Toshiba DVR660 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD Recorder with Built-in Tuner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have a Samsung digital TV (1080p), and with my new Toshiba DVR660 and an HDMI cable, I can turn HD programming into sharp DVD's that appear to match my 1080p picture pixel for pixel. (In actuality, the DVR660 records it to 480p and then upconverts it back to 1080p.) By the way, I get all my programming from a portable antenna, and the DVD recorder has an excellent HD tuner.
The VCR is adequate, giving me the same picture quality as the SONY which preceeded it. After seeing how easy it was to make a DVD recording, and how fabulous the results, I realized that I would never make a VCR recording again. It did an excellent job dubbing a VCR tape to a DVD.
Although I am not a computer programmer like the "Man from Happy Rock", who found it so difficult to use, I found that the machine was not so difficult to use at all, as long as you followed the instructions. One of the major complaints from Mr. Happy Rock was that the machine turns itself off after you use the "set timer" button. My brother, who IS a computer programmer, said that his Magnavox also turns itself off when you use the "set timer" function and that they all do this. He also said it took him 2 years to master his Magnavox!
I did have a couple questions the first day, and I called the Toshiba telephone number given for DVD recorders. My call was answered by a real person with an American accent within 30 seconds. She answered all my questions easily.
Before I purchased this recorder, I spent hours reading and re-reading the reviews for like products made by Sony, Samsung, Panisonic, JVC, Philips, etc. All the other products seemed to have fatal flaws, so I made the decision for Toshiba. I'm glad I did.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Toshiba DVR660 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD Recorder with Built-in Tuner

DVD Recorder/VCR Combo with 1080p Upconversion with Built-in Digital Tuner

Buy cheap Toshiba DVR660 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD Recorder with Built-in Tuner now.

Sony RDR-VX560 1080p Tunerless DVD Recorder/VHS Combo Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Finally, a DVD Recorder and VHS combination unit that allows you to view DVD and your old VHS through your HDMI connection. That's right, you read that correctly. One of the biggest drawbacks of earlier upscaling machines from a variety of manufacturers was that you STILL had to use primitive S or RCA cables to output VHS images onto your HDTV.
Like many folks, I still have a large collection of movies on VHS (for some films, it remains the only version in print), but I was not going to buy another VCR unless I could really view them on my Samsung HDTV. Some VCRs connect with component cables, but cost as much (if not more) than this combo unit, which is so feature laden that I'm glad I waited.
The upconversion is very impressive so far for both DVD and factory VHS releases (lets face it, grainy home recorded VHS copies of TV programs will never look sharp at 1080p, so keep that in mind) and the controls are no more complicated than the average machine (which, may in itself be a problem for some already).
I have yet to fully utilize all the features, including the use of my Sony HD digital camera or camcorder, but those were secondary parts of the purchase. For me, the fact that I can now view my VHS library (and non-Blue Ray DVD library) on my HDTV through HDMI with such impressive image quality is more than enough to satisfy me.
If you are in the market for a combo unit to use with your HDTV, then this may finally be what you and I have been waiting for. Stellar product.
Why 4 stars? Well, I've only had the product a week, so it is too early to throw a 5th star onto the score, but it certainly merits 4 right out of the box.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony RDR-VX560 1080p Tunerless DVD Recorder/VHS Combo Player

Sony's new DVD Recorder/VCR - Just what your cable box ordered. Save your favorite TV shows, archive old VHS tapes, even burn photos and personal video from Sony USB based camcorders and digital cameras The RDR-VX560 brings the ability to record your content to DVD to your living room. Do you have old VHS tapes lying around? Well, now you can save space and make them last by burning them onto a DVD. The RDR-VX560 brings ease of use with One Touch dubbing from VHS to DVD, or even from DVD to VHS. It couldn't be simpler.

Buy cheap Sony RDR-VX560 1080p Tunerless DVD Recorder/VHS Combo Player now.

Panasonic DMR-EZ47V Up-Converting 1080p DVD-Recorder/VCR Combo with Built In Tuner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My setup: HD antenna directly into the Panasonic's coax input, then connected via HDMI, coax and component cables to the back of my LCD panel (a Sharp LC37D62U, a 1080P panel with HDMI inputs).
The tuner in the Panasonic unit, while capable of receiving HD signals, cannot output a full HD signal, but only 480P. If you are looking for a unit to act as a full-on HD tuner, this unit is not for you, but if your TV already has an HD tuner, then this unit offers some cool features. Before I start though, I want to point out that the unit does "pass" a full HD signal - that is, when using my TV's own tuner with the Panasonic set to "TV" (on the "TV/VCR" selection), the TV receives a pass-through of the HD signal coming in over the air to the Panasonic. Other descriptions of this unit had me believing that it would pass-through a 480P signal, but this is fortunately not the case.
Cool Feature #1: Recording HD TV shows over the air. This is one of the first of a new generation of DVD recorders that can record an HD signal onto a DVD disc (although only at the lower 480P resolution). Despite the lower resolution, the picture looks great, obviously not full HD but far better than analog TV. I have recorded "Lost" and "House" and both shows look pretty good. While the unit appears to be able to record on every DVD format known, DVD-RAM format provides some advantages. Using a DVD-RAM disc and the HDMI connection to the TV, the TV switches automatically to a full wide screen picture. Setting the unit on its LP recording mode, I can record 4 hours of HD programs on one disc, and the sound is great.
Cool Feature #2: Chase play. After starting a program recording, you can start watching the recorded program before the entire recording is complete - skipping past commercials and so on until you catch up to the "live" point in the recording. This works only with DVD-RAM discs, but is pretty nifty. By the way, the DVD-RAM discs can (according to the Panasonic manual) be re-recorded up to 100,000 times, so they are ALMOST like having a hard drive in the unit.
Cool Feature #3: Disc navigator. This allows you to see all the programs recorded on a DVD disc on a single screen - you can then use this to select which recorded program you want to watch. Nifty! No more hunting through VCR tapes for the program you recorded you can't remember when...
The VCR output is also fine (although obviously much less impressive that the DVD output). I can't comment on its ability to output upscaled 1080P as compared to other DVD units with a similar feature, but the outlook looks pretty darn good to me, no noticable "jaggies".
Complaints: The auto-channel setup missed one of my local HD stations, instead tuning a secondary station being broadcast on the same signal. Annoying! There appears to be no way to manually select which channels are tuned by the unit. I have been meaning to call Panasonic about this, but haven't gotten around to it. Also, long-ish startup time (like 15 seconds). Sometimes the DVD output seems a little washed out, but this can be taken care of by re-adjusting the TV's color settings. Having to turn the unit off in order to have it launch a scheduled recording.
Overall, quite happy with the performance.
FYI, the first unit I bought (from Amazon) arrived DOA, but they were great about returning it and I had a new unit two days later. They even paid for the shipping to return the first unit. Nice!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Panasonic DMR-EZ47V Up-Converting 1080p DVD-Recorder/VCR Combo with Built In Tuner

DVD/VCR/SD Card Recorder, With ATSC Digital Tuner,1080P HDMI Upconversaion DV Input

Buy cheap Panasonic DMR-EZ47V Up-Converting 1080p DVD-Recorder/VCR Combo with Built In Tuner now.

Toshiba DR410 1080p Upconverting Tunerless DVD Recorder Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)We have had the recorder about three weeks. I am over 50 and completely new to video recording although considered the techno-twit in the family. The main reason we bought a recorder is because we have about a hundred Hi8 two hour tapes of our family adventures around the world some of which are 20 years old, and I needed to transfer them before they turned to dust! The reason we picked this unit were the price and the reviews on several websites. I had bought computer software and hardware back in 2000 and found it quirky,unreliable, poor quality and agonizingly slow to render. I gave up for a few years and decided to wait for the right standalone recorder. I had considered sending them off to be transferred, but that was rather expensive and might disappoint.Setup and playback:
Set up with the HDMI cable to my 52" 1080p LCD TV was a breeze. Upconverting to 1080p with regular DVDs is superb! A very noticeable improvement over my regular player. Subtle details and colors we never noticed before seemed to jump out at us. The manual and menus were about what I expected with a new technology to learn. The manual is adequate, better than Sony manuals. The menus were confusing until I experimented a bit and looked up some terms online. I am still learning them.
Recording:
I set up my old Sony Hi8 camcorder to it with the S-video and audio RCA cables. We have a Sony Hi8 standalone VCR that needs repair thus using the camcorder for tape playback. I setup my first DVD+r recording for two hour SP mode and nothing! A coaster! But it showed by the color change on the back that it recorded , just no video on it. After reading the reviews that said they got nothing but coasters I began to hope that it was just a beginners mistake and read the manual again. After playing with the menus I realized that I might have not selected the right input. Got it set and tried again. Voila! It not only recorded but the combination of the superior Hi8 source, and this recorder and the image and sound quality were fantastic! Hi8 records in PCM sound so the audio was perfect!
I immediately tried it in my Sony dvd player because I read several reviews that said it produced DVDs that were only playable in that machine. Sure enough it would not play in it. So I tried it in all three of my computers in my home network, two desktops and a laptop. It only played back in one of them.
I double checked the menus on the recorder and I sure enough had it set to auto finalize when full or with the timer??????
So I hit the manual again and it dawned on me that perhaps it only would auto finalize when the DVD could hold no more, or when a timer was set. It has been my experience with CDr data and music recording that once you remove the media nothing more can be done to it. But just to try I took the recorded DVD and popped it back into the recorder and manually finalized it. It worked!!!!! I learned that I have to finalize every DVD, it would only finalize automatically, under those two specific conditions, full or on timer.
Now the same DVD that I took out and would not play in but one other computer played perfectly in the Sony player and all computers I tried it on. I even took it to work and played it on our five workstations and the network server I administer, and perfect playback on all!
I suspect the folks producing coasters and incompatible DVDs did not RTFD (Read The Freakin' Directions!)
Last week Office Depot had a sale on 100 pack Memorex DVD spindles for 24 bucks. I bought one to experiment with the features I am still not clear on. It appears that even with a DVD-r or +r I can pause and resume without losing the recording thus being able to edit out manually in real time things I don't want to keep. I haven't even gotten into title and chapters, I just set it to auto set chapters every ten minutes, so I can easily find specific items to view quickly. I have a catalogue of every tape and they are numbered, and I just have to revise the content from feet of tape to chapters as I transfer them in the word document I have them listed in as the numbers will remain the same for each DVD.
I give it 5 stars because all technology manuals are terrible and adequate is the best I can expect. As well, the menus will take some experimenting just like the first time using any new technology or software.
This is an excellent recorder with lots of hidden features and capabilities. If you RTFD and play with it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Toshiba DR410 1080p Upconverting Tunerless DVD Recorder

DVD Recorder with 1080p Upconversion

Buy cheap Toshiba DR410 1080p Upconverting Tunerless DVD Recorder now.

Toshiba DKR40 DVD Recorder with 1080p Upconversion Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I got this for the purpose of digitizing my old VHS Home Videos at the same time I'm looking for something to improve my DVD viewing thru upconvert. I have a 6-yr old Sony projection HDTV with DVI and component video input @720p/1080i. I bought an HDMI-to-DVI cable since this unit will upconvert only at 480p when used with component video cable. But then upon my initial setup I was disappointed with the contrast/color running at 720p/1080i that my old DVD player displays even better. I found that with the converter cable, it only renders in RGB and not as PyPbPr signals. As I dig more time on discovering the setup options, I have found that the factory defaults have the progressive scanning turned off and the HDMI RGB is not in enhanced color mode. Once I had corrected this, I got an excellent viewing of my sci-fi movies. I did set to 720p which gives better picture/clarity than the interlaced 1080i.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Toshiba DKR40 DVD Recorder with 1080p Upconversion

The DKR40 is an excellent solution for archiving your favorite home movies to DVD. That's not all; the DKR40 also enhances your DVD collection with 1080p upconversion to near HD picture quality via HDMI. Video Upconversion via HDMI 720p/1080i/1080p One Touch Recording* Multi-Format Recording and Playback*** Progressive Out Video DAC -10-bit/54 MHz Digital Photo Viewer (JPEG) Y/C Separation Audio DAC 192kHz/24bit MP3,WMA Dolby Digital Recording (2-Ch) L-PCM Recording XP mode only 3-D Vi

Buy cheap Toshiba DKR40 DVD Recorder with 1080p Upconversion now.

USB ATSC/QAM Digital Cable HDTV Tuner For Laptop and Desktop/Digital Video Recorder Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)USB ATSC/QAM Digital Cable HDTV Tuner For Laptop and Desktop/Digital Video Recorder
Good idea with this product, decent design, the software is really slow and could use some work (computer is brand new and does everything else very fast) the remote that came with it does not work at all, but you can use the on-screen buttons just as easily. The antenna that comes with it seems to work ok but i tried a larger self powered antenna on it and all i got was static on every tv station, havent tried the cable settings yet, the FM radio works, just be sure you close the program out completely before unplugging this unit from the USB port, or it will cause ur system to crash about 1/4 of the time and freeze up the other 3/4 of the time.. all in all, i will continue to use it until it no longer works but i wont buy another one or recomend it to friends

Click Here to see more reviews about: USB ATSC/QAM Digital Cable HDTV Tuner For Laptop and Desktop/Digital Video Recorder

U6012A is the latest generation hybrid USB HDTV tuner for your laptop and PC. It integrates multiple tuners supporting following: Digital Cable (Clear QAM), ATSC free-over-air HDTV, traditional NTSC TV, and digital FM radio. You can enjoy the crystal clear HDTV with resolution up to 1920 × 1080i. With its bundled player software Total Media from Arcsoft, your viewing experience is like a breeze. The player software also offers personal video recorder, picture viewer, music and DVD player capabilities. A fully functioning remote control is also supported. Features: * Supports HDTV for ATSC (US/Canada/Mexico format), Analog TV for NTSC * Watch free Digital HDTV on PC * Supports up to 1920x1080i(HDTV) * Supports FM Radio * Very easy to use interface (Arcsoft's Total Media) * Support Electronic Program Guide(EPG) * Fully functioning remote control * Scheduled recording of your favorite show for later viewing * Support still image capture in BMP or JPEG format * Support multiple inputs (RCA and S-Video) for capturing external videos in DVD format (MPEG)Specifications:Input : 75 Ohm PAL-NTSC ConnectorClear QAM TunerFully ATSC 8VSB CompliantInput Signal Level (Channel power) : 0 to -75dBm 0 to -75dBmTuner Input Frequency Range: 48.25-863.25 MhzFM: 88 - 108MHzExternal Connectors: PAL-NTSC F Type FemaleIF Frequency: 44MHzSystem Requirements:Microsoft Windows XP/VistaP4 2.4 GHz and above, or AMD equivalent512MB RAM or aboveVideo card 128MB for HDTV and 64MB for SDTVUSB 2.0 CompatibleMicrosoft Direct X9.0 or aboveMicrosoft media Player 9.0 or aboveUHF/VHF Antenna for ATSC Terrestrial TV (A small bonus indoor antenna is included for strong signals) orCable TV for Clear QAM HDTV/NTSC broadcastingPackage Contents:Geniatech U6012AInfrared Remote Control Mini RF to F connector converterMini AntennaMultifunction CableSoftware CD (Driver and Total Media 3.5)* One year standard manufacturer warranty.

Buy cheap USB ATSC/QAM Digital Cable HDTV Tuner For Laptop and Desktop/Digital Video Recorder now.

Samsung DVD-VR357 Tunerless DVD Recorder and VCR Combo Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Having had three combos in the last 5 years I decided to try a number of them at the same time and then return the worst of them - because as many would agree, what I actually want is just not available.
In comparison to Toshiba 650, LG 797, Sony 555 (these are the ones I have tried so far), this one is the cheapest, by a significant amount of money and better than all of the others in one way or another. The LG797 is best but it is so sensitive to copyright there are TV shows (Mad Men on AMC), even cartoons (Stuart Little), Sometimes even Lifetime Movies that it will not record from a DVR or straight from Satellite. Samsung is not sensitive.
Samsung has three drawbacks that are almost dealbreakers - except that the other combos are so much worse in so many areas- not enough connections and it is slower than the others in editing features. It records RAM but not Double Layer discs. I have never had a combo that records RAM or DL until now so I would like it to record both like the LG does.
If you research all of your components and maybe even get an adapter when needed, the hookups is no problem. The speed for deleting a portion of a dvd or dividing, is slower than the others. Since I do lots of dividing and deleting on my +RW's, this would normally be enough to send it back. But it beats the others in so many other areas, it's still close to the best.
I have been transferring 24 hours a day from VHS to DVD or DVR to DVD and it has only frozen once (the others have several times). It is not sensitive to copyright so I can tape a movie and watch it later. I only make dvd's for myself to watch and I pay for the tv stations so I should be able to watch them and Samsung gives me that opportunity at my convenience.
The video quality from VHS to DVD or DVR to DVD is ridiculously better than the Toshiba and the Sony (Both over $240 each). It records every format it claims to record (unlike Panasonic which has great difficulty with +R and +RW). I am a +RW fan - if you haven't tried it because you think it is no different than -RW - you are sorely mistaken. Not having to finalize and "make compatible" or unfinalize to add something saves time and the discs still play on all of my DVD players. Not to mention more editing ability and reusing the beginning of the disc while there are shows still on the end (I have not figured this out on the Samsung yet - my previous LiteOn's did this quite easily and from all the features with +RW Samsung allows, I think it will do this also). I have used 8 different brands of DVD's (and have tried +R/+RW/-R/-RW/RAM and every single one has recorded and played back without a problem. From high end discs down to office depot generics. This is rare. In +RW mode it has the lovely feature called "Divide" also available on Sony and LG (not Toshiba). If you are transferring or recording and you let it run long or fall asleep you can divide at the end of your show and delete the part you don't want. You can do this with all the commercials also if you wanted to take the time. You get to use variable recording speed so if you are recording in SP but the last show you are adding to the disc is a bit longer, you can record the last show in LP so it fits. When you press Record mode to set SP SLP etc, it shows on the screen how much time you would have left on the disc for recording if you used that speed. So you don't have to open up the title list or figure it out yourself. There is much more and as I continue to use the Samsung, if there is anything important, I will add to my review. This combo is not perfect - there are more things I would change if the DVD makers would let me creat my own machine with every feature I want but so far this is surprisingly better than the Sony or Toshiba and beats the LG if you tend to record show or movies to watch on DVD later. I need two combos and this is good enough that if I can't find something that has the LG797 positives and the Samsung's positives - I will actually buy another one. I am very picky with my media and especially because the combos out there generally do not do what they say they do and that's heartbreaking when you are spending anywhere from $170 - $400. My three others were Liteon's and JVC and all three broke in less than 3 years.
IF you have right hookups and this combo has the features you are looking for, I can certainly say, it is excellent compared to the others I have tried.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung DVD-VR357 Tunerless DVD Recorder and VCR Combo

HDMI / Easy Record / Component Video / Composite

Buy cheap Samsung DVD-VR357 Tunerless DVD Recorder and VCR Combo now.