Watching movies made easy ... sort of!
Written: Feb 17 '04 (Updated Mar 20 '06)
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Pros: Both VHS and DVD, MP3, WMA, VCD, JPEG
Cons: Not best combo device out there
The Bottom Line: If you need a cheap combo device this may be it, it you are looking for absolute best quality and don't mind spending extra look elsewhere.
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| junebugz's Full Review: JVC HR-XVC20U DVD Player / VCR Combo |
I purchase a JVC HR-XVC20U off of eBay a few months back. It is one of JVC's newer DVD & VCR decks. Our VCR (which was a GE about 8-9 years old was dying) and our ailing Toshiba DVD player both needed replaced. I wanted a dual unit for obvious reasons ... kill two birds with one stone. This purchase has been a decent value. While I am sure there are better dual purpose decks out there, part of the reason why I went with this unit is the fact that I have a JVC receiver and JVC tv so it was convenient to stay with them.
Now about the deck itself. It is fairly lightweight which is becoming more and more normal these days. There is only one disc at a time and one VHS tape at a time obviously. The buttons do not really seem "cheap", yet I wouldn't say they feel like the same quality on the receiver I have. The deck is a regular flat black color and measures about 17" wide, 4" high, and 10" deep ... or just a little less than that. It comes with a one year parts warranty and a 90 day labor warranty from JVC.
The various features are as follows:
* Plays DVD videos, CD's, CD-R/RW's, WMA(kinda nice), JPEG's(pictures on CD-R), VCD, MP3(CD-R/RW), and VHS tapes.
* There is a high-bit/high-sampling video D/A converter which may mean something to someone other than myself
* Component Video, Composite Video, and S-Video outputs for many different types of connectors.
* RF Outputs also
* For audio there is Optical and Coaxial Digital Audio Outputs along with the Composite for Analog
* Zoom playback
* Marker, Jump, and Search Functions
* On-screen display capabilities
* The VHS portion is Hi-Fi with a MTS Decoder
* 1 month, 8 event programmable timer
* Auto clock and auto timer settings
* Auto tracking so you don't have to adjust manually
* Both indexed and skip search
* Auto repeat(VHS) and playback (DVD - A&B) this is basically you can press a button and the first time is logged as A and the second is B and then it will just play the loop marked as A & B
* Full function remote control which will control the vcr, dvd, and tv
* Slow playback from 1/2x - 1/7x
The unit itself is a fairly good functioning unit. I have not had it refuse to play a DVD or CD or VHS tape. It does make a little whirring noise when some dvd's or cd's are put in, but it just seems to be certain ones and it is only for the first 30 seconds or so, but can be a little annoying. JVC responded to an email saying this was normal. I would think they would have figured out a way to get rid of that but must have been after production that they noticed. Maybe it's just mine???
The remote is set up pretty well but is not lit at all so you will need at least a little light to use it. Until you get used to where the buttons are. The buttons do not have any type of raised marking for play or anything so you have to just know where it is at and the shape unless you have the light on and can read the buttons. The zoom feature is not as nice as the Toshiba I had.
The picture quality I think is superb, with both VHS and DVD .. obviously DVD is better. I have mine hooked up with a component video cable and am planning on hooking up an optical audio later on. The audio still sounds good coming through the receiver and speakers.
I believe I read that the DVD restarts if you press start which may be right, I don't remember because we always just pause it. Anyway there is a bookmark type of feature which can probably take care of this little bug so you don't have to restart, but you will have to figure out the buttons or sequence to get that feature to work.
This is by no means the best combo device out there but is definitely one of the most inexpensive for the quality of it. It seems to me like it is a first try or early try at a combo device from JVC just to test the market and tap some of the combo device revenues. If you have a few extra bucks, I would look at some other reviews. If you are on a budget, this may be the one for you.
Happy hunting!
UPDATE 3/20/06 -
This model still works ok. We moved back in August of last year and it has since been in the basement with our tv. The basement obviously is not as warm as the upstairs and we have noticed here in the winter months that if you want to play a dvd you need to turn the JVC player on a few minutes before and let it "warm up" a little, otherwise the dvd will skip or have problems playing until the machine is sufficiently warm enough. Seems a little odd and my wife said that the "higher end" players probably would do that ... her way of wanting to get a different one. It is merely inconvenient if you just want to put a dvd in and start watching it right away. Keep this in mind, although you are probably looking at newer models anyway. I believe this is the 2nd JVC dvd player we have had, the first was a 5 disc player without the VCR combo. I think the next dvd player I buy will not be JVC just because I am hoping for better quality. I have not had problems with either my tv or home audio receiver (both of which are JVC).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 115
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Epinions.com ID:
junebugz
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Location: Mansfield, OH
Reviews written: 73
Trusted by: 2 members
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