I got this for NZD149.00, a bargain in this country. Most start at around NZD300.00 and thats just for a Philips! It was the display model with a few scratches and a 12 month warranty. It's good how you can connect something up, whack a disk in and hit record. But it takes so long to read a disk! And last night it froze up. Wouldn't eject a disk, wouldn't turn on and off. Nothing would go. I did what the instructions said and left my finger on the power button for 10 seconds which forced it to shut down. Now it seems to work fine. So I am giving it one more chance and if it does it again im taking it back! And I only bought it because it was so cheap and one day I dream of and will aquire a Pioneer with HDMI and a 400 gig hard drive!

I bought my Toshiba DR1 last November when on offer in Richer sounds for £199 (see that they have a few now for £149) while local high street retailers had it for £299-£320. Utterly confused by the parallel existance of the DR3 which although it looks very different, seems to have an identical spec. I also noted that most retailers description of the DR1 said it did not have DV input, which I particularly wanted, yet each one I saw in the flesh had one.
Overall I've been very happy with it and so far I've not had it reject any blank media (have used Philips, Sony and Hewlett Packard). Only one pre-recorded DVD has refused to play.
Cannot begin to understand why it takes so long to read a disk. Have also had a problem when cancelling the finalization on an RW disk, having done so to play it on another machine, and then deleting the chapter so as to use the disk again.
On the whole though very good value for money.

The Toshiba DR1 takes a long time to learn how to use it, the features probably are useful and impressive if you have the time. Like another reviewer I have had problems getting it to play discs every time, it seems to depend on the day of the week.... Also my BBC2 reception is covered in red and green stripes.

Toshiba DR-1: This is a sophisticated machine. DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM. As many connections as you will probably need. Brilliant pre-recorded playback. So what's the problem. Well, the first disk I tried to play on Christmas morning (Prisonser of Azkaban) failed to play. I switched it off and back on again and it eventually worked. The TV recorded on supplied DVD-RAM with no problems other than the 45 sec to a minute it takes to mount the disk. The first blank DVD-R (Datawrite Yello) wasn't recognised. The second one was and successfully managed a 2 hour recording. Next was some Mr. DVD-RW from Tesco. Message said these could not be recognised although the DVD-RW inidicator led was illuminated!? but said they needed formatting. I followed the instructions but it gave a message on screen saying 'unformat' on the formatting screen (couldn't find any mention of this in the manual). Went ahead. Got between 39 and 99 % before it said that these disks couldn't be formatted. I decided to try to use them on my PC instead but after the attempted formatting they just crashed my PC. Next I tried to back up some VHS tapes using the composite connectors. A 5 minute sample worked so I went for a full 45min tape. I got to the end and tried to add a menu and finalise the session but then it said video create failed. I went back through the screens to see what had gone wrong but then it just said that there was no content on the disk although it acknowledged it a few seconds before. The same happened with Bulkpaq Orange DVD-R as well as the Datawrite Yellows. You get the same message saying check the disk as it may be damaged or needs cleaning.

Totally unrelaible for me and way way too fussy about media for somethinhg which claims to be a multi-format player.

This isn't all Toshiba's fault though. The entire DVD industry have complicated things so much with the format war that they have screwed up the media market place too. Yes my media choice was 'budget' however, other manufacturers manage it with these disks according to other reviews I have read. I had this unit less than a week and in no way would I recommend it to anybody. It feels to me like a machine that was rushed out with little time to test compatability issues (over-sensitivities with -R and -RW). My opinion now is that if you just want a DVD-RAM machine then go for Panasonic. Otherwise stick with Pioneer, Sony or JVC.

The Toshiba DR-1 is a great product.
It is very comprehensive with a good manual but is relatively easy to use. You can load a DVD and press OTR and away you go.
If you want to do more, however, you can pre-program (32 programs) directly or with Videoplus and you can vary the bit rate to get more on the DVD. It has PDC and Time Extend to cater for programme overruns. I particularly like the way it can be set to automatically set the quality to best fit the disc space available.
Tuning it in is a doddle and the signal quality is superb. By hooking my Panasonic Surround Sound I am able to get superb pictures and sound on just about eveything.
It does take a while to load up which can be fustrating if you are in a hurry. Pre-programmed settings also start to click into action about two minutes before the programme starts so beware.

Using DVD-RAM you are able to edit chapters etc. and importantly run timeslip. This enables you to pause live TV or begin watching a programme that is still recording. Fantastic!

The only downside is the slightly odd styling which is a bit bulky (and 1970s in appearance).

In summary, a great player with lots of features for under 200 pounds.