Samsung DVD-V4600 DVD/VCR Player

Also a 1 year warranty. Comparable...

Strengths: This was the least expensive combo DVD/VCR that plays all formats of DVD's.

Weakness: Samsung website leaves a bit to be desired when trying to submit a question.

Also a 1 year warranty. Comparable Sony product was $35 more and only had a 90 day warranty. A good unit for the extra TV in your house.

By farmerengineer - Feb 18, 2005

If you want one device to play all...

Strengths: Reads all DVD formats without a hitch. Set-up is automatic--just plug and play--literally! Prominent display of timer-recording status--very important. Easy-to-read display

Weakness: Remote-control would do justice to a radio-controlled airplane and might be too complex for some users.

If you want one device to play all your media--VHS, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, or any DVD produced by a studio, this is your machine. Add to it its remarkably low price and you'd be crazy to buy anything else, unless you need high-definition--and in that event, you probably wouldn't be buying a VCR-DVD combo, anyway. Setup couldn't be easier. Just hook up the co-ax and your sound and picture patch...
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If you want one device to play all your media--VHS, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, or any DVD produced by a studio, this is your machine. Add to it its remarkably low price and you'd be crazy to buy anything else, unless you need high-definition--and in that event, you probably wouldn't be buying a VCR-DVD combo, anyway.

Setup couldn't be easier. Just hook up the co-ax and your sound and picture patch cords to connect to the TV (and I recommend the triple-cable Composite Video patch outputs for the best fidelity and the least hassle when playing media on your TV), plug it in, and wait. Just don't touch anything for about an hour. And that's it! When you then turn it on, you will have all your channels automatically programmed, and the device will even know, often to within seconds, what time it is! If you're making timer recordings, that last is vital--because you don't want to cut off the first few seconds of the main-title theme just because your VCR clock was running slow! Trust me on that.

The downside--when you need to set up a timer recording, you'd best have your manual handy, because the setup for that is /not/ obvious. But these days, what you want in a VCR/DVD combo is a combination playback deck that will play all your studio-issued tapes, and disks that you burn on your computer. This device will give you that--and at this price, a minor difficulty with setting up a timed recording is a small trade-off. On-screen displays, once you reach them, couldn't be any clearer as to what channel you're tuning in, and what time it will start and stop. Best of all, when you save your recording schedule, you /know/ that you have a current schedule loaded--it tells you that with a bright red light that you /can't/ miss.

Which brings me to the second greatest strength of the unit, other than its fully automatic setup: displays are as easy to read as any I have seen--no small feat for a combo device that has to give you status for either a VCR or a DVD. One thing you can't do, however: you can't record from DVD to tape. The reasons for that are probably legal rather than technical--but why would you want to do that, anyway, given the wealth of information on a modern DVD that no tape could possibly hold? (Or at least not with the same quality and resolution.)

I give this device the five-star rating for one reason above all: bang for the buck. For the modest bucks, this device packs quite a bang. You will /not/ be sorry.

By Temlakos - Feb 24, 2005

I would avoid this item. This is...

Weakness: regularly fails to recognise recorded dvds, DVD drive door will not open.

I would avoid this item. This is the second of this model we have bought. the first was returned for replacement because it's dvd drive was periodically failing to open. Under very light use (2-3 uses per week) this unit has failed very quickly. Samsung is a brand for which I have a lot of respect but this model doesn't live up to it. If you really, really want one of these mine will probably be...
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I would avoid this item. This is the second of this model we have bought. the first was returned for replacement because it's dvd drive was periodically failing to open.
Under very light use (2-3 uses per week) this unit has failed very quickly. Samsung is a brand for which I have a lot of respect but this model doesn't live up to it.
If you really, really want one of these mine will probably be in the trash next week.

By soccess - Mar 6, 2005

All of the DVD and VHS players...

Strengths: Plays many formats and works well - Great for the price

Weakness: Doesn't have an optical port

All of the DVD and VHS players provide pretty much the same picture and sound. I see the only benefits as the features, the formats they play and the pass through of things like DTS. This has all of that.

By zimmlaw - Feb 8, 2005