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Photograph: Rick Rizner
Toshiba RD-XS54 DVD Recorder (Progressive Scan, 250GB Hard Drive)
| PCW Rating | Good: 79 |
| Performance | Very Good |
| Image quality | Very Good |
| Write-once DVD initialization : Time required for a DVD-R or DVD+R disc to format and be accessible for recording, in seconds. | 41 |
| Write-once DVD dubbing performance : Time to dub 1 hour of high-quality content from the recorder's hard drive to DVD-R or DVD+R, in minutes:seconds. | 5:58 |
| Rewritable DVD dubbing performance : Time to dub 1 hour of high-quality content from the recorder's hard drive to DVD-RW or DVD+RW, in minutes:seconds. | 9:12 |
| Remote | Good |
| Interface | Good |
| On-disc editing | Good |
| Write formats | DVD-R/RW, DVD-RAM |
| Hard drive | 250GB |
| Inputs | One antenna, three composite, S-Video, FireWire |
| Outputs | One antenna, one composite, one S-Video, one component, one HDMI, one optical and coaxial digital audio. |
| VCR Plus+ | No |
| Electronic program guide | TV Guide |
| One-touch recording | Yes |
| Time shifting: Ability to pause and resume playback of live television during recording. | Yes |
| Record modes | 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 hours |
| Other supported formats | MP3, WMA, JPEG |
| Parts warranty | One-year warranty |
| Design & usability | Superior |
| Design/usability comments | Well-designed DVD recorder is packed with features, but the complex remote may confuse some users. |
Toshiba RD-XS54
RD-XS54 DVD Recorder (Progressive Scan, 250GB Hard Drive) Review, by Melissa Perenson November 30, 2005
The Toshiba RD-XS54 is the most expensive of the DVD and hard-drive video recorders in our January 2006 roundup, and not surprisingly it's also the most feature-packed: Among its features are a roomy 250GB hard drive, an HDMI output, and in-unit up-conversion from standard-definition analog video to high-definition resolutions. If you connect the unit to your network, you can even program recordings over the Internet.
The RD-XS54 is the sole hard-drive-equipped DVD recorder we looked at that can handle HDMI output. The inclusion of HDMI and in-unit up-conversion for standard-definition content should delight HDTV owners: The RD-XS54 can convert analog video into either 720p or 1080i resolution (the most common HD formats)--a big plus if you own an HD set and are trying to get the best-quality video from an analog source.
We were also impressed with the image quality of the RD-XS54's test recordings. We saw sharp video with plenty of depth and good contrast. Some sequences did exhibit very slight motion noise, but nothing seriously distracting. In a recorded cartoon, the color appeared slightly punchy, as if it had been boosted a bit from the original, but the effect was not unpleasant.
This recorder was a speedy performer in the PC World Test Center's dubbing tests. It transferred a 1-hour recording from the hard drive to a DVD-R disc in just under 6 minutes. The recorder can write to DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM discs.
One of the RD-XS54's main selling points is its Network NAVI feature. Attach the recorder to any network with its ethernet port (some firewalls may require additional configuration), and you can access the recorder from any Web browser. Since you'll exercise control via a Java applet, you don't need to install software on the controlling computer. Network NAVI gives you full control over the player, both for playback and for labeling recorded content (via a PC keyboard, as opposed to a remote control). The interface includes a virtual remote, and the feature supports streaming video--useful if you forget to schedule a recording of Lost before you head off to work, or if you want to catch an episode of The Simpsons while you're stranded in an airport.
We found Network NAVI easy enough to use, but not a perfect implementation of the concept. We experienced a noticeable delay between pressing a button on the virtual remote and seeing the player's response. We also found the window for viewing the streaming video rather small, at just 320 by 235 pixels; it can't be expanded or scaled.
The RD-XS54 uses the TV Guide On Screen program guide, which updates its eight-day programming grid via the TV signal. You can use TV Guide On Screen to schedule a recording by selecting a program from the grid; or you can designate your choice as a one-time or recurring recording. Regrettably, nearly a third of the screen is occupied by distracting advertisements.
The RD-XS54 comes with an IR emitter cable that can change channels on most cable boxes, and it supports VCR Plus+ codes for easy scheduling of recordings. The TV Guide On Screen service does not work with satellite boxes, however.
The RD-XS54's in-unit video editing was less appealing. The recorder offers no easy way to remove sections of video (such as advertising) from a recording, regardless of whether it's on the hard drive or on a DVD-RW disc. Whereas other players let you remove a chunk of video simply by selecting start and end points, the RD-XS54 awkwardly forces you to define chapter points at the beginning and end, and then delete the chapter you just created.
Upshot: Though expensive, the RD-XS54 offers extras such as HDMI output, and it produces high quality video; being able to schedule recordings remotely will appeal to forgetful time-shifters.
Melissa Perenson
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: mschiu
Strengths: Editing is much easier, excellent quality of video recorded. HDMI output for excellent pictures.
Weaknesses: Not able to set a timer for recorder to shut down. Fan runs 24 hours a day.
Overall: This is my thrid DVD recorder. I like the editing software. Sony HX715 and other recorders can use A-B points deleting to deleted unwanted segments of recording, but it is time comsuming as you have to delete the segments one by one. This Toshiba Recorder uses Chaper Edit to devide chapers, then delete all of the unwanted chapters. In contrast to the expert review by PC World, I found this is faster and easier way to edit. After the chapers are made, you just pull down the chapters and create a Play List to burn to DVD-R. Switch between Titils and chapters are much easier then my first recorder Panasonic DMR-E95HS. The chapter created can be carried to the DVD disc while Sony HX 715 can not. You can also create chapters automatically every 5,10, or 15 mins. You can make copies of recorded disc using computer recorder to DVD+ or DVD- discs while discs created by other machine may not allow direct copy on computer. The main drawbacks are: 1. Electric fan runs continuously even when the machine is shut down. 2. The machine does not have Timer Recording feature, so it can not be turned off if you want to record something while you are away or at night. All other machines (Panasonic and Sony will set timer by pushing the Record button repeatedly for the desired hours of recording. 3. You can not set program recording manually, though TV Guide is easy to navigate and set program recording. The machine is cheaper then Sony RDR HX715 yet has a larger (HDD)Hard Disc Drive space. I still very much like this machine
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Reviewed by: jpoon
Strengths: *Relatively Inexpensive*Good Picture, better than through TV Alone*Large Hard Drive, plenty of space for content*Remote scheduling works, somewhat*Free TVGuide vs. Tivo/Replay Fees*Many Features-PIP,PC Link
Weaknesses: *User Interface, slow and difficult to use*No USB, only Ethernet*Old Players do not play burned DVDs*Audio/Video drops out on some recordings*Not able to multi-task (Timeslip+TVGuide simultaneously)
Overall: GENERAL I bought the product and have thought about returning it several times, but have not because of the hassle associated with shipping the box back and having to pay shipping fees to/from. Plus, the 30 day return policy has passed. If I had not bought it online, I would have probably returned it. The unit is a good bang for the buck. Least expensive product out there (if you find the right deal) in terms of hard drives size and DVR/Programming guide functionality without fees. The picture is also very good - better than watching on the TV alone. This is probably due to the extra video processing features in the box. INTERFACE I bought this unit because I had a great experience with the SDH400 (Free Tivo Basic Service). I was initially disappointed in the Tivo interface because I used Replay before, which is much better. However, the Tivo interface grew on me and the SDH400 ended up being a good purchase. The XS54 uses a TVGUide interface which is also free. However, TVGuide is not user friendly. The menu is slow and hard to navigate. Also, when you download the listings initially, you have to manually go through the listings and arrange them in numerical order (2,3,4....). The default order is random. Takes about an hour. One area where TVGuide is good is that you can watch TV in the upper left corner while you scroll though listings. A Tivo guide takes up the whole screen. HARD DRIVE RECORDER/PLAYER The TimeSlip feature (pause/rewind live TV) is not always on. You have to manually turn it on which is a hassle. Also, when TimeSlip is on, you can't access the TVGUide. Software conflicts like this one occur quite often. When you are burning a DVD, you can't access the TVGuide...so on and so on...There has been some recordings where the video drops out or audio gets super loud. This may be another one of those conflicts/problems as I think this only happened when I was trying to watch a show from the beginning while I was still recording it. Nevertheless, very annoying. NETWORKING CAPABILITY Remote scheduling is the main reason I purchased the XS54. I got this feature to partially work after several days of effort. Basically, you have to send an email to a POP sever where the machine retrieves it and schedules the show. I use Yahoo mail as Gmail does not work for some reason. The unit is supposed to send back a reply email telling you if the recording request was accepted. This notification feature has not worked for me. Basically, you can schedule a recording remotely, but you can't confirm that it is actually going to record. Also, you are supposed to be able to check how much recording space is left, but that function has not worked for me either. If you are purely looking for Tivo-like functionality without remote scheduling, the TX-20 and TX-60 are better choices. Also, I would have preferred the unit have USB rather than Ethernet since a wireless USB Adapter is more compact and less expensive than a Wireless Ethernet Bridge. DVD PLAYER/RECORDER I tried burning a DVD-RW and playing it on my SDH400. Didn't work. Reads DISC ERROR. From what I read online, the SDH400 is DVD-R capable so it should be able to read a DVD-RW. If I am wrong about this, please let me know. OTHER FEATURES The unit has the ability for PIP which I rarely use, but is pretty cool. Also, you can watch what is playing on the unit through your PC. You can also control the unit through a PC with a virtual remote. Again, not that useful, but pretty cool.
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Reviewed by: 8pixel
Strengths: No service contract required. Pause live TV. Large capacity hard drive. Improves picture quality with noise reduction.
Weaknesses: TV Guide was a huge hurdle to overcome. Fan never shuts off. DVD startup is VERY slow. Editing and maneuvering through menus requires quite a bit of patience.
Overall: When my co-worker told me about his DVR and what it could do, I couldn't wait to get one. When I went to the store and found out that his model was discontinued and marked down I was ready to purchase. When I found out that the newer model with a much larger hard drive and better case design was even cheaper online, I went for that one. Mistake. The RD-XS54 does what it says it does and I'm pretty happy with it, but if the store I bought it from didn't have a 20% restocking fee, I would have brought it back.Out of the box, set up was straightforward. The unit is packaged nicely and comes with an HDMI cable which I'm told is a big plus. Once set up, I was able to do some quick recordings to the hard drive with no problem and pause live TV function worked great. I use this feature almost daily and it works flawlessly. That's pretty much it for the good news...on to the problems. The TV Guide function is a giant pain. You leave your cable box on and the DVR finds a signal to download program info so you can set up your recordings via a TV Guide listing of all your channels. Besides never turning off the cable box, my unit wasn't able to download any info for about a month. What this means is that if you don't have the DVR on and are watching TV, the DVR will start switching channels looking for the the info to download. On sort of the same note, when you turn the unit on, it changes the channel to an arbitrary channel so you have to turn it back to what you were watching. Next major drawback is that the fan on the unit never shuts off (i'm guessing it is because the unit is downloading content constantly). So now, when you go to sleep at night, you have your cable box on and the fan on the unit still running....giant waste of electricity. One last thing I will warn you about is that you cannot record any cable channels to DVD....only to your HD. What happens is that the cable channel sends out some kind of signal and the recorder shuts off 2 minutes in. I learned this after wasting about 10+ blank DVDs because if you set the timer to record when you aren't around you come back to a disc that only has 2 minutes of content with no error message or anything. Calls to tech support didn't help. I did some tests which worked, but it wasn't until I did a test and waited for more than 2 minutes that I finally got the message that it couldn't continue.I'm sorry if my review is confusing, but the overall advice is BEWARE. If you want this machine, but can deal with an 80gb hard drive instead of 250gb, find the earlier model of this DVR WITHOUT the TV Guide feature. KX54 I think it was. If you need anything explained further, email me.
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Reviewed by: invalidcharacter
Strengths: Idiot-proof, huge hard drive
Weaknesses: Record function inflexible, too simple
Overall: For the basic cable viewer who wants to record shows from the next 8-24 hours of programming, and who doesn't want to take the time to read a product manual, this is probably a pretty good machine. Fan noise could be a problem, but in my installation, it's okay. I have to have a HDD recorder in my studio, and I've used the previous versions, the 160GB HD and the 80GB HD Toshiba models, before Toshiba decided to dumb-down the recording process, and I love both of those earlier machines. Very flexible. I could set up two weeks of recording at one time, using external program guides. With this one, you have to use the on-screen TV guide feature to locate the program you want to record. My cable system may be to blame, but I can only set recording sessions within the next 30 hours, and the farther out a show is from the time you set the program, the harder it is to locate. I haven't found a way to simply tell the machine I want to record Sunday from 1 to 2 pm on Channel 103, then Monday from 8 to 9 am on Channel 212, then switch to my satellite dish for a third show. Instead I have to find each show on the near-term TV Guide listings. I much prefer the previous models, but you had to study to master those.
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Reviewed by: JoeLamb
Strengths: None that I could find
Weaknesses: TV Guide programing, Playback issues, The never ending fan motor
Overall: If the product worked like the specs it would be a great little machine. This was by far NOT my experience. The TV Guide kept defaulting to another cable system even after many attempts to change. Most CD'S and DVD'S took multiple attempts to play (loading an average of 3-4 times before they would play). Then there is the fan motor. It NEVER shuts off, not even when in standby mode. When Tech Support was contacted the first guy said "that can't be right". When he checked he sheepishly informed me that indeed the decision had been made to have the fan run 24/7. When I explained I considered this to be a huge design flaw he explained that I could always uplug the unit. Nowhere in the 150 page manual which comes with the unit does it mention this (unless you figure out this must be why it uses 35 watts of power even in the standby mode). The industry standard hovers around 10-15 watts. When talking to various supervisers at Toshiba I found them to be very rude and arrogant. Lucky for me there is a happy ending. I shipped the machine back to sender and I'm getting a full refund. The lost shipping is a small price to pay to rid myself of this bugridden unit with the Never ending droning motor. If you buy this or any other Toshiba hard drive machine after reading this review good luck you will certainly need it!
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