Review by Musubi for Toshiba DR570 DVD Recorder with Built in Tuner, Black
Rating:
I’m writing this review after a month of use and the majority of the reviews are spot on. I evaluated recorders from several different manufacturers and decided to go with the Toshiba. I have a Toshiba VHS/DVD player combo as well as a no-frills Toshiba 14″ CRT style TV which have been reliable for a few years now so I was confident this unit would at least meet those standards (I was not disappointed). The metal cabinet feels solid and the DVD tray isn’t flimsy. A flip down door reveals the basic controls (play, stop , forward/reverse, record) as well as front inputs for S-Video, composite video/audio, and a 4-pin IEEE1394 Firewire DV port which you can connect a digital camcorder to.

I first did a test setup by connecting the CATV coax cable to the antenna in and then connecting the DR570 directly to a Sony Bravia LCD via HDMI. Initial setup was straightforward and I let the unit do an autoscan for channels. Scanning for “in the clear” digital channels took awhile (common issue with most QAM tuners) and unsurprisingly, it picked up some channels but not others (the Sony Bravia TV is no different in this regard). My actual setup just uses S-video and audio connections from my digital cable box (I don’t use the built-in tuner).

I used a DVD+RW disc to try some test records with the different quality settings. These settings determine the bit rate (variable bit rate) of the MPEG-2 video stream and what I found is the LP mode (4 hours of recording) offering pretty good overall quality. The only exception is anything with fast action where you will notice a substantial degradation in the clarity during those particular recorded scenes. Both the XP (1 hour) and SP (2 hour) mode will take care of this issue at the expense of being able to record less content on a disc. Both EP (6 hour) and SLP (8 hour) mode offer pretty poor picture quality and are at least for me, unusable.

As others have mentioned, loading a disc can take around a half a minute when either inserting a new disc or powering on the recorder. Rewritable DVD discs need to be formatted first (takes less than half a minute). Recording is quite simple and no different than a VCR. One caveat with many of these DVD recorders is that when you stop recording, you may lose the last few seconds (so I usually just let the recording go for 2-3 extra seconds before pausing or hitting stop). Another note is that unlike video tape where when you hit stop, you can quickly record again, this DVD recorder writes to the disc for around half a minute before you can do any other action. Playback is like any standard VHS or DVD player. If you hit the TOP MENU button on the remote, this will show moving thumbnails of each recording (which Toshiba refers to as “titles”). With rewritable media, there are some rudimentary editing tools which allows you to “remove” scenes (i.e. like say if you want to “delete” commercials). Note that you don’t gain any extra recording time doing this (the only way to do that is deleting that entire title or completely reformatting the disc). The advanced portion of the manual covers this.

Like all DVD recorders, there is a finalization step which allows the DVD disc to be playable on most any other player (like if you are planning to share it with someone else). The DR570 provides an auto finalization setting so that you don’t need to remember to do this once your disc is full.

Programmed recordings is also relatively straightforward and simple. Just like their VCR’s, you need to power-off the unit to place it into standby/programmed recording mode. So far, I haven’t encountered any missed recordings.

As for media, I’ve been using Verbatim DVD-R, DVD+R, and DVD+RW without any problems. I haven’t yet come across any lockup issues with this recorder.

Like many others, the main complaint is the remote and its dark lettering. I’ve since memorized the location of the key buttons which I use but compared to the remotes for my Toshiba television (which has a simple but very nice glow in the dark buttons which are big) and VCR’s, this thing is pretty bad from a usability perspective (this minus one star).

Overall, I’ve been very pleased with this recorder and most of Toshiba’s recent consumer electronics devices. Whereas some other brands look and feel like disposable pieces of junk at this price range, the DR570 doesn’t give that impression and I would definitely recommend this unit to others looking to make the jump from VHS to DVD.

Review by Robert J. Micklas for Toshiba DR570 DVD Recorder with Built in Tuner, Black
Rating:
This product met high expectations. I found it difficult to find a standard DVD player/recorder with a DTV tuner for a price that I was willing to pay. This was a bargain and Amazon made it better with an HDMI cable and free shipping deal. I don’t really need blu-ray for my dvd needs. I require good, clean recording quality but it need not meet HD standards. If conventional pre-recorded dvds become less available in the future, I’m sure I can live with a “player” only. The DTV transition made recording some of my favorite progams, using a converter box, too cumbersome. This device is about as easy to use as current technology permits. Upconvert TV quality is very good, although of course it is not quite HDTV quality. The operator manual is also very good and large as a result of the many features. The only item I struggled with a bit was the Regza/HDMI CEC control interface (information is sparse in both the Toshiba TV and DVD manuals). I would recommend this unit to anyone who can do without surround sound and the best HD recording quality.