Anyone have VCR/DVD combo?

[Lord_FinnSon]

I have been recently thinking of buying VCR/DVD combo from Samsung, but I'm not so sure anymore, even though I found few buyer comments from net and they were overally positive; they only whined about remote control and one review said that "it has a frustratingly long layer change on most DVDs". There's also similar model from JVC and apparently from Panasonic, but those are a little more unfamiliar to me. Samsung and JVC models I have already seen in stores though.

 

So, what I'm basically asking here is, if someone has one of these models, has it ran nicely and especially what do you think about it's possible special features and DVD image quality?

[Clem]

can i ask y .... they cost more than buying a dvd player and vid seperately!!

 

and i doubt if theyre particularly good quality

[Lord_FinnSon]

I live in a family where we have two VCRs, but other one of them is getting too old and it doesn't quite play like it used to(also, lacks ShowView and other "special" features and doesn't have stereo output), so there's a good reason to replace it with new one. I also have REALmagic Hollywood Plus and DVD drive in my PC, so I basically can watch movies with it, BUT because of buggy drivers(or my current setup) some movies can't be watched without "jerking" playback or then there can even be pixelated, green colour underneath screen(something I ran into while watching Unbreakable); most of the time though, problems come up when layer changes.

 

I have contacted Sigma Designs couple of times and informed them about bugs I have encountered, but because they update their drivers maybe couple times in a year(they nicely inform you when they do so though), you'll have time to wait and even after that there's no guarantee that they have fixed THAT specific problem. There's also little tricks, like using older drivers, disabling UDF or even cleaning up disc itself(which is weird, because it might be brand new and certainly isn't scratchy) which sometimes seem to work, but like in the case of A.I., it doesn't matter, you will still get "jerking" playback after layer changes and movie may even skip right to the end.

 

SO, after pondering for some time I came to conclusion: if these problems truly are drivers and software related, I then better buy seperate player intended JUST for watching movies, so that I don't need to play around with different driver revisions anymore. Doing so kills the enjoyment quite quickly and I have even traded away few DVDs like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon after I got bored with those playback problems.

[Lord_FinnSon]

Well, this is actually first time when I do this: bump.

[BCanr2d2]

Why bother for a DVD/VCR combo?

Over priced, underdeveloped as a "real" alternative to a seperate DVD and VCR.

 

It is also more likely that the picture quality and DVD drive quality may lack, as to make them affordable, they will have to skimp on quality of many components.

 

It is like asking which is better, a stereo made by one company, or one that is chosen by the listener piece by piece. It's different strokes for different folks, many will like the convenience of an all in one unit. Many others will also prefer to have something dedicated to one job, so that it can do that perfectely.......

[Datheus]

Why even bother with the VCR part?...

 

I heard Circut City isn't even selling VCRs anymore... Best Buy and Blockbuster are supposed to stick with VHS...but we'll see how long that lasts...

[BCanr2d2]

And what will people record things onto?

 

Not like there is any affordable digital media to be able to do this....

[Lord_FinnSon]

Well, I DO have more cassettes than DVDs, so I would definitely still like to have a VCR. I have seen few consumer DVD RAM players on stores already, but I will never pay for those untill companies reduce prices, that's for sure. Besides, I mostly use VCRs for recording series, shows and that sort of thing, so having state-of-the-art DVD RAM player just for that would be kinda meaningless, when I don't even keep those recordings. I don't actually need to see them in better quality, you know?

 

Now, if we still stay on subject, at least partially, do you then have any particular DVD player that has good quality and features? Any model you could recommend?

[StormHammer]

I have to agree with Lord_Finnson about VCR's still being needed. I've built up a sizeable collection of videos over the years, and it would cost an awful lot to replace them all with current DVD versions. Of course, if someone would just come up with a trade-in scheme, so you get the DVD for half-price when you trade in your VHS video... Can't see that catching on, somehow. No, the VCR needs to be with us for a while yet.

 

I can't comment on a DVD/VCR combo...but going by past experience with other bits of tech, I usually try to avoid combos. If one part breaks, you've lost the ability to play either format until it's fixed...if it's fixable. It might take up more space, but I think I'd go with separate pieces of kit. I'm thinking of getting separates for my next hi-fi, too...it'll be easier to add/subtract bits of kit, rather than have to replace the whole damn thing every time something breaks. Like on my old hi-fi, the record deck broke, so I can't play any LP's - it doesn't make sense replacing a whole system when the majority of it still works.

 

In addition, it seems to me the more features and things they add to bits of kit, these days, the more likely they are to go wrong.