Samsung DVD-V3650 Progressive Scan DVD/VCR Combo

• Space-saving full-featured DVD player with built-in hi-fi VCR
• Component-video output terminals with progressive-scan output offers flicker-free images on HD or HD-ready TVs
• Plays DVD-Video, CD-R/CD-RW, MP3 CD, Kodak Picture CD, and JPEG image CDs
• Front-panel audio/video inputs accommodate a camcorder, digital camera, or gaming console
• EZ View letterbox eliminator lets you enjoy full-screen pictures on 4:3 aspect-ratio TVs

I just bought this DVD/VCR player since it was onsale. I actually paid about the same price at Bestbuy. The first unit I bought I returned because the VCR made a little buzzing noise when playing a video. Then, I realized that my second unit made the same amount of noise. So, I had to put the DVD/VCR unit in my stand rather than on top of my tv. This reduced the amount of noise I hear from the VCR. Anyways, the DVD player is excellent and shows great pictures. If you use this product for recording at night in your bedroom, don't buy it. But if you use it to watch mostly DVDs and the occasional video, then it's not a bad deal for a decent product.

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I'm glad I didn't listen to most of the reviews here. If you are just a normal person who isn't expecting to get a $600 Combo Unit for this price, you'll love it.

I purchased a Panasonic Home Theatre system 3 years ago and have had nothing but problems with it. It got so bad, in fact, that we needed to buy a new DVD player because the Panasonic would only recognize ANY DVD about 25% of the time.

Enter the Samsung DVD-V3650. We had an old Phillips/Mag VCR which had its nasty quirks, too. It made sense to get one unit.

I don't care much for the Samsung DVD-V3650's color. But that's not the important thing. I digress. We thought our TV was giving us "Wavy refresh rate things" going up and down our screen, but found with the new Samsung DVD-V3650 we no longer had them.

I like the fact that it has digital audio out jacks (optical and component). When I record a show, I like that I have a 30 second FFW button. I like that I can record and watch a DVD at the same time. Easy set up, yet pretty thorough.

We are very happy with this Samsung. My first with this company.

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It took me a while to make up my mind about this unit. In general, I've had good luck with Samsung products (printer, cell phone) so I thought I'd give the DVD-3650 a try. I wanted to add DVD capability to my family room system, but didn't want to add another box. So this unit went in, and the VCR I was using went to the bedroom.

At first, I liked the unit overall; I'm fine with the remote; the buttons aren't too small for me, and I have big hands. The picture on the DVD is as good as necessary for a 30" TV. The VCR picture with pre-recorded tapes is OK. I like the access to manual tracking adjustment on the remote. And I haven't had any functional problems with it (over 3 months).

But little things bug me. I use VHS index search a lot, since I make compilations of several kids films on one tape to reduce bulk on trips. On the Samsung, you have to go deep into the menus to get to index search, instead of it being directly on the remote. When you finally do get to it via the menu, it is only available as introscan fwd or rev; you can't set it to search, for example, two indexes forward and start playing. Plus, it only searches at about 8x playback speed, so it's not much faster than just using scan during playback and searching manually. Its a totally lame implementation of what should be a standard feature.

Other minor quibbles; two vertical ribs on the VCR tape door that are apparently for aesthetics make it HARDER to insert a tape correctly. Not a big deal for an adult, perhaps, but a major frustration for a 4 year old, and there is NO good reason for them to be there. When the remote is in the VCR mode, the mute button becomes the VCR audio input select button. Since I use the VCR tuner for watching TV on a regular basis, this is a pain; I have to switch the remote back to TV function, press mute; press it again when the commercial is over, then press VCR again if I want to channel surf. And how often does the average person want to switch the audio input on a VCR anyway? Ever? THAT is something that should be in a menu.

Also, not a problem for me, but could be for many purchasers are the very limited number of TV brands controllable via the remote, far fewer than most other multibrand remotes I've seen. It would be a good idea to download the manual from the Samsung site to make sure your TV is listed before purchasing if you want to use this feature.

More significantly, I've recently discovered the VCR seems to be abnormally sensitive to anti-copy schemes; tapes I made from a DVD on another VCR using a Sima video stabilizer that play perfectly on that and every other VCR I own, have horizontal purple stripes on the Samsung.

All in all, if it played copied tapes properly, I'd be willing to put up with its other weaknesses. But as it is, even though I'm now stuck with it (didn't discover that problem until after Amazon's return time limit expired), I regret this purchase.

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It didn't work. The remote did not respond, despite my changing the battery twice, and the controls on the front of the unit were not responsive. I did everything I was supposed to do, read the manual, hooked it up properly, etc., but it just didn't work! So, I returned it and bought a Sony. The Sony works fine.

Unfortunately, someone very nice gave me this for Xmas. After an hour the picture started randomly stopping and starting herky-jerky on the DVD. Read the other reviews here as well. If you bought one, get rid of it before it wastes your time. I guess the moral of the story is; no matter where it's manufactured, buy Japanese, they have the quality management system for these products. I never have failures on Japanese brands; your time is too valuable to waste on junk like this.