Yippee, I can record again, easily!

I bought my Toshiba VR600 DVD recorder/ VCR sometime last year at 6ave.com, for about $140.

I decided to get it after my VCR I had for many years stopped working and I discovered that they no longer sold VCR's. But, I still had tons of VHS tapes I planned to use. All I could find were VCR's with DVD players. I had a dvd player and had no need for another. I thought it would be worth it to spend a little bit more and get a DVD recorder, then I would be able to choose what I wanted to record on and also record some of my VHS tapes to DVD.

I am very happy with the Toshiba VR600. It is very easy to record on whatever you choose VHS or DVD. There is also a dubbing feature that allows you to easily record from VHS to DVD or from DVD to VHS.

Whenever you put in a blank DVD it automatically initializes it and makes it ready to go. To record on DVD is just as simple as you may remember recording onto VHS, just push the record button. One thing to remember though, and it also mentions this in the manual, is that when you want to record on a DVD it takes a second or so to start. A VHS recording will start up pretty much instantly, but with a DVD you have to give it a second. It is best to push record for a DVD just a tiny bit before whatever it is you want to record starts.

There is also a timer feature to let you record automatically one time or on a schedule. It is pretty simple you set the time and date of when the program goes on and off, tell it whether you want to record from the VCR or DVD and tell it if it you want this to be a one time thing or to record the same time daily, weekly, just the weekdays, etc.
My tips: The timer is really easy, but to make sure you don't miss your recording be sure to check what source your machine is using, like mine is L1 (L1, L1s, L2, L2s are your choices) so when I choose the source under the timer I would choose L1. It may sound complicated, but it really isn't. You will see your source on the machine display or it will show TV display sometime.
My second tip is not to forget to hit Timer Rec button on your remote after you are done setting the timer. I remember having to do that on my VCR too. It is one of those simple mistakes that can cause you to sit down to watch your recorded show and find a blank tape or disk.

The DVD has upconverting capabilities, but I do not have a HDTV at this moment, so I cannot comment on how good that feature is. I will update this if I get a new TV.

The playback on both the VCR and the DVD are very good. The recorded DVD's playback very good too, but be careful of what you are recording in reference to what quality you need it in. DVD's, like VHS tapes, have different Video Modes/Recording times, SP, LP, EP. If you are recording a movie onto DVD it is best to use the lowest posible Video Mode, like SP (only 120 min.) otherwise the quality will suffer.
This is not a problem with this machine, this is just a fact of DVD's. Some recordable DVD's even state it on their packaging.

One simple recording feature that I like is called One-touch recording. It allows you to automatically record something for certain amounts of time without setting the timer. It works on the VCR and DVD. If you press the record button once it records like normal. If you press the record button twice it will record for 30 min. then stop. If you press the record button 3 times it will record for an hour then stop automatically. You can press it up to 10 times, each time adding 30 min. and more to the automatic record time. The amount of time you add will display on your screen with each press.

This DVD recorder takes pretty much every DVD you could need it to.
It can play: VHS, DVD-video, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD+R, Audio CD's, Video CD's and CD-R/CD-RW. It can play CD's with MP3's too.

If you want to buy a blank DVD, when you purchase this machine, these are the ones that will record in this unit:
DVD- RAM Ver. 2.0 Ver. 2.1,
DVD-RW Ver. 1.0 Ver. 1.1, Ver. 1.2,
Ver. 1.1 CPRM support, Ver. 1.2 CPRM support
(1 - 16x Speed)
DVD-R Ver. 2.0, Ver. 2.1
(1-16x Speed)
DVD+RW
DVD+R

I called customer service when I first got the unit and the lady I talked to at Toshiba was very nice and helpful. I was just setting it up and asked her on question about the set up and a question about which blank DVD would work. For the question about the blank DVD's she told me which page of the manual I could find a list of types of DVD's and when I asked the question about the set up she offered to stay on the line with me and walk me through the set up, just in case I need help along the way.
I was very impressed with how friendly and helpful she was.

The biggest con for me with this unit is that it takes too long to start up. There have been times when a show I wanted to record is coming on and I realize I don't have the unit on and I turn it on and wait and wait for it to get done starting up and a lot of times miss part of the show, because it took too long.
I think it would be less frustrating if there was some kind of signal or light that showed that it wasn't ready or showed when it was ready.
That is the same complaint with the DVD record feature, where it takes a bit for it to start to record.
It is less frustrating that it takes a bit to record, but more that there is nothing on the display while you are waiting, to show/ acknowledge you pushed anything. The little red rec. light shows up only after it starts recording. So, while you are waiting for it to start nothing shows to acknowledge that you pushed rec. and you may end up thinking you didn't and then push the rec again which will activate the One-touch recording feature.

I will say that a display does pop up on the TV, to show you pushed Rec., but for me to see any of the displays that pop up from the unit on my TV I have to have my TV on AV and I rarely watch my TV on AV unless I am watching a DVD or VHS tape.

I have never had or used a DVD player that didn't take longer to think than I remember VCR's taking. DVD players always seemed to be slow to me.

All in all I think this is a wonderful DVD recorder and VCR combo. I think its pro's far outweigh its cons!