VCR DVD Recorder

VCR DVD Recorder

VCR DVD recorder

By Anne Ahira

You may think that the VCR DVD recorder has become obsolete in the past few years. While the VHS tape is nearly gone, people still have huge collections that they would love to convert to new technology.

For them the VCR DVD recorder is a must have even now when DVD and Blue Ray are dominating the home movie market.

For every brand of television, there is a similar brand VCR DVD recorder. Emerson used to be the brand to have when it came to VCR but something got lost in translation when it comes to the combination VCR DVD recorder. Most Emerson products rated a two out of five if they were lucky.

The best VCR DVD recorder brand for the money is the Toshiba DVR610. This is a high end model and has a price tag to match; however, it does have a unique feature that will be very important to users of HDTV.

The Toshiba DVR610 VCR DVD recorder is an up converting unit. What that will mean for HD lovers is your DVD movies will playback at nearly HD level without having to purchase HD DVD or blue ray discs.

The Good

Toshiba’s VCR DVD recorder combination has earned many praises from users. The one touch recording seems a little daunting at first, (what if you make a mistake?) but after a little practice this becomes a feature you will like. You will now be able to seamlessly convert your VHS library to DVD at the touch of a button. No longer will you have a need for two separate players, this all in one unit lets you record VHS and television movies to sturdy DVD formats.

The Bad

Two things jump out as slightly frustrating for this VCR DVD recorder. The first is a 48 button remote that you will not want to lose. Using a universal remote may cost you some functionality of the unit. The second problem is the manual. The manual is confusing and hard to follow. They crammed a lot of information on every page and the layout is less than optimal.

The Bottom Line

The Toshiba DVR610 is a great VCR DVD recorder. Out of 93 customer ratings 2/3 of the ratings were at least a four out of five and most were a five. Customers are very happy with it to say the least. This alone is very unusual for combination units. Ten other brands were considered but none of them got above a three out of five customer rating and the majority were a dismal two out of five.

One final thought when shopping for a VCR combination, the earlier model was not nearly the unit this one is. Be sure that you are getting the Toshiba DVR610 and not the 600. Customer reviews on this early model were grim.

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Here's VCR DVD Recorder Selections:

Magnavox ZV457MG9 Dual Deck DVD/VCR Recorder...	Customer Review: I purchased this after I had problems with my Panasonic VHS/DVD unit. I read the reviews. When it works, it works well. The major problem is programming the unit. It is difficult, confusing and at times does not respond correctly. When it does n... Read More	(46)
Sony RDR-VX560 1080p Tunerless DVD Recorder/VHS Co...	Customer Review: The Sony RDR-VX560 was a major disappointment. I returned and replaced the unit three times. In each case, the replacement was unable to track Sony VHS tapes recorded on the unit itself or from other Sony VCRs. The DVD recorder worked properly. I hav... Read More	(40)
Samsung DVD-VR375/DVD-VR375A Tunerless DVD Recorde...	Customer Review: This is the third version of this dvd/vcr recorder and all have gone bad in not too long a time......Samsung's customer service is almost non existent and the repair facility holds onto the item for several weeks and then sends it back in the very sa... Read More	(22)
Remanufactured Magnavox DVD Recorder/ VCR With Upc...	Customer Review: the tapes are not clear, when playing the tapes there is a line on the bottom of the screan, it looks like sound bar, the sound if very hard to understand is very distorted. I have to return it ( the unit). I am sorry but, can not have a fair review.... Read More	(15)
Panasonic DMR-EZ485VK 1080p Upconverting VHS DVD R...	Customer Review: I couldn't make it past the first instruction in the set-up directions, so I called my neighbor who's a connectivity engineer and once worked for a cable company. The short version is that after he struggled with it for over three hours, it couldn't ... Read More	(150)