Sylvania DVR90VE DVD Player/Recorder and Hi-Fi VCR Combo

I was able to make 20 or so dvds from this machine, none of which will play in any other dvd players, despite my completion of the "finalizing" process.

Also, although I'd already made 5 or so dvds out of a 25-pack, it is suddenly giving me an error message. These dvds are all the same, if they worked before, why not now? I'm reluctant to waste more money purchasing different dvds to try after reading these reviews, it seems as though the recorder may have simply stopped working.

Total piece of crap. Don't waste your money.

Have had the recorder for three years. Use it infrequently. Have to reread the manual carefully each time I want to use it. Have made extensive notes in the manual that are a MUST, things I learned through trial and error. This item is not easy to use but does everything it says it will do if you follow the directions.
Last time I found I had run out of 4X DVD-R blanks, could not find them anywhere fast or at a reasonable cost. Read the reviews here and saw the firmware upgrade to 8X. Called and found out in April 2008 they are charging $17 plus $6 shipping, NOT FREE as stated in many earlier reviews.

Dont even bother. Purchase something that actually records with DVD's that are available. Big thumbs down.

Bought this for my mother-in-law to convert those old VHS classics to DVD for longer shelf life. Once you read the instructions, it is fairly simple to use. Quality of the DVD is based on the quality of the VHS. We are going to buy another in the future for our own home.

I've had this dvd/vcr combo for two years. It has been a great dvd player and vhs player and recorder.

The problem is the dvd recorder doesn't last long.

I have older vcr's and dvd players that still work fine. But this dvd recorder stopped working. I tried early on to give disks it could burm without trouble: TDK, Memorex, Verbatim. Some other brands would not work.

Then a couple months ago, every disk I tried would not be recognized by the DVDR90VE. No dvd writing at all, just the dreaded E25 error. Every disk was "bad."

I took the machine to a local electronics repair shop. They've fixed things for me before; they're pretty good. They said it couldn't be fixed and called it cheap.

Though I've owned this machine a long time, I've made perhaps 20 dvds with it. So it was not a good purchase as a dvd recorder.

Look for a better brand. I have an LG I like now. (Not a combo unit, it handles just dvds.) After I burn 25 or 50 disks, I'll let you know how it holds up.

Maybe dvd recorders are temperamental devices and after a while, they stop working. Nevertheless, I would be wary of this brand.