Customer Reviews

Sony SLVD360P DVD / VCR Combo

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Having just purchased a Sony LCD TV, I thought I couldn't go wrong with a matching Sony DVD/VCR player. The DVD player appears to be stable and dependable, which has got to be worth something (try finding on Amazon a DVD player with decent consumer ratings from reviewers). But for a consumer leader like Sony, the instructions are depressingly convoluted and reader-unfriendly, packed in a reduced-format manual that doesn't provide full illustrations (front, back, remote) and labels for all the jacks and controls (whatever happened to thin manuals with big pictures and "quick set-up and operation" instructions up front?). I'm not even planning on using the VCR for recording, but I'm still searching the manual to find out why VCR playback isn't registering on the monitor.

A few other minor complaints: the VCR does not accept an S-Video connector (common, I guess); the included Sony remote will operate all the TV sets in the house with the exception of my new Sony(!); finally, I'm a bit annoyed that even a trip to the Sony website does not make clear the difference between this set (SLVD360) and the one just above it (SLVD560), other than a twenty-dollar higher price tag.

I may annul this unsunny Sony honeymoon and take a look at a lower-priced Panasonic or Phillips (their current ads pitched at non-rocket-scientist consumers must have me in mind).

[Addendum: I held on to the machine, which may not have been a wise decision: the VCR is providing the jumpiest image I've ever seen from a VHS tape source.]

This is a great DVD/VHS player combo unit. Its interface is easy to use and programming is a snap. It has the ability to use progressive OR interlaced scan when using component outputs which is a big plus if you have a TV like mine that has component inputs that don't accept a progressive scan signal. However, on the downside, the unit can't up-convert VHS video. Hence, the component outputs only work for the DVD half of the unit. If you use them, you still have to plug in the VCR using a standard coaxial cable or RCA composite AV cables.

Also, although the manual says that composite AV cables deliver a better picture than using a coaxial cable, I just didn't see a improvment on my TV. The standard cable line provided a much deeper and cleaner picture than the RCA cables did.

Oh, and to the reviewer who asked the difference between this player and the SLVD560, I think the main difference is that the SLVD560 has VCR +.

Within a week of getting this, it started taking forever to load movie DVDs that work fine on my PC, and the movies would stop and suddenly claim to be 'unreadable disks'. They work fine in other players.

It has some nice features, but I can't say much for its reliability.

This is yet another excellent product by SONY for the price and the features are prolific. The DVD and CD player is good. I send the sound to my home receiver and it sounds wonderful. The VHS portion plays better than my other stand-alone SONY VCRs. What I really liked is that you can view JPEG images and this unit has Quasi-S Playback so I can play my S-VHS tapes. The picture is good. As with other similar SONY units, I found it amazing that the EP record mode (6 hour) looked better than the SP (2 hour) on black & white movies. I still don't like the remotes that SONY gives you with these models but that's a minor issue. If you want to watch DVDs, record and play VHS tapes I would recommend this SONY unit.

After moving and rewiring all of our Audio and Video equipment in our house after our Christmas present to each other of a new Sony TV, we purchased this Sony DVD/VCR combo unit from Amazon. The price was cheaper even with shipping than we could purchase it locally on sale. The hook-up time for this unit even with a satellite connection in the mix was incredibly easy. Both the TV and the DVD/VCR talk to each other well, and both remote controls seem to handle all of their multi unit functions well. Have had no problems with this unit since it was purchased in January 2006.

Machine is fine, as is the remote. Manual, however, is not fine in that some directions are murky and others are wrong.

After owning for just 6 months or so, DVD player began to freeze up every few minutes on DVDs that will play just fine in another DVD player.

I bought the combo about 3 weeks ago and it's been working fine except of a quiet annoying noise coming from the DVD/CD section, which is very distracting when listening to some classical music. Otherwise easy to use/setup. Played about everything but it takes a long time to load JPEGs.

Worked OK until it suddenly died after only 8 months of moderate use. Sony warranty covers parts for a year, but labor for only 90 days. They offered to swap with a refurb for $33 plus the cost of shipping the dead unit to them. Prior to its demise, I would have rated it acceptable. DVD is very slow to load, especially music CDs and VCDs.

After about a month's use, this unit just suddenly loses power. This can occur during playback, or even when not in use. I have to unplug it, then wait a while, then plug it back in, and then it will flash "AUTO" and it works againg for a while (so far). This is a recurring problem - if anyone knows what causes this, I would appreciate any possible clues.