Toshiba SD-H400 Combination Progressive-Scan DVD Player and TiVo Digital Media Server

by Toshiba

Product Details

Data Sheet [533kb PDF]

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Product Manual [533kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 25 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 18 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000AA9E8
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,335 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #32 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > DVD-VCR Combos
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Early Adopters Pick: June 2003. This is the first combination DVD player-TiVo digital video recorder.

Toshiba's SD-H400 digital media server offers the convenience of no-fee PVR service with the option for immediate upgrades alongside high-quality, progressive-scan DVD-Video playback--all from a single, easy-to-use component. The SD-H400 houses an 80 GB TiVo Series2 PVR that comes with TiVo Basic service, providing free, limited TiVo features right out of the box, with no subscription fees.

TiVo Basic service offers the ability to control live TV through features like pause, fast forward, rewind, and slow motion playback of live television; three days of electronic program guide; and manual recording capability by time and channel. The SD-H400 is the first device to offer TiVo Basic service.

The SD-H400's DVD-video section is equipped with a 10-bit/54 MHz video digital-to-analog converter for maximum color purity, detail, and resolution. When connected to a television via the unit's ColorStream Pro component-video outputs, you'll be ready to enjoy Toshiba's Digital Cinema Progressive technology with either DVDs or TiVo PVR playback. The SD-H400 can also play formats such as DVD-R, DVD-RW, video CD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3 CDs.

Because the SD-H400 is built on TiVo Series2 technology, you have the ability to upgrade to full TiVo service to enjoy features such as Season Pass (the ability to record every episode of a program no matter when it airs, automatically), WishList (which finds and records programs that feature your favorite actor, director, or genre), Search by Title (which helps you find any show when all you know is its title), 14 days of program guide data, richer recording options, and an easy-to-use scheduling interface. (Full TiVo service costs $12.95 a month or $299 for a lifetime subscription; visit www.TiVo.com for detailed information.)

Another upgrade available to the Toshiba SD-H400 is the TiVo Home Media Option, a premium package of networked home entertainment. This configuration takes full advantage of the SD-H400's capabilities as a digital media server. The Home Media Option--an upgrade available via phone or broadband connection--lets you use the SD-H400's USB port to connect the SD-H400 to your wired or wireless home network and PC.

The Home Media Option adds the following features to the SD-H400: streaming MP3 files and digital photo viewing from a PC or Macintosh for playback through your TV or home-entertainment system, remote scheduling (through which you can schedule TiVo recordings from anywhere you can access the Internet), and connection to another TiVo Series2 PVR within your home (so you can share programs between the two units--for, say, viewing a program in the bedroom that was recorded in the family room, and vice versa).

Product Description

Toshiba SD-H400, High performance progressive scan DVD player and TiVo Digital Video Recorder for a complete one-box solution. Digitally record up to 80 hours of your favorite programs onto built-in hard drive. Super ColorStream Pro® Component Video Output for both DVD and TiVo playback. 10-Bit/54mHz Video digital-to-analog conversion with High Resolution Filter for maximum color purity, detail, and resolution. Front Panel Menu Control offers full DVD/TiVo menu navigation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better TiVo than TiVo!!, March 1, 2004

By 

Beeeil (Unionville, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toshiba SD-H400 Combination Progressive-Scan DVD Player and TiVo Digital Media Server (Electronics)

I wanted something for my wife and me to better manage our TV viewing, yet I'm completely against paying a monthly-fee for recording TV programs. The Toshiba SD-H400 with TiVo Basic turned out to be a perfect product for us, until Media Center PCs go mainstream.

I didn't really need another DVD player at home (we already have 5 other stand-alone DVD players), but if that's the only way to get TiVo Basic service, so be it. Plus, the price I paid for this Toshiba (no rebate) is only (a bit) more than a stand-alone Series 2 TiVo (after rebate). For (the money), I got a progressive-scan DVD player, progressive output for TiVo, AND free life-time subscription to TiVo Basic service. What a bargain.

TiVo Basic Service:
Okay, so I don't get the Season Pass feature. However, once you're set to record a show (say, Friends at 8PM this Thursday), you can navigate to the To-Do list and select that program, and change the recording option to "Repeat this recording". Change it to weekly, then you're all set. The only risk if that if NBC changes the time of Friends to 9 due to say the State of the Union Address, then you'll record 30 minutes worth of a bunch of people clapping at nothing. But that's a risk I'm willing to take.

One feature I don't get with the Basic service is the show search feature. However, we got the TiVo to help with managing the shows that we KNOW we want to watch. With young children, we really don't have time to watch the programs that we didn't want to watch in the first place but are suggested to us. So I won't miss that feature. For new movies we have had Netflix 4-disc service since 2000. You can always navigate using the program guide to set up recording if you want to watch something.

If you visit TiVo forums such as tivocommunity.com, you'll see that other TiVo owners complaining about the fact that you can no longer use TiVo Series 2 for anything, including manual recording, without paying the (monthly) fee. With the Toshiba SD-H400, not only you can use it for manual recording, you have a 3-day program guide available to you over the phone or wireless network.

If the Plus features are important to you, then you can always upgrade to the full TiVo feature for the same fee as a stand-alone Series 2. It goes without saying that we have no intention of upgrading.

To get program guide via wireless network:
My Toshiba came with version 5.1.1 of the TiVo software, but version 5.1.1b is required for the newer version of the Linksys USB Wireless Adapter (v 2.8). It took a few tries to download the new version of the TiVo software. It would have done it over night, but I was impatient and wanted to pull the sw manually. Note that landline is required to get the software upgrade.

To record one channel while watching another:
I can watch a different channel than the one I'm recording because I split my cable signal so that one cable goes to the Toshiba and one goes to the TV. While recording on the Toshiba, I can use the regular TV remote to switch to other channels.

Any cons?
Remote: The Toshiba remote is not as nicely designed as that of the TiVo, which had just been recognized by the NY Times as one piece of industrial design mastery. The Toshiba remote is long and hard to use if you change channel via numeral buttons often.

Wireless adapter: Since the TiVo software it comes with is version 5.1.1, it does not support the newer versions of the Linksys USB wireless adapter (I got a v. 2.8). You will need a landline to download a new TiVo software to upgrade to version 5.1.1b for the Toshiba to recognize your network adapter.

Video extraction or copying: Like the stand-alone TiVo Series 2, there is no easy way of extracting the recorded video from the Toshiba device without opening it up (voiding the warranty) and load some files onto the base Linux operating system. The only other way is to video capture (analog cable to digital to analog to digital again) it back into a PC. Not the most elegant solution.

Upgrade: according to TiVo specialists at Weaknees, it's not simple to upgrade the HD on the Toshiba. You can replace the 80G HD with a larger one, but it will not see beyond the first 80G. Weaknees is working on a solution.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly good, February 20, 2004

By 

DCGeek1 (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba SD-H400 Combination Progressive-Scan DVD Player and TiVo Digital Media Server (Electronics)

My TV cabinet didn't have much room for extra components, so a new Tivo unit was going to be a tight squeeze. That's where the Toshiba DVD/Tivo (or as a friend coined, DVDivo) unit comes in. The DVDivo solves this problem by being rather small and by replacing my existing DVD player.

Not counting the mandatory rewiring of the video and audio cables, the install was mostly a piece of cake. You first setup and configure the box with the phone line (a handy 25' phone cable is included.) That took about 30 minutes. After that, the Tivo was supposed to recognize my Linksys network adapter. It didn't. I had to reconnect with the phone line and spend another 90 minutes downloading (are we there yet?) the 5.1b Tivo software update. After that, the wireless worked A-OK.
During all this update time I could, of course, still watch and pause live TV.

On the downside, I'll admit that the unit is a little noisy. If I'm cruising the Tivo menus without the TV audio on, I do notice the sound of the hard drive actuators softly clicking away. I'm not sure if that noise is specific to the Toshiba design. If so, then I figure it's just a trade-off for having such a small footprint. It's not a major problem for me. Besides any audiophile will already have this issue "covered" with glass component doors.

The other item to consider is the remote. Toshiba, I assume, had to stack extra button on their remote to support the DVD player. This remote works well, except for when you want to use the number buttons the change channels. The placement of these teeny-tiny number buttons (0-9 + Enter) at the bottom of the remote makes me occasionally use two hands to change channels. I hope my thumb gets used to it. Better yet, I hope that Tivo is so good that I'll never have to manually enter channel numbers again.

Despite those two items, I'm very pleased with my purchase. Now all I have to do is decide between Basic and Plus Tivo service.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome!, April 2, 2004

By 

J. D. Moore "Gagdet-head" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba SD-H400 Combination Progressive-Scan DVD Player and TiVo Digital Media Server (Electronics)

Okay, there's a lot of ignorance about this machine in these reviews, so I feel the need to comment. This is my second Tivo, and I am an avowed audio-phile. Do I own $10K worth of AV equipment? No, but then, I do know that you don't have to buy the priciest product from the priciest brand to experience exceptional quality.

First, this is not a simple "home video" compnonent. It is actually a Small Form Factor (SFF) Linux computer, with hard-drive, modem, processor, and RAM. Hence, it does have a fan, as do all computers except that one model of Apple G3 (or was it 4?). As such, it does not ever "power off" completely (nor do most "home video" components). It will often run in the middle of the night, for 2 reasons: first, it is recording shows based on the "Tivo Recommends" function; second, it will generally make its daily call in the middle of the night when you are unlikely to need to use the phone. If you don't want it to be whirring its drives in the middle of the night, turn off the Tivo Recommends feature and you will free yourself from all but about 30 minutes of activity. You can also upgrade to a LAN or WLAN connection to make those daily calls all the faster. Or, like I do, put it in a glass doored entertainment center. I barely hear mine in the dead of night, and it certainly doesn't keep me up in the next room. If you are OCD, maybe you should consider no Tivo at all: they all do it!

As for a noisy DVD player: huh? Even with the glass doors open I can't hear the player running during DVD playback. I'm not sure what some people want from a player, I guess. I mean, a silent tray? Or maybe a DVD drive that can change tracks on the disc (like when it accesses the menu) without repositioning the laser? I mean, come on. That's just silly.

Also, the LAN features on this model do indeed work wonderfully, but no, not right out of the box: you are REQUIRED to make at least one initial phone call. This model registers itself for the Tivo Basic service and downloads the operating system's most recent updates. Please also note that since October, when the review concerning "wireless and broadband not ready for prime time" was posted, Tivo has corrected the compatibility problems with the Linksys WUSB11. You could also use the WUSB12, or several models from Dlink and Netgear that are known to work appropriately. (...) It is a pain that you need to buy an adapter, but I imagine that this model with native WiFi or ethernet would cost an additional $50-$100: less than the price of the adapter, so its probably a wash. But note: if you don't know how to set up a wireless or wired home network, or don't already have one, well, at best you're going to need help with using the Tivo on a LAN. It's still a computer, and you still need to manually adjust some settings. Just get your techy neighbor/son/daughter/nephew/cousin to help. Please also note that you do not need to get the Home Media Otion upgrade in order to put the unit on your LAN and take advantage of your broadband internet connection. That is only for sharing information between Tivos and computers on the LAN.

Which brings us to money. Yes, its expensive. But there are considerations you need to make. First, if you're like me, you already own at least one DVD player. Which you will no longer need. There's a great website for getting rid of high quality, used items. It rhymes with "see-bay." So there's a little less out of pocket. (...) And lastly, once you cancel that Premium service and rely on the basic service, you are saving yourself $155 a year in subscription fees over other Tivo devices. This is indeed the only model of Tivo currently available that offers free service. You can't use other Series2 Tivo's without service anymore, as you could with Series1 DVRs. So if you want Tivo, and you want to buy new, you've got to pay - manual recording is no longer supported. Unless you buy this Toshiba!

Next, picture quality. I have noticed no loss in picture quality at all for live TV since I got this unit, on a 35 inch CRT television. If you follow the correct setup instructions (mine is connected separately to a VCR and AV receiver) and use quality cables, your experience should be no different. I also find that, while the Best Quality setting is indistinguishable from live TV, the High Quality setting is more than clear enough for my needs, and gives the unit 35+ hours of total useable space (as opposed to 24+ using the Best setting).

I really, really, really recommend this unit if you're in the market for Tivo. If you're "just curious," maybe give it a shot. Personally, its the best value out there.