Sony SLV-D100 DVD-VCR Combo
Great DVD-VCR Combo
I bought this about a year ago from Best Buy and have had virtually no problems with it. I actually use the VCR part much more than the DVD part, and I'd say I do a moderate amount of recording. After a year, no malfunctions whatsoever. Further, I'm completely satisfied with the recordings. I use high-quality tapes, and playback from the recorded tape is almost as good as the original broadcast -- and I generally record in EP mode. The DVD player has also performed flawlessly. I have had no problems with skipping or freezing unless the disk itself was defective. This was confirmed a couple of times by playing the disk in another machine, where the disk froze or skipped at exactly the same places. Once the disk was replaced with a new one, no problems. Unlike other people, I have no trouble with the remote. I think it must be a matter of taste. I don't consider it a design flaw. I have this machine hooked up to a Sony TV, so set-up was effortless. The silver color matches that of my TV. There are two reasons I'm not giving the machine (5) stars: 1) I thought it was a bit overpriced when I bought it but was willing to spend the extra money anyway because I like Sony products; 2) The internal clock loses time. I've been lazy and haven't attempted to fix this. However, it's annoying when you're trying to program the machine to record. I'm always having to correct the clock. It might be something that would be easy to fix, but I haven't bothered calling customer service. I can live with it.<br />I notice Amazon is no longer stocking this item. There are some rather negative reviews here, but I think if you can find this machine for a good price, it would be worth it. Between DVDs and tapes, I've used it fairly heavily for a year. I definitely recommend it.