Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony SLV-D380P DVD/VCR Tunerless Progressive Scan DVD/VHS Combo Player

I got this to replace my old dvd vcr combo. I wanted the multi read dvd player for my home made dvd's. As an added bonus it also reads jpeg disks. As to all the negative reviews, I read all of them found them to be without merit. Every complaint was that the vcr had no tuner. I have a satellite box and if I wish to tape programs I use the satellite to do so. However I have no need for this as I have a dvr with my satellite service. To those who objected to the absense of a tuner, why would you purchase this product not knowing what that meant? Besides, in 2009 when the broadcasters switch to digital, everyone will need a separate digital tuner anyway.

DVD players can be so unstable, hit and miss, unreliable and short-lived that the machine may be worth the price for that feature alone. It's played every disc and doesn't even stick. There are disappointments, however. This Sony unit's remote control will not operate my Sony TV, which was purchased two years ago. More aggravating is the jumpy picture on all of my commercial VHS tapes when I play them with the Sony. (Note that S-video out and component video out capabilities apply only to the DVD player, not the VHS half.) Fortunately, I've got a really cheap Sylvania VHS player that blows this one away, and by stacking the practically generic machine on top of the Sony combo player and employing three remote controls, I'm able to achieve the desired result for which this machine was manufactured.

Still, somehow it's just not the same.

[Later: One problem I've noticed with the DVD player is the rapid movement of the tray. On some occasions, it's closed so hard the DVD has become dislodged, forcing me to hold the tray back to prevent it from slamming shut.]

Until DVR's are more uniform, we decided to replace our broken VCR with another. We do have cable, and at first were really impressed with the quality and quiet of this unit. HOWEVER...when we tried to play a tape we'd previously recorded on another machine, we found out that the Sony can't adjust the tracking for tapes recorded on other VCRs, if they were recorded in SLP, the fastest speed that uses the least tape. So our old movies are unplayable, and the only way to record on our older Panasonic to be able to play it on the Sony is to record in SP, thus getting only 2 hours on a 120 tape. Anything longer will be cut off. So forget about a movie or baseball game.
A very bad feature on a very good machine.

this unit replaced a broken 6-year old jvc in the kids' room (you can imagine how tragic a breakdown in entertainment is to kids). thus far (2 months) the sony unit has performed well. read times on dvd's is faster than the old jvc, the vhs is relatively noiseless, and picture quality is good overall.
this unit does not have a cable tuner - so you'll have to switch the tv back and forth between sources! this also means that if your tv only has a cable jack / coaxial input you'll be out of luck connecting this unit. the remote is adequate but did not come with codes to control a 14-year old jvc crt (which refuses to die), so now we have to train the kids to use 3 remotes (tivo remote for directv, jvc tv and sony dvd) - if it werent for kids' natural propensity for this stuff, i'd have no hair left.

Who could not understand the word "tunerless". It turns out to be just what I wanted. I have an old unconected Mitsubishi TV and a lot of VCRs and DVDs I wanted to play but all the new units had connectors not available on my older TV all I have is "RCA" inputs. Guess what? So does this unit...Perfect fit for me. People should do better research before they plunk dowm $80. Sonystyle has a great explantion of this set. I think the low price interfered with their input channel. (by the way take note, this unit does not have "S Video or HDMI connectors either)