I'd like to pick up a VCR/DVD combo unit for convenience sake, but I want one that's actually decent. I've found a few that looked promising but, not knowing what to really look out for beyond stuff like "having stereo front panel inputs" I passed on them. What are some recommendations for a decent VCR/DVD combo unit?

Some of the older units that have DVD-RECORDER capability have nice TBCs in them. My Toshiba even has HDMI output.

If you look into the tape door and see metal.parts on the mech it's probably better quality than the plastic nothing burgers they made up until ~5 years ago.

Naive question: what does TBC stand for?

Naive question: what does TBC stand for?

Time base corrector. Helps clean up some of the jumpiness in VHS tapes.

Definitely not Magnavox or anything else made by Funai.

I had a Magnavox that I picked up for basically nothing. It couldn't even keep the right time on the clock. It constantly gained time and needed reset. With very little use, the VCR turned to crap and wouldn't play or record correctly. The DVD recorder played when I tried it, but I never tried recording with it. I imagine it wouldn't have lasted long either.

JUNK.

Definitely not Magnavox or anything else made by Funai.

I had a Magnavox that I picked up for basically nothing. It couldn't even keep the right time on the clock. It constantly gained time and needed reset. With very little use, the VCR turned to crap and wouldn't play or record correctly. The DVD recorder played when I tried it, but I never tried recording with it. I imagine it wouldn't have lasted long either.

JUNK.

The ones that I've been interested in have been ones made by the likes of Panasonic and Sony, been kicking myself for passing on a rather nice Panasonic with gold plated front inputs.

The ones that I've been interested in have been ones made by the likes of Panasonic and Sony, been kicking myself for passing on a rather nice Panasonic with gold plated front inputs.

I've had good luck with '90s Sony, Panasonic, and Toshiba VCRs. In fact, I am still using Sonys and a Toshiba. I've never had any of their combos, but they are likely some of the better ones out there. Nothing can be as bad as Funai junk.

I had a DVD/VHS combo once and it was garbage..... VHS playback had a high pitched hiss in it.... Horrible........

I have a Panasonic VCR I bought new in the '90s. It was a replacement for a similar Panasonic that had VCR+; I would still have the latter if it hadn't eaten a tape only a half-hour or so after I recorded a program. I replaced that Panny VCR+ machine sahortly thereafter with another (but the new one did not have VCR+). The new Panny VCR worked well from the time I installed it and still works to this day, although due to the DTV transition, of course, it does not record any longer. I kept the VCR because I still have a bunch of VHS videos I recorded from TV, not to mention a few prerecorded cassettes, in the '80s-'90s (again, long before DTV).

To steer the discussion back on topic, the OP wants guidance specifically on combo units.