Rating: 
Summary: Please Note: 50% return rate
Review: I purchased the Toshiba SD-V391 based on the good experience I've had with a previous Toshiba product. My experience with the SD-V391 will make me think twice on future purchases from Toshiba. I read a handful of reviews that addressed the quality issues that this unit was having and decided to take a chance. Shame on me for taking the chance. My out-of-box experience was that the DVD drive door would not open. This was accompanied by a gear grinding noise and the display eventually showing ERR. This is a fairly big manufacturing defect. If Toshiba believes that a 50% return rate (based on user reviews) is acceptable than I'm switching brands. A responsible company would take a proactive approach and remove defective product from the shelf. Having good customer service is critical but not at the expense of quality.
Rating:
Summary: Please Note: 50% return rate
Review: I purchased the Toshiba SD-V391 based on the good experience I've had with a previous Toshiba product. My experience with the SD-V391 will make me think twice on future purchases from Toshiba. I read a handful of reviews that addressed the quality issues that this unit was having and decided to take a chance. Shame on me for taking the chance. My out-of-box experience was that the DVD drive door would not open. This was accompanied by a gear grinding noise and the display eventually showing ERR. This is a fairly big manufacturing defect. If Toshiba believes that a 50% return rate (based on user reviews) is acceptable than I'm switching brands. A responsible company would take a proactive approach and remove defective product from the shelf. Having good customer service is critical but not at the expense of quality.
Rating: 
Summary: Great combo unit
Review: I purchased this unit on November 18th. I've used both the DVD and VCR components without any problems. I think it's a great value for the money. The only reason I did not rate it 5 stars is because there are not as many buttons on the unit as I would have liked; therefore you are more dependent on using the remote than other DVD players I've seen.
Rating:
Summary: Dead on arrival
Review: I received the Toshiba SD-V391 yesterday. The VCR worked ok but the door for the DVD player would not open, I called their tech support and after trying to help it was determined that the unit was defective. I wonder it these companys have any quality control? I have reordered with Amazon for a replacment and hope for better results. I have not been able to find any where you can compare different combo units as to who makes the best products?
Rating:
Summary: Defective unit
Review: I was disappointed to receive a defective Toshiba SD-V391 unit. The DVD drive door would not open, either with the remote or manually. I therefore have no idea of the DVD picture quality. The VCR playback was average. Toshiba Customer Support was slow to respond, and talked down to me ("Was the unit plugged in?"), but eventually confirmed that the unit was indeed defective and authorized a return.
Rating:
Summary: This is a marginal product with a bad warranty
Review: I will be brief.
Bought this new on October 19, 2003.
Noticed it did not read some DVD's at times, or would take forever to initially read a DVD.
When I pulled DVD out and reinserted it would then usually play.
Started getting some pixalation on some DVD's.
The above disks played perfectly in my good Pioneer DVD and also a cheap computer DVD player. Decided to take it back for service or an exchange. Went to American TV and Electronics where I bought it to return the unit after only 4 and 1/2 months. They informed me that the warranty only covered parts after 90 days and they would have to charge me for labor.
In fact they wanted 40$ up front to "register" the service request and this would allow them to "diagnose" the problem. They would then call me and tell me how much it would cost to get it fixed. Now mind you this is a low end $200 VCR/DVD unit.
They wanted $40 now and more later to get it fixed.
I could buy a new DVD unit for less than $100 easily that would be just as good. Moral of story: This is a piece of cheap junk. I would agree with others that the drawer and drive mechanism seems very cheap and inconsistent. My guess is that the laser alignment was poorly designed, period.
The display of info for both a VHS tape and a DVD was awful. Second moral of story: Don't buy anything from American TV and Electronics. Complete jerks who obviously are scamming people on service.
Rating: 
Summary: Globalization: You get what you pay for (and deserve)
Review: Like cheap prices on products made in China? Do you actually expect them to work like Japanese electronics manufactured in the 1980's just because the Japanese brand is printed on the cabinet? Get real. There's no such a thing as a free-lunch. DVD margins are too low. So is quality. Period. If your unit is misbehaving, try to cool it off. I have two of these gizmos (one upstairs and one downstairs), and I when I re-arranged my cabinets to give them more air and when I run them with the cabinet doors open, they behave. When they warm up, they stop running properly. Both units suffer from a heat-related transient defect that probably comes from mediocre manufacturing quality and components. All this delight derives from paying employees $400 per year and keeping them in working conditions that would scare an American coal miner during the 1890's.
Rating:
Summary: DVD Door Laughs At You
Review: Like others, DVD drive door would not open, made annoying grinding noise as if the gears were not engaging properly. Piece O junk in my view. Sent this turkey packing back to Amazon.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved it till it broke
Review: Loved the easy hook-up, easy use of remote, looked nice and played fine. Purchased 11-06-03, and the DVD part stopped without warning 05-29-04. The kids never touched this one; it was all for Mommy and therefore subject to only gentle use. Now if you put a DVD in, it takes a long time to load, then comes up "ERR." And now the door makes a grinding noise when it opens. Severely disappointed, heartbroken, etc. Apparently VCRs, DVD players, and these combo units are meant to be disposable - work six months and then discard. If so, we may as well disregard brand names and buy the cheapest ones available. Forget quality, reliability, and pride of workmanship - those are things of the past.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it till it broke
Review: Loved the easy hook-up, easy use of remote, looked nice and played fine. Purchased 11-06-03, and the DVD part stopped without warning 05-29-04. The kids never touched this one; it was all for Mommy and therefore subject to only gentle use. Now if you put a DVD in, it takes a long time to load, then comes up "ERR." And now the door makes a grinding noise when it opens. Severely disappointed, heartbroken, etc. Apparently VCRs, DVD players, and these combo units are meant to be disposable - work six months and then discard. If so, we may as well disregard brand names and buy the cheapest ones available. Forget quality, reliability, and pride of workmanship - those are things of the past.
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