Nice Unit, Nice Price
Written: Jan 24 '02 (Updated Feb 11 '02)
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Pros: Strong feature set
Component video output
VCR is great
Cons: Duplication of Output ports
Dolby Digital Output issue (see review)
The Bottom Line: A good all-around unit for anyone - serves its purpose with flying colors
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| Jacknife's Full Review: Samsung DVD-V1000 DVD Player / VCR Combo |
I decided to purchase this unit for a variety of reasons that I think are very important to the review.
I bought this unit to replace:
1 Proscan single-disc DVD player
1 JVC S-VHS VCR
1 Teac 5-disc CD changer
The Proscan works fine, but is completely incompatible with CD-R/RW. The JVC, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to be acknowledging anything from any remote control, and I almost never use the Teac as I rarely listen to audio CDs in my living room, so using the DVD player to play audio CDs will probably be sufficient, especially with the Samsung's built-in MP3 decoder.
The Samsung DVD-V1000 seems to be a nice, solidly built unit. I was able to quickly hook up the component video output to my Sony KP61V80 rear-projection TV and the optical digital cable to my Aiwa Dolby Digital receiver. Cabling the rest wasn't too hard and testing commenced, but I noticed these points:
The VCR:
- The VCR can't use the S-Video output, nor can it use the Component Video Output - so it's taking up two inputs on my TV. I find this annoying to say the least.
- When using the rear inputs or playing a VHS tape, the VHS output quality is EXCELLENT - an improvement over my JVC S-VHS unit, even though this unit uses composite output. I am extremely pleased, though I have yet to perform any extended test of its recording functions.
The DVD Player:
- DVDs seem to take forever to start playing. I'm not sure if I'm just used to my Proscan being faster or if it's abnormally slow. Once they're playing, they playback fine.
- Using a test DVD and the THX test routines, the subwoofer is not being used in Dolby Digital mode, yet when watching a DVD, it appears to be in use. I hope to track down what's really causing this, but I am concerned that the Samsubg DVD-V1000 isn't putting out the full 5.1 channel track.
- Aside from that subwoofer issue, sound from DVDs is accurately distributed and quite clear.
- DVD video appears to be just fine - on par with DVD video quality.
- If you press "Setup" the setup menus are displayed on the VCR's video output. This only heightens my displeasure with having multiple outputs.
In my opinion, the biggest improvement Samsung could make would be to let the DVD and VCR share the same audio/video outputs - even the optical digital and component output. Beyond that, though, this seems to be a solid, feature-packed unit, the price is good and the quality seems to be good, too.
Update: After working with the unit for a month or so now, I'd like to re-affirm my recommendations. This unit has performed wonderfully with all media I've given it and once you get comfortable with the controls, they are intuitive and easy to use.
This was an excellent purchase - the only "con" is that dolby digital issue mentioned above, which I confess I haven't worried too much about. I don't suggest you worry about it either.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 233
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Epinions.com ID:
Jacknife
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Member: Jeff Graber
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
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