 Toshiba DVR670 |
| Review Date: September 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Steven Downham, Hartford, CT USA |
So far so excellent! Loving the ease in transferring my VHS tapes over to DVD. You beyond doubt want to carefully read directions as you do it the first time or two, but it's very simple.
Have been able to use Depiction in Depiction now since it has the tuner in it so that's been nice.
Only thing I don't like so far as the remote, it's OKAY, but after the poor reviews on the remote for the last model I would have plotting Toshiba would have made it better. Not laid out fantastic, and not backlit. If that's my largest gripe going forwards I'll stay pleased! |
Even better than I probable
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| Review Date: October 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Glazed Over, |
Have used this recorder for three weeks now after the ol' VCR died and it works even better than I had hoped. The digital tuner can pick up all the "clear" local HDTV signals on Cablevision's cable system so now (using a simple splitter) I can record one show at 480p using the DVD while watching another in full HD either via the TV's tuner or via the cable box. Or record any of left over channels non-clear channels using the cable box's S-Video out (the best you can use as external recording input source). The feature of the ensuing tuner recordings (in 2 hour SP mode) is nearly as excellent as the original as seen on a 720p TV (and I am very picky in that accept), and it is surely far better than the VCR side. Plus, the DVD-RW discs are of course re-usable via an erase (or format, as Toshiba calls it). Recording is nearly one-touch; really very convenient. I can't see any reason to record whatever thing on a VHS tape again. This box is a fantastic alternative to the monthly fee for a HD based DVR if you do not need any of the fancy programing and scheduling facial advent that come with such other options.
I bought a set of 10 Sony DVD-RW disks and they work as probable. I can view recordings on my PC and also make DVDs on my PC (in DVD-VR mode only so far, via NeroVision) which are then viewable on this unit. I have not been successful in making AVI movies that the unit is pleased with but after converting such movies (or WMV files etc.) to DVD-VRs I can view them on this unit just fine. It also played mixed folders of JPGs in slideshow format, although if you have many files in a directory any kind of manual navigation gets a small tedious. I have not tried any of the other myriad supported formats yet other than a CD-R music CD which also played as probable.
I tried VCR->DVD recording ("dubbing", as the manual calls it) and it works as probable but the feature is just so much worse than a HDTV tuner->DVD recording but that is just a limitation of the VHS equipment. It did seem that the feature of VCR playback was a small worse than on my ancient 15 or so year ancient Mitsubishi but since the latter died I was not able to do side by side comparisons. But, this unit serves its purpose well of digitizing ancient home movies etc. before the tapes degrade even additional.
The only small negatives are the nearly impracticable to read "gray on black" text on the remote (now who plotting that would be cool?), and the slightly noisy VCR motor or fan (?) that is always on when the unit is powered on.
All in all, I am very impressed with this unit's routine and even the manual is quite legible I plotting and I have had no issues with what I have tried to use it for so far.
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Absolutely fantastic if you can hack it.
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| Review Date: December 16, 2009 |
| Reviewer: William D. Bandes, Roseville CA |
| I just bought 3 more of these, one for each TV in the house. I cannot BELIEVE how excellent this unit is. It is taking my puny narrow-screen cable signals (no other choice here) and pumping them out in gorgeous wide-screen like I have never seen before (owing to an HDMI cable, which you must use for the best results, your TV must have an HDMI input). You can record onto videotape or DVD. You can dub from tape to DVD or DVD to tape. The results are out of this world no matter what you do. BUT this is a complicated machine and you have to have patience, there is a rather long culture curve but WOW, it is worth it. Worth it to get some help from a techie friend if you need it, rather than settle for a touch less. The only "distress" I had was a confusion linking the "On/Off" button and the "Timer Set" button on the remote. I ALWAYS have a pending recording (Monday thru Friday, etc.). IF you have a pending recording, you MUST turn the unit on and off with the "Timer Set" button, or your programs will not record. When I turned the unit off with the "On/Off" button, things got messed up. So I place a tape across the "On/Off" button, and used a mark-maker to place a marker above the "Timer Set" button. Now I use the "Timer Set" button exclusively to turn the unit on and off, and all works like a charm! |
A Pleased CAMPER
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| Review Date: October 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: S. Pochmara, Pennsylvania |
I bought the toshiba dvr670 to replace an earlier model toshiba. Well so far it's fantastic . Im getting fantastic feature recordings,on playback the depiction is very excellent,along with excellent sound and fantastic color rendition.
Setup wasn't to terrible,about the same as my earlier toshiba,minus the hdmi cable.Im so pleased with the dvr670,that i may buy another one everyplace down the road. |
It's A Boat but It's Not the Titanic
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| Review Date: December 15, 2009 |
| Reviewer: NYCM, NYC |
I read the excellent and terrible reviews before buying this since I wanted to be sure what I was getting myself into. My main priorities were ease of use and functionality. Basically, as close to plug and play as possible. Since the overwhelming pointer was clear, I gave it a go and am glad I did. It is simple to use and while you need to read the directions, you won't have to refer to them more than once or twice. The VCR/DVD/DVR functions work equally well-DVR recording is mainly crisp. The remote could probably curriculum a NASA launch but it's also simple to use, with a set of buttons for each gathering. The only downside is that it's quite a monster. We call it the boat but really, a Navy demolisher would be more right. On one hand, it gives you confidence that it's a sturdy piece of gear but on the other hand, you need to make sure that you have some out of sight storage space since if you have a flat screen situation, this isn't visually appealing.
One last thing - I went the HDMI route, with a simple $15 cable from Radio Shack and the images are sound. |
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