Panasonic PV-D4744 Progressive-Scan DVD/VCR Combo , Black

• Progressive-scan DVD player and hi-fi VCR combo; measures 16.9 x 3.7 x 10.8 inches (W x H x D)
• 4-head VCR ensures smooth slow-motion tape play, multiple-angle DVD viewing, karaoke disc compatibility
• Compatible with DVD movie and CD audio, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, Video CD (VCD), and CD-R/RW discs, MP3, WMA, and JPEG
• 2 A/V in (1 front, 1 rear), 1 A/V out, 1 component out, 1 S-video out, 2 RF, 1 optical digital audio out
• Dolby Digital and DTS surround-sound outputs (for use with compatible A/V receiver and speaker system)

Okay, you're looking for a combo unit that will record and play your VHS tapes AND play DVD's. You don't want to spend too much money, but you want something that will work well. This MIGHT be your unit. I've had mine in use for several months without any problem...except for one pesky quality. It's hard to stop the tape exactly where you want to stop. It's like a freight train; it takes anywhere from 15 seconds to 3 minutes of reel/tape time to get it to stop or play. This is especially frustrating when you're zipping past an unwanted (versus those informative and desireable) commercials. It's also a pain when you want to replay one sentence, but the closest you can come is to replay most of the scene. It's just not accurate enough to stop/rewind/play precisely where you want to.

The picture quality is very good and it's simple enough to use (although the remote has as many difficult to read buttons as a space shuttle), but it's lack of precision control on the VHS tape is bothersome and frustrating.

All in all, it's still a lot of technology for the price. You just have to decide how much patience you have for imprecise tape controls.

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I bought this item after a bad experience with a Cyberhome DVD player. The cyberhome worked for about 2 DVD's before having problems. On the 4th DVD in the Cyberhome player, the thing froze and I couldn't eject the DVD. I had to take it apart to remove the DVD from the player. I am very happy with the panasonic PV-D4744 DVD/VCR combo. I have only used the VHS side a couple of times. The VHS is nothing special. If you're looking for great technology in a VCR, then you might want to think about upgrading to DVD. However, the VHS works fine for your old tapes you have laying around. The DVD performs very well. I have tried some of the features and was pleased with the ability to pause and use slow motion in both forward and reverse. Since I bought the PV-D4744 a few months ago, I have probably watched somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 DVD's. I have not had any problems with this system so far. If you are on a budget and you would like to find a good DVD/VCR combo that performs well, I would highly recommend the PV-D4744 from panasonic.

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I finally decided to join the rest of humanity, and get a DVD player, and this nice "Double Feature" Panasonic VHS/DVD Combo was the right price and fit my needs.

I'm "reading challenged" when it comes to electronics manuals; they could be written in an unknown language for all the help they are to me, but this machine is simple enough for even me to program the essentials.

I was able to figure out how to set it up manually (I'm in an area where that is necessary), and play my first DVD and record a tape from a TV program without too much trouble, or too much time.

The lightweight remote has 20 buttons on the bottom half of it, but all the essential ones are on the perimeters making it easy to use, and as my TV is also Panasonic, I can get by with this single remote for everyday use.

Other features I will probably never use include a 24 hour lock feature, auto shut-off, multiple angle and zoom capability, and much more.

The size is the same as my old VHS player so it doesn't take up much room, and I don't think anyone who wants a "combo" can do better in this low price range.

I have had very good luck with Panasonic products as far as longevity, and so far, I'm impressed with how much I have compared with how much I spent, and think the value is excellent.

Update 11/16/05. After over a year of constant use, I'm as pleased with this product as I was the day I bought it. Both tape and DVD slots are working smoothly, and picture quality is good.

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I have always been very pleased with the Panasonic products I've purchased, so I was delighted to find this "combo" at a very reasonable price. Setup was very simple and everything worked immediately. I particularly like the two switch buttons placed approximately in the middle of the remote, one for VCR and the other for DVD.

Now for the caveat: I bought this unit for our small home gym, where we wanted something that would play both VHS and DVDs. The television there is simple, verging on primitive. It doesn't even have dual channel audio inputs or an S-video input. In two other rooms, we have switch boxes to select input, but I wanted something simpler this time, and something that could be completely controlled from a remote (no one wants to get off a cardio machine to switch TV inputs). The Panasonic combo is working out very nicely. I can't say, however, how the machine would work with HD TVs or with more sophisticated systems. For what we wanted, it was a pretty much perfect solution. It also takes less space than the previous Toshiba 5-disc DVD player we had (which now seems to be unable to recognize the presence of a DVD).

Extras: the twenty buttons on the bottom of the remote that another reviewer mentioned perform a fair number of functions that you would usually have to return to the main menu for, such as subtitles. Very clever indeed.

All in all, a nice, solid performer and excellent value.

Followup: Turns out, we liked this machine so much, we ordered a second one less than a week after receiving the first. The real joy of the machine is that it makes life so much simpler. At first I scoffed at the idea of a combo, dismissing it as convenient but basically silly. Wrong again! Convenience wins out. You eliminate yards of cables and, over time, hours of needless frustration. So much simpler to press the VHS or DVD button on the remote. Thanks again, Panasonic.

Okay, this is a nice unit in most aspects. It works great in the areas people have mentioned...BUT

It does not display time elapsed on the display during DVD play, all it says is ...PLAY. Not huge but annoying. Chapter indication at least would be nice.

Worst of all, this deck is very dicey about playing home-burned DVD's. Most of my -R's work fine but only one of the dual layer disks I burned work on this machine. They work perfectly on a Toshiba DVD player in another room. I consider this a major problem and had I discovered it soon after I bought it I'd have returned the unit.

It also hasn't been very good at playing RW DVD's but that doesn't surprise me.