I've had the D-R5 for a few months and so far I'm not impressed with it! On the other hand I have read good things about it, so maybe it could be just a bad machine that I picked up.

(1) The audio cuts out and locks the unit up to the point where I have to shut it off to fix it.
(2) You can only record one show per day. If you schedule two or more requardless of what you do it will only record that first show.
(3) Once, when I came home from work the unit sounded like it was spinning at max speed and noticeably warm to touch........was not scheduled to record at that time.

Also, what are some general differences between recorders with and w/out a HDD?

What recorders with and w/out a HDD are highly reputable, that have HDMI?

I've had the D-R5 for a few months and so far I'm not impressed with it! On the other hand I have read good things about it, so maybe it could be just a bad machine that I picked up.

(1) The audio cuts out and locks the unit up to the point where I have to shut it off to fix it.
(2) You can only record one show per day. If you schedule two or more requardless of what you do it will only record that first show.
(3) Once, when I came home from work the unit sounded like it was spinning at max speed and noticeably warm to touch........was not scheduled to record at that time.

Also, what are some general differences between recorders with and w/out a HDD?

What recorders with and w/out a HDD are highly reputable, that have HDMI?

I had the R5 for about a month and also was not impressed. My prior experience with Toshiba was the DKR2 model and the R5 was nothing like it. The user interface of the DKR2 is consistent with the Toshiba XS HDD models. The R5 had a totally different user interface. Also the R5 has only 5 recording modes. The DKR2 allows the user to set a MN bit rate.

Is the R5 a bad machine. No. It was just that I expected this newer recorder to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor. But it appeared to me to be a totally different machine.

Exchanged the old unit for a new one. Same thing, audio cuts out after you FF/Rew a recorded program. You have to power it off in order to get it back. Is this a known issue with this recorder? Could it be the media? Has anyone else had similiar problems with the D-R5?

Exchanged the old unit for a new one. Same thing, audio cuts out after you FF/Rew a recorded program. You have to power it off in order to get it back. Is this a known issue with this recorder? Could it be the media? Has anyone else had similiar problems with the D-R5?

I've had this recorder for several months and have not had the same problems as posted. I did have one case where it started recording and then locked up 2 minutes into it requiring a power reset but nothing since.

Overall I'm not overly impressed as it lacks basic functionality.

Pros:
- Chase mode with DVD-RAM like a DVR.
- Recording schedule easy to use.
- Upconvert picture quality is good.
- A good step up from the old VCR.
- Low price (paid ~$160).

Cons:
- Clock loses noticeable time (~20 seconds every few weeks). No auto clock set from the network.
- HDMI Output (720p/1080i) is always prestretched to 16:9 rather than allowing me to decide if I want it at 4:3 with the bars and use the TV to stretch with more options. I don't believe there's a way to change this. The 4:3/16:9 option on the recorder does not change this operation - that only seems to work for 480i output.
- Occasional flakey operation - rare but occurs.
- Poor owner's manual - does not provide detailed info on many options.