Review on 📀 Toshiba SD-V296 DVD Player/VCR Combo: Progressive Scan, Dolby Digital, Remote Control (Black) by Michael Liguori

Just recently I had to throw away my Panasonic combo recorder/player. It's been over 20 years. I used it to record EVERY day and night until I got satellite TV with DVR 2 years ago. I recently tried to watch an old Masterpiece Theater series on DVD and the Panasonic DVD player had trouble communicating with the TV after about an hour. That went on for 3 weeks or so. It didn't perform well, kept losing image, and I paused it for about an hour and then tried again. He played again, but not for long. I finally acknowledged that it was time to replace him. It looks like an element overheated or something just stopped working at some point, the device stopped working completely. I have some great videocassettes so a combo is a must. Recording isn't that important anymore, but being able to view ALL of my media is vital. Finding a good device is of course difficult! Panasonic no longer has an inexpensive model, or even one similar to my old one. The Toshiba price is excellent and this unit includes a clock/counter. A great feature that I can rely on. I installed the device this morning. I didn't set the clock right away (bug) and going back at all after making sure the DVD was going to play and the VHS tapes would play was quite confusing. I pressed the "Setup" button on the remote and the clock area did NOT appear as described in the book. I've tried everything. They may assume that we KNOW what media mode to set them to, but I didn't know for sure, nor did I see it explained in the book. FINALLY I pressed the VHS button and then "Setup" and voila I have the correct screen where you set the clock. Here! PLEASE note this small but important information. Before setting, press the VHS button and the full setting screen will appear to set the day and time. You do not configure the device for daylight saving time. Hmmm it doesn't have GPS so I guess I'll have to set it manually for Daylight Saving Time as we change the time every 6 months but that's fine, my Panasonic did THAT well but it won't get the time right always lost time because of unknown reasons. Who cares? It worked well, as does this one it seems. A feature I didn't have on my last combo device which is on this lovely Toshiba. It has a button on the remote to open and close either the VHS tray or the DVD tray. How cool is that? The price is perfect and I am sooooo glad I bought it. It's also lighter than my 20-year-old device, as times are changing from old hardware, clunky interiors to compact ones.