Symbio 160HD4 Audio/Video Hard Drive (AVHD) Recorder

Picked up this HD DVR to work with my Toshiba 42HP95 plasma screen.

First the good things. It works seemlessly with the TV Guide On Screen guide. I know there were problems with the TV Guide in the 2004 Toshiba TVs but so far I haven't had any problems with mine and the one touch recording and future recording capabilites work well. The DVR also records HD programming. That alone was worth the money. I was paying $20/month for that capability from the cable company. So for the basic stuff it works well.

What it doesn't do well. I knew before purchasing this that it didn't have an internal tuner. The DVR works in conjuntion with the TV's tuner. What that means is that if you're recording a program you cannot even change the input on the TV. The other problems I've found is that while you're recording a program you can't even pause live TV or watch a previously recorded program. The latter I'm assuming is because there is no built in tuner. I can see that I won't be retiring my ReplayTVs yet but at least it gives me an option when I want to record an HD program.

This thing should have "Caveat Emptor" stamped all over it.

The "Good": cheap (got mine for $259), large capacity (16 hr of HD), simple to configure (remember works ONLY with '04 and newer Toshiba HDTV's), simple to use, very compact, excellent recording quality, excellent integration into the TV Guide Online system.

The "Bad": you can't switch inputs while it's recording (you can't even watch a DVD), won't work unless TV Guide Online is working (a BIG problem for many users), no on/off switch for reboots (more on this in "the UGLY"), you cannot watch a show that is recording from the beginning (they say it can what they mean is that since it's recording your feed all the time, yes, you can go back but NOT when it's recording a show that you've scheduled) or pause/rewind it, won't record off the colorstream or video 2/3 inputs (I understand why it won't do HDMI, but why not the other inputs?). Oh, and you can't stop a scheduled recording unless you pull the plug (which is NOT recommended while the unit is recording)!!!

The "UGLY": doesn't have a reliable connection to the HDTV through the 1394 interface gets "lost" and cannot connect. This means you can't be sure it's going to record your programs, or work for your wife/kids when you're not home. When this happens, you need to power cycle the Symbio, and it'll connect right back up. However, that would be easier if it had a power switch! You have to pull the plug to do it, which for most HT owners is a real pain to do.

I knew most of the stuff above before I bought it, but the connection reliability problem is a real killer for me. I'd recommend other solutions, but my friends who have local Cox cable's HD recorder tell me that it's even worse. Best bet is to wait 2-3 generations of these products for all the bugs to be worked out.

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I'm very disappointed with this product. Toshiba has said that the Symbio only works with new Toshiba TV's that are HD ready--thus encouraging the purchase of these TV's. BUT . . .the Symbio can only record future programs if the Toshiba TV is able to download TV Guide listings---and they can't!!!

Toshiba customer service acknowledges the problem and claims that the issue has been identified to "the head office". Not good enough for those who have spent thousands on the Symbio and the HD-ready tv. Toshiba will need to fix this asap or face a massive recall obligation.

Beware!

Read Best Reviews of Symbio 160HD4 Audio/Video Hard Drive (AVHD) Recorder Here

Don't believe Toshiba's disclaimer, which misleadingly says "Toshiba Symbio AVHD recorder model 160HD4 is compatible only with Toshiba Integrated HD television models 51H94, 57H94, 51HX94, 57HX94, 46HM94, 52HM94, 62HM94, 52HMX94, and 62HMX94." I am using my Toshiba Symbio 160HD4 with my Sharp Aquos LC45GD7U set which has TV Guide on Screen and i.Link support with DTCP copy protection so I can record all digital cable channels received including encrypted premium channels decoded using the CableCARD installed in my Sharp TV set by local cable company (Time Warner). The Toshiba 169HD4 works fine with my TV set, with full capability to record and play digital TV from both broadcast and all my cable channels including premium channels. Setup is trivial, plug it in and run the included firewire cable to the TV. The 160HD4 device has no controls of its own, not even a power switch. Scheduling recordings is done via the Sharp TV set's built in TV Guide on Screen (TVGOS), which receives program listings *free* from my local cable company (Time Warner). To playback, I use the Sharp TV remotes 'i.Link' button to popup a control window, select the recording to play, and push play. Easy.

The main drawbacks of using the 160HD4 with the Sharp Aquos LC45GD7U set that I have noticed are:

(1) TVGOS filenames for recordings are not assigned by the Sharp TV's TVGOS, so it can be hard to figure out which recording is which.

(2) Unlike the Toshiba TV sets, the Sharp's remote controller does not have dedicated buttons for controlling 160HD4, which means that one has to use the virtual buttons in the i.Link popup window on the Sharp TV set. Still, this is not much of a handicap, as the Sharp's popup virtual buttons seem easy to use.

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I purchased this along with my 62HMX95 about 6 months ago, when I first started using it I had a lot of issues with the audio not getting recorded, so much I called toshiba and got an RMA, needless to say the problem seems to have taken care of itself and unless the drive fills up, I dont have any problems with its operation at all which is to say, not much! It records and plays and thats about it, you can fast forward/reverse and jump a few minutes in either direction at a time and pause, but if you want to use your TV while recording, forget it. The lack of a tuner prohibits it. Also, Toshiba claims it will slow-forward/reverse, the unit i have doesn't!

I read a few of the reviews and one guy stated the only way to terminate a recording was to pull the plug, thats not the case, if the show is recording, simply press the record button on the remote and wait a few seconds for it to stop. I've only had to unplug the unit 3-4 times in the 6 months I've used it and that was related to filling up the drive and losing the audio...

Would I buy it again? If i could find another unit that could pull the TV Guide from the cable without an additional monthly fee, had the same simply one button recording, no... But since I haven't found one that meets my needs yet, i bought a 2nd off EBay!

For those of you curious, the drive is a standard 160G IDE drive, easy to replace. I haven't tried a larger drive yet but thats next on my list after the second unit arrives....