Toshiba DR560 1080p Upconverting DVD Recorder with Built-in Tuner

I have only had this machine a couple of weeks; so far it has been just what I wanted. I now have a digital tuner for my analog TV, and even though I live in the hills over 50 miles from the city I get stations from via my rooftop antenna, reception has been very good. I made a copy of an old video tape, and it played back perfectly on my old DVD player. I was thinking of getting a VCR/DVD recorder combination, but my old VCR plugs into this machine easily.

Overall, this is a very nice system. The real question is will it hang in there for the long haul. I've owned it for about 10 days and so far it has performed as advertised. In reading most reviews, it seems like new DVDs players (all brands) have a high DVD failure rate after a couple of months.

I've recorded DVDs and VHSs without issue. Note: without an external interface such as a Grex it will not record copyrighted material.

One reason I bought this recorder was because it had a Digital tuner. I had a Samsung T451 tuner and was tired of having to switch from that tuner to the analog tuner that is built into my Westinghouse LCD TV/Monitor. Both the analog and digital tuners work; however, they are not tied together. You must switch tuners. This is a simple step -- press a button on the remote. That said having to do this is an annoyance. Nether of my Sharp LCD TVs make me do this.

Another annoyance is that while it will automatically hide encrypted Digital channels, it will not allow you to manually delete a channel that you do not want.

I did experience one issue that at first caused me to believe the digital tuner had a problem. I unplugged the system and when I plugged it back in the digital tuner would not allow me to up and down channel. I could type in a Digital channel and it would acquire the signal, but when I up or down channel it merely cycled through L1, L2, L3, DV and would not return to the channel I manually punched in. I went back into the menu and had the system re-tune all the stations and it worked fine thereafter. I'm assuming this is normal -- old VCRs do this when you unplugged them. However, the analog tuner did not lose the memorized channels. Hence, some concern.

As been written before, the remote is difficult to read even with appropriate lighting.

When ejecting the dvd it sounds like the tray this slaming up against the door. Un analog the tuner is fast (Feb 17,it's over anyways) but the Digital is slow, but it brings in HD channals quite clearly even in the basement wjth no antenna. It also picks up Clear qam so I've been watching subscription channels for free, my last 2 movies were Get Smart and The Chipmonks. Another complaint is the remote has a very low degree range I have to point it exaltly at the sensor.

The Toshiba D-R560KU does everything it's supposted to. I record off air with an antenna, digitally, and works great. Plays back pre-recorded DVD'S in DTS sounds great through my inexpensive home theater. I would strongly recommend this DVD recorder.

I bought this DVR last June,5 1/2 months later it will not turn on. I had it plugged into a really good surge protector, everything seemed good, but while we were watching That Touch of Mink, it just died. Everything else that is plugged into the surge protector works fine. I called Toshiba cust serv, it will cost me a min of $70 to have it fixed, and, to add insult to my injury, I have to pay the shipping to the east coast. NO MORE TOSHIBA FOR ME!