Home > Consumer Reviews > Toshiba SDV-291 DVD/VCR Combo , Silver

I was surprised at the negative reviews for this DVD/VCR combo because I've been very pleased with ours.

I found the set-up to be very simple. It plays DVD's very clear. The only time I heard a "whirring" sound was when I had the DVD paused, and it wasn't very loud.

The VCR also works nicely, and I like that you can be recording a Television show while watching a DVD. We've used this feature a few times already. The shows we've recorded were just as clear as when they originally played.

The remote is a little overwhelming at first, but if you take a look at the instructions, it's very easy to understand. Every remote takes some getting used to at first since they're all different.

I'm overall very pleased with this DVD/VCR combo and have recommended it to friends.

I bought the SDV-291 and had it set up in 10 minutes in tandem with my Symphonic WF802 combo player. Instructions in the manual are clear and concise. Works like a charm, records well, plays all my MP3s and on some CDs I have 215 songs in MP3 format. Can record from the Symphonic to the Toshiba with no problem. Auto clock works great! All in all I rate this equipment as 5 outa 5. Only negative is the silver color and the very faint red lettering on the multi-function remote. Buy this baby folks, unless you are electronically illiterate and then I recommend you stay away from a combo DVD/VHS player and buy a simple low-end DVD player!

I ordered this combo because I wanted the commercial skip feature. Although I am quite computer and electronics savvy I found the controls to be impossible to use, not at all intuitive or user friendly. There are 46 buttons on the remote with obscure and complicated functions. Sitting with the instruction book in my lap, I attempted several times over a period of a week to program the VCR timer to record a program and was unable to accomplish the task.

I have been using this unit for over 2 months and think it is great! I am not mechanical and was a bit worried about the set-up. Unbelievable to me, I had it set up and working in about 15 minutes! The manual installation instructions were very clear and easy to understand. Recording programs to the VCR is simple and I love that you can record a TV program to the VCR and simultaneously watch a DVD. The only negative is that the remote buttons are very small, but this seems to be the norm for most remotes these days in order to have so many buttons...

I have read some negative reviews on this unit, but so far, I find them hard to beleive. This is a great unit at a terrific price!

After two hours of attempting to record a simple TV show...any TV show...I gave up hope. The DVD plays fine. Mp3's, CD's and VCD's are also fine...however, it will not play SVCD's or DVD-R's burned from my PC. But the real drawback is the VCR recording function. No matter what I tried nothing would record to tape. Oh sure, the tape "rec" indicator said it was recording, but it wasn't. In fact, not only did it not record an image/sound/etc., it didn't even erase what was previously recorded on the tape and leave me with noise. NOTHING recorded. I took it back for a Samsung VCR/DVD combo. I suggest you do the same.