Review on 📀 Toshiba DVD/VHS Recorder (DVR620) Without Tuner (Discontinued 2009 Model) by Chuck Derrick

I use it to archive old VHS tapes to DVD-R discs at work. So far this has worked quite well. Out of the 300 or so VHS tapes I converted, only 2 discs gave an error saying they couldn't be burned. One of the bugs actually stalled the machine and had to power cycle it. Still, for 300+ drives, not too bad. I've had to clean the heads once so far. Most of the tapes I converted were from the early to mid 90's and were stored in appalling conditions. Unsurprisingly, the tapes get dirty and degrade to the point of fouling the heads on the VCR mechanism. A quick wipe with a damp cleaning tape and everything was fine. The dubbing process is simple: 1. Use the remote control to enter the settings menu for the desired maximum DVD recording time (the longer the time, the poorer the quality) 2. Insert a blank DVD-R disc into the tray (DVD - R discs will be formatted automatically). 3. Insert VHS. 4. Press the Overwrite button on the remote control. 5. After a while, if the device does not recognize the video on the tape, the device will automatically stop dubbing and recording to the VHS tape. This is actually a great feature. For example, the Sony DVDirect VRD-MC3 and MC5 will continue to record until the disc is full, even if there is no signal from the video source. . You can also edit the DVD menu and DVD title options before you're done (which I won't cover). You must use the remote control to bring up a settings menu. You need a remote control to finalize a disc. Behind the front panel are buttons to control part of the VCR, adjust tracking, and start dubbing. You can also eject the DVD from the front of the unit. However, the fact that there are no control buttons for accessing important menus means you better not lose your remote control! -MC5 or VRD-MC6 (I also use all of them daily). The slowest part of the whole process is finalizing the DVD. The unit lags each of the DVDirect models I own by about 50% more than the time required. Oh, I connect the device to the LCD TV via the HDMI port and everything works fine.