Buy Panasonic PV-D4745S DVD/VCR Dual Deck , SilverPanasonic PV-D4745S DVD/VCR Dual Deck , Silver Product Description:
- 4-Head VCR
- Hi-Fi Stereo
- Auto Clock Set
- S-Video Out
Product Description
Panasonic PV-D4745S DVD/VCR Dual Deck (Silver)
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
73 of 73 people found the following review helpful.
By Mark Lahren
First of all, after reading another review stating I wouldn't be able to watch home-made DVDs on this machine, I ran right out to the living room and played a few that my family made for me and I hadn't ever tried playing before. I was suddenly worried they wouldn't work. And while it's true that the home-movies I played were not in the same format as those listed by the previous reviewer (these were DVD-R), they played perfectly.But since I don't watch many home-movies or self-burned stuff anyway, my review is based totally on one single aspect: Commercial DVD playback quality. I have literally gone through 5 different brands of DVD/VCR combo units over the last year, exchanging each one because of DVD playback problems; stuttering, freezing, skipping, pixelization. And this was always on normal DVD movies.Recently however, a lot of my old favorite TV shows are being released on double-sided, dual-layer DVDs (DVD 18 technically) that many folks are complaining about having issues with when switching to the second layer on the same side of the disk. I had these problems too with my last unit, which had been doing just fine until I started playing TV series disks that were known for having problems with the layer-switch.Exchanging the disks didn't help, since they all had the same problems. Finally, out of desperation, I exchanged my DVD/VCR combo unit one more time on the off-chance it would make a difference. Lo and behold, I'm suddenly one of the few people who can play "Space: Above and Beyond" and "American Gothic" with no problems whatsoever.True, the disk manufacture is definitely the 'real' problem. But my Panasonic player somehow manages to work around it. I'm not a techie. All I know is this is the first of five brands I've tried that hasn't had a problem handling the layer-switch. I'm sure there are other good brands out there. All I'm saying is this one was reasonably priced and does exactly what I need it to do.And strictly speaking from a layman's perspective, the image and sound quality seem excellent and crisp, as does the VCR image and quality. Again, I'm no expert, so your mileage may vary.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
By Grog
I bought this combo deck when my Samsung combo deck died after 5 years of moderate use. (The Samsung TV I bought at the same time is starting to die as well....) I've had the new Panasonic deck for about a month and so far no problems. Like most combo DVD/VCRs, the DVD takes priority, meaning that if you have both a tape and a DVD in the machine, the machine will always try to play the DVD when you power up the machine. You can override this by punching the VCR button on the remote, which is large and easy to find.Generally speaking, the controls are pretty standard and programming the VCR for later taping is about 5 on a 1-10 difficulty scale. I have not yet tried to copy a DVD to tape, although the manual seems to imply that it is easy. As is almost always the case nowadays, the manual is mainly warnings about not using the deck in the bathtub or connecting your antenna to a high-tension power line. There seem to be many instructions for all those lucky folks with "home theatres," etc., in case you need them.The remote has a lot of small buttons that are marked in small type. Baby boomers may need cheaters to read the button labels. Rather than having a red, one touch record button like the Samsung, the Panasonic remote just has a small "rec" button residing with the rest of the confusing mess of remote control buttons. I plan to put a dot of white-out on the button to make it stand out.The best thing about the new deck is that it seems to make good quality tapes off an antenna hookup. There may be a signal booster inside because the tapes often look better than the TV alone!The worst thing is that the deck does not have an external clock. Like a lot of people, I came to depend on the VCR clock in the TV room. There is, of course, an internal clock that you can have display on the TV screen. But when the TV is off, you better have a watch!Additional comment (October 2008) -- About 6 months ago, the DVD player died. Now only the VCR works. I doubt I'd buy another Panasonic.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
By K. Dickson
I recently had a Panasonic DVD/VCR player that went haywire, so upon tons of research on several different brands, styles, kinds of DVD/VCR combos, I have decided to purchase yet another Panasonic, as overall, I've had a good experience with their products. I think the old one konked out on my part, as I found out (when it was too late) that I wasn't closing the DVD door properly, as I did it manually, when I should've either pressed the button on the machine or on the remote.I've had this new one for two months now, and it works great! At first, I was kinda iffy on the playback quality, but I really like it now. I love how the remote for this is the exact same as the one I had for my old machine, which is a major plus, as it has all the same functions and features that I loved.I love the features of the time remaining, as I tape my soaps all the time, and I love knowing ahead of time if I'm going to have enough room on the tape. I also love the commercial skip, as the commercial break during my soaps is three minutes long, exactly the length of time I can skip the commercials. I love the ease of pressing a single button to turn on the subtitles when I'm watching a DVD.Overall, it's a great product, and I totally love it!
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