Home > Consumer Reviews > Toshiba RDXV48 - 160Gb Hard Drive DVD Recorder & VHS Combi With Freeview

I purchased this machine to copy my old VHS videos onto the HDD then after editing onto DVD's. Some reviews I've seen have indicated that editing is tricky - I have found this not to be so. However the recorded programme index is poor - on an old Toshiba HDD recorder I have you could change the thumbnail to show what the programme is or change the title. On this machine you cannot change the thumbnail and the title editing is very poor. General playback and timer recording is straight forward. Overall a good machine but some things could be better.

Toshiba RDXV48 - 160Gb Hard Drive DVD Recorder & VHS Combi With FreeviewAfter reading the reviews I bought one and its a fantastic piece of kit especially when you consider its below £200.00. Its really easy to use and contrary to another reviewer the remote functions without any issue even when far from the machine. Its very easy to set up - in fact it does everything for you and you can get rid of all the recorders, boxes and cables under your television and just have the one box. I really can't think of any bad points - although the instruction manual takes a bit of reading however its hardly worth bothering as the on screen instructions are so easy to follow and it appears to enhance all my TV programmes in fact its so good i'm going to buy another one!

The toshiba is the first I have bought from toshiba and one of only two I found with DVD/VHS/HDD/HDMI/ Digital/Analogue tuners
The handbook is very extensive albeit with one or two errors, e.g. to dub DVD to HDD it does not say start the dvd and press the dubbing button on the remote, which automatically starts the dub to HDD, if you follow the text the insert DVD is there in the text but not the start DVD etc so it is a little confusing.
The HDMI to tv I use and the result is superb, it of course cannot makeup for the very variable broadcast quality the TV people transmit but DVD, HDD playback is great, so far I am very satisfied,
The toshiba almost qualifies for the title 'My flexible friend' with apologies to the similar TV advert.

I was in the market for a good solid all round machine that featured-
-A VCR
-DVD Recorder
-Hard Disk Drive akin to a Sky + box
-Freeview DVB

Backing up old VHS tapes was a must for me,and after a few simular machines failing on me
( Older DVD recorders seem to have high fail rate
and tend to break down) i took the plunge and ordered this model.

As of yet i have not given it a extensive playtest but from the strength
of the onboard Freeview mode i was pleasantly surprised of the signal strength i recieved via a normal INDOOR aerial! On a good day most of the channels are interference free and i did not need to change position of the aerial.Ch5?? Ah well...i have Sky for that station anyway :)

I havent sought out a region free code or macrovision bypass code as of yet,but from my experiance Toshiba machines are difficult to make region free,if it is possible at all.

I am pleased with this machine,it does exactly what i wanted it too do.

UPDATE 14.07.09
Further to my previous review and comments, I have grown to like the machine within its limitations over the last six months. Sadly last week it died, having lost the ability to tune into anything and apparently having lost its software. Toshiba would have collected and repaired it had I not bought it from Amazon, but as I had, they didn't want to know. Amazon don't have any stock (it's actually been discontinued/superseded) and don't repair anything so could only offer me a refund. I'd rather have had the unit repaired, but I guess I can't argue.
In view of the limitations regarding the VHS part of the unit (refusal to copy some commercial tapes, lack of VHS hifi sound out of phonos, refusal to copy a finalised DVD to VHS) I don't think my replacement need have a VHS facility. For tape copying I can use a separate machine (and therefore a timebase corrector to strip off any anti-copying gimmickry).
Sadly only the one star really for something that disappointed and then died. R.I.P.


I previously used only VHS and bought this unit with the intention that I could continue to play my large existing library of VHS whilst recording new material on HDD or DVD. Bad idea....

There are two RCA phono sockets on the back which I use, as intended, to feed my hifi amp and speakers. This is fine for live TV, DVD and HDD but when playing VHS, the HiFi sound isn't output from these sockets but only sent via the SCART lead to the TV ! (Toshiba confirm that this is correct and that I'm not doing anything wrong).

Secondly, when programming via the EPG it is only possible to input one event. To pre-programme more requires the kind of convoluted process that was the norm ten years ago but (I would have thought) had long been superseded.

Thirdly, according to the manual, if there is a mains power outage of more than 30 secs all pre-programmed information will be lost. Have Toshiba not heard of back-up batteries? Even the Mitsubishi VHS machine that I bought in 1983 would save everything for over an hour with no mains supply.

It's a shame that such a potentially good machine is spoiled for my applications by some basic and easily avoided flaws. I wouldn't have bought one had I known about the first two items above.

Another curious thing - the manual mentions naturally enough the need for adequate ventilation and yet the unit has no feet (just very thin rubbery pads)and so has virtually no clearance from the horizontal surface it sits on. There is a group of holes in the base and surely the flow of air through these would benefit from the unit being raised a little?

Plus points? The initial set-up was easy, the fan and hard drive are very quiet and the built in Freeview tuner seems to have a very sensitive front end, as reception of all channels is good.