Customer Reviews

Panasonic PV-D4743S Progressive-Scan DVD-VCR Combo , Silver

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

 

 

First off, everyone should know that a DVD/VCR combo machine such as this Panasonic will not allow you to tape DVDs you rent at Blockbuster! Most DVDs have Macrovision anti-copying technology which makes it impossible to copy to a VHS tape without a hacked VCR machine. You can, however, tape your own home-movie DVDs made on a PC.

As with their stand-alone DVD and VCR products, the Panasonic is an excellent machine that's easy to use, buit to last, and offers great video quality on all kinds of TV sets. The remote control unfortunately is a bit more complicated than necessary, but that doesn't distract from the good overall design of the machine itself. The biggest advantage of an integrated DVD/VCR is that it saves space and cables. The biggest downside is if one thing breaks, you have to fix the whole unit. Luckily, Panasonic is known of its excellent quality control, and my first VCR purchased 15+ years ago, a Panasonic, still works to this very day! My family owns a few Panasonic DVD players -- I have a big family -- and they all work flawlessly, including my first DVD player which I bought back in 1999, at the dawn of DVD age.

Finally, I personally prefer to silver model, because it looks high-tech and looks stunning under my black Xbox. :)

This is unit is great, both in looks and features. It is fairly slim, and stylish...with sturdy construction. The DVD features are easy to figure out and easy to use via remote. I have watched SEVERAL DVDs, including widescreen. Good resolution and abitily to zoom off widescreen.

The VCR is a little more complicated than my original VCR...but not impossible to figure out and get used to. The picture resolution is better than I expected.

Great product manual, up to the usual Panasonic standards.

I tried a Samsung first, but it was defective and flimsy. Back it went!

Good unit for the price.

I first reviewed this product and said it was great. Overall it has been a fine unit, but it seems to everheat once in a while during a long DVD session. From time to time the movie will freeze up, and then jump forward or backward, very annoying. Considering how inexpensive the unit is for VCR and DVD, it was still an OK value, but the overheating seems to be a fatal flaw.

I didn't have any problem with this product. The setup is easy. It has all relevant input/outputs (although I used it only to connect both vcr and dvd to the TV). DVD has progressive scan and DTS. You can use it as a cd payer and it also can play MP3 CDs (although I didn't try it yet). My only complaint is related to the remote. I use it as universal remote (it was easy - my tv is also Panasonic) and it's very easy by mistake to do something, for example, with VCR when you really working with TV. Happened to me already quite a few times. But all in all, this shortcoming is not enough not to recommend this unit as simple and reliable vcr/dvd combo.

I got 2 of these PV-D4743 units a few days ago, and set up one of them on my big screen projection TV. Everything they said seems to work fine, VCR gives good picture, DVD has the progressive scan and easy to operate. One thing I forgot to check out first before ordering was whether I could play the VCR and DVD simultaneously. For most of the people that does not present any problem, they use only one or the other at any given time. But my TV has several inputs and I connect the DVD, VCR, Cable (directly), and Cable box to different inputs. I can display the inputs one by one by simply pressing the TV/Video button on my TV (SONY) remote. For example, with my old 'GO VIDEO' combo deck, or the SONY combo deck, I could play both the VCR and DVD simultaneouly , and view both of them at the same time using the split screen. Most of the people may not care about this, but I wish I could do it with this machine also. Also the manual adivised to connect the cable to the VCR first and then to the cable box and to the TV. When I did that, the cable picture was really fuzzy if the VCR power was on (not playing). However, if the VCR power was switched off, the picture looked OK. To get around this, I connected the cable to the cable box first and from the cable box to the VCR. That seems to work but I have not tested if this presents any problem in recording programs on the VCR. It should not because the signals are already unscrambled in the cable box before getting into the VCR but again I am not a electronics wiz and I will have to try out different configurations. Any one cares to make comments or suggestions about my review?

I wasn't planning to write a review for the Panasonic PV-VD4743K but after reading the review by "An electronics fan", I thought that it was appropriate to say something in defense of this unit.

First of all, when you write a review, it would be nice if the review were actually about the unit in question and not some other unit you bought on another occasion. "An electronics fan" buys another unit then spends his entire post in some crazed rant against Panasonic.

So what did Panasonic do, according to "An electronics fan"? Panasonic listened to his complaint several times, tried to help troubleshoot his problem, sent him to a certified tech repair center, and then when no one could figure out why his tapes were the only ones having problems, Panasonic offered to replace his unit with a re-conditioned unit (basically a new unit), and he still whines and complains about his situation. I guess some people are never happy. But either way, his review of another unit is totally inappropriate here.

Anyway, as far as THIS model is concerned, it's an excellent unit and performs perfectly for its' class. I highly recommend it.

I have a degree in Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley, so I'm not usually intimidated by technology. But this remote is just impossible. Lots of tiny, identical buttons with microscopic labels. You can only use the remote using reading glasses in a strong light. Many of the controls are non-intuitive even when you find the right buttons. The manual is strikingly unhelpful; one of the worst I've seen.

I actually bought a universal remote but this deck wouldn't respond to it at all.

(Rant: user interface design is a well-understood discipline, so why is it that user interfaces seem to be getting worse rather than better?) Anyway, I returned it and got a JVC XVC33U, which is much easier to use and has a vastly better manual.

I bought 2 decks a few days ago. One of them was defective, I could not get it to open the DVD player. I opened it by inserting a wire in the small hole under the DVD slot as suggested in the operating manual, but then it would not close by itself. I had to force it to close. Then of course it would not open either via the remote control or the controls on the deck. I believe that this is some kind of reconditioned machine some dealer passing it as brand new.
The second one works fine, but it does not have the one touch DVD - VCR copy feature. Also you can play only the DVD or VCR at any given time. Both these features were available on my Go Video combo deck I owned before, and also Sony combo deck. Even when it comes to the price, I found that our local Best Buy store is selling the item (regular price) even cheaper than Amazon.
I am sending both units back because one of them is defective, and also they do not have the features I would like.

I like the unit. It's fundamentally a mid-priced VCR combined with a mid-priced DVD player. You get the same basic functionality in the combined unit that you would get with similar mid-priced stand-alone components (e.g., progressive scan, 1 optical digital audio output, etc.)

I've owned 3 previous Panasonic VCRs over the years. They've all been different models as I've upgraded over the years. I've never had any problems with the transport/recording mechanism in Panasonic VCRs. I never needed any of them to be repaired. To me, this speaks highly of their manufacture. There's no guarantee, of course, that every Panasonic VCR will treat you as well as they've treated me, but the leading consumer magazine has already rated their quality as superior.

The DVD player looks good to me. No problems.

The remote is somewhat cluttered. I guess they could have done a better job with arranging the buttons so that it's completely intuitive, but I've given them a pass on this, because when I perused the buttons to see what I would have done, I couldn't come up with any useful recommendations. I think the clutter is the natural result of combining the buttons of two video components (a VCR and a DVD player) on one remote. I didn't sweat it, and I learned how to use it effectively over time, as I'm sure you will.

The User's Manual drags my rating from a 5- to a 4-star, because it's not very good. I'd say it's "fair". It's not designed very well, and the information is sometimes hard to grok. It's useable, but only just. If you've ever owned a Panasonic anything over the past decade, then know that the User's Guide for this product looks just like the user's guide you have...they haven't changed at all over the years. They probably have the same people writing, editing, illustrating, designing them. Don't get me wrong, it's not crud, but it's not great, either.

Despite this criticism of the User's Guide, I'd recommend the unit. Most people have some facility with video components by now, and that knowledge will help you set up the unit and operate it. It isn't rocket science, since this unit doesn't break much new ground in hook-ups or operation. You can do it, and then just chuck the User's Guide in a drawer where it belongs.

The only thing that might be new to some people is how to hook-up the unit to use Progressive Scan. Your TV will have to be compatible with progressive scanning, and the manual is a little dicey in this area particularly, but it's do-able and shouldn't really hinder you if you want the convenience of a well-manufactured combo unit.

THIS UNIT WORKED GREAT FOR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR, THEN THE DVD LASER JUST WENT. THE THING PROBABLY DIDN'T HAVE 50 HRS OF PLAY TIME ON IT AND HAS BEEN WELL TAKEN CARE OF. PANASONIC BASICALLY SAYS "TOUGH S...", THE WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. THIS IS B.S. AS THE UNIT IS ONLY A LITTLE OVER A YEAR OLD. I WILL NEVER BY ANOTHER PRODUCT FROM PANASONIC. I NOW HAVE A $170.00 PEICE OF JUNK.