Home > Consumer Reviews > Sylvania DVC865F Progressive Scan DVD/VCR Dual Deck

My experience with my DVD/VCR player has been very good. I wanted a unit for my bedroom that would have all the features I wanted, without being terribly expensive. This unit fits the bill. The remote in particular is great. All the most useful functions are right at your fingertips and are easy to find, even in dim light, since some buttons are red and some are shaded with dark grey. My favorite feature is the Resume Play, which allows you to pick up a DVD at the point that you stopped it, even if you turn the machine off. Many of your less expensive DVD players do not have that feature.

It has S Video and Component Video output available, but I found that the cables that come with the machine produce quality picture and sound. I would recommend this unit to anyone looking for a lower cost DVD/VCR combo.

This combo drive is pretty lousy in important places.
First off, the DVD drive. It will freeze during movies and click and bounce around inside the player. Sometimes it will stop clicking and start back up after a minute or more, but other times it will have to be totally shut off.
And secondly, the VHS player. It plays VHS movies fine except for some annoying problems. About a month after purchase the player started squeeling when fast-forwarding or rewinding. Now this might be only annoying, but it makes me question the quality of the machine considering it started one month after purchase.
Overall, the only positive feature is the abilty to watch local channels and VHS tapes. That is pretty sad, because this thing should do a whole lot more.

WORKS AS ADVERTISED, PICTURE QUALITY IS GREAT, CAN BE OPERATED BY THE TEHNICALLY CHALANGED.

This VCR/DVD combo is becoming hard to find because it has a built in tuner. I can plug my incoming coaxil cable into the back and run another from my unit to the TV. This is good for me because I don't have a digital set-up.

I have other Sylvania VCR/DVD combos that perform adequately for recording TV programs. The only negative is that you need to record on standard play rather than extended play to get an undistorted picture.

I am very pleased with my purchase. I received the player in a very timely manner.
The price was reasonable for a refurbished machine. It was very easy to hook up.
The only negative is the remote doesn't have an eject button. I cann't find anything else wrong with it. It works!