Samsung DVD-V1000 DVD-VCR Combo

• DVD player and 4-head VCR, compatible with S-VHS, VCDs, CD-R, and MP3 audio
• 400x speed rewind; 16-event/1-year timer recording; records non-copy-protected DVD to VHS
• Component-video, composite-video, and S-video outputs offer optimal connection with compatible DVD player
• Virtual surround sound simulates 5-speaker sound using only 2 speakers; DTS digital output for DTS-enhanced DVDs
• Measures 17 x 4 x 14.3 inches (W x H x D)

If you don't own a DVD player yet, you won't know much of what you are missing. The quality of the VCR portion of the product is excellent, and the DVD playback is also fine. No need for an RF modulator, as everything you need to connect to TV's old or new is in the box. Get an S-Video connection ASAP, though.

Most problems start when you go to use the thing. Others have mentioned problems with the remote and menu functions; I, too have had situations where I had to turn it all of, and try it all again until it worked.

The biggest irritation will be to electronics buffs who chose this because other models were too high. If you have a DVD in the drive and turn the unit on, it will start the DVD no matter what you are trying to do. In the middle of getting the news? It will play the DVD. Switching to catch the latest MTV video? It will play the DVD. And forget RESUME functions. Turn the player off and you have to find your chapter anew. We have started to eject the DVD on turning the unit on if we want the VCR channel to stay on screen. Big irritation big.

For the VCR side, until you PLAY a VHS tape the VCR display is not shown on screen (tape status, etc.). The controls on the remote are poor, and although it does double-function for your TV I wish some buttons were just TV and some buttons were just VCR. You will know what I mean when you see how small and oddly placed some of the remote functions are.

At a slightly lower price this product would be a great value; at the current price it isn't worth it, but does the job for a 2nd DVD player in the home to get rid of that old, yucky VCR you have had for years.

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This player is perfect for the average user (as I said in the title). It combines a good ... DVD player with a good VCR ..., saving space and electrical cord confusion.

DVDs play perfectly, exactly the way they are supposed to, without skipping or anything. While there are no special frills or anything, it does exactly what any normal person wants out of a DVD player; plays DVDs without skipping or screwing up. In addition, the DVD player can play audio CDs, including ones with MP3 files on them. This means you can listen to 10 straight hours of music without pushing a button, as long as you also have a CD burner.

The VCR part is great (or at least much better than the 12 year old VCR we had previously). It has 4 tracks in it, which means when you pause it, you dont get those little white lines all over the place. Even better, you can record from a DVD onto a VCR (but not vice versa) provided the DVD isn't safe protected.

As far as ease of use goes, I only had one problem with the entire thing. When you first connect it, it tries to auto-detect the time and what channels you have. For some reason, it couldn't find my antenna, which forced me to tell it what the time was, as well as what the channels were, manually (adding about 2 more minutes to the 5 minute procedure of setting this thing up).

I don't have tons of experience with DVD players, so I can't say this is the best DVD player on the market. I would be lying, because I have nothing to compare it to. However, it fits the average user's needs perfectly. If you want like ultra amazing picture that you need to zoom in 8x to notice, you might want to shell out that extra $... for one of the newer ones. But for now, this is perfect.

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After spending some time researching the 3 combo DVD/VCR players I could find, I settled on this one based on userfeedback from several sites. The first one I purchased was a bit of a dud (VCR door didn't open when ejecting a tape), but after exchanging it for a new one, I'm glad I picked it. Overall, it's a good sturdy unit. A bit wider than my original VCR. Initial setup is very easy. Plug the cables into the TV, plug the CATV from the wall into the unit, turn it on and let the autosetup run. The unit goes out and adds all the channels it can find, and even sets the time for you.

Video quality is very good. VCR playback looks very nice, and the auto-tracking is a nice feature. Very fast rewind too (a full T-120 in less than 2 minutes).

DVD image quality is very good. If you can get S-Video into your TV, go for it. Playback/pause works smoothly, although FF/Rew scan takes some getting used to if you're coming from the VCR world.

Only complaint (as with some other reviewers) is the remote. Buttons are kind of small, and takes some getting used to. Labels for a few buttons are pretty small, and it took me about 10 minutes to figure out where the Return button was. There are buttons all over the place, and not all of them are in the usual places you expect them.

If you're looking for a new VCR, and want to get into the DVD world without completely obsoleting your video collection, I'd give this one a good looking over.

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A VCR/DVD player combo is a great idea and most stores are sold out of them. However I have had nothing but problems with my Samsung. The DVD player locks up and won't let me access the menu on some of my DVD's and therefore forced to watch some movies with subtitles and not able to skip chapters. If you want the advice from someone who ownes one, my advice is, if you are going to spend the money up grade. I wish I would have spent the extra money to get a better top of the line model.

This is an excellent choice overall. It has many useful features to it. The remote however lacks a lighted keypad this should be standard these days. An additional drawback is whenever the VCR channel is changed the VCR signal interupts the television mode, on most video players this usually happens only when going from TV to VCR mode. This is a real pain if you use picture-in-picture (PIP) as I do, you then have to press the TV/VCR button after changing channels. Also this has NO VCR Plus capabilty (a minor drawback). Hookup for this unit is easy. It transmits an excellent picture even when the cable signal is a little weak, unlike the Panasonic PV-D4761 that has every feature imaginable but has miserable picture quality in VCR mode, whether playing back a program you taped with it or simply watching the cable piped through it. As great as the picture quality is on this Smsung with both the DVD and VCR/Cable the Philips DVD/VCR combo picture is slightly better, however the philips ate my VHS tape & seamed to lack an illuminated front panel clock. The Samsung is an excellent electronics gift or self purchase. It doesn't have all the features of the Panasonic PV-D4761 but it has every one of them you'd need and more than a few that you would want including 2x & 4x zoom. It plays CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, VCD, and quasi S-VHS the panasonic does not play all of these CD types and cost me approx [price] more than the Samsung & Philips.