Rating: Summary: Pathetic Review: I expected more from Samsung. I bought this player with good hope from a brand I though I trusted. Now two months into having it, the DVD drive is broken. It will not let me bring up the menu screen to program the VCR to record a show or anything, and now I put in a DVD and it wont even play that. All I get now is a shakey blue screen of death. Ill be getting this back to the store I bought from very quickly and purchasing a different brand completely. Stay Away from Samsung!!
Rating: Summary: It depends...Good for non-HD TV set-ups...Poor HD results Review: The DVD player has some very good functions and I enjoyed the digital photo functions a lot. I currently have this unit hooked up to a non-HD 27" set. In that respect, it works like a dream. DVD player works great. VCR is better than my old GE 4-head VCR. However, I tried hooking it up to my 53" HD TV and audio receiver and this is where I ran into problems. The progressive scan component video gives off a very clear picture, but when the 5.1 digital audio is hooked up the results were very poor. You see...the unit has very poor shielding, and you get interference whenever the RCA or digital coaxial cables are hooked up (this manifests as slight white horizontal lines visible on the screen). This was cleared up when I by-passed those cables in favor of the optical cable for digital audio. HOWEVER, if you want to use the VCR on the unit you MUST have the RCA cables connected. There's no other way around it. In order to take advantage of the progressive scan qualities of this unit, you have to forgo the VCR entirely (which defeats the purpose of buying a DVD/VCR combo unit). If you have a smaller TV then this white-line interference isn't so noticeable (you only see it when the component video is being used), but blown up to 53" it's very annoying. In a nutshell, this unit is great for smaller non-HD TVs, but the poor shielding prevents me from recommending it for any screens bigger than 32". If you have a big TV/receiver set-up and want to use this unit, try hooking the video up via RCA cable instead of the component video and you won't get that interference so much (but this defeats the purpose of buying a progressive scan DVD player).
Rating: Summary: A great dvd/vcr player Review: I started with an older dvd/vcr player but it had an intermittent vcr problem. Samsung stood behind their product after ????? was supposed to have fixed it. It was replaced with the V3500 model. Everything works well but the set up is different when compared to the older model. The remote has to be aimed more directly to the eye but the automatic channel search setup is a fantastic time saver and the dvd player works just as great. I have not figured out why such low ratings exist on most dvd/vcr combo players. The remote works my JVC tv plus adjusts the sound also. The instruction manual has alot of instructions which is good since it takes longer to learn all that this combo player has to offer. Now, if I can only get me a new flat screen tv & some more dvd's; then I might just feel like I am in a movie theater with all the comforts of home. Thanks Samsung for a good product with sharp looks plus a 1 yr. warranty on parts & labor. Most other brands have only 3 months on labor & 1 year on parts. I wonder why that is? In my opinion, a better warranty suggests it must be a better built product!
Rating: Summary: Beware purchasing this unit. Review: I bought this unit about 2 months ago from Ultimate Electronics in Layton Utah. It was on sale and now I know why. As everybody has mentioned the remote sucks eggs big time!! One of the most frustrating remotes I have ever used. It works when it wants to. Another big problem is you'll be watching the DVD movie and it will decided to lock up. It happens to me on every movie we watch. I have to unload the disc and reload to finish the movie. I thought I just had a defective unit but based on all the comments on this site, it seems Samsung built these flaws in by design. Shame on you Samsung. I will never by another Samsung product again. Since it can't be fixed I'm giving it away to my local church. Its better than tossing it.
Rating: Summary: Hated It Review: I bought this unit last year and recently bought another unit to replace it.The DVD player would freeze on nearly every disc I played, and in some cases would not allow playback. Plus, the remote control is awful. As people here have mentioned, the fast forward is combined with the chapter forward, which makes for a terrible experience. I would definitely not recommend.
Rating: Summary: Unit works well but problems may arise if power goes off Review: I purchased this unit a week ago and following the power going out I attempted to reset the clock, but got nothing but a blurred screen no matter what I seemed to try(on/off, unplug, Check cables etc.) What I finally discovered just as I was about to return the unit, is that if you have the unit set for component out for progressive scan, you will not get anything but the blurred screen, until you switch back to the composite out, and then setup works just fine. I also saw the red screen which others have mentioned, but that occurs only when you are switched to the S-Video out. The easy way to avoid both of these problems is simply to use the button on the front of the machine to switch to composite-out when using the VCR or setup. Unfortunately the manual doesn't bother to explain all this.
Rating: Summary: Good Product......But!!!!!! Review: Good product but the lettering for the functions on the remote control are smallish (which to people in their 50's is critical). Also, the timed recording mode cannot be turned on or off - if there is any item in the programming menu the VCR will be in the recording mode and will record whether the unit is turned on or off.
Rating: Summary: Problems with remote and reading DVDs Review: Like several of the other reviews, I have a remote that no longer functions. I am pretty sure the problem is actually on the unit, not the remote which is even more disconcerning. DVD play is frustrating at best without the remote and at worst you can not view discs at all that force you through an opening menu. In addition, I have had problems reading some DVDs at all and had problems with the picture breaking up on others. The only reason this gets 2 stars is because it was cheap and the VCR still works with a universal remote.
Rating: Summary: Good value for money Review: We have had this DVD/VCR combo for about 6months and really like it. The only thing aboutit we aren't crazy about is the remote control. Especially when in DVD mode, fast-forwarding a movie is annoying because you have to hold down the >> button to get this feature and heaven forbid you just push it, it moves you to the next chapter. Otherwise, we really enjoy this machine. Easy to use.
Rating: Summary: You Get What You Pay For Review: This Samsung combo is one of the cheaper ones out there. I felt like I was getting a steal. However, first the remote was inoperative for about a month and the DVD function of the unit is nonfunctional without the remote. Now, it will not read any DVD. The unit has hardly been used, is kept in a clean area, etc. I am not going to send the whole unit in like I did with the remote control. Customer Service made me jump through hoops on that. I just plan on replacing it with something better.
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