A feature packed DVD player and recorder, the Toshiba DR19DT is a lower end version of the Toshiba RD99DT with a much lower price tag. Sacrificing a hard disk drive for the reduced price, this Toshiba DVD player is a great choice for persons who do not have a need for a higher memory capacity brought by a hard disk, or for those who already own a personal video recorder.

Some of the most notable features of the Toshiba DR19DT that makes it appealing are its Alternate Instance, Series Link, and Split Recording features. There is also a single tuner for Freeview and a remarkable 8 day Electronic Program Guide or EPG.

Another aspect that should be noted on a DVD recorder like the Toshiba DR19DT is the disc formats it supports. Unfortunately, the Toshiba DR19DT is not able to support dual layer formats, so this means you can only record a maximum of 8 hours of video. You can use DVD-RW, DVD+RW, as well as write once DVD-R and DVD+R. If your planning to record many videos, it would be best to have a lot of discs nearby as you may soon discover they consume space fast especially with high definition videos.

Being a lower level model of the RD99DT, for those of you who have seen it, the Toshiba DR19DT shares the same design and styling. It looks stylish enough with its sleek and slim facade with a silver stripe running across the middle of the black finish, the Toshiba DR19DT also features a rather small LED display in the upper half of the front panel.

The facia panel drops down to reveal some control keys and there are inputs for DV, S Video, composite and analogue stereo. Another victim in the scaling down of the Toshiba DR19DT is the omission of a USB port, which would have been nice if you wanted to play JPEG files, MP3, and DivX movies without having to burn them to a CD or DVD.

Moving on to the operating system of the Toshiba DR19DT, you will definitely find it very user friendly. It has a very simple main setup menu and easily followed. Most of these features are controlled from the remote control which is also very simple to use and remarkably well designed. The recording feature can also be turned on and programmed using the remote control and because there isn’t a hard disk included in this Toshiba DVD player, the editing features are slightly cut down as compared to its higher level twin.

When using a DVD+R or +RW, you have the ability to hide chosen chapters which can be seen as a form of erasing partials of the file. More editing features are allowed when using a DVD-RW format placed in a VR mode where you will be able to compile a variety of titles into a single playlist and place it in any order you like. You can even free up some space by deleting parts of a recording. It is also only in this format and mode where you will be able to do Time Slip and Chasing Playback.

In conclusion, the Toshiba DR19DT is a great bargain for its low price. You are assured that you get what you paid for and much more. It has excellent performance and even without as many features as most technophiles would want, it does what it’s designed for with high marks.