording)

*DVD compatible mode (To set the audio for DVD-R recording)

*DVD-Video:CHP create (To set whether or not chapters are to be automatically created at a specified interval for DVD-R recording)

*Rec DNR (To activate or deactivate the 3D digital noise reduction)

*3D Y/C separation (To activate or deactivate the 3D digital filter to execute Y/C (Brightness/Color) separation)

*Relay recording (To turn on or off a function that will automatically switch recording from a DVD-RAM disc to the HDD when there is less than 10 minutes of space available on the DVD-RAM disc or when there is no disc loaded)

Management settings:

*Network setting (To set a recorder for the Network Navi function)

*Genre setting (To register the frequently used genre on the menu)

*Front Display (To set the front panel display to turn on/off in the standby mode)

*HDD auto stop (To turn on or off a power saving function that stops the HDD after a certain period of activity)

*All HDD titles delete (To delete all the titles recorded on the HDD, leaving the Library information on a DVD-RAM disk)

*HDD format (To initialize the HDD)

*DVD-RAM physical format (To perform physical formatting of a DVD-RAM disc)

*DVD Drive speed setting (To reduce the mechanical noise during High speed dubbing)

*Version (Main/DVD drive) (To display the version of the software. The version is only displayed and cannot be set)

Initial settings:

*Language (To select a preferred language for on-screen displays (except TV Guide On Screen)

*Time & Date setting (To set the clock of the recorder)

*Guide and Clock reset (To correct the clock of the recorder)

*Set Top Box setting (To control channels of a connected satellite set top box from the recorder)

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

I have done some basic editing of recorded programming and like it very much. It doesn't seem to be too terribly difficult. I did have to experiment some.

Basically, you divide the original video into chapters so that accessing a desired scene is easier and your editing and playback will be easier. After dividing the video into chapters, you choose the chapters you want to keep and save them into a playlist. Then you burn the playlist to a DVD.

The basic workflow is this way:

***Recording a TV program

Record a TV program and it becomes an "original" title (and a single original chapter as well)

***Chapter editing

Divide the original title into chapters.

Divide chapters and create divisions of chapter

Divide chapters to edit a playlist

***Playlist editing

Collect your favorite chapters to make them as one title. (Playlist)

If an original title is deleted, a playlist will also be deleted because playlists are fictitious titles.

***Dubbing

Copy the playlist and it becomes an original title

To divide a recorded title into chapters:

1) Press Content Menu (button) then navigate to select a title

2) Press Quick Menu (the Quick Menu menu appears)

3) Navigate down to "Chapter Function" then press Enter (the submenu appears)

4) Navigate to select "Chapter Editing" then press Enter ("EDIT MENU Chapter Editing" appears

5) Press Play to start playback.

Locate a scene where you want to insert a chapter mark. You can use the PICTURE SEARCH, SLOW, SKIP, PAUSE, FRAME/ADJUST, etc. buttons. The locator shows the current position on the time bar. And the live video plays in the upper left.

*To access other chapters:

Press up/down navigation buttons to move to the thumbnail display, then press left/right nav buttons to select a desired thumbnail. To go to the next page, press PICTURE SEARCH button.

* You can confirm the first and last scenes of a chapter. Select a thumbnail and press ENTER button. 3 seconds of the first and last scenes are played.

6) At a point where you want to make a chapter division, press PAUSE. (The picture pauses)

7) Press nav buttons to select "Divide," then press ENTER.

A chapter division is created at the selected location. and the first scene of the new chapter is registered as a chapter thumbnail.

8) Repeat steps 5 to 7

9) When all chapter divisions have been made, press the remote's yellow exit button. It saves it.

There's a lot of other things you can do with chapter editing such as Creating Chapter Marks at regular intervals automatically, Editing Chapter Breaks, Merging Chapters, Naming a Chapter, etc.

***

What you do next is to gather or collect the necessary scenes (chapters) to make a playlist. It's done this way:

1) Press CONTENT MENU button ("CONTENT MENU Title List" appears

2) Press QUICK MENU (Quick Menu appears)

3) Press up/down nav buttons to select "Edit function", then press ENTER (Submenu appears)

4) Press up/down nav buttons to select "Playlist editing", then press ENTER ("EDIT MENU Playlist editing" appears)

5) Press left/right nav buttons to select a title or chapter. To select between titles and chapters, press the remote's green button (has a star above it).

6) Press ENTER

A cursor appears, indicating the point where the selected item will be inserted.

7) Press left/right nav buttons to select a point where you want to insert the item, then press ENTER

If there are no parts in the lower area, leave the cursor to the left and press ENTER button.

The selected part is inserted at the location of the cursor.

8) Repeat steps 5 to 7 to insert items.

9) When all items have been inserted, press the yellow exit button.

The recorder displays a message, and starts saving the Playlist.

When completed, CONTENT MENU is displayed.

There are other things you can do in the PLAYLIST mode such as Canceling selection of a part, Confirming the first and last scenes of a part or a Playlist, Confirming the title information, Correcting a Playlist, Using a part in a Playlist also in another Playlist, Naming a title (Playlist) and Making a Playlist of recorded contents where starting times are the same (i.e. daily or weekly recordings).

***

One thing I want to point out is the following: In the Operations Manual the very first words in the Editing Section are "It is not recommended that you delete many chapters from titles recorded on the HDD to remove unnecessary parts of the titles and copy those contents on a DVD-RAM disk. The reason is that discontinuous space inside the HDD expands and recorded contents are stored in gaps between used locations.Operating this repeatedly makes a recording area inside the HDD broken down into small and complicated spaces. (It is called fragmentation.) Even normal operations may get slow. Moreover, available space may not be restored by deleting or the HDD may have protection disabling playback or recording.

When you want to delete unnecessary parts from titles, collect necessary parts of chapters to make a playlist. Then copy the playlist and delete the original title or the playlist. For example, make a playlist and copy it to a DVD-RAM. Then delete original titles on the HDD. It can save time and effort and retain continuity in the HDD space. However, when moving a copy once program from the HDD to a DVD-RAM disc, delete unnecessary chapters from original titles...." (That is quoted word for word from page 84 in the Operations Guide.)

I think it is stressing that you should not delete chapters from the original recordings because it is potentially bad for the HDD because it can cause unnecessary fragmentation. What you should do is to divide the original into chapters (don't delete any chapters though) and then make a playlist selecting the chapters you want to keep. You can then delete the original recordings outright. Anyway, that is the way I understand it and that is the way it has worked for me.

There's more editing features but I have not used them yet and won't go into them for that reason.

***

Dubbing to Save is like this:

High Speed Dubbing

1) Press CONTENT MENU, then press nav buttons to select a title

2) Press QUICK MENU (the Quick Menu appears)

3) Press up/down nav buttons to select "High Speed Dubbing" from the Quick Menu, then press ENTER ("CONTENT MENU High Speed Library Dubbing" appears)

You can dub with these options: copy (which saves the Original) or move (which deletes the Original)

You can transfer from the HDD to the HDD, HDD to DVD disk, or to to NETWORK

4) Press up/down nav buttons to select "Copy", "Move", Same Disk" or "Network"

5) Press ENTER

Copying starts. The job progress is displayed on the screen and the front panel display. When the job finishes, the graph disappears and the buzzer sounds.

You can set the recorder to turn off automatically when the job finishes. Just do this:

1) During the operation, press QUICK MENU button

2) Press up/down nav buttons to select "Auto Power Off"

3) Press ENTER button

Other things are:

You can dub a specified part and also specified parts together.

*Rate Converison Dubbing (Dubbing at a modified bit rate)

*Rate conversion Dubbing for multiple parts

*Line-U dubbing (Recording pictures while viewing them)

Those are all explained in the manual.

There is really a lot about dubbing in the operator's manual and I won't go into any more of it here. I hope that gives you a little bit of an idea though.

***

Creating a DVD-Video using DVD-R/RW:

1) Press EDIT MENU ("EDIT MENU Main Menu" appears)

2) Press up/down nav buttons to select "DVD-Video Creation", then press ENTER ("EDIT MEN DVD-Video Create [Selected Items]" appears)

Thumbnails of titles on the HDD are displayed in the upper area.

3) Press nav buttons to select a part (a title or chapter) to copy to a DVD-R/RW disc

To go to the preceding or following page, press PICTURE SEARCH button

To select a chapter, first select the title that contains the chapter you want, then press the remote's green button (with a star above it). To return to the title display, press the same button agian.

4) Press ENTER

A cursor appears in the lower area (destination media).

5) Press left/right nav buttons to select a location to place the selected part, then press ENTER

If there are no pats in the lower area, leave the cursor to the left and press ENTER button.

The selected part is inserted into the location of the cursor.

6) Repeat steps 3 to 5

7) Press up/down nav buttons to select "Next", then press ENTER

A screen is displayed to select options.

8) Press nav buttons to set the items

9) Press up/down nav buttons to select "Next", then press ENTER

A screen is displayed to confirm the information you are going to write.

Press the up nav button to select "Edit Name" and press ENTER button to go to the character entry screen. The number of characters is limited for the disc name you can enter.

If you selected "None" for "Menu Create" at step 8, select "Writing" on the bottom right corner, and press ENTER button. Skip to step 14.

10) Press down nav button to select "Next", then press ENTER

A display of title menu selection appears if "Menu Create" is set to "Title+Chapter" or "Title" at step 7.

To view your captured images (page 119), go to the next page.

If you press the green button (with the star above it), you can preview the selected menu. To return, press the yellow exit button.

While displaying a preview screen of yur captured image, you can access the other menu to correct color (page 119) by pressing the green button.

11) Press nav buttons to select the menu, then press ENTER

If you have set "Menu Create" to "Title+Chapter" or "Chapter" at step 7, a screen is displayed to select a chapter menu.

12) Pres the nav buttons to select the chapter menu

The selected menu is set for all chapters. You cannot set it for each chapter individually.

If you press the green button, you can preview the selected menu. To return, press the yellow exit button.

If you press the down nav button to select "Return" while previewing and press ENTER button, you will return to the preview of the title menu. To go back to the chapter menu, press the nav buttons to select a number next to "Chapter Menu" on the bottom center.

13) Press ENTER on "EDIT MENU DVD-VIDEO CREATION (Chapter Menu Select)" display.

A confirmation message is displayed.

14) Press the left/right nav buttons to select "Yes", then press ENTER

The current broadcast picture appears and dubbing starts. The progress is displayed on the screen and in the front panel display on the recorder.

When copying is completed, a finalizing process follows. This enables the disc to be played on a DVD video player.

When the process is completed, a message "Create another DVD-Video now?" appears (except when "Auto power off" (see below) is set). If you select "Yes", you can make one more DVD-R/RW of the same content. If you select "No", you can complete creating the DVD-Video.

*You can set the recorder to turn off automatically when the job finishes. Here's how:

1) During the job, press the QUICK MENU button

2) Press the up/down nav buttons to select "Auto power off"

3) Press ENTER button

There are more things to do in that area such as: Selecting the items displayed in the menu, Using a favorite scene as a menu, To name a captured image, To delete a captured image, Selecting color options on menus, Canceling selection of an item, Changing the location of an item, Confirming the content in the lower area, Canceling dubbing process, etc.

***

I was wondering what the fastest speed is that this unit burns at. It probably says in the literature but I have not really looked for that info yet. It does seem very fast though. I wonder if it burns at 16X. So far I have used a Philips brand 16X DVD-R disk.

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

The Operations manual is generally straightforward, comprehensive and unambiguous. It is more a better manual than it isn't. It's about 200 pages and has many illustrations. It's disappointing that it doesn't have an index in the back though.

There is also a 55 page Installation Guide and a 15 page Quick Reference Guide included (both of which look helpful enough).

***

I am already comfortable with many of the buttons on this remote and know what they do.

The remote control itself is made of plastic, but seems durable. I like it. It has a lot of buttons including some hidden beneath a flip down door. The door seems vulnerable though opening that way. It could theoretically break off at the hinges in an accident. (I have posted a customer image of it above.)

Tip: It's an exercise in frustration trying to open the flip down door if you grab it on both sides (left and right). Instead, with your right index finger gently flip the right side of the door open. There is a small depression there for your fingernail. (There is also one on the left side if you are left-handed). It will then pop up ever so easily. I just didn't want that you should smash your remote by flinging it across the room like I almost did!

***

I guess you know that this thing has a 250GB hard drive in it don't you? That in itself attracted me to this. The fact is that I already own a similar type recorder that is a different brand name (Panasonic) and it has a modest 100GB hard drive in it (that is, modest only when compared to a 250GB). I will use both of these as a way of recording two programs that are on at the same time and just as a way of recording twice as much programming.

***

PLEASE READ THIS ! ! !

OK, here's the thing that might put some people off buying this recorder: Whether the unit is on or off the fan on the back runs all the time -- 24/7. I would describe the fan as being noticeably audible at close proximity but not loud (of course that's a subjective assessment). Personally, I don't find the fan's sound obtrusive at all. Consciously, most of the time I don't notice it. I think the key is to make sure you can put it in a room that isn't too small. I have my recorder in a moderate-to-big sized room (to be more specific it's something like 30X18 feet) and can't hear the fan unless I get within a few feet of it and there aren't any ambient noises in the room.

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Well, that has been the extent of my experience with this unit thus far. I am very very happy with it. The features that I have dabbled with appeal to me. I love that I have the power to record television programs and then edit out all those darn commercials! Then I can burn those programs to DVD making for myself my very own movie library don't cha know! Another little trifle I am interested in doing is to make compilation disks of very favorite moments from movies and television shows that are hilarious. For example, shows like Seinfeld or The Simpsons tend to have a lot of very funny moments spread out in many different episodes. With this kind of recorder I can record those moments, edit them, bundle them together and burn them to DVD so that there is nothing but the most funny moments back to back throughout the disk. That kind of thing. You could do that sort of thing too if it appeals to you.

Just being able to record to the massive hard drive any of your favorite programming and then to watch it at your leisure is really liberating, empowering and enjoyable.

And you can delete any or all of those programs with just the push of a button, thereby freeing up the HDD to record more.

That's it, I guess.

Please forgive me if I was long-winded and more confusing than helpful to you.

Also, please forgive me for any typographical errors (mispellings, etc.) that I made and did not notice. This was a lot of writing.

I recommend this Toshiba recorder to anyone who wants a well-made, sophisticated video recorder with a massive capacity for storage!

I recommend it to anyone who wants to edit what they record!

Thanks very kindly.

I purchased 6 of these for work. Of that 6, three have to be sent back for repairs. Not a good percentage.

The menu is complicated and there is NOTHING intuitive about the usage of this device. I actually had to read the manual to figure out how to schedule a recording manually and burn it to a DVD that will play on regular players. I usually NEVER have to read manuals.

On the positive, the devices look sleek and professional. They have very large hard drives and when they work, they work well.

The only real problem I have had with this unit is that it requires the TV Guide channel for its programming info, and a week after I got it, my cable company announced that they were cutting the TV guide channel on everything but digital cable. If I upgrade to digital cable, I get a DVR from them for an extra $5 a month, so my unit may soon be obsolete. So that may be something to check into.

That being said, I really enjoy this DVR. It has changed the way that I watch TV. I don't think that I have actually watched a commercial since I bought it. Very nice. I find the controls to be intuitive, but I'm a bit of a techie. My wife can't really figure them out, so I guess it is not easy for everyone.

People have said that it is noisy, but I don't notice it at all. The DVD recorder is another nice feature, I use it more than I thought I would.

The only thing that I don't like is that navigating the TV Guide listings sometimes lags quite a bit and can be slow and tedious. However, all the different seach options speed it up quite a bit and are great.

Overall, it is a very fun toy. I give it two thumbs up!

Okay...let's see...

-Often, when attempting to record to the HDD, the device comes up with the vague and unsettling message "Unexpected error." Only way to clear it is to unplug the unit, plug it back in, and wait the 2-3 minutes while it comes up, by which time, your window for starting to record is closed.

-No ability to manually set a timer to start recording at a specific time and end at a specific time.

-No ability to start recording and have the recording stop in 30/60/90/120/180/240 minutes.

-Every 3 hours, need to deal with the annoying "Do you want to continue watching TV? If so, press ENTER." dialog.

-Editing a title recorded to HDD (to strip off leader and trailer) is needlessly complicated.

In short- this thing makes me want to throw my remote through my television. Run, don't walk, away from this DVR.

I bought mine to do a project involving recording a ton of old movie footage to DVD. I hooked up an Elmo film chain to it and the result is entirely satisfactory.

The recorder worked like a champ and the limited amount of editing I needed to do was well within the machines skillset.

You do need to be careful about what DVD-R discs you use. I have had good luck with Sony discs. It does not recognize all DVD-R discs so do your homework before buying discs.

That said I am generally pleased with this machine. Viewing upconverted DVD's via the HDMI output gives a slightly smoother picture than outputting via component to my TV sets onboard upconverter. If I had it to do over I would have saved the $80 for the cable and just stayed with component output, more discerning eyes may disagree.

Still this is a good recorder with some editing capabilities. The hard drive is nice and big too.

Does that help?

Purchased my unit at the end of November, and recv'd in good order from Amazon. Everything seems to be working fine (I haven't tried working w/the DVD-Ram yet, or burning to disc), with one exception. I have encountered a problem w/Network Navigation. It won't work with Internet Explorer 7. I phoned Customer Service and was told that an update to resolve this issue wasn't even in works. Perhaps they are waiting for Vista, but as this seems to be the Toshiba HDD-DVD flagship, and IE7 has been out for a while now, I feel like this should have been addressed before now. The Unit itself would have recv'd 4 stars (it is fairly complicated), but this issue drops my rating, as this was one of the features I was looking forward to using. So before you spend a day crawling around in your attic to run a network cable (like I did), check your browser.

real short

this isn't a High Definition recorder.

the TV guide is compatible with Cable TV.

very difficult to use.

I paid over $500, I wouldn't reccomend it, given the price.

This dvd player works good but it would be better if the tv guild would work with directv.