Sylvania DVR90VE DVD Recorder / VCR Combo

I've now owned Sylvania's DVR90VE for over a year. In that time, I've burned many, many discs with it. I haven't used the VCR more than a few times, to play some movies. I've been very happy with the quality of this unit over time.

This unit has a VCR & DVD drive in one case. The unit can accept DVD-R & -RW discs. The unit can dub from VCR to DVD & DVD to VCR (non copy protected material), it can record to the VCR, record to the DVD, play back the VCR, or play back the DVD. You have lots of choices with this unit.

The key reason I purchased this unit was its ability to record DVDs. I wanted to easily take content I had recorded on a DVR (Digital Video Recorder, like TiVo) and put it on a DVD. This allows me to watch that content on my computer, and gives me a format that won't deteriorate the way VHS tape can. I also wanted an easy way to move some old VHS & VHS-C content to DVD.

The DVD recorder has many editing functions, but I would probably use a computer for those. Instead, I have my DVR connected via S-Video cable to the back of the Sylvania. I pull up a show on the DVR & hit pause. I usually show an info screen about the show. I hit record on the Sylvania, let the info window display for 5 seconds or so, then unpause the DVR. The show is recorded as I watch it play. At the end of recording, simply hit stop on the remote control.

You can add titles to each recorded item on the disc, to easily find them again. You can delete things from disc if you decide you don't want it on the disc anymore. DVD-R discs can continue to be modified (added to, deleted from, recorded shows renamed) until you "finalize" the disc. Finalizing locks the disc down in a format that can no longer be modified, but can now be used in normal DVD players. Before finalizing, you can only use that disc in the Sylvania. Of course, DVD-RW discs can be erased, then rewritten. After finalizing, the Sylvania creates an attractive menu screen for playback on all DVD players, with a list of your previously named shows.

The Sylvania DVR90VE has 6 recording speeds. XP = 1 hour. SP = 2 hours. LP = 4 hours. EP = 6 hours. SLP = 8 hours. SEP = 10 hours. That's right, 10 hours of recording on a single 4.7GB DVD-R disc! Very impressive. However, the more data stored on a disc, the worse the MPEG compression gets. I find my favorite recording speed to be LP. 4 hours is a lot of content on a single disc, and the quality of MPEG compression is very good. The tiny tradeoff in picture quality is made up by how much can fit on a single disc.

The Sylvania has some nifty features. It can play back music CDs, as well as MP3 CD-R & -RWs as well. So, this one device can replace a VCR, DVD player, DVD burner, and CD player. The unit also has a timer; you can set it to record shows at a certain day & time like a VCR. Since I have a DVR, I never use this feature.

This unit has many features I've never used or even experimented with. The basic functions of the unit are easily accessible. But many of the more advanced options are buried within menus with icons that look odd & are not (at least to me) easily decipherable. Without a copy of the manual close by, you can get easily lost. Fortunately, you can easily download a PDF copy of the manual at www.sylvaniaconsumerelectronics.com.

This unit has component video output for the DVD player only. You can use S-Video or composite output for the DVD or VCR playback. On the audio side, the unit has coax digital for DVD playback only; it has standard RCA L/R jacks for audio for the DVD or VCR playback.

You might be asking, "my computer has a DVD burner, why do I need this?" It's simple: ease of use & speed. The Sylvania can sit in with all the rest of your TV components easily. Recording is a simple matter of playing whatever source you want to record from, and hitting the record button. There's no additional work for you to do. On a computer, you might need hard drive space, video capture cards, a fast computer, software, etc. The Sylvania is cheap, requires little setup, and burns when you tell it to.

I've read so many complaints from people saying that this unit only takes 4x DVD-Rs and not faster discs. Sylvania will send you an update disc with rather simple instructions to upgrade your unit to accept faster discs. Since getting the update disc, my DVR90VE can now accept 16x GQ DVD-Rs. You don't have to sit on hold with anybody. All you have to do is go here:

http://www.sylvaniaconsumerelectronics.com/support/contactsupport.aspx

Tell them your model #, serial #, & explain what's happening. They will ask you a couple other technical questions, to make sure they ship you the correct version of the update disc. They mailed mine no charge, I updated the machine, and now it takes faster discs. The upgrade process was simple, and I was very satisfied with Sylvania's technical support. Maybe this was just easier through email than on the phone.

- Adam