Customer Reviews

Toshiba DR-2 DVD Recorder/Player with Simultaneous Play and Record

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

TOSHIBA D-R2 - TAKE 3 (note: trying to change stars to a 3 or 4)

It's been quite the epic saga with this machine, however now that I've figured it all out, I'm happy to share the information so if you buy one, you'll know how to make it work for you w/o wasting time & money.

When I first got it, I loved it - great interface, really easy, all the inputs & outputs I need - everything was better than I'd hoped, especially for the low price. I burned many discs only to find most were unreadable, even though they'd recorded & finalized just fine. So I was furious & hated it.

I called Toshiba & they said that they can only guarantee the thing works with the brand of discs they list in small print on p. 9 of the customer manual: Panasonic, which are not available on a spindle & are not cheap, and a brand I'd never heard of or seen in a store called Taiyo Yuden... there might be a third, but I don't think so. I was outraged by my limited options & ranted & railed, until I did a searched for Taiyo Yuden & found a company called "Meritline" where I could buy them super cheap - actually cheaper than anything in the big box stores. I ordered 100 and they arrived the next day (I'm in same state as company). They work great! Hooray!

CONCLUSION: I think it's irresponsible and disrespectful of consumers for Toshiba to make and sell a product without making it's limitations MUCH MORE CLEAR - burried on p.9 doesn't cut it. This info should be presented so YOU CAN'T MISS IT... and frankly selling a product that only works with a tiny handful of brands is pretty uncool. By burning to the "wrong" discs (some minor brands called, uh - Memorex & Verbatim), I wasted a lot of time and $ on blank media. I've lost respect for the company on those grounds. However, now that it's working, I'm very impressed with the machine itself. Toshiba needs to get it's packaging & consumer info department up to the same standard as their engineering dept... and the engineers need to make this thing work for more brands.

IF YOU BUY THE DISCS THEY RECOMMEND, YOU'LL BE FINE.

This DVD recorder works better than any of the others. It is built sturdy unlike those new slim models. Videophiles should really like the all the professional features and the great recording quality. This DVD Recorder has some very advanced features. So, it is really not for those who are used to plug and play VCR's. The initial setup process is very simple. But to really learn how to use all the features is not as simple. But once you do learn, your recordings look like they are professional quality.

Many companies have just produced their first home DVD Recorder for home use. The TOSHIBA DR2 is Toshibas second one, and much better than their first DVD recorder. However when it comes to ease and speed of use, there is still need for improvement. It comes with three manuals. The main one being 150 pages. This should give you a clue on how much there is to learn about making high quality DVD Recordings.The manuals are well written. Every section is bookmarked by the recorders specific feature.

The TOSHIBA records on DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM disks. To use the Toshiba(or any DVD recorder)it first has to recognize the type of disk you just inserted. On screen you see the word LOADING, until the type of blank disk is recognized. This process takes approximately one minute. One unusual feature is that during TIMER recordings, the unit turns on ten minutes early. This gives you time to adjust the settings. Because once the record process begins ,you are not able to adjust any settings.It has advanced timer recording using VCR Plus + C3 programming.The VCR + C3 feature works with an included cable eye adaptor. Also known as an "IR Blaster". This device automatically changes cable channels, and sets the unit to record your programs.

The TOSHIBA has five preset one-touch record speeds. These include your standard SP ,LP EP(6hr) record speeds. Along with two manual presets. You may set the manual presets to record anywhere from one to six and one half hours. The record speed button on the remote control is hidden under a flip up latch. Along with the controls for SET-UP and VCR Plus. If you make a mistake and pressed the wrong speed. You have to press STOP. Then wait a minute until the on screen loading icon stops flashing. Now the DVD Recorder allows you to change recording speeds. Pressing record automatically creates a new title on your DVD. When you play the DVD back, you could choose which title you want played from the menu.

After your DVD recording is finished. You have to go the main menu and press FINALIZE.It takes about three minutes to finalize a DVD. There is an on screen message that alerts you that the disk is finalized. You only have to finalize the disks to play them back in another DVD player. This process is the same for any DVD recorder that uses the DVD-RW format.

DVD-RW disks are the disks you will use most often. Because they are erasable. But DVD-RW disks must be formatted before use, and formatted to erase it. Unlike a VHS tape,you can not just erase a section of a DVD-RW. The entire disk needs to be erased (formatted) before reusing. Formatting takes about two minutes. You have to go into the Toshibas main menu and press format. An on screen message tells you when formatting is complete. Then it's ready to record. All these steps to FINALIZE and FORMAT the disks have to be done with all home DVD-RW DVD Recorders. Once the DVD is finalized. You may name your recording, and create a MENU and CHAPTERS on your recorded DVD. There is also an option of spacing the chapters from 5, 10 or 15 minutes apart.

Picture and sound quality looks and sounds even better than the original source. The (LP) four hour record speed comes very close in quality to the two hour record speed. However, like any DVD or VHS Recorder, the six hour record speed video quality was average. But when using any one of the Digital Video Noise Reduction Settings, video quality was excellent. If you playback a six hour recording on a DVD player without any video noise reduction ,you may be disappointed in the quality. You should check and see if your DVD player has the Video Noise Reduction feature. Recordings made using the TOSHIBA DR-2 played back perfectly in several different DVD players.

Using the SIMA CT-2 ($100 at Amazon.com) I was able to make professional looking quality backup copies of all the DVD's I purchased from AMAZON.com. The TOSHIBA DR-2 gives you many ways to adjust the incoming Audio & Video signal. There are four settings to adjust brightness, three for Video Noise Reduction. The Audio input signal is adjustable from minus -8 to plus +6db.

Using any of the Video Noise Reduction controls greatly improves the video quality on recording or playback of a bad source. The TOSHIBA offers professional audio/video quality at a very reasonable price. But all DVD Recorders need to perform all of their basic functions faster and be easier to use. Until then, this is the best DVD recorder to purchase.

If you want to make copies of your DVD RAM Recordings.
I suggest purchasing the PANASONIC DVD Player S-47
It is available on AMAZON.com for about $80.00
It is only one of two DVD Players that offer DVD-RAM playback.

The Toshiba DVD recorder has too many great features to list in small review.If you are new to DVD Recorders or not willing to learn. Then get one desgined for dummies. But once you learn all its features, you will be rewarded with the finest quality recordings. Yes this unit has a 150 page manual, as well as two smaller ones. That alone should give you a clue as to how many features this has. The remote, does not have the strongest signal. However, you could always replace it with a universal remote. It does have some oddly labeled buttons. But once you learn them , all is fine.

The virtual keyboard that is used to name your DVDs. Is your standard "QWERTY" keyboard. Should you make a mistake there are a delete, backspace, and clear keys on the Keyboard. One odd feature is that you must press the PAUSE button for CAPS LOCK. But once you know that,it's simple to use. Just be sure to press the * key after you named your DVD disk. You are NOT able to edit chapter information on a DVD-R with ANY DVD RECORDER using DVD-R Disks. That's why this unit uses DVD-RW and DVD-RAM disks. Those disks are used for editing. The picture quality is excellent. There are three noise reduction units to prevent blocking and mosquito noise. Unless you record in the six hour speed you will not have to use them. In reply to the person who thinks this unit is difficult to use. He obviously needs a simple plug 'n' play tinker-toy unit like the $200 Gateway.

I just bought the Toshiba D-R2. I have not been able to record movies from HBO and other pay channels from my Dish. I've had no problems with the PVR and recording to a VCR. Surely this product was designed to include movies from the movie channels.
Update: After two weeks with this recorder I have researched the problem with recording HBO movies. Its amazing how little dealers and others know. I have found the problem with HBo--not the recorder. I have been able to record movies from Starz and Showtime--but not HBO or Cinemax. This machine has been a great buy. I'm not electronically gifted but even I have learned about how well this recorder works. Maybe others work as well or better but for the dollar you can't find a better one than this. I change my rating to 5 stars.

I love this machine!If you are planning to buy the Sylvania recorder,don't.I did,& i ended up returning it.For the extra $90-$100,this recorder is well worth it.I gave it a 4 rating because i haven't tried timer recording yet,or use dvd-rw or dvd-ram.So far i used only dvd-r(Sony & TDK discs).No problems at all.The zoom is great.You can zoom in a lot more than the other machines.It has soooo many funtions,that i was worried that with so many,the recording quality would be scaled back.But to my surprise & relief,the picture quality is great.If you don't know the recording/editing lingo(like me),it takes a little time to learn.Although,it is easier to use than i thought it would be.I'm not going into the specifics because the other reviewers have already.Well,i guess that's it.

I must say that I never thought that buying a DVD Recorder would give me so much grief. But at least I can now say that I know more than any sales person out there.

There are 2 issues I had where the manual (missing information) and sales people couldn't help me. I figured it out and now I want to pass it on to you.

In all my research of different brands and models I've noticed that all recorders didn't play the DVD+R's. For me this was a big thing because the movies I've backed up were on DVD+R disks. I needed to find a player that would play these disks, and I found one, it was the Sony RDR-GX300. After talking to the sales person at Future Shop and confirming that no other recorders would play the DVD+R's, I bought the Sony. After hooking it up at home and testing it out, I liked it except for one problem. I have an RCA 40" projection widescreen t.v. and the DVD recorder was making all the people on t.v. short and fat. I tried all the different settings and nothing worked, the recorder even stopped me from changing the aspect ratio on my t.v.. After hours of frustration and many calls to Sony, and Future Shop no one knew what the problem was or how to fix it.

So, I decided to buy a different DVD Recorder all together to see if the same problem would occur. I decided to buy the Toshiba D-R2 even though it said that it wouldn't play my DVD+R disks. I brought it home and hooked it up and was able to change the aspect ratios so now my t.v. shows weren't stretched. I was happy for about 10 mins, when I was no longer able to change the aspect ratio. After driving myself crazy for a bit, I figured out what was stopping me from changing my aspect ratio. It was the Progressive Scan feature. If you have Progressive Scan turned on you cannot change aspect ratios. I turned mine off and everything was good.

And one more thing, all my DVD+R's play in my Toshiba D-R2 recorder and they play on my parent's Panasonic DVD player as well.

I guess the thing that gets me is why the manufactures are not telling us that the DVD+R disks will play on these recorders. And no where was I able to find anything about the Progressive Scan feature disabling the aspect ratios. The manufactures need to update their manuals and the sales people need more training in simple problems like this.

I was pleased with this unit when it first arrived. The picture quality was good, recording to a DVD-R was straightforward (you can use the default settings and just push the "record" button), and the Time Slip feature using the included DVD-RAM disk was very slick. The recorded DVD-R's played fine in other players I tested. MP3 CD's played fine too.

However, one major annoyance from day one was the slow loading of discs. If you think you're going to pop in a blank DVD-R quickly and start recording, as you could with a VHS VCR, think again. It takes over a minute for the unit to recognize the blank DVD-R. Likewise pre-recorded movie DVDs and music CD's take an excessive amount of time to begin playing.

If you stop recording, the unit takes a minute to actually write all the content it captured, and you can't press the record button again until the unit finishes. So, don't stop the recording (to skip a commercial, for example) unless you know the show isn't going to come back on for at least 30-45 seconds. This particular annoyance may be common to any DVD-R recorder.

The defect that prompted me to return the unit involved music CD's. One brand new CD would not play at all. The unit would not recognize the disc. If I kept removing and reinserting the disc, it might finally recognize and play on the 3rd or 4th try. With another brand new music CD, the unit stopped playing after the 4th song. Both of the CD's in question played without error on other CD players.

It is possible that my unit was unique in its defectiveness, and that the slow loading of all discs and the failure to play certain CD's were both the result of the same defect. As long as you purchase this unit from a place with a good return policy, it may still be worth your attention. Speaking of which, kudos to Amazon for smooth handling of the return.

After experiencing DVD-R recording first-hand, I've decided the unit I purchase to replace this one should have a hard drive, which will allow editing prior to burning the DVD-R. Without a hard drive, the only way to insert chapter breaks or remove commercials is to do this real-time while recording to the DVD-R. With dozens of hours of home video to copy from VHS to DVD, it will be nice to get the entire VHS on the hard drive without being present, then interact with the speedy hard drive to insert chapter breaks and delete scenes, and then fast-dub the result to a DVD-R.

This DVD recorder worked better than any of the others
But that was when I first purchased it nearly a year ago. But it has since become problematic reading some disks. Which is why I replaced it with the new PANASONIC DMR-ES-10. The TOSHIBA is built sturdy unlike those new slim models. Videophiles should really like the all the professional features and the great recording quality. This DVD Recorder has some very advanced features. So, it is really not for those who are used to plug and play VCR's. The initial setup process is very simple. But to really learn how to use all the features is not as simple. But once you do learn, your recordings look like they are professional quality.

Many companies have just produced their first home DVD Recorder for home use. The TOSHIBA DR2 is Toshibas second one, and much better than their first DVD recorder. However when it comes to ease and speed of use, there is still need for improvement. It comes with three manuals. The main one being 150 pages. This should give you a clue on how much there is to learn about making high quality DVD Recordings.The manuals are well written. Every section is bookmarked by the recorders specific feature.

The TOSHIBA records on DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM disks. To use the Toshiba(or any DVD recorder)I is very slow to recognize the type of disk you just inserted. On screen you see the word LOADING, until the type of blank disk is recognized. This process takes at least one minute (sometimes longer). One very unusual feature is that during TIMER recordings, the unit turns on ten minutes early. This gives you time to adjust the settings. Because once the record process begins ,you are not able to adjust any settings.It has advanced timer recording using VCR Plus + C3 programming.The VCR + C3 feature works with an included cable eye adaptor. Also known as an "IR Blaster". This device automatically changes cable channels, and sets the unit to record your programs.

The TOSHIBA has five preset one-touch record speeds. These include your standard SP,LP EP, record speeds. Along with two manual presets. You may set the manual presets to record anywhere from one to six and one half hours. The record speed button on the remote control is hidden under a flip up latch. Along with the controls for SET-UP and VCR Plus. If you make a mistake and pressed the wrong speed. You have to press STOP. Then wait a minute until the on screen loading icon stops flashing. But pressing record automatically creates a new title on your DVD. You could choose which title you want played or deleted from the menu.

After your DVD recording is finished. You have to go the main menu and press FINALIZE. It takes about three minutes to finalize a DVD. There is an on screen message that alerts you that the disk is finalized. You only have to finalize the disks to play them back in another DVD player. This process is the same for any DVD recorder that uses the DVD-R(-W)format.

DVD-RW disks are the disks you will use most often. Because they are erasable. But DVD-RW disks must be formatted before use, and formatted to erase it. Formatting takes about two minutes. You have to go into the Toshibas main menu and press format. An on screen message tells you when formatting is complete. Then it's ready to record. All these steps needed to FINALIZE and FORMAT the disks have to be done with all home DVD--R/-RW DVD Recorders. Once the DVD is finalized. You may name your recording, and create a MENU and CHAPTERS on your recorded DVD. There is also an option of spacing the chapters from 5, 10 or 15 minutes apart.

Picture and sound quality looks and sounds even better than the original source. The (LP) four hour record speed comes close in quality to the two hour record speed. However, like any DVD or VHS Recorder, the six hour record speed video quality was average. But when using any one of the Digital Video Noise Reduction Settings, video quality was improved.
The TOSHIBA DR-2 also gives you many ways to adjust the incoming Audio & Video signal. There are four settings to adjust brightness and three for digital video noise reduction. The Audio input signal is adjustable from minus -8 to plus +6db.

The TOSHIBA offers professional audio/video quality at a very reasonable price. But all DVD Recorders need to perform all of their basic functions faster and be easier to use.

(...)

I researched DVD Recorders for the last year and a half while waiting for the prices to come down and quality to improve. I am so pleased that I chose the D-R2 as my first DVD Recorder. It is absolutely fantastic! Very easy to set-up (follow the manual and you will be fine). The manuals are not very long or difficult to read at all. I practiced with the DVD-RAM a few times so I would know how to adjust settings and create titles before I began burning disks. Nearly 60 disks burned and not one "coaster". I was pleasantly surprised that the advanced settings perfected otherwise poor VHS recordings in my library - the picture and Dolby sound quality is phenomenal now! I have duplicated a significant portion of my library and recorded a number of television shows and have been pleased with every recording. This recorder is a fantastic buy!


Update: I hate to say it, but my D-R2 started having problems shortly after this review -- after approx. one month of use. Although burning was great, I experienced pauses throughout the play of ALL commercial DVD's (new and old). Toshiba was not able to correct the problem, so this recorder went back and has been replaced by a highly recommended Pioneer. If you decide to buy, make sure you buy it from a reputable seller with a generous return policy!

I finally decided to try DVD recording and bought a D-KR2. As far as I can tell it is the same as the D-R2. Primarily my goal was to transfer all the 8mm videos of the Kids to DVD. When it worked the recorder did a nice job. Unfortunately about one in four Disks would error, recording would stop, and the disk was flagged as unusable. This is not the worst thing in the world when you have the source tape and can just restart, but when recording TV programs it becomes a bigger problem. If you have a few episodes recorded and it errors on the last, you loose everything on the disk. I was using a new stack of TDK 4X DVD-R's that I purchased at the same time as the recorder and am always very careful not to touch the surface of the disk. I could not see any disk flaws but D-KR2 somehow did. I recorded using the default SP mode. This enabled me to fit the entire two hour tape on a single disk. The quality (on my 10 year old TV) was very good. None of the sound sync problems I see in other recorder reviews.
[...]
Maybe this is a good as it gets with the current state of the Technology.