Sylvania DVR90VE DVD Player/Recorder and Hi-Fi VCR Combo
Good Low-End DVD/VHS Recorder: A Few Tips
I've used my Sylvania DVR90VE a great deal over the past three months with surprisingly few problems for such an inexpensive machine.  It's a good buy if you have a sizeable collection of VHS tapes that you'd like to archive in DVD format.  Just a few tips: <br />1.  Heed the one-star reviews: use only 4X (not 8X) DVD-R blank disks.  TDK, Memorex, and SONY have all proved to be reliable.  (Avoid Trex and Verbatim.) <br />2.  DVD-RW?  Don't bother.  Editing options are limited, and DVD-RW disks are incompatible with most other players. <br />3.  Quick fix: should the DVD drive lock up and the drawer refuse to open (e.g., when a faulty blank disk gets locked into formatting mode), simply unplug the unit, wait about an hour, and try again (with a fresh disk, of course).  I can't tell you why, but it works for me. <br />4.   Can you convert copy-protected VHS tapes to DVD?  According to the owner's manual, no.  According to the laws in most countries, no.  But in practice, yes--about 80% of the time. No tricks, no hacks--apparently just happenstance.  <br />5.   Can you convert your homemade VHS tapes to DVD?  Almost always--though very occasionally the DVD-R may read (and be blocked by) the copy-protection code on a program that your VCR copied without a problem. <br />