Customer Reviews

Sony SLV-D100 DVD-VCR Combo

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

First let me tell you why I buy this. It's a Sony right. I found out that I was wrong. This lovely Sony SLV-D100 DVD/VCR combo is ACTUALLY made by Samsung Electronics Corporation. This is the electronic corporation that manufactures Go Video VCRs and DVD/VCRs combo. Don't waste your money in buying this. I highly recommend a Samsung or Go Video DVD/VCR combo for less. The brand names may sound funny BUT they perform the same picture, quality, and reliability as the Sony because the two are made by Samsung. How do I know this, try looking at the vcr mechanism and see the similarity of Samsung VCR's design. So don't blame on Sony for this poor design and unreliable product. Sony only designs and markets this DVD/VCR combo and let Samsung Electronics Corporation do the rest. Thanks for reading this review.

This DVD/VCR Combination player and recorder from SONY is really good. SONY must have been reading the reviews over the past two years because they have definitely improved the performance of their VCRs as is evidenced by this unit. In the SP mode it records and plays back just beautifully. The front load VCR accepts and ejects the tape with frictionless accuracy. You no longer have to worry about getting the tape perfectly aligned before inserting it into the player. I really liked the display because it indicates on-screen tracking, speed, elapsed time and remaining time. You can actually watch the display track until it finds the "hi-fi" position. I also really liked the high-speed Fast Forward and Rewind operation. Programming the unit for recording is basically the same as my older SONY units; you just have to navigate the controls a little differently. It will also play back S-VHS recordings, which used to be a nuisance. That is a feature that I really like. DVD play and menu operations are pretty much the same as other units. There are really no surprises except for the zoom feature, which I only use if there is something in the picture that I want to see close-up. It is interesting that you can get both the VCR and DVD signal through the RF output. If you have an old TV with no video line inputs there is no longer a need to purchase a separate RF Modulator to receive the DVD signal. That's a really nice feature. The hand remote is just a little awkward to use. Some of the buttons are a little undersized. They should have made the remote larger and shaped it ergonomically to fit in your hand. However, the more frequently accessed buttons are large enough and easily accessible. Overall this is an excellently designed unit both esthetically and functionally. Most importantly it performs beautifully. Both DVD and VCR images look great.

The Sony SLV-D100 Combination VCR and DVD Player is excellent. The DVD playback is very good. It has an interesting Screen Zoom Function that will enlarge a selected section of the image 2x or 4x. It also has a Virtual Surround Sound feature that works to varying degrees based on your speaker placement and acoustics. It is also interesting that the DVD image can be output by means of Component Video Output, S-Video Output, Composite Video Output and even RF Output. The 4-head VCR component is good. It plays and records standard VHS and can playback S-VHS recordings with S-VHS Quasi Playback. Pre-recorded tapes and recordings made on my other Sony and JVC recorders look good on this unit. The VHS recordings made on the SLV-D100 are acceptable. It does have Tuner & Clock, a 1 Month/8 Event Recording Timer and Auto or manual Tracking. The Remote is small and takes time to get used to. However, every function is described in detail in the manual. Yet, I am still trying to get my Sony TV remote to operate the SLV-D100. In all I am very pleased with the SLV-D100. Besides being a space-saver I find its performance remarkable and exceeded my expectations. It not only performs well but contains so many extra features that I did not expect. This is a good unit. In fact, the VCR component is better than the other stand alone VCRs from Sony.

I was a fan of this unit at first. Its CD playback was a real pleasent surprize. Sounds were mellow and rich, just like I like to hear. The DVD player was also a surprize in the fact that the picture compared to stand-alone players I have seen. I had no digitizing or frame freeze ups at all. Colors were bright and had good seperation. Plus the Dolby 5.1 sound throught the optical outputs was fantastic. Loud with lots of low bass. The VCR is where I hit my troubles. At first it was O.k. but now its recording ability has fallen way below acceptable. Im getting marks through the tape as if its dirty(only 3 weeks old) or the tracking is just failing. Ive tried new tapes and manual ajustments but its getting worse. Even though I hardly play VHS movies back anymore I still am a heavy recorder. We record stuff all the time. Therefore I guess its going back. Im going to get it cleaned first to see if this helps but Sony VCR's have a bad reputation I heard.

Before you buy this first edition of a DVD/VCR combo from Sony I would like for you to know some of its rather disappointing shortcomings. I'll quickly list them as well as give you a comparison to another DVD/VCR I've tested.

1. DVD portion
The built-in software & functionality falls far short when compared to Sony's entry level DVD player (DVP-NS315). The SLV-D100 has only an on/off surround option, no adjustment of the picture quality, and it's method of handling MP3s will often not allow for easy picking and choosing of selections.
2. VHS portion
The VHS portion of the player is suitable, but just from the look & feel from the first few hours I wouldn't compare it favorably in any way to my Sony SLV-701HF.
3. Comparison
The first DVD/VHS combo I tested out was the Sansui VRDVD4000. It's software & functionality is superior to that of the Sony. It provides many more options and displays (it can even indicate the bitstream rate that the DVD is performing at!). I wouldn't say the VHS portion was too bad either. Also, it seems that the remote-control eye was better at picking up the signal from its remote control. The Sony control on the other hand would need to be directly pointed at its eye in order to get a response. Lastly, when the Sony tray is left open it will cease to allow any remote control switching between DVD and Line input unless it is closed. No such thing on the Sansui model, you may have the tray left open and not struggle with the loss of any functionality on the remote control . A major drawback on the Sansui model is that it ONLY has front inputs

If you are a Sony enthusiast like me, you will find that the SLV-D100 will miss your expectations entirely. Good luck.

I wish I had read some of these reviews before I bought one of these. I experienced two of the problems experienced by other reviewers. Hookup was easy and I liked the Auto Setup feature. However, I bought 5 new DVD's to watch and they all skipped at various places throughout the movie. At first I thought the disks were dirty, but they all did this just like another reviewer wrote. The picture quality was great but I would rather watch a VHS tape than sit through all these pauses and skips. Its like the screen freezes for a second or two. The other problem I experienced was slowness of the remote. I would push a button to navigate through a menu and it would take a second for the unit to respond. The audio and video quality was great but these two problems are causing me to send my unit back. Very disappointing as I have 100% Sony equipment in my Audio and Home Entertainment Center. I have been waiting for the Sony combo DVD/VHS unit to come out, now I'm sorry I did. I will send this unit back and continue to use my old Sony VHS deck and buy another brand of DVD player. Sony lost a customer on this deal.

I have read the other reviews and really don't find this lacking anywhere. I have never had a VCR that I liked better. The quality of this VCR is FAR superior to any that I have ever had. This is my first DVD player, but I haven't found anything that I could complain about. This unit isn't hard to use, in fact it really does everything for you. I love it.

I have a [...] Sony DVD player. Sony claims a 1 year part/90 day labor warranty. First, the machine simply stopped working after 5 months. Second, to send it in for warranty repair, Sony wants [...] for labor, upfront, plus I have to pay for the cost to ship the item. They don't assess the problem and then give you an estimate, permitting you to decide whether or not you want to go through with a repair. Third, when I noted that the cost to repair closely approaches the cost of a new machine, their customer service representative told me I should have purchased the extended warranty.

My suggestion is, buy a more reliable product, not a Sony. Check out what the warranty, when you purchase. Select a product with 1 year parts and labor. Otherwise, find out what the manufacturer charges for warranty service.

Sony will probably charge more for labor for a more complex, more expensive machine. Watch out for deceptive warranty policies.

I love the convenience of a combo unit, and I've had no problems with the DVD player. After just a few months, however, the VCR portion of the unit broke down. I play many more DVD's than tapes so this is pretty alarming. The picture looks exactly like what you get when you have dirty heads, so I used the same cleaning method that I use for the other VCR units that I use, (in the kids rooms). I have one of those tapes that you insert and play after putting a few drops of cleaner in it. Well, that didn't fix the problem, (how could the heads really be dirty after a few months of very light use anyway?). Be forewarned about this unit. I bought it since it had good features and didn't have the cheap "feel" of the lower priced units available in the market. My mistake. I'm ditching the thing, (will probably hook it up with my kids TV/VCR combo so that he can watch DVD's too), and going with a better brand.

I bought the dvd/vcr combo about a couple of weeks ago. I noticed about a week ago that whenever I played a dvd, I could hear the spinning sound of the dvd being read. I then came to the conclusion, that I must be the dvd and not the machine and also that this is normal. But, then i played some other dvd's and the same sound would persist. I even walked over to the other side of the room to test if that spinning sound can be heard and it failed that test miserably. I dont know if I just have a defective machine but based on my experience with this machine, I would avoid this product with all means.