Home :: Video :: DVD Players :: DVD-VCR & Other DVD Combos  

DVD Recorders
DVD-VCR & Other DVD Combos

Multidisc DVD Players
Portable DVD Players
Progressive-Scan DVD Players
Single-Disc DVD Players
Sony SLV-D300P Progressive-Scan DVD-VCR Combo

Sony SLV-D300P Progressive-Scan DVD-VCR Combo

List Price: $249.99
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

Features:
  • DVD/VCR combo unit with progressive-scan DVD output and 1-month, 8-event VCR programming
  • Plays a wealth of formats, including DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, MP3 CD, JPEG image CD, and S-VHS tape (at VHS resolution)
  • DVD bookmarking, resume, and picture zoom
  • 4-head VCR offers commercial skip, 19-micron heads for clear images from EP recordings
  • Includes multibrand remote control that operates most TVs


Description:

This classy, versatile combination deck offers the convenience of VHS recording and playback alongside high-end progressive-scan DVD performance, all in a single, WEGA-styled silver chassis standing under four inches tall. Sony's SLV-D300P handles just about any conceivable media format, from VHS and S-VHS tapes (which it renders at standard VHS resolution) to DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, MP3 CD, and JPEG picture CD. From your library of VHS videos to digital music files and digital photos, the SLV-D300P lets you enjoy them all in the comfort of a living room or bedroom.

Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the SLV-D300P can deliver the full potential of DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, providing higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts. Other DVD functions include bookmarking, one-disc resume play (which picks up where you left off after stopping), picture zoom, parental lock, and a screen saver.

The VCR section offers one-month, eight-event advance programming to commercial skip. Your camcorder or gaming console plugs right into the front panel for hassle-free connections. Its four-head design ensures smooth slow-motion play (forward and reverse) and clear still-frame images, and with hi-fi sound the unit records and plays back stereo audio tracks. Its 19-micron heads deliver the clearest possible picture when recording or viewing in EP (extended-play) mode.

The VCR automatically marks the tape with an index signal at the point where each recording begins so you can easily scan back to the start of a recording using these signals as a reference. Commercial skip makes it easier than ever to zip past commercials and unwanted "coming attractions."

Connections with combo units are often inconvenient, forcing you to use separate video hookups for each section (DVD, VCR), a problem for some TVs. This player has it figured out: a single RF or composite-video connection to a television will display either the DVD or the VCR signal, depending on which format you're viewing. If you want to view DVDs in S-video or in component-video (either interlaced or progressive-scan), you will need to use two inputs, as the device will not upconvert the signal from the VCR to either of those higher-resolution formats.

It's a different deal for audio: you can listen through a single set of stereo analog-audio cables for each component (one is supplied), or--if you want to enjoy DVDs in discrete 5.1-channel surround sound--you can send the DVD's audio to a compatible audio/video receiver and a multichannel speaker system through a digital-audio interconnect (either optical or coaxial, not supplied). The unit also comes with an RF cable that will transmit VHS audio and video to your TV, a multi-lingual onscreen display (English, Spanish, French), and a multi-brand TV/DVD/VCR remote control.

What's in the Box
DVD/VCR combo, remote control, remote batteries (two AA), user's manual, stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable, coaxial video cable, and warranty information.

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates