Toshiba SD-V280 DVD-VCR Combo, Silver
Solid and quiet
I bought the SDV280 after returning a similar competing product (reviewed elsewhere). I can't comment on reliability, but so far I'm pleased with the DVD playback quality. The disc drive is quiet and the tray has a good, solid feeling when it comes scooting out. The remote is very responsive and has separate pairs of buttons for FF/Rew and Skip Forward/Back. As others have pointed out, however, it is not a universal remote.<br />One gotcha with this unit, as with other combos, is that it does not necessarily free up an input on your TV. If you use just the RCA connections, you can play both DVD and VCR on one input (the Toshiba does the necessary switching), but if you use S-Video for the DVD, you need to plug the VCR into the second set of RCA jacks; it won't play on the first. That's the case with my TV anyway, and it means threading the VCR cables around to the front of the TV, which is not completely satisfactory.