Toshiba RD-XS32 Progressive-Scan DVD Player/Recorder with 80 GB Hard Drive
Best DVR/DVD-recorder in its price range.
Not to be overly harsh with the reviewers who found this product too difficult to learn, but the RD-XS32 is not for the tame of mind.  This is not a dumbed-down piece of consumer electronics.  You will need to read the manual, which, truth to tell, could have been better written.  You will also need a modicum of analytical intelligence.  If you have yet to figure out all of the intricacies of your VCR, this product is not for you.<br /><br />This unit has a hard drive, which realistically records about 35 to 40 hours at a decent-quality recording (say, 4.0 to 4.6 mbps for us folks with non-HD televisions).  A hard drive is essential for a DVD recorder; aside from not having to worry if your disc has enough space, it allows much more freedom in the way of editing and re-dubbing.  Hard drive units also allow time-slip capability (i.e. pausing live programming); although DVD-RAM can also serve in a time-slip capacity.<br /><br />The RD-XS32 records to discs in three formats: DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM.  To my knowledge, this is the only unit in its price range with that kind of versatility.<br /><br />DVD-R and DVD-RW (not to be confused with DVD+R, DVD+RW) are fairly commonplace formats.  DVD-R is for permanent, write-once recordings.  DVD-RW is re-writable, recommended for temporary recordings.  Both need to be \\"finalized\\" before they can be played in other DVD players.  DVD-RW blank discs are about twice as expensive as DVD-R discs.<br /><br />DVD-RAM disc format is more like a miniature hard drive, and provides similar functionality.  If your hard drive is full, it's nice to have DVD-RAM.  You have a choice as to whether  to use cartridge-type DVD-RAM or cartridge-less.  The cartridge is protect the disc from damage; however, decent-quality cartridge-less will have a protective coating on them to provide some measure of protection.  I prefer the cartridge variety because I think they look cool.<br /><br />DVD-RAM allows more re-writes than DVD-RW.  For this reason, I typically use DVD-RAM for short-term temporary storage and DVD-RW for long-term temporary storage.  DVD-RAM costs about twice as much or more as DVD-RW; shopping around is well worth it.<br /><br />This unit will not record well on all brands of blank media.  You shouldn't expect any DVD recorder to be able to do that.  For DVD-R, Taiyo-Yuden (which Amazon does not sell, but should) is recommended; Panasonic and Maxell also work.  DVD-RW: Victor/JVC is recommended; Maxell also works, and I suspect Panasonic would, too.  DVD-RAM:  Panasonic is recommended;  Emtec (BASF) also works.<br /><br />Results with Fuji are mixed.  Stay away from Memorex.  TDK may also be an unwise choice, although I can't say that with absolute certainty.<br /><br />This unit is very good with timer recordings.  Many other recorders in this price range have a paltry 8-event timer.  This model features a 32-event timer.  Timings can be set for a specific date up to 2 months out, for every day, for every [day of the week], for Mon - Sat, for Mon - Fri, or for Mon - Thu.  The timed recording menu will list the events in chronological order, beginning with the events closest to the current day/time.  Events may be deactivated without erasing them.  You may provide a title to be assigned to each event recording.<br /><br />Many DVD recorders in this price range limit the variability of the video bit-rate setting to a few pre-defined settings.  The RD-SX32 has 2 pre-defined settings, and 3 manual settings which may be set anywhere from 1.4 to 9.2.  The higher the bit-rate, the higher the quality (keeping in mind the quality can never surpass that of the source material) and the more disc-space used.  I use 4.6 or higher for fast-paced shows and animations.  I use 2.2 to 4.0 for slower-paced shows or lower-quality source material.  When in doubt, and you have the space, use a higher bit-rate; you can always re-encode at a lower bit-rate later, but you can't do the reverse and expect the quality to improve.  (A warning, though:  rate-conversion dubbing is done at a speed of 1x; basically the program replays at normal speed and re-encodes it at the new bit-rate; chapter marks and thumbnail images will be lost.)<br /><br />The black-level bug is a real phenomenon, but a minor one, in my opinion.  To explain:  American-compatible VCRs (and DVD players) add brightness in their output to TV sets.  This unit fails to subtract that brightness when recording from a VCR; therefore, when played back on a DVD player (which adds its own brightness), the video will appear overly bright.  Oddly, this will occur only when played on other DVD players, not the RD-XS32; so it appears that Toshiba knows about the problem and decided to work-around it rather than fix it.  Points off for that.  However, enabling the \\"enhanced black level\\" on your DVD player should compensate for the problem.  As the technology matures and becomes more affordable, I would imagine future DVD recorders will be able to re-encode and adjust the brightness for any DVDs you create that are affected.<br /><br />The remote control is somewhat poorly designed, as are practically all remote controls.  Over a quarter of a century making remote controls, and they haven't figured out back-lighting is a requirement?  And the flip-open panel-- very irritating.  Fortunately, there are multiple ways to do things with this recorder, so you can learn to do things so that you don't have to open it very often.<br /><br />The only other problem I have with this unit is the lack of precision in placing chapter marks.  After placing chapter marks at the precise location desired and recording the title to DVD, the chapter marks may be off a few frames.  You can learn to kind of compensate for it, but it is annoying.  I suspect more precision is available on high-end recorders, but I'm not willing to pay the extra bucks.<br /><br />I am still discovering all of the RD-XS32's capabilities.  For instance, today I discovered that there is a variable bit-rate mode mode of recording, and that there appears to be a way to customize DVD menus with images from recorded programs.<br /><br />All in all, the RD-XS32 is-- hands down-- the best DVR/DVD-recorder currently available in this price range.pect the quality to improve.  (A warning, though:  rate-conversion dubbing is done at a speed of 1x; basically the program replays at normal speed and re-encodes it at the new bit-rate; chapter marks and thumbnail images will be lost.) <br /> <br />The black-level bug is a real phenomenon, but a minor one, in my opinion.  To explain:  American-compatible VCRs (and DVD players) add brightness in their output to TV sets.  This unit fails to subtract that brightness when recording from a VCR; therefore, when played back on a DVD player (which adds its own brightness), the video will appear overly bright.  Oddly, this will occur only when played on other DVD players, not the RD-XS32; so it appears that Toshiba knows about the problem and decided to work-around it rather than fix it.  Points off for that.  However, enabling the \\"enhanced black level\\" on your DVD player should compensate for the problem.  As the technology matures and becomes more affordable, I would imagine future DVD recorders will be able to re-encode and adjust the brightness for any DVDs you create that are affected. <br /> <br />The remote control is somewhat poorly designed, as are practically all remote controls.  Over a quarter of a century making remote controls, and they haven't figured out back-lighting is a requirement?  And the flip-open panel-- very irritating.  Fortunately, there are multiple ways to do things with this recorder, so you can learn to do things so that you don't have to open it very often. <br /> <br />The only other problem I have with this unit is the lack of precision in placing chapter marks.  After placing chapter marks at the precise location desired and recording the title to DVD, the chapter marks may be off a few frames.  You can learn to kind of compensate for it, but it is annoying.  I suspect more precision is available on high-end recorders, but I'm not willing to pay the extra bucks. <br /> <br />I am still discovering all of the RD-XS32's capabilities.  For instance, today I discovered that there is a variable bit-rate mode mode of recording, and that there appears to be a way to customize DVD menus with images from recorded programs. <br /> <br />All in all, the RD-XS32 is-- hands down-- the best DVR/DVD-recorder currently available in this price range.