Rating:

The upscaling is nice, but honestly, I can’t see so much of a diference even using a HDMI cable. BTW, you can ONLY up convert if you use this type of cable, it’s not possible otherwise; not even with component video cables.

Another good features is that it’s DivX compatible, so you can save a bunch of .avi movies on a single DVD disc and play them on the big screen effortless; you can even include subtitles!

The only thing I don’t like, is that for some strange reason it DOES NOT record Closed Captions. No matter what input or output you use, the CC get blocked once they enter de unit. I asked Toshiba and they couldn’t help, if you can, please drop me a line. I’m aware is not a big thing for 99% of the viewers, but it is for me.

So there you have it, a great dvd recorder with nice features at a rip off price.

LM

Rating:

One unexpected feature: Hooking up your cable box to the player (which you’d have to do anyway to record TV) allows you to keep watching TV while the DVD loads. If you choose to take a break from the movie, hit stop and the cable comes back instead of a big DVD logo. Good for when a phone call goes a bit longer than expected; don’t keep the family waiting!

However! DVD navigation is SLOW. Just loading a disc gets a progress bar, so having that TV-thru feature comes in handy. Menu to menu navigation is reminiscent of first-gen players. All the Toshiba players I’ve ever had fell short in the speed department, so no biggie.

Also, some Divx files play back jittery, usually those of higher bitrates (like two-disc movies). Most look superb however, and the menu shows full file names for the whole disc. Nice touch compared to other players out there that truncate the names.

Lastly, the thing weighs close to nothing, and anything you sit on top of it heavier than a DVD will most likely fall through its wafer-thin hood. If you have a stack of AV gear, this player goes on top.

None of these issues are a real big deal. I LOVE this thing. Just thought I’d mention the speed/durability in case you’re looking for something for the road. If so, try the LiteOn LVW-5005; that thing’s built like a tank.

Rating:

For those of you who do not know, please remember that you cannot expect the black bars above and below of the widescreen DVD movie to get removed using this upconverter. I was under the impression that an upconverter lets view the picture full screen but that is not true. Only Blue Ray/HD DVD will do that. But hey, still for $140, you get good quality upconversion using D-R400.

I tried recording on one of those cheap GQ DVD RW from Frys and it works fine. The disc preparation is fast enough and does not take forever as my old junk Lite-On DVD recorder used to. This DVD recorder did not complain for a particular branded DVD. The TV program recording was of very good quality.

I have a HD receiver and its HDMI input cannot be given to D-R400. You have to give an S Video or RCA input and record the program and when you are watching the replayed DVD, you see the upconvered quality at 1080p.

One disappointing thing is that there is no HDMI cable in the box. Circuit city and other retail stores sell those monster HDMI cable for $89. What a rip off! But you should be able to find a good HDMI cable under $10 on various sites.

Overall, I would say this is a great value for money!

Rating:

I am impressed with the features/performance of this recorder for $140.00!!! For this small amount of money you get a DVD recorder that up-converts to 1080p. It’s a steal! I have played many different DVDs burned by at least five different machines as well as computer DVD burners, and I have not had a single problem. In fact, I can now watch several DVDs that I couldn’t watch on my old DVD player!

(Keep in mind that this is my first DVD recorder)

Something that surprised me in a good way… When writing to a DVD +R/+RW and -R/-RW if you select “Auto Finalize” this makes the DVD viewable on other machines. On a computer when you “finalize” or “close” the disc (DVD) you cannot write to it again. This is not the case with this recorder. With this Toshiba when you finalize after your recording you can still go back and record something else until the DVD is full. What this means is you don’t waste a ‘full’ DVD on a 1/2 hour show. This is a GREAT feature. Another thing is that when you load the menu to select your recording, each recording (thumbnail) is showed on the screen. If you click on any of them you get a full video preview of what’s recorded. Why is this cool? Let’s say you record seven different shows but you can’t remember what order you recorded them in, and, you want to watch a particular show. How are you going to find it? The menu lets you look at every recording so you can choose the one you want.

Things I like:

- Highly compatible with DVDs burned by other machines

I have not found a DVD I can’t watch yet

- Very easy one touch recording

Hit the button and it does the rest

- Very easy menu creating (auto if you like) and editing

Let’s you create and edit your own menus or let it do it for you

- Commercial skip 30, 60, 90, 120 seconds

Very nice for when you record TV shows, just hit the button and say good-bye to the commercials

- Pause live TV, Chasing Playback DVD -RW (go back to the beginning of the show you are watching while it’s still recording)

Pretty cool feature for when you get a phone call and don’t want to miss anything (just like a DVR)

- Auto finalize feature

Select this and it will finalize (close the disc) after everything you record

- Use the same DVD 1000 times DVD -RW, just format it and record away

You will NEVER use a VCR again

There is nothing I don’t like… >;-)

Honestly, for the money, you could easily spend $140.00 for a DVD “player” with up-convert. With this unit you also get a DVD “recorder”.