Panasonic PV-D4762 DVD-VCR Combo
Disappointed
I've owed the PV-D4762 for 1 week now and am quite disappointed.  I brought this unit because I wanted a VHS with automatic \\"commercial advance\\" like my previous unit.  I also wanted a DVD.  A combo of both in one unit sounded like the perfect solution.  As I understand it, only Panasonic and RCA have \\"commercial advance\\" so that narrowed down my choices considerably.  RCA's web site was next to useless, so Panasonic got the nod.<br />I set the unit up and began testing it out.  Everything works but VHS recording doesn't seem to be as good as it could be.  I haven't tried many programs yet so not absolute on this.  There doesn't seem to be any tracking controls for the VHS.  The DVD seems to play fine with the 2 discs I have tried.<br />The real annoyances come with the integrated display and when you try to play audio discs.  Make no mistake, this is a system that was designed for DVD's, with audio disc functionality apparently added on as an afterthought..  The unit features a nice large integrated display, but there isn't much that shows in it.  <br />Both DVD & audio discs do not show the track being played on the integrated display.  You have to TURN ON THE TV TO SEE WHAT TRACK IS PLAYING!  There is no normal CD function to scan forward smoothly on an audio track.  What you get is the ability to jump forward in 8 second increments - very annoying!  There isn't any random or shuffle play, no timer display of the time on the track and no way to repeat play a section of an audio CD.<br />The integrated display shows precious little information.  The display is shared by both the VHS & the DVD.  When recording a VHS tape, all it shows is \\"REC\\".  Above this word are 3 indicators (a red square, \\"Hi-Fi\\", Timer\\").  No counter of how much has been recorded is shown.   You have to go to the TV display to see this information.  With a disc in the DVD side, no matter if it is DVD or audio, all you see is \\"PLAY\\".  Again, no track information or timer is displayed.  When neither the VHS or DVD side is active, the display shows the current time.<br />The remote control is one big mess.  VHS and DVD functions are intertwined and scattered haphazardly all over the control.  There are 53 buttons crammed onto it.  Many buttons are tiny and many functions are cryptic.  There isn't any way to tell whether the VHS or the DVD is active.<br />I was going to trash my 10 year old CD player but have decided to keep it.  I see a short life for the PV-D4762 in my house and will likely replace it with a hard disc recording product next year.  Then I'll get a separate DVD player and new CD player, sigh.<br />Sadly, since I went with the low price on the net (price), I can't return it.  Although I am giving it a rating of 3 overall, I wouldn't recommend this unit to anyone.