Samsung DVD-V8500 DVD/VCR Combo
Nothing Spectacular, But it Does the Job
Some background on my basic TV usage:  I'm still living in the dark ages in many aspects...  I still record TV shows on VHS, I don't get cable, and I have a TV which requires manual channel/volume changing (no remote). <br /> <br />I've been using the product for a few months now, and here are my findings: <br />* I'm perfectly satisfied with the quality of the DVD player and the VCR.  No complaints here, but I obviously don't have a fancy entertainment system, so it doesn't take much to please me in this department. <br />* I was disappointed to find that I can only tape up to 7 shows at a time through the VCR.  It's forced me to drastically cut back on my TV-watching, which is not a bad thing, but it does seem to be a silly limitation and is one of my biggest complaints about the product. <br />* The user interface is fairly straightforward and standard.  The biggest pitfall I've found is again related to recording TV shows:  Rather than being able to use the number keys on the remote to enter days, times, stations, etc., you have to use the up/down buttons, which can make it extremely painful to program something in.  Not the smartest design choice on their part. <br />* I tend to watch TV through the VCR (so I can use a remote, which my TV is lacking), but it seems that this product wasn't designed with that in mind.  Some examples of this:  There is no way to mute the sound -- or change the volume at all -- from the VCR (so I can't do this via the remote), there is no way to quickly toggle between two TV stations (to go back and forth between two shows with the push of a button), and the power automatically goes off after recording a TV show.  The remote apparently works with compatible TV's (which mine is not), so this may be less annoying for others, but even then you'd have to switch between DVD/VCR and TV on the remote in order to do some basic operations that the DVD/VCR product should be able to do on its own.  The inability to change the volume is probably my biggest complaint overall. <br /> <br />All in all, I am satisfied with the product, but it certainly hasn't left me complaint-free due to the shortcomings of some of the basic-use operations that I tend to perform on a regular basis.