The only -RW CPRM disks (which are different from ordinary -RW disks) I could find are made by JVC and although I live in a major city, I was unable to locate them or any brand of RAM disk in any brick-and-mortar store, ultimately having to order them both online. The second problem is that even if you have the right type of disk, you will be unable to record what you want if the broadcast is "copy-never," and there is no way of knowing what type of copy protection a broadcast contains until you try and fail to record it. Moreover, if any portion of the broadcast is copy-protected (for example, if a commercial or station identification in the middle of an otherwise recordable broadcast has copy-protection incompatible with the disk you're using) then the recorder will stop recording it at that point.

I have also found, though, that this recorder sometimes fails to record analog broadcasts and I get a "copy protection" error message, and since in theory analog broadcasts don't have CPRM encryption, I'm not sure what the deal is with that. I saw mentioned on a tech forum that Toshiba machines sometimes "see" copy-protection that doesn't exist, but I have no idea if this is a problem specific to Toshiba recorders only. A couple of times it also failed to record and I got an error message saying that "the input channel has changed," which ...

I cannot really give a fair rating as to convenience, performance, etc., because the DVD portion of device did not work when we hooked it up two days ago. I have had people who are very good with these devices check to see that I had it connected properly, so that is not the problem. I will be returning the product in the next few days.

What we discovered is that it appears there is something in the audio descriptor that is sent as part of the DTV signal that is causing this Toshiba box to falsely come up with this copy protect message. The station that we were able to record is not sending the full audio descriptor, but the stations that are sending this information are not doing anything incorrectly and are in fact following standards set out by the ATSC standards committee. The bottom line is that it appears that there is an issue with this particular DVR that is falsely seeing DTV broadcasts as copy-protected even when they are not.

There was a "failed" message in the recording set up. The manual said that was because there was either no disc or no space on the disc. After trying several properly formatted discs and getting the same "failed" message, I finally pushed the Record button on the front to see if the unit would record without the timer.

If you are a masichist this is your machine. Mine's been to the repair depot twice and now I read all the reviews and see that ALL the flaws in this piece of junk are STANDARD.

There is some kind of bug (or copy protection "feature") that refuses to record giving a cryptic error message. 1. I tried each line input connection - no go.

It also has frozen up on me a few times as well. You have to unplug and wait about 2 minutes. Then the piece of junk will work again!!!

I didnt realize this would be an issue till it was toooooo late to return it!! The tuner is slow. Also alot of the channels freeze and pixelate.

I purchased this about three weeks ago and have been using it to convert VHS tapes to DVD, for which it works fine (although I agree with the other reviewers that the remote and the menus are clunky and a little slow), and for some off-air recording, which is spotty at best. I should say that I get all my TV through rabbit ears, so I don't know how this recorder works with cable or satellite. What I didn't know before I bought it is that this recorder (and, from what I've been able to find out since, all DVD recorders with digital tuners) support CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media).

I gave up and had my wife just use the VHS on the unit. It has all kinds of little bugs that keep you from recording like you have to have a DVD (any DVD) in it for the VHS to record; if you leave it on it doesn't record, it records sometimes and not other times. I haven't figured it all out but my wife insisted on hooking back our old VCR.

This DVR does record analog over-the-air broadcasts (at least until most disappear February 2009). Also this unit should work fine on most cable and DBS systems, but this is something that we have not tested to confirm.

Pirates will always find a way to get around it; in fact if you Google CPRM, you'll see a bunch of hits for (probaly illegal) decryption devices and software. All CPRM does is get in the way of people like me who want to watch Survivor at 10:00 pm instead of 8:00. I hope that as VCRs finally disappear, either DVDR manufacturers begin making recorders that don't support CPRM or that broadcasters ease up on the encryptions that they're currently using.

Our station has received a number of complaints from viewers who have this Toshiba DVR/VCR who indicated they are unable to record our DTV service using the built-in ATSC tuner on this unit. They get a message indicating that the content is copy-protected and can not be recorded. The viewers also reported that not all stations in a given market are affected.

I then tried to record the VHS to DVD and got the same error message - no go. 3. I bought an external video amp and filter thinking it might be a signal-to-noise problem (I'm a digital radio engineer) but again - no go.

The owner's manual for the Toshiba VR650 says "Note: The DVD+R DL (Dual Layer) disc cannot be played back or recorded on this unit." Wrong. I burned a dozen DVD +R DL discs (8Gb) on a personal computer and attempted to play them on all 3 DVD players in the house, including the Toshiba VR650.

I have no idea what it means and the user's manual says nothing about it. In any case, I have found recording TV broadcasts purely for the purpose of time-shifting to be unreliable, and if it's something I really really want to watch, I use one of my old VCRs. This won't be an option next year when all broadcasters switch to digital, and if my experience with CPRM is typical (and from the little I've been able to find about it online, it is), then I think there are going to be a lot of really frustrated TV watchers.

Finally, even if you can manage to successfully record to RAM or -RW CPRM, you might not be able to play that disk on another machine, so these disks aren't good for archiving shows. This recorder will record non-copy protected broadcasts on any type of of disk. That's how it works if everything is working properly.

Even though we have no intention of copy protecting our signal and we weren't aware of any copy protection signal we were broadcasting, we were concerned about the possibility that we were sending out some signal that could be interpreted by a DVR as copy protection. We decided to go ahead and purchase one of these Toshiba units to see if we could figure out what was going on. Once we hooked up the unit, we found we could only record off one DTV station in our market using the ATSC tuner (recording off the analog/NTSC tuner was not a problem).

However it didn't sound like they intend to address this problem in this DVR with any firmware update as they are busy developing the next generation of equipment that will replace this unit. Hopefully this problem will be addressed in their next generation of DVR's. Please note that I am only rating this unit on the ability to record a DTV signal over-the-air.

The only -RW CPRM disks (which are different from ordinary -RW disks) I could find are made by JVC and although I live in a major city, I was unable to locate them or any brand of RAM disk in any brick-and-mortar store, ultimately having to order them both online. The second problem is that even if you have the right type of disk, you will be unable to record what you want if the broadcast is "copy-never," and there is no way of knowing what type of copy protection a broadcast contains until you try and fail to record it. Moreover, if any portion of the broadcast is copy-protected (for example, if a commercial or station identification in the middle of an otherwise recordable broadcast has copy-protection incompatible with the disk you're using) then the recorder will stop recording it at that point.

There was a "failed" message in the recording set up. The manual said that was because there was either no disc or no space on the disc. After trying several properly formatted discs and getting the same "failed" message, I finally pushed the Record button on the front to see if the unit would record without the timer.

I purchased this about three weeks ago and have been using it to convert VHS tapes to DVD, for which it works fine (although I agree with the other reviewers that the remote and the menus are clunky and a little slow), and for some off-air recording, which is spotty at best. I should say that I get all my TV through rabbit ears, so I don't know how this recorder works with cable or satellite. What I didn't know before I bought it is that this recorder (and, from what I've been able to find out since, all DVD recorders with digital tuners) support CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media).

I gave up and had my wife just use the VHS on the unit. It has all kinds of little bugs that keep you from recording like you have to have a DVD (any DVD) in it for the VHS to record; if you leave it on it doesn't record, it records sometimes and not other times. I haven't figured it all out but my wife insisted on hooking back our old VCR.

I have no idea what it means and the user's manual says nothing about it. In any case, I have found recording TV broadcasts purely for the purpose of time-shifting to be unreliable, and if it's something I really really want to watch, I use one of my old VCRs. This won't be an option next year when all broadcasters switch to digital, and if my experience with CPRM is typical (and from the little I've been able to find about it online, it is), then I think there are going to be a lot of really frustrated TV watchers.

Even though we have no intention of copy protecting our signal and we weren't aware of any copy protection signal we were broadcasting, we were concerned about the possibility that we were sending out some signal that could be interpreted by a DVR as copy protection. We decided to go ahead and purchase one of these Toshiba units to see if we could figure out what was going on. Once we hooked up the unit, we found we could only record off one DTV station in our market using the ATSC tuner (recording off the analog/NTSC tuner was not a problem).

Excellent recording on VHS and DVD (good picture); however, does not allow flexible DVD recording so you can end up with unused or not enough tracks on the end of the disc for multiple recordings.

There was a "failed" message in the recording set up. The manual said that was because there was either no disc or no space on the disc. After trying several properly formatted discs and getting the same "failed" message, I finally pushed the Record button on the front to see if the unit would record without the timer.

The owner's manual for the Toshiba VR650 says "Note: The DVD+R DL (Dual Layer) disc cannot be played back or recorded on this unit." Wrong. I burned a dozen DVD +R DL discs (8Gb) on a personal computer and attempted to play them on all 3 DVD players in the house, including the Toshiba VR650.

I have no idea what it means and the user's manual says nothing about it. In any case, I have found recording TV broadcasts purely for the purpose of time-shifting to be unreliable, and if it's something I really really want to watch, I use one of my old VCRs. This won't be an option next year when all broadcasters switch to digital, and if my experience with CPRM is typical (and from the little I've been able to find about it online, it is), then I think there are going to be a lot of really frustrated TV watchers.

I purchased this about three weeks ago and have been using it to convert vhs tapes to DVD, for which it works fine (although I agree with the other reviewers that the remote and the menus are clunky and a little slow), and for some off-air recording, which is spotty at best. I should say that I get all my TV through rabbit ears, so I don't know how this recorder works with cable or satellite. What I didn't know before I bought it is that this recorder (and, from what I've been able to find out since, all DVD recorders with digital tuners) support CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media).

I gave up and had my wife just use the vhs on the unit. It has all kinds of little bugs that keep you from recording like you have to have a DVD (any DVD) in it for the vhs to record; if you leave it on it doesn't record, it records sometimes and not other times. I haven't figured it all out but my wife insisted on hooking back our old VCR.

I then tried to record the vhs to DVD and got the same error message - no go. 3. I bought an external video amp and filter thinking it might be a signal-to-noise problem (I'm a digital radio engineer) but again - no go.

Excellent recording on vhs and DVD (good picture); however, does not allow flexible DVD recording so you can end up with unused or not enough tracks on the end of the disc for multiple recordings.

There was a "failed" message in the recording set up. The manual said that was because there was either no disc or no space on the disc. After trying several properly formatted discs and getting the same "failed" message, I finally pushed the Record button on the front to see if the unit would record without the timer.

The owner's manual for the Toshiba VR650 says "Note: The DVD+R DL (Dual Layer) disc cannot be played back or recorded on this unit." Wrong. I burned a dozen DVD +R DL discs (8Gb) on a personal computer and attempted to play them on all 3 DVD players in the house, including the Toshiba VR650.

Excellent recording on VHS and DVD (good picture); however, does not allow flexible DVD recording so you can end up with unused or not enough tracks on the end of the disc for multiple recordings.

What we discovered is that it appears there is something in the audio descriptor that is sent as part of the DTV signal that is causing this Toshiba box to falsely come up with this copy protect message. The station that we were able to record is not sending the full audio descriptor, but the stations that are sending this information are not doing anything incorrectly and are in fact following standards set out by the atsc standards committee. The bottom line is that it appears that there is an issue with this particular DVR that is falsely seeing DTV broadcasts as copy-protected even when they are not.

Our station has received a number of complaints from viewers who have this Toshiba DVR/VCR who indicated they are unable to record our DTV service using the built-in atsc tuner on this unit. They get a message indicating that the content is copy-protected and can not be recorded. The viewers also reported that not all stations in a given market are affected.

Even though we have no intention of copy protecting our signal and we weren't aware of any copy protection signal we were broadcasting, we were concerned about the possibility that we were sending out some signal that could be interpreted by a DVR as copy protection. We decided to go ahead and purchase one of these Toshiba units to see if we could figure out what was going on. Once we hooked up the unit, we found we could only record off one DTV station in our market using the atsc tuner (recording off the analog/NTSC tuner was not a problem).

I purchased this about three weeks ago and have been using it to convert VHS tapes to DVD, for which it works fine (although I agree with the other reviewers that the remote and the menus are clunky and a little slow), and for some off-air recording, which is spotty at best. I should say that I get all my TV through rabbit ears, so I don't know how this recorder works with cable or satellite. What I didn't know before I bought it is that this recorder (and, from what I've been able to find out since, all DVD recorders with digital tuners) support CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media).

The only -RW CPRM disks (which are different from ordinary -RW disks) I could find are made by JVC and although I live in a major city, I was unable to locate them or any brand of RAM disk in any brick-and-mortar store, ultimately having to order them both online. The second problem is that even if you have the right type of disk, you will be unable to record what you want if the broadcast is "copy-never," and there is no way of knowing what type of copy protection a broadcast contains until you try and fail to record it. Moreover, if any portion of the broadcast is copy-protected (for example, if a commercial or station identification in the middle of an otherwise recordable broadcast has copy-protection incompatible with the disk you're using) then the recorder will stop recording it at that point.

The only -RW CPRM disks (which are different from ordinary -RW disks) I could find are made by JVC and although I live in a major city, I was unable to locate them or any brand of RAM disk in any brick-and-mortar store, ultimately having to order them both online. The second problem is that even if you have the right type of disk, you will be unable to record what you want if the broadcast is "copy-never," and there is no way of knowing what type of copy protection a broadcast contains until you try and fail to record it. Moreover, if any portion of the broadcast is copy-protected (for example, if a commercial or station identification in the middle of an otherwise recordable broadcast has copy-protection incompatible with the disk you're using) then the recorder will stop recording it at that point.

I have also found, though, that this recorder sometimes fails to record analog broadcasts and I get a "copy protection" error message, and since in theory analog broadcasts don't have CPRM encryption, I'm not sure what the deal is with that. I saw mentioned on a tech forum that Toshiba machines sometimes "see" copy-protection that doesn't exist, but I have no idea if this is a problem specific to Toshiba recorders only. A couple of times it also failed to record and I got an error message saying that "the input channel has changed," which ...

There is some kind of bug (or copy protection "feature") that refuses to record giving a cryptic error message. 1. I tried each line input connection - no go.

Even though we have no intention of copy protecting our signal and we weren't aware of any copy protection signal we were broadcasting, we were concerned about the possibility that we were sending out some signal that could be interpreted by a DVR as copy protection. We decided to go ahead and purchase one of these Toshiba units to see if we could figure out what was going on. Once we hooked up the unit, we found we could only record off one DTV station in our market using the ATSC tuner (recording off the analog/NTSC tuner was not a problem).

There was a "failed" message in the recording set up. The manual said that was because there was either no disc or no space on the disc. After trying several properly formatted discs and getting the same "failed" message, I finally pushed the Record button on the front to see if the unit would record without the timer.