Customer Reviews
On its way to becoming a cult item among video techies 
2007-04-24
The Toshiba RD-XS32 does have its idiosyncrasies, and does require patience as it sometimes balks, but for all-round functions like chapter editing to combine parts of recordings, or to get rid of commercials or other unwanted material---it ROCKS! I've had mine for about a year and have burned hundreds of dvds of sports events, History and Discovery channel programs, Turner Classic Movies, you name it. Unlike Tivo (although it has a Tivo function as well), you can make multiple copies of dvds to share with family and friends. Editing and compiling your material to burn to disc is much faster and easier than using computer programs such as Nero (although I use the excellent Nero as well and am pleased with that). One tip: The dvds are formatted slightly differently from commercials dvds, so when you burn, make sure to set chapters of ten minutes or less, for easier navigation from the main menu. We have a Toshiba dvd player that plays them with all the functions of commercial dvds, but other dvd players may not "fast forward" more than 2X, and may not reverse. On the computer the dvds have every available control function, though, so your friends may prefer to play them using a laptop.
My husband will be on a remote Pacific island on a scientific project this summer---with no tv reception. I am burning dozens of discs of favorite programs for him to take.
These RD-XS32s are getting harder to find, so if you have an opportunity, grab one!
Toshiba RD-XS32 bought a little over 2 yrs back at Best Buy. 
2007-01-05
This is a great machine once you get used to it. It does have some flaws - but the postives outweigh the negatives if you have a home entertainment system especially, big screen TV, etc. I bought this unit open box for half price at Best Buy a little over a couple of years back. like I said, it does have issues. I had to request a software upgrade about a year ago from Toshiba so it would be more compatible with a larger variety of recording mediums. It is still picky about what it records on, and you must obey what the manual says, otherwise there will be no recording. sometimes, when I am playing a commerically bought dvd it sticks,midway through the movie I am watching and says "check the disc, it may be damaged, or needs to be cleaned." lately this happens about 1-2 times a month. I have to go to a cheaper dvd player in the house, to watch the movie. so - a big problem here. The reasons I keep it are: high speed dubbing (even higher machines by Pioneer do not offer this feature), can cut out commercials on hard drive recorded content before dvd burning (can't do this on the Pioneer DVR 57H - which is way higher). Things I'd change if I could about it, would be that it would load a dvd faster, and accept a larger variety of recording speed discs, and that it wouldn't hang up in the middle of movies that I am watching. Otherwise, great machine if you like the features it offers for recording. I have considered sending it back to Toshiba to look at/repair, but will wait to see how it runs over the next few months. I've looked at other machines on the market now, and can't find anything that I'd consider is comparable in features I like to this one.
Excellent unit - a little confusing to operate 2006-04-01
The on-disk editing and high speed dubbing to DVD are great features.
Video quality is super. I was concerned about the compatibility of the copied DVD with another DVD player. It plays with no problems on my standard DVD player and the video looks great.
My only complaint is that the remote control has several control buttons for editing menu, quick menu, easy navigate etc. I would prefer that they consolidate the features into fewer buttons so it's not so hard to remember which button to press for the option I want.
The unit has so many features, I should have realized I could not just start operating the remote control intuitively. The manual is somewhat helpful but it still takes patience and experimentation to learn how to operate the unit.
I mainly got the unit to be able to edit videos and remove commercials before copying to DVD. This unit still requires several steps to complete the full process, but overall is much easier and quicker than using a PC and editing software to do the edits and copies.
Toshiba has done a good job/price 2005-11-26
Pro I use this machine Hard drive as a surviellance recording, copy TV shows as well as copy VHS. This machine has been performing up to exceptation.
Cons. When I first received the recorder, I could not use the DVD recorder, I had to send the recorder back on my dime. Otherwise, I have had success for the price
Extremely Happy with this one 2005-04-14
I've had this RD-XS32 for almost 5-months now, and I'm still totally thrilled with this purchase. I'm a computer-geek, having ripped/edited video and DVD on a PC for a few years proved good background training for this unit (it basically feels like a PC, not a VCR). For newbies, this has all the same basic functions as a VCR. But, for people who want to do some serious video editing (chaptering and removing unwanted scenes) this thing rocks.
Downsides to this include a manual an inch-thick and a multi-function menu-system with a zillion options. Also, don't buy this if your TV doesn't have video-inputs (this only has coax throughput, there's no RF-modulator for channel 3/4). But, for those willing to learn, you can make this do some really cool things! I dropped-down my record quality for most-everything TV-related I record (1.4MB/s), and I had something like 85-hours of programs recorded on it before it started yelling at me (and the quality was fine). The "timeslip" chase playback is useful (play back while you're still recording), but the most-useful feature is recording one show while you play something you've already recorded from the content menu.
I am so thrilled with this unit (and, I don't know what others are talking about with the "black"-problem, I've made hundreds of DVD-R's off TV and my own Mini-DV camcorder, and had no problem... what they may be explaining is copy-protection of copywrited DVD-movies and they deserve to not see good copies), I'm about to buy another one for a different room!
WENT BAD IN 5 months -- ignore the rating above!!! 2005-03-27
TOSHIBA RD-XS32 Multi-Drive DVD Recorder -- This versatile, cutting edge entertainment module gives you the option of either recording on a DVD disc or storing up to 103 hours of video on its hard drive. Features an 80GB built-in hard disk drive, the unit allows users to record and play back their favorite TV broadcasts, and to compile personal movie libraries for archiving and preserving family videos. If that weren't enough, the RD-XS32 offers high speed copying from the HDD to recordable disc -- at 12x speed for transferring to DVD-RAM, and 24x for DVD-R 3 - 2 Pulldown - Digital Cinema Progressive Up to 540 Lines Resolution 181-Channel Tuner 3-D Y/C Comb Filter Black Level Expansion 3D-DNR Digital Video Noise Reduction Recording Block and Mosquito DNR Digital Video Noise Reduction Playback Time Slip Recording / Playback Pause Live TV / Channel Playback TIme Base Correction Instant Replay -- Instant Skip VCR Plus+ Inputs - S-Video, Composite, IEEE-1394 (FireWire), RF Outputs - Component, S-Video, Composite, Optical, RF (Tuner Pass-Through)
Does everything it said it does. 2005-02-24
Had the recorder for a couple of months now and it works great. I have tried using Maxwell DVD-RW and TDK DVD-R (8X) and didn't have any problems. The DVD-R works in all of my other DVD players including the one in my car. Love the fact that it has a feature to automatically figures out the best quality to record a movie over 2hrs into one DVD. Using the time recorder with my DirecTv programmable receiver, it works like a charm.
Manual is somewhat useless and you will need a lot of trial and error to get it working to your liking. The dubbing process is somewhat slow ever at the high speed option. It took approx. 5 minutes to copy a two hour recording to a DVD. I was expecting it to be faster for a machine dedicated for this kind of process. Another drawback I found was I couldn't create more chapters or edit the content if I recorded it directly on the DVD instead of the HDD. Otherwise it is a great machine for the price (under $400) I paid for.
Amazon.com misleading 
2005-02-14
I ordered this dvd recorder over three weeks ago, it took them this entire time to send me an email yesterday that said it was not available, I have now wasted three weeks waiting for this, and now must start completely over trying to find a good deal. I cannot see why they can start processing an order, and not be able to check availability within a reasonable amount of time..Interesting point is that even today, Amazon website still lists it as able to ship, which I find extremely misleading !!!I will not use Amazon.com again !!!
Useless For Recording Cable 2005-02-10
The toshiba will not allow you to record any programs from HBO, Cinemax and others onto dvd-r or dvd-rw, because they are encoded with a "copy once" protection. Even though HBO/Cinemax allows you to record the program once, the Toshiba will not do it. Also, there is a major compatability issue with different brands of blank dvd-r and dvd-rw blank disks. You buy the blank disks, find out they are incomaptible and guess what? You can't return them to the store once they are opened.
Do yourself a favor and save your $$$$, it just aint worth it. I would recommend a cheap $139 noname dvd recorder from Walmart over this model.
Best DVR/DVD-recorder in its price range. 2005-02-07
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
All in all, the RD-XS32 is-- hands down-- the best DVR/DVD-recorder currently available in this price range.
