Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a review of the Toshiba DR560 Upconverting DVD Recorder with built in high def tuner.
BACKGROUND:
I bought this unit to handle a few needs with one piece of hardware:
1. I wanted a high def tuner for my tuner-less Sharp Aquos 26" LCD TV (purchased in 2007 before the new rule requiring tuners in TVs!)
2. I wanted to be able to take old analog home movie footage and transfer it directly to DVD with no editing. My old VHS tapes were approaching their shelf life limit.
3. I wanted to upconvert standard 480 resolution DVDs to make them look better on the Sharp TV.
SETUP:
The setup of the device was simple. I hate the fact that manufacturers still don't include HDMI cables with hardware that costs this much. So I grumbled for a minute and then purchased an HDMI cable for it (don't get me started on how most electronics stores charge an obscene price for digital cables! I bought one at a large discount retailer). All I had to do was connect the HDMI-out from the Toshiba to the HDMI-in on my high def Sharp. That's it. No audio plugs needed. I like having just a one wire connection.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
For the remote control I don't have many complaints. It does not appear to be capable of controlling my TV - I didn't see anything in the guide about programming other devices. Someone please comment and correct me if I'm wrong on that. The keys are not lighted.
When I first started the player I went through the simple setup prompts. The instructions said I might need to hit the HDMI button on the remote to match up to the display of my TV, but it automatically selected 1080 for me. (there are lighted 480, 720, and 1080 indicators on the player itself, so you can tell what mode it is in) If you are not connected via HDMI then these lights don't function. I initially tried a component video connection and noticed that the resolution selection was not available.
When I first opened the DVD tray I thought I had activated a paper shredder! It is the loudest, oldest sounding motor noise I have ever heard from a DVD player. To me it sounds like it is straining just to open the tray. I hope that holds up long term.
I found the disk read and startup time to be a little long.
SPECIFIC IMPRESSIONS:
UPCONVERTING DVD PLAYER:
I put in a DVD - "Star Wars Attack of the Clones" - to test the upconverting video quality. I was immediately concerned with how loud the motor was in spinning up the DVD. But my worry went away once I hit "play". Once you start playing the movie the motor noise goes away and is very quiet.
To test the upconverting quality I played a scene from the movie on the DVD player, and then switched over and played the same scene on an Xbox 360 connected to the same TV via a component video connection. To my untrained eye the upconverted picture was brighter and had a slightly higher level of detail. So I was satisfied with it.
DVD RECORDER:
I have only used DVD-R recording media. Once I try a DVD+-RW disk I will update this review. But using the DVD-R was very user friendly. You pop in a blank DVD-R disk and the machine has it ready to go in a few seconds. No interaction needed.
I then hooked up a VCR using the RCA video and audio ports (the recorder included RCA and S video cables). There's one set of inputs on the back and one on the front. I used the back ones because it was just as convenient for me.
Before recording I went into the DVD recording options menu and selected it to do automatic 5 minute chapter breaks.
All I had to do what hit play on my VCR and hit record on the DVD recorder. A little red disk of light displays on the panel so that you know it's recording. Going from memory I believe the recording quality options were 1 hour, 2, 4, 6, and 8.
I was able to record successfully from both VHS and a HI-8 Camcorder feeds (both using the RCA jacks).
Once the tape finished I hit stop on the recorder, and it finished writing the recording very quickly (less than one minute for 2 hours of recording). I then had the option to edit the title that appears on the menu, which is not the most intuitive process using the remote control. I had also expected it to create a DVD menu with chapters for every 5 minute break, but it only had one menu selection. When playing back the disk it did skip 5 minutes every time I hit the Chapter+ button.
As a final step I "finalized" the DVD to make it able to play on other DVD players. I tested the disks on a circa 1997 Sony DVD player, and also a 2005 Toshiba. DVDs that I created from VHS played fine on both players, but the DVD I recorded from the Hi-8 tape source would not play correctly on the 1996 DVD player. It played fine on the 2005 player. I still need to test more Hi-8 recordings to see it that was an isolated problem or not.
UPDATE 05/30/08: I think it's just my 1997 Sony DVD player that just can't handle DVD-R media very well. After replaying VHS source and HI-8 source videos, they are both hit or miss as to whether they play correctly. I don't think this will be an issue for most people with newer DVD players.
I still need to test recording from a mini-DV digital source.
HIGH DEF TV TUNER:
I have a large UHF antenna mounted in my attic receiving local HD quality broadcasts (see my other reviews for that). I ran a coaxial cable from that antenna down to the DVD recorder and connected it to the antenna-in port. Then using the same HDMI-out feed to the TV I was able to tune in and watch local digital broadcast stations. I watched the season finale of American Idol on it (David vs David), and the picture quality was excellent. Changing channels does take about 2 seconds, as another reviewer said. That is a little slow, but I am willing to put up with slow channel changing for free high def!
Overall I would rate this DVD Recorder 4 of 5 stars. It certainly does serve the three needs I outlined at the start of this review.
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