Toshiba RD-XS52 DVD Player/Recorder with 160 GB Hard Drive and HDMI Interface

Rating:
Summary: Comparing RD-XS32 with RD-XS-52
Review: Actually I do not have a Toshiba RD-XS52 DVD Recorder, but I do have a Toshiba RD-XS32 DVD Recorder. I am writing this review to point out some of the reasons I will NOT be buying the new, bigger, better (?) Toshiba RD-XS52, but will continue to use my trusty (although I guess some others have had problems with) RD-XS32. The RD-XS32 model supports recording to DVD-RW as well as to DVD-Video and DVD-RAM. I really like this feature and the RD-XS52 doesn't support it. The problem as I see it is that there are very few DVD players out there that support the DVD-RAM format, for instance, my Sony 5-disk DVD Changer/Player. However, my Sony does play DVD-RWs recorded from my RD-XS32 and that's all right with me.

It would be nice to be able to upgrade to the RD-XS52 since I would like the larger HD (160mb in RD-XS52 vs 80mb in RD-XS32). And the HDMI (and HDef resolution) resolutions are very appealing to me, but why oh why did they leave out the DVD-RW support??!!?

Anyway, I just wanted to point out the reasons I won't be upgrading and I hope this helps someone else when trying to make their decision on purchasing a RD-XS52 or not.

Rating:
Summary: I love pausing live TV but it needs a keyboard interface
Review: I bought this device to record tv shows and to transfer my super 8 home movies to DVD. The problem with storing TV shows is labeling what you saved. If you want to store something long term, it is very laborious to label what the show is. If I could plug a keyboard into the unit, labeling would be much faster.

I love pausing live TV and recording shows ad-hoc. Skipping commercials on what I recorded is a breeze with a button that defaults to 30-second skip forward.

I have a lot more to learn on it, but so far I like it. If you want to store lots of TV shows and label them, you'll want a TIVO.

Rating:
Summary: Nice recorder, but one MAJOR flaw...
Review: I've had the Toshiba RD-XS52 recorder for a couple of weeks now. In general it's a nice recorder, but I have the same problem with it that the first reviewer had.

My cable company (Time Warner) uses a Pioneer Voyager digital cable box. The Toshiba supplied three different codes for controlling the Pioneer box but none of them worked. Toshiba customer support recommended trying the codes for Panasonic, General Instrument, and Scientific Atlanta cable boxes. One of the codes for Scientific Atlanta worked, and I was then able to change cable channels with the Toshiba remote. However, it doesn't work flawlessly. It often misses numbers that are entered.

What's worse is that for timed recordings, it does not change to the correct channel. If you tell it to record channel 56, it will send a 5, then a 2 second pause, then a 6 to the cable box. The box receives this as a command to change to channel 5, which it does, then channel 6, so it ends up recording channel 6 in this case. In short, I can't use the Toshiba box to make a timed recording unless I leave the cable box on the same channel that I want recorded. After several calls to Toshiba customer support I was told the same thing as the first reviewer, that the Toshiba unit does not support my cable box. To me that's just plain unacceptable for a $500 dvd recorder, thus the 2 star rating.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Picture Quality, but flawed DVR
Review: Like the prior reviewers, I have a great ambivalence about this unit. On the one hand, it puts out a fanstasitc picture. My signal goes from a digital cable box to this unit, and then out to a 42" plasma EDTV from Sony. In my house, TV has never looked better. Nevertheless, I decided to return the XS52 because its DVR functions are just too cumbersome. currently I rent a DVR from my cable company (COX). The DVR is always on, always recording material to its hard drive. It operates in the background -- of course I can schedule the taping of specific shows as well. The xs52 does not operate in the background. Let's say you're watching a game, and want to get some chips. You have to start the DVR recorder manually. Let's say a commercial comes on, and you want to flip stations for two minutes. You have to manually stop the DVR recorder, and then answer a series of questions about whether you wish to save the recorded material. Two minutes later you go back to the game, and then, again, you have to start the DVR again manually. This is just too cumbersome. I'm willing to take a hit in picture quality in order to have a better DVR experience.

A word of advice about getting this unit to control your cable box. I have a Scientific Atlanta, and had trouble at first. Here's how I got it to work. First, make sure you follow the set up instructions IN THE ORDER they are given in the installation manual. Second, at least for the intial setup, connect your cable box to the xs52 using an RF coaxial cable. After everything is set up you can switch to component or hdmi or whatever.

Rating:
Summary: Greater recorder - easy to use
Review: Recorder gives excellent results and is very easy to use. I haven't needed to use the manual once. Remote is a little complex. Great to record initially on HDD than transfer "keepers" to DVDs. DVD compatible with other manufacturers players. Highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Great player/recorder, but one major short coming.
Review: To make it brief, this has almost everything you could ask for.
Gret picture, "tivo" like functions, DVD recording, etc.
One major problem that Toshiba was unable to help with.
This unit does not work with all Digital cable boxes.
We have digital cable through Cox, using a General Instruments DTS 2000 converter box. While the manual does have the most codes for the General Instruments brands, not one of them would work for the IR Blaster. This means doing timer recordings is out of the question. I tried codes from several other brands for well over 2 hours trying to find a code that would work, but none would. After calling Toshiba's support, I was told that if the codes printed in the manual did not work, then they could not help me. It's a pity, as this disables one of it's main features. Bottom line, if you have a digital cable box, just be aware that it may not work on all models.