Samsung DVD-V2000 DVD-VCR Combo
dvd - vcr combo test
I recently purchased DVD-V2000 Samsung combo unit. After having read both the good and the bad reviews, here is my experience.<br />The look - excellent. The unit fits perfectly with either black or silver TV's, stereos, etc.<BR>VCR - as good as it gets. It is significantly better than other models and Samsung DVD 1000. Make sure you have a good TV signal and use decent VHS tapes for recording and play back and you will be surprised. I played back my old tapes with better quality than I thought would be possible. The drive is unexpectaby quiet and fast. This, if stand alone, would be an above average quality VCR. S VHS tapes played back are at 90% of the DVD quality, at least.<br />DVD - it does play back anything stored on a disc, except SVCD's that are not common here. The sound is excellent, the output stable in all the cases, the drive very quiet and reliable. It plays back even those files Samsung claims it could not. DVD menu is simple and easy to use, same with CD's and MP3's. If you want decent sound, it is not recommended to rely on your TV set's speakers - use a receiver or stereo. DVD trully utilizes full NTSC TV resolution and 16:9 aspect picture is just perfect.<br />I thoroughly tested DVD about possible pixelation and track change problems. Although I did not experience this problem, I found it to be possibly associated with the condition of DVD's, not with the unit itself (tested more DVD's on the computer and other player). I don't recommend to purchase the unit unless you can exchange it in case something is wrong. This sometimes happens and it's not really a big issue.<br />Remote is very easy to use and it does effectively replace 3 others(separate VCR, TV, DVD). <br />The inital setup is great - touch nothing, the unit does it all.<br />In general, this is one of the best solutions until HDTV and digital recording become widely used. Even then, I'd rather use the computer for the ultimate quality (new SRS processor for the natural surround soundand high display resolution). <br />For the money, you can hardly find anything better on market.