Toshiba SD-V295 Tunerless DVD VCR Combo Player Reviews

• I had to take mine back to Best Buy

  
  By A2JDR162ARCHHL on 2007-05-09
  The unit itself worked fine and seems like a good value for the price. BUT. The remote control requires a full 5 seconds after you press a button before you can press that button again, or any other button. That's a long slow count of 5 in between button presses. The manual warns of a delay in the fine print, but 5 seconds for each button press? It would have taken me a week to set the clock!
  
  Perhaps my particular unit was an outlier in this regard (can they all be like this?) so if you want this product you should probably check out your exact unit right at the store before buying.
  
  

• Confusing but.. it records!

  
  By A1YY2LFLCBL3QY on 2007-07-08
  Picked this up from BestBuy last night - should have thought twice as there was one on the shelf that had been returned already. It does not come with a tuner so without a cable or satellite box you're screwed.
  
  My television lacks RCA jacks so I have an RCA/Coax converter. So far so good but the annoying part that I can't figure out is that I have to move the cables from VCR OUT to VCR IN when I want to record something, then back to VCR OUT when I want to watch!
  
  The DVD part worked fine, no real problem there, picture quality looks good and the VCR recording quality looks great. The remote is a joke. You have to press combination keys to get things to work and it was very confusing to learn. It also hates to leave DVD mode. You cannot turn off the DVD side and only focus on the VCR ergo you'll be programming a timer or something and suddenly you're in DVD mode!
  
  The other model at BestBuy was the Sony SLV-D380P. As far as I can tell it's just as bad but with an extra $10 Sony markup!
  
  
  
  

• Not bad except for one thing.

  
  By A14ZLAU9917S6D on 2007-06-04
  I didn't have the problem with the 5 second delay. BUT this unit has no recorder and if you want to record content from your TV you MUST connect this through your cable BOX. There is no way to hook it up directly to your cable wire. Which was no big deal except I had to play "musical" DVD players because I bought it to put in a room with no cable box.
  The picture quality is fine and so far it works well.
  
  

• It's Exactly What I Expected

  
  By A1B3BTBOZGQJ58 on 2008-01-03
  This is exactly what we needed and it works just the way that I would expect. We have had it for several weeks now and we watch movies and shows with it daily. It hasn't given us a moment of trouble and let's face it; vcr's are not as easy to find as they use to be.
  
  I don't see any other product like this being a better deal than this.
  
  

• Its not clear this unit requires an external tuner to record

  
  By A25475AKAPZDZF on 2007-06-23
  Its not clear, until you recived this unit, that it reqruies an external tuner to record from tv. This should be clearly noted in the ads for this product.
  
  
• Toshiba SD-V295KU
  By A1Z4G6QP8V68TG on 2007-11-23
  I purchased mine today at Best Buy, and YES it does not have a tuner built into the unit. The Best Buy price sticker indicates this as well as the outside of the unit does. It works great once one reads the manual which is actually very helpful, not to mention in perfect English also.
  
  
• Tiny remote
  By A3TTYLS3M665MQ on 2008-05-02
  I haven't had this very long, so I can't comment on it's reliability, just it's function. It works fine as far as recording and playback of VHS tape, and the DVD is good. I esp. like the DVD feature that remembers where you left off viewing a DVD. When you power the unit up, it starts right where you stopped the DVD. Great for those 3 and 4 hour movies it takes 2 (or 3) days to watch. The function indicators for DVD or VCR are tiny little boxes on the unit, and are both the same color. I wish they would have just made them different colored lights, or 1 led for VCR and 2 for DVD or some such...of course you can tell which function you're on if the TV is on, but if you just want to eject a disk or tape, you have to be right in front of the player to see which function you've got. The remote control is the big problem with this otherwise nice deal. It's only 6" long and 2" wide, and the buttons are tiny, and the print by the buttons is microscopic. And you can see the labels for the DVD functions OK (barely), but for the VHS functions, they used a dark mustard colored print that is awful to try and see. You need to keep a flashlight handy, which (along with the tiny buttons) kind of takes away that "braille" method of getting used to your remote. Luckily, I had a larger remote from another Toshiba DVD player I own. It's cream colored (as opposed to black, like the new one) and has big, easy to read labels, but I still have to use the new one for the VCR. So why the tiny remote for this job-ee-do? I don't know. Also, on the remote, they put the REW and FWD buttons right in between the SKIP FWD and BACK buttons, so you try to go for the rewind or forward on a DVD, and end up skipping froward or back a whole scene! Very painful! And also, they put the SLOW button up and right, away from the other play buttons, NEXT TO THE OPEN/CLOSE button, so there's more potential fun. Remember, it's tuner-less, so you can't hook it up with your coaxial cable, it has to hook up directly to a cable or satellite box. You need one of those 3 lead cables, with two audio and one video, which, by the way the cheapskates don't provide with the unit, so don't forget to get one. Well, otherwise, it works well, is inexpensive, and is pretty.
  
  
• Great DVDS Player/Recorder
  By A2TUTSXOID6CRM on 2008-01-07
  Deliver was as forecast by Amazon.
  This replaced my previous Tobshiba VCR and DVD player. Operation was integrated and much simpler than with the previous two pieces of equipment. Installation was almost nothing. Plugged it in as described in the summary sheet, turned it on, and all worked without a problem.
  
  
• it's all good
  By A24ZUOLA197HWX on 2007-10-21
  this dvd/vcr it's alright i guess, with it not having a cable hook up in the back the only way you can record any tv programs is to use your auxiliary hook up on your tv but it does play real good but you have to make sure that you have that timer button on or you will not get anything you can programs how many programs you want but if you don't hit that timer button you will not get anything but like any other new thing you buy you have to get use to it right ? but all around once you get use to it you'll love it i do really like it alot now
  
  
• Nice Affordable Player
  By A36MBZ4JD9RTN0 on 2008-05-02
  This has been the perfect solution for us. I needed to replace an older model VCR/DVD combo player that died and this has been a great replacement. Yes, there is no tuner, but we do not need one for playing DVD and VHS tapes on my daughters television. The packaging and all other info on this unit clearly states there is no tuner so I do not understand some folks confusion there. The remote works just fine no issues and playback quality has been wonderfull. It would be nice if the VHS and DVD could both be hooked up through S-video, but this is a minor issue and if you read the specs before purchasing you know this. All in all this has been a great unit for the inexpensive price. If all you need is something low tech to play your VHS tapes and DVDs on a non-HDTV then I would recommend this unit.
  
  
• Arrived DOA
  By A1KRT1B3C08AHQ on 2008-05-10
  I bought this through Amazon as a Mother's Day gift, drove clear across town once I got it, and set it up only to find out that the VCR side wouldn't work. It would load a tape, but not play it, fast forward, rewind, or anything. Toshiba's support phone number was entirely useless as it was just a recording saying to use the web. Not wanting the hassle of trying to return the item and being at least a little technically inclined, I got the courage to open the case and look inside hoping not to leave any evidence that would void the warranty. Once open it was clear that the unit was not fully engaging the tape to the tape head. A quick inspection showed that a bracket had been bounced out of place during shipment which was jamming the tape loading mechanism and so I was able to return it back to where it was supposed to be. That did the trick and the unit now works fine. Most anyone else would have had to return it or have it repaired.
  
  
• This was a gift ,
  By A8FS5JG2L1DRM on 2008-01-15
  I purchased this DVD/VHS player for my foster daughter for Christmas.
  She is very happy with it.
  
  
  
  
  
• Cannot record and watch TV at the same time
  By A15ZSGOHAUIV4P on 2008-04-01
  I bought this to record programs from TV/Cable to watch later. You have to remember to set the Timer Record button and cannot watch TV until the show has been recorded. Or you can undo the Timer Record button, watch another program, them remember to set the Timer Record button when you are finished. Very inconvenient.
  You can, however, watch a DVD while your VCR is set in Record Mode/Prepare to Record Mode! Unfortunately this does not work well with me.
  
  
• Toshiba SD-V295 DVD-VCR COMBO PLAYER
  By A2E9EVCRU4NJRS on 2008-06-03
  LOVE IT! THE PRICE WAS GREAT AND IT WAS DELIVERED VERY PROMPTLY. THE VCR PLAYED SOME OLD HOME MOVIES THAT I HADN'T BEEN ABLE TO PLAY ON MY OLD VCR.
  HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT.
  
  
• the greatest thing is the divX capability
  By AALZSDFE3BCQH on 2008-06-04
  i bought two of these. one as a gift. both have worked great for about a year. it is clear the unit does not have a tuner. the greatest thing about it is it plays divX files. burn a set of divX files to a dvd and insert it. you get a menu of all the files, select one and it will play, turn off the machine and when it restarts it will go right back to where it left off. this means you can put as many as seven divX movies on a single dvd, and play them as you like.
  
  for me the weakest thing is the black face on the remote which makes it awful to see in even semi-darkness.
  
  the remote is not 5 seconds slow on either of the two purchased. and the reason i came back here is to price another one for another friend who saw mine and wants one of their own.
  
  
• Works for me
  By A36G2YS81MR0SP on 2008-06-12
  I bought this unit mainly for the VCR, and it works fine. The lack of a tuner actually is a benefit in my case because (for some unknown reason) the tuner of my previous VCR conflicted with my cable box, causing a snowy picture and poor quality recording.
  I also use the DVD player to play music CD's I've created on my computer.
  This was just what I was looking for at a very good price.
  
  
• Nice looking/functioning basic unit
  By A1URXSRV6WDHVY on 2008-06-22
  I bought this as a backup for my current VCR which also happens to be a Toshiba combo that I bought almost 3 years ago. (which by the way still works great) This new unit has all the functionality you will need to playback your pre recorded tapes and make new recordings as long as you have some sort of outboard cable box/tuner. The DVD player section is fine. No HDMI connection, but the component video jacks display a good quality picture. I would say my only real complaint would be that Toshiba is still using the very small remote that they have used for the last 3 years on these combos units they make. NO biggie though. It works but if it really bothers you just buy an inexpensive universal remote that has buttons more to your liking.
  
  The cosmetics on this combo are very pleasing. Build quality seems good for the price and it really does look nice. Only thing I don't know yet is if it will last. Only time will tell, but my last unit is almost identical and has lasted 3 years.
  
  
  
• blurred picture in both vcr and dvd modes
  By A283JMR0XIQQ2J on 2008-07-02
  This unit outputs blurred and faintly colored video in both vcr and dvd modes, had to return back for a full refund. My 10 year old Mitsubishi that this was supposed to replace was outputting perfect picture on the same setup. Highly unrecommended, what a disappointment in Toshiba.
  
  
• OMG!
  By A37Y95FLO7Y01D on 2008-07-14
  I had bought this DVD/VCR in Feb 08, @ HH GREGG/ to replace the one my parents got me when I was 12 years old! (13 years ago) My sister had a Toshiba and she said it was a good product. So I bought it and I regret it! I have had to throw away at least 10 of my tapes because this product has messed them up! I am not sure exactly what happened that would make it do that! Also when I try to tape my shows on the VCR and watch them the next day the tape jumps and there are lines that look like it is trying to track the tape by itself when I had just bought the tape! And you can't hear anything from all the noise! I looked over the manual to make sure all hook ups were donr right and they are! I had my cable box checked and there is nothing wrong with it! I am really really upset with this! I really do NOT like this product! I am stuck with it the warranty is out and I am not gonna pay out more money to have it fixed when Toshiba should learn how to make GOOD products! I do not reccommend this product!
  
  
• You have to be a rocket scientist to set this machine up.
  By A2KMZKQ9MYWTL3 on 2008-09-18
  Toshiba SD-V295 Tunerless DVD VCR Combo Player.
  I have never been so disgusted with the setup of this machine. After a month, sometimes it will tape and sometimes not. All the wires are hooked properly, but yet it seems to have a mind of its own. I do not recommend this product.
  
  

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