Sylvania DVC800C DVD-VCR Combo
A review of the similar Sylvania DVC850C
This is a review of the Sylvania DVC850C which appears to be identical in function to the DVC800C.<br />A nice looking machine which seems to be a good combination of products especically for families renting tapes and DVDs for kids.  <br />We ending up returning our first unit after about three weeks.  It developed a problem playing old and some rented videos which got progressively worse.  <br />We've had the replacement for about a month and altough it a problem playing a Disney tape from our public library it has done fine with our older tapes.<br />There is no tracking adjustment which it definately needs.  This has meant that some tapes look bad and some just don't work at all.  We've seen a Macrovision protected Disney tape that doesn't play at all.  For those tapes we need to use an older VCR.<br />Has a clock but no autoset feature.  Does have short power outage protection of the clock setting.  It also has a real time clock counter which is needed to find your way thru a tape with multiple shows on it.  The clock (and counter) does not display on the front of the unit so you need the remote control to display it on the screen.  <br />The display on the front of the unit is only for the DVD functions and provides no information for VCR or clock operations.<br />Can't copy DVD to VCR if that matters to you.<br />The remote is a bit complex at first but once you get the hang of it seems to do everything well.  There is no tracking control (it's suppose to be automatic) which is really needed.<br />It has very handy front and rear connections for additional video inputs. <br />We use this machine about four hours a day, mostly as a VCR.  Nice machine for kid use except for the VCR tracking problems.  I've seen the same machine under a different major brand name.