Toshiba SD V295 Tunerless DVD VCR Combo Player

Customer Reviews

Arrived DOA

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.

Tiny remote

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.

Nice Affordable Player

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.

Cannot record and watch TV at the same time

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.

This was a gift ,

2008-01-15
I purchased this DVD/VHS player for my foster daughter for Christmas.
She is very happy with it.

blurred picture in both vcr and dvd modes

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.

Nice looking/functioning basic unit

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.

Works for me

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.

the greatest thing is the divX capability

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.

Toshiba SD-V295 DVD-VCR COMBO PLAYER

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.

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