The Toshiba D VR3 DVD recorder. Excellent for Dubbing VHS

The “One-touch” dubbing feature is extremely easy. The Toshiba D VR3 DVD recorder includes a front panel DV input and front panel A/V input jacks that allows for easy transfer of camcorder recordings directly onto DVD.

The DVD-RAM time slip capability is useful for routine time-shifting and Picture-in-Picture viewing.

DVD-RAM is a versatile recordable DVD format. It supports the same playlist editing you can do with DVD-RW in VR mode and lets you play a recorded program while another is being recorded. This is a feature usually only available only on hard-disk.

The downside to DVD-RAM is that the discs are not widely compatible with other DVD players. That means if your DVD collection is in the + format you should avoid this DVD recorder.

The Toshiba has a 6-hour recording mode for all three disc types it records on — DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD-R but as you might expect the picture quality is bad. The picture quality in the shorter modes is fine.

The Toshiba D VR3 has a fairly complex but clear manual that takes some digesting before you become familiar with the DVD recorder’s array of useful features.

Some of those features are the “commercial-killing” 30-second fast-forward VCR function and the picture-in-picture (PIP) function that lets you watch a DVD and a TV program simultaneously.

The manual should be more descriptive of various cabling connections. For instance, the existence of Satellite or TiVo or combined Tivo-Satellite receivers is ignored; the use of AV receivers barely mentioned.

Another down side is the remote control. Could be a pet peeve of mine but it is a little crowded and difficult to read in low light. Like most DVD recorders these days the Toshiba D VR3 plays mp3 and mpg files.

Overall it’s the Toshiba D-VR3 a fine DVD recorder but the inability to play DVD+ discs will limit its audience.

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