Zenith XBV243 DVD Player / VCR Combo

Pros: Combination drive; outstanding feature set; reasonable price point.
Cons: The silver coloring make the front-panel controls hard to see.

Ever since the advent of reasonably priced DVD players I h ad been waiting for the release of a sub-$200.00 DVD/VCR Combo drive that I could put in my master bedroom to satisfy for those last night movie cravings. What I found a few years ago was the ...

Pros: DVD & VCR capabilities, cable ready, cool display and good functions
Cons: Pricey

I got this DVD/VCR combo for my birthday back in September 2002, and I'm just getting around to reviewing it. Luckily, this means I've had plenty of time to test it out and explore it, so I'll break my review down into sections:

1. DVD...

Pros: DVD/VHS Playback, Easy Set-Up, Simple to use, Not A Hassle.
Cons: NONE!!!

We have bought a DVD/VHS for our living room, and this one is good, Where do I begin. SET-UP The setup went great, It was fast and easy to use, I set it up like a normal VHS, and It still worked great, I connected the RF cables so the VCR ...

Pros: VCR/DVD combo
Cons: MP3 playback, CDRW playback, DVD compatibility

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 ...

Pros: User Friendly, nice features, nice looking. Simple looking and simple to use.
Cons: DVD-player is slower than other systems, mp3 reads slowly, not compatible with DVD's, etc.

As I see many in depth reviews have been made, I will give some main details about this combo now that I've had it for a while. To play music Cd's: It's great. Just pop the CD in and you're playing within 10 seconds. To play DVD's: The player is much ...

Pros: Appearance, features, price
Cons: Price, defective DVD player

I had been wanting for some time to buy a DVD/VCR combination for the TV in my room, but until recently the prices on the available units were more than I wanted to spend. When I saw this unit for $199.00 I thought I'd found the solution to my dilemma....

Pros: Composite, component and S-video outputs, fast tape wind, quiet
Cons: Bare bones VCR, auto time set doesn't

With a lot of children's videotapes, a TV with only one set of composite inputs, the need to often tape shows for later viewing and the need to dub home-made DVDs onto VHS, we needed a combo player. Chose the Zenith due to user reviews at circuitcity.com...

Very easy set up and after becoming familiar with the operations it is easier to use than may more expensive units. Materials quality is good. Only had it for a few weeks so I am not sure about long term reliability. No VCR quick programming for a single day.