Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've had the unit for about a month now. The good news is there's no volume problem, as suggested in prior reviews. Adjust the TV volume level and thereafter move around that level using the DVR-4000 volume control instead of the TV's. Done this way, there is no volume problem between DVD/VCR.
Bad news: the timed-recording setup is obscure. I actually am a rocket scientist and have found setting this unit up to record by the clock far more cumbersome than with my previous 12-year old VCR (obtained free as a gift from my bank).
Calendars and gizmos flash on the screen. There is a lengthy sequence of terse prompts along the top edge of the screen for which the desired response is obscure and specified in different ways: sometimes the response is 1, maybe 2 numbers. Other times, one has to cycle through a list of options. These options includes specifying tape speed, video input source and assorted other things no one should ever be bothered with more than once to set an initial default.
There is no simple start/stop time. Instead, you enter a start time, then have to compute the number hours and minutes to record. I've been through it 6 times now and it still takes 5+ minutes of fiddling to arrive at settings I'm not sure are right. Of course, if the remote is ever damaged or lost, the unit will be useless.
It may depend on what you are used to, but it seems 12 years of progress have actually regressed VCR operations.
The DVR-4000 does NOT play all DVD's; it only plays Region 1 (US and Canada) with NTSC video (like most other DVD players sold in the U.S.). I knew this when I bought the unit, but being new to the DVD world did not expect it to be so limiting.
For example, it turns out Hallmark owns the rights to the Laurel and Hardy films but prefers not to make any money, so is not releasing any of them in the U.S. However, a company in Europe does sell them, but encoded for Region 2 PAL systems. Thus, the DVR4000 cannot play them.
There are other DVD players...that play DVDs for any region and automatically convert between PAL/NTSC video signals as necessary. This is not illegal and the capability should be in every DVD player sold, especially a unit like the DVR-4000 which aspires to be multi-purpose.
If you are sure you will ONLY play DVD's you get from the local Blockbuster, the DVR-4000 may do. If you have specialized interests, you will eventually run into the problems designed into the DVD world by movie studios, apparently to limit their sales and restrict the amount of money they make.
I thought "Well, I can do without Laurel and Hardy indefinately", only to then discover ANOTHER major series I was interested in which will not play on "local" (Region 1) encoded machines ...
The DVR-4000 is for people need a new VCR and want to get a toe into basic DVD as well. If your present VCR is fine, you would be better off in the long-run getting a separate, more capable DVD player.
For my purposes, the unit is probably only two stars in that it doesn't really do what I want or is clumsy about it. On the otherhand, it does what it claims to do and seems to be of good quality.
For DVD newcomers: the only thing the DVD world really has going for it is that it is a more permanent (many decades?), more compact format. The "extras" one hears so much about (producer commentary, behind the scenes, etc.) are pretty worthless. DVD allows producers to control your viewing (no fast-forwarding through FBI warnings, intros, ads, etc.). The result seems to actually be less consumer-friendly than VHS, despite all the menu options and supposed flexibility. (It's flexible in ways that aren't important, less flexible in the ways that matter, such as respecting your time.)
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If you're like most of us, you've got quite a collection of movies - the Hollywood variety, your kids' G-rated movie collection, not to mention all your home movies - and they're all on VHS. While DVD is really exciting and makes movies sound and look much better, who wants all those movies you've collected over the years to become obsolete?Now you can have your cake and eat it, too - all in one space in your entertainment center. Because the Go-Video DVR4000 plays both DVDs and VHS tapes in one integrated system!You still need some way to tape your TV shows, right? So the DVR4000 comes with a top-of-the line VCR built right in, capable of being "programmed" to record 16 events (twice as many as others) up to a year in advance. And you can watch a DVD (or listen to a music CD!) while the VCR records.The DVD player contains features found only on very expensive DVD models, like component connections, playback of 96KHz/24-Bit audio CDs, zoom, playback of DTS-encoded DVDs, audio during 2x scan, 10-Bit Video Digital to Analog Converter and 27MHz Advanced Digital Filter.And the VCR is a top-of-the-line, 4 head, Hi-Fi, MTS Stereo VCR with many features not found on any other VCR - such as Complete Program Record (CPR) which senses the end of your tape and switches to slow play to make sure you don't miss the end of a recorded TV show. As well as child lock which disables the buttons on the front of the unit completely (then you hide remote), glow in the dark remote control buttons, index search, blank search, date time stamp, tape remaining counter and auto clock set for easy set-up. And yes, unlike other brands, it will record DVD to VHS - but only if your DVD is not copyright- protected with Macrovision.
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