Too good to be true?
Written: Apr 04 '03 (Updated Oct 21 '04)
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Pros: VCR/DVD combo
Cons: MP3 playback, CDRW playback, DVD compatibility
The Bottom Line: Great as a combo system - good DVD and VHS capabilities. If you want MP3, get a different brand, or a dedicated MP3 player.
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| nepper's Full Review: Zenith XBV243 DVD Player / VCR Combo |
Update October 2004:
I've had some frustration with the DVD player's compatibility. For the most part, commercial dvd's I've bought or rented have played well, some stuttering here and there, but I've had some issues with recorded dvd's that have worked well on other players. I just burned a dvd in +r and -R formats, and the player had trouble selecting chapters from the main menu on both types. The dvd's play fine in my daughter's inexpensive dvd player, and on the pc's dvd player.
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I was upgrading my stereo system and decided to get into the home theatre idea, 5.1 channel sound etc. Once I had the sound, then I just had to exercise it with some movies. (I believe only DVD's have 5.1 channel sound, not the VHS tapes, although my receiver simulates it quite nicely). But, to add a DVD player would have meant an extra shelf in my stereo cabinet.
So, I looked into the combination units. I also wanted to get a DVD player that played MP3's so that I could keep my old carousel CD player. (Who needs a carousel for mp3's?!) So, I only considered DVD players that played MP3's. The box also said it would play CDRW's (in addition to the standard CDR requirement).
I've been happy with the VCR and DVD functions of the unit - its compact, little or no trouble playing DVD's. The display when the VCR is playing is in time, e.g. not a counter. A nice touch. The unit has front and back A/V line jacks for inputs. So we can hook up both the N64 and the XBox "permanently", and play either one. (My TV is old with RF inputs only). The other reason to get the combo unit is that I didn't need to purchase an RF modulator for the DVD player - it plays back through the VCR modulator if you choose to do so.
My first disappointment with the unit, however, was in reading the manual. Although the box says the DVD player handles CDRW's, the manual suggests that you don't use them (without saying why other than suggesting some might be incompatible). I haven't tried a CDRW in there yet, so maybe its not a big deal, but I get annoyed at false advertising like that.
My biggest disappointment was with the MP3 section. The unit does play mp3's, allows you to set up a playlist etc., but the onscreen display only shows the 8 character filename, none of the other information such as artist, genre, album, song title, etc. And when you have multiple tunes with similar filenames, you get a 6 character display followed by two numerical digits, so my Beatles tracks are listed as Beatle~1, Beatle~2, etc., so unless the filename starts with the tune title, this is almost useless. The other disappointment with the MP3 portion is that there is no way to play the selections at random. One of the joys of playing an mp3 cd (for me) is that I have hundreds of tunes that I know I like, and if random, its kinda like your own personal radio station. But who wants to hear their radio station play the same tunes in the same order, day after day after day?
The remote is quite full-featured, but small letters, impossible to see in a home theatre setting.
These kind of things you don't know when its in the store.
I'm keeping it, but would recommend that if you're shopping for a DVD player that plays MP3's, you take your own disk along and try it out. Happy shopping!
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 200
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Epinions.com ID:
nepper
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Location: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
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