Rating: 
Summary: Excellent DVD plus VCR in one
Review: First off, everyone should know that a DVD/VCR combo machine such as this Panasonic will not allow you to tape DVDs you rent at Blockbuster! Most DVDs have Macrovision anti-copying technology which makes it impossible to copy to a VHS tape without a hacked VCR machine. You can, however, tape your own home-movie DVDs made on a PC.As with their stand-alone DVD and VCR products, the Panasonic is an excellent machine that's easy to use, buit to last, and offers great video quality on all kinds of TV sets. The remote control unfortunately is a bit more complicated than necessary, but that doesn't distract from the good overall design of the machine itself. The biggest advantage of an integrated DVD/VCR is that it saves space and cables. The biggest downside is if one thing breaks, you have to fix the whole unit. Luckily, Panasonic is known of its excellent quality control, and my first VCR purchased 15+ years ago, a Panasonic, still works to this very day! My family owns a few Panasonic DVD players -- I have a big family -- and they all work flawlessly, including my first DVD player which I bought back in 1999, at the dawn of DVD age. Finally, I personally prefer to silver model, because it looks high-tech and looks stunning under my black Xbox. :)
Rating: 
Summary: Not so great combo deck
Review: I bought 2 decks a few days ago. One of them was defective, I could not get it to open the DVD player. I opened it by inserting a wire in the small hole under the DVD slot as suggested in the operating manual, but then it would not close by itself. I had to force it to close. Then of course it would not open either via the remote control or the controls on the deck. I believe that this is some kind of reconditioned machine some dealer passing it as brand new.
The second one works fine, but it does not have the one touch DVD - VCR copy feature. Also you can play only the DVD or VCR at any given time. Both these features were available on my Go Video combo deck I owned before, and also Sony combo deck. Even when it comes to the price, I found that our local Best Buy store is selling the item (regular price) even cheaper than Amazon.
I am sending both units back because one of them is defective, and also they do not have the features I would like.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Player does not work
Review: I bought this DVD combo because wanted to have 1 device that will play my old VHS tapes and didn't wanted a new device just for DVD's.
It turn out that I might need to buy separate devices since this is my second combo unit (different brand) and in both cases the DVD player was faulty.
Had to give them 2 stars since the VHS player does work. Great unit if you can get the DVD player to work.
Rating:
Summary: Space Saver but I Miss my Sony
Review: I bought this unit to save space by combining my vcr and dvd. Plus I wanted to get progressive scan. This unit works very well. The progressive scan output is awesome. But the menu displays are juvenile and the remote is confusing. Overall the unit works great and does what I need it to do, but I miss my 2 separate Sony pieces.
Rating: 
Summary: Good vcr/dvd desk
Review: I didn't have any problem with this product. The setup is easy. It has all relevant input/outputs (although I used it only to connect both vcr and dvd to the TV). DVD has progressive scan and DTS. You can use it as a cd payer and it also can play MP3 CDs (although I didn't try it yet). My only complaint is related to the remote. I use it as universal remote (it was easy - my tv is also Panasonic) and it's very easy by mistake to do something, for example, with VCR when you really working with TV. Happened to me already quite a few times. But all in all, this shortcoming is not enough not to recommend this unit as simple and reliable vcr/dvd combo.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Unit overall
Review: I got 2 of these PV-D4743 units a few days ago, and set up one of them on my big screen projection TV. Everything they said seems to work fine, VCR gives good picture, DVD has the progressive scan and easy to operate. One thing I forgot to check out first before ordering was whether I could play the VCR and DVD simultaneously. For most of the people that does not present any problem, they use only one or the other at any given time. But my TV has several inputs and I connect the DVD, VCR, Cable (directly), and Cable box to different inputs. I can display the inputs one by one by simply pressing the TV/Video button on my TV (SONY) remote. For example, with my old 'GO VIDEO' combo deck, or the SONY combo deck, I could play both the VCR and DVD simultaneouly , and view both of them at the same time using the split screen. Most of the people may not care about this, but I wish I could do it with this machine also. Also the manual adivised to connect the cable to the VCR first and then to the cable box and to the TV. When I did that, the cable picture was really fuzzy if the VCR power was on (not playing). However, if the VCR power was switched off, the picture looked OK. To get around this, I connected the cable to the cable box first and from the cable box to the VCR. That seems to work but I have not tested if this presents any problem in recording programs on the VCR. It should not because the signals are already unscrambled in the cable box before getting into the VCR but again I am not a electronics wiz and I will have to try out different configurations. Any one cares to make comments or suggestions about my review?
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible!
Review: I had the first one for about 2 weeks and the VHS part broke. I received a replacement and the same thing happened. In about 2 weeks the VHS part broke again with the same problem. The tape doesn't go in all the way and it eats the tape. I called Panasonic regarding fixing it. They were terrible. I closest repair center was over an hour away and if I were to ship it, I would have to pay for shipping both ways. They were not apologetic about it either. It should not break in 2 weeks! Nonetheless 2 of them!
Rating:
Summary: Impossible remote
Review: I have a degree in Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley, so I'm not usually intimidated by technology. But this remote is just impossible. Lots of tiny, identical buttons with microscopic labels. You can only use the remote using reading glasses in a strong light. Many of the controls are non-intuitive even when you find the right buttons. The manual is strikingly unhelpful; one of the worst I've seen. I actually bought a universal remote but this deck wouldn't respond to it at all. (Rant: user interface design is a well-understood discipline, so why is it that user interfaces seem to be getting worse rather than better?) Anyway, I returned it and got a JVC XVC33U, which is much easier to use and has a vastly better manual.
Rating:
Summary: Impossible remote
Review: I have a degree in Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley, so I'm not usually intimidated by technology. But this remote is just impossible. Lots of tiny, identical buttons with microscopic labels. You can only use the remote using reading glasses in a strong light. Many of the controls are non-intuitive even when you find the right buttons. The manual is strikingly unhelpful; one of the worst I've seen. I actually bought a universal remote but this deck wouldn't respond to it at all. (Rant: user interface design is a well-understood discipline, so why is it that user interfaces seem to be getting worse rather than better?) Anyway, I returned it and got a JVC XVC33U, which is much easier to use and has a vastly better manual.
Rating:
Summary: A fine unit.
Review: I have found no problems with this unit. It has all of the outputs that my existing home theater setup required, and it is really nice to have two components in one space. As for the remote, big deal, all Panasonc remotes pretty much stink, get a universal for all of your components. I think the picture quality is awesome for both units, and I think the TV tuner is providing a much clearer picture than the VCR I replaced. Definitely recommended.
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