I had already ordered a Sony SLV-D300P DVD/VCR Combination player, when I read the uniformly bad Amazon.com customer reviews. Apparently, the SLV-D300P had a significant problem with skipping on all but the newest DVDs. Having learned to respect the accuracy of Amazon.com customer reviews, I sent the SLV-D300P back and ordered its slightly more expensive ($$$-$$$ more) successor, the SLV-D500P. I figured that if Sony had created a lemon, they would fix the problems in the newer model. I was not disappointed. The SLV-D500P is easy to set up, easy to use, and has excellent picture and sound quality. Most significantly, I have had no problems with skipping with over 3 dozen DVDs, including new, used, and from the local library. I have encountered no negatives with this product, and would highly recommend it, particularly for its relatively affordable price.

I just took delivery of the Sony SLV-D500P DVD/VCR Combo earlier today. Contrary to some other reviewers' experiences, my unit has no noise issues whatsoever. The picture quality with both DVD & VCR is decent, but I do have some quibbles:

1) The DVD output doesn't offer 3:2 reverse pulldown for watching DVDs of films [movies] (which have a different native frame rate than video, & require this feature to avoid nasty visual artifacts.) The Phillips combo offers this at the same price, but has gotten bad reviews for other reasons.

2) The VHS output doesn't offer an S-Video Out jack, so one is forced to use the lower-quality Composite or Antenna Out jacks.

3) To use the Component Video outputs (which yield the best quality) of the DVD player, you must turn on the "Progressive" setting, which, despite a button for it on the front panel, is frustratingly difficult to do, and often requires repeated attempts. (And the DVD output will be scrambled until you do.)... Read more

After I ordered the SLV-D500P, I read the review below
about the unit being loud. I was a little worried,
but after I received the SLV-D500P my
fears were put to rest. It isn't loud at all,
either this guy got a bad unit or is reviewing the
wrong product.

First we tested a DVD-R that we made using our
iMac SuperDrive. It worked wonderfully.
The picture quality is excellent, but be sure
to modify the built in sound settings if you
don't have surround sound, because the volume will
appear relatively quiet compared to your TV audio
unless you modify the DVD player settings to say
Audio: TV. Then it will sound fine.

We are using this DVD Player with the
Sony KV-27FS100 Flat Panel TV. This combo
makes an excellent relatively low cost, but quality,
Entertainment System.