Sales Rank: 3377


Features:

Progressive-scan DVD player with integrated personal video recorder

Includes no-fee TiVo Basic service with the ability to pause live TV and store programs to the unit's 80 GB hard drive

Offers manual recording capability by time and channel

Compatible with DVD-R, DVD-RW, video CD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3 CDs

Upgradeable to full TiVo service and TiVo home-networking capabilities (through paid services)

Average Rating:
Rating: - Love it.
First, a summary of key points:
1. You need Tivo. No, really, you do. One week of Tivo and watching old-fashioned TV will make you angry. I only watch the TV I really like, and I watch it when it's convenient, as opposed to missing good shows because they're at inconvenient times and then settling for dreck those times when you want to watch but nothing's on.
2. If you're also in the market for a DVD player, get the combo unit and simplify your life. Yes, of course you can watch a DVD while Tivo records.
3. The DVDivo, as I like to call it, includes free basic Tivo service. The free trial of Plus service will probably suck you in, but still, if all you want is to be able to manually record your favorite shows, this is Tivo without a subscription cost.

Now, to address some of the issues mentioned in other reviews:
1. Noise. If I'm sitting near the TV, and I'm watching a very quiet show, I can sometimes hear the fan, but it's very very faint. I don't have my Tivo in an enclosed cabinet, and I can honestly say noise is never an issue for me - the Tivo is certainly far quieter than my computer, the heating/cooling system, the refrigerator, or all the other background-noise sources in my apartment.
2. Image quality. I'm using pretty shoddy coax cable lines, and the live image through Tivo is still fine - just as good as without the Tivo. Unless you have a huge TV or HDTV, image quality is probably more dependent on your coax cables than the Tivo. With Basic service, your only option is to record on best quality, which is equivalent to seeing it live. If you upgrade to Plus, you can choose to record at one of four quality levels. I nearly always record at the lowest or second-lowest setting - yeah, it gets a little grainy, but for most shows, it doesn't matter.

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Rating: - Tivo is the key
I purchased the Toshiba SD-H400 about three weeks ago. I had previously owned a Tivo Series 1 recorder. What you basically are getting is a DVD player and Tivo Series 2 box that is light integrated. The functionality for recording is exactly the same as a regular Tivo Box. This means that it is designed to record from broadcast. By broadcast I mean cable or satilite. If you are looking to record things from you DV-Camcorder this is not the box for you. Also if you AV Input setup is complicated (use satilite for some channels and cable for others) this is not the box for you either. What this box excels at is convient recording for television programs. The plus of this box is it supports DVD playback. The DVD playback uses the standard Toshibia menus (not Tivo). The box is in one of two forgrond modes: Tivo Playback or DVD playback. Recording in the background can always occur. I like the Tivo EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data and find it easy to use for recording. My wife likes a single remote system that needs to switching (e.g. TV Input, etc). The box is easy to use and has some options for upgrade. Currently I have upgraded to Tivo Plus and the Home Media Option (this enables playback of MP3, WMA with plugin, and JPEG images from the PC). This is nice due to no hassle of finding the CDDA to play. I would highly remomded this system to people looking for a DVR and wishing to simplify their system setup. For expert users it is cheaper to get seperate units for the same funcionality. One nice thing about the combined box is digital audio output and progressive (including HD) output is enabled from Tivo. This is not possible with the seperate units.

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Rating: - Great Product: Good Blend of Value and Function
I've had it for about a week and did not have any problems setting the system up. I was able to sign into the Tivo service quickly and am in the processing of connecting it into the wireless network and removing the phone lines.

For those who would like to simplfy their electronic gadgets for their TV, this is an excellent product. I was able to free up a DVD player for another TV in the house.