Customer Reviews

GoVideo DVR4200 DVD-VCR Combo

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The DVD player in this dual deck is OK, on a par with
lower-end budget players. The VCR in this deck is OK, on
a par with lower-end budget VCRs. So far, so fair.

BUT the recorder won't record any DVD that is Macrovision
encoded (which is most of them), so don't expect to use this
as a one stop way to record your DVDs. The DVD player also
doesn't play VCDs or SVCDs. So it has basic functionality,
but little more.

Overall, this is useful for those who want both a DVD
player and a VCR, and who want to save a bit of space. But at
the price you could purchase a better DVD player and a better
VCR separately. So this only makes sense for those who need
to save the space.

David

i loved the way this unit looked and perceivable quality of it as well. it is also very easy to use. good instructions manual, remote, and very clear display. i liked this unit very much. but, i returned it for these reasons: dvd player does not produce as great of a sound and picture as other dvd players do in the under [$$$] range. also, the onscreen menu has very small font. it is very difficult to distinguish letters sitting about 10 feet away from tv.

My daughter is the *very happy* recipient of this dual deck. She is not exactly an electronics wizard, but she called to say thanks and just bubbled over about how "simple" it was to connect ("really, Dad, I just plugged it in and connected 1 wire and my roommates and I said 'it can't be that simple' but we turned it on and it was like working great"!). She said the remote was "smooth" and the picture quality was "awesome". She also raved about the audio volume the CD player was able to produce and she was "wowed" by its ability to produce this volume cleanly while playing MP3s, ergo becoming, I am informed, the new music center for her dorm room. Anyway, she should remain happy, as GoVideo (& now SONICblue) has been around for quite a while, producing the first dual VCR decks (mostly for copying tapes that were [of course] not copyrighted, such as personal videos) more than a decade ago and since then having greatly expanded their product line, all the while maintaining a pretty good reputation for quality and service and an excellent track record for high value electronics.

Ordered one USED and quickly realized that the other Amazon reviews were probably written by folks that did the most basic connection you could do (coax in...coax out).

If you have a halfway decent home theatre system and utilize the dedicated DVD and VCR RCA audio outputs using good quality cables (Monster cables or other gold tipped audio cables), the audio is great. Dolby Digital is fantastic and the onboard menu allows you to configure for several different variations.

Easy setup (less than 10 minutes), easy to use, on screen menus are easy to navigate, plays MP3's, great picture, great sound!!

If you want to get an inexpensive unit that will handle DVD and VHS plus also play MP3's (!!!), get one of these!!!

This product simplifies some of your A/V issues (fewer cables to hook up and one less item to stack in the entertainment center), but wait for a better version to come out from a company that knows what they're doing.

Problems:

DVD playback has digital 'glitches' - blackspots and blurs, jumps in dialog.
DVD/CD play has background flutter noise - the discs don't spin noiselessly....not great during quiet movies.
CD playback doesn't have much functionality. Play/stop, that's it. No random, continuous play, or other functions you'd expect from a CD player.

$ is cheap, but wait until a better-known company launches a product...

GO-VIDEO JUST FILED FOR BANCKRUPTCY. STAY AWAY.

I know it's not the best DVD player on the market but for this price range, you can't go wrong with this unit. I've owned 3 DVD players now (under $$$ and this one has been my favorite. It's simple to hook-up, sounds great with a good A/V receiver, and is very simple to use. Are there better DVD/VHS players out there? Of couse! But in the under $$$ range, this one reigns supreme. The only reason I didn't go with 5 stars is that I feel the instructions are very sparse and a novice may get confused figuring out how to best hook the unit up for best performance. With that said, this unit is as advertised and well worth the price.

THIS UNIT IS TERRIBLE. THE RESOLUTION OF THE DVD PLAYER IS POOR AND THE PLAY BACK QUALITY OF THE VCR STINKS. GO WITH ANY MAJOR JAPANESE BRAND AND STAY AWAY FROM GO-VIDEO.

I bought this player about 6 month ago. It worked great at first but now the dvd portion skips and wont play sometimes. the vcr portion has horrible tracking problems and at one point quit working all together. Most of the time it auto tracks constanty and messes up the image. If I had it to do over I would not buy this player.

I PURCHASED THIS UNIT AND HAVE EMAILED THE MANUFACTURER TWICE (WITH NO REPLY) COMPLAINING ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE SOUND VOLUME ON DVD PLAYBACK IS ALMOST INAUDIBLE!