Customer Reviews

Panasonic PV-D4762 DVD-VCR Combo

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've had this DVD/VCR combination for several weeks now, and I can say I'm very impressed. I connected the DVD video to my home theater receiver using the S-Video connection. The receiver is itself connected to my 32-inch TV also using a S-Video connection. The DVD picture is awesome! I've played several DVDs, some with challenging content (e.g. the Matrix, Star Wars Episode I), and this unit has behaved faultlessly. No nasty digital artifacts that I could see. The unit also provides a component video connection which supports progressive scan. When Santa brings me that widescreen HDTV, it'll be great to see how that performs!

I also connected the DVD audio to the same receiver using the optical digital connection (note: no connect cable supplied). The unit outputs both Dolby Digital and DTS audio streams. As my receiver decodes both forms of encoding, I could play all movies with 5.1 surround sound tracks in their full glory. Awesome! Sure beats listening through the built-in speakers in my TV.

The DVD section also plays regular CDs and home-burned MP3 CDs faultlessly, both CD-R and CD-RW. Few units handle MP3 on CD-RW, so kudos to Panasonic for that. At 128k compression, the sound is just fine for casual listening. At 192k compression it's hard to tell from a regular CD, and you can still get several hours of music on a single disc. If you don't have a CD burner for your PC, get one!

The VCR section is fine too, and has several features that my previous unit didn't have, including program index marking, and commercial advance. This last works pretty well, automatically recognizing and fast-forwarding through about 80% of recorded commercials. It also provides 3 tape speeds: SP (1 x capacity), LP (2 x capacity), and SLP (3 x capacity). So, you can choose the best trade-off between tape usage and video quality. The SP video quality is pretty good, as is the Hi-Fi stereo sound. Note though that the video output is only available through the composite or RF (antenna) connection. S-Video and component video aren't available. This is common to all other brands of DVD/VCR combination, so Panasonic is not alone. But, it does mean you need 2 connections to your receiver/TV, and you need to switch inputs on your TV when switching between DVD and VCR. (Why can't manufacturers build-in an up-converter so you only need a single video connection?)

Now the not-so-good-news. The remote, while doing the job it's supposed to, doesn't look or feel like it will last very long. It's made of ultra-lightweight plastic, dipped in silver paint to look metallic. The pale blue color used for the DVD legends is hard to read against the silver background, and the paint has already worn off the little dimple feet that make contact when placed on the coffee table. Finally, while there is a light button, only 3 of the buttons are illuminated, so don't expect to be able to use the remote easily in a dark room. Do yourself a favor. Buy a decent learning remote, and transfer the codes you need.

One final point. If you want to get the very best out of the DVD video, connect it to your TV using the best connection it supports (progressive component, then interlaced component, then S-Video, then composite, then as a last resort RF). If you use component or S-Video, be prepared to switch inputs when switching between DVD and VCR.

These are minor gripes though. If you're in the market for a quality DVD player or VCR, check out this unit. If you're in the market for both, at the price, it's a no-brainer.

I've owed the PV-D4762 for 1 week now and am quite disappointed. I brought this unit because I wanted a VHS with automatic "commercial advance" like my previous unit. I also wanted a DVD. A combo of both in one unit sounded like the perfect solution. As I understand it, only Panasonic and RCA have "commercial advance" so that narrowed down my choices considerably. RCA's web site was next to useless, so Panasonic got the nod.

I set the unit up and began testing it out. Everything works but VHS recording doesn't seem to be as good as it could be. I haven't tried many programs yet so not absolute on this. There doesn't seem to be any tracking controls for the VHS. The DVD seems to play fine with the 2 discs I have tried.

The real annoyances come with the integrated display and when you try to play audio discs. Make no mistake, this is a system that was designed for DVD's, with audio disc functionality apparently added on as an afterthought.. The unit features a nice large integrated display, but there isn't much that shows in it.

Both DVD & audio discs do not show the track being played on the integrated display. You have to TURN ON THE TV TO SEE WHAT TRACK IS PLAYING! There is no normal CD function to scan forward smoothly on an audio track. What you get is the ability to jump forward in 8 second increments - very annoying! There isn't any random or shuffle play, no timer display of the time on the track and no way to repeat play a section of an audio CD.

The integrated display shows precious little information. The display is shared by both the VHS & the DVD. When recording a VHS tape, all it shows is "REC". Above this word are 3 indicators (a red square, "Hi-Fi", Timer"). No counter of how much has been recorded is shown. You have to go to the TV display to see this information. With a disc in the DVD side, no matter if it is DVD or audio, all you see is "PLAY". Again, no track information or timer is displayed. When neither the VHS or DVD side is active, the display shows the current time.

The remote control is one big mess. VHS and DVD functions are intertwined and scattered haphazardly all over the control. There are 53 buttons crammed onto it. Many buttons are tiny and many functions are cryptic. There isn't any way to tell whether the VHS or the DVD is active.

I was going to trash my 10 year old CD player but have decided to keep it. I see a short life for the PV-D4762 in my house and will likely replace it with a hard disc recording product next year. Then I'll get a separate DVD player and new CD player, sigh.

Sadly, since I went with the low price on the net (price), I can't return it. Although I am giving it a rating of 3 overall, I wouldn't recommend this unit to anyone.

i purchased two (2) panasonic p-dm2799 (tv/vcr/dvd/fm combo) unit for my school... when i was so happy with the performance on these, i HAD to go with the panisonic PV-D4762 for a standalone unit. I must say, both products have served us well in a 350 student K-8 school... they perform well, i LOVE the VCD reading capability, and most of allm they have withstood the wear and tear of being used several times per day, 186 days per year.

Purchased this unit about two months ago and have loved it. Like many, we were concerned about all the VHS tapes we had collected over the years and we did not want two different units stacking up in the entertainment center. So far, the unit has handled all tapes and DVDs flawlessly. As other reviewers have said, installation was easy. I'm not a high-end videophile, so the comments about it not being a good home entertainment center did not concern me. But we were able to hook it up to a shelf stereo system with two speakers, so we have been able to approximate home theater that way. All in all, very pleased with this purchase.

With a massive collection of movies for our 4 year-old, when our old VCR broke down we couldn't simply replace it with a DVD player. The Panasonic unit seemed to be the answer. My wife and I could enjoy DVDs, while our son could still enjoy all of his old tapes.

Unfortunately, it hasn't lived up to expectations. The DVD player broke while under warranty and was repaired by Panasonic. Although it took longer than I would have liked, they took care of it without any problems. Then the VCR simply stopped working, and now the DVD player is starting to have problems again, and it is only 1 1/2 years old.

At this point I don't know whether we'll get it repaired or simply junk it, but I'm not at all happy with the reliability. Unfortunately, none of the other combo units I've researched seem to do much better.

Very disappointed with the VCR portion of the PV-D4762. The VCR player does not have autotracking and even new tapes played have lines across the screen. I've tried manual tracking and still I am not impressed by the quality of the VCR playback. The DVD portion of the player works fine.

I just purchased the unit and have used it only 2 weeks when it would not accept VCR tapes. When you inserted them they immediately eject and aren't loaded. I now have to return the unit for repair via mail.
While it was working I don't think the VCR unit was as good as numerous Panasonic VCRs that I have or have had in the past. The recordings on EP are somewhat snowy even when recording with Direct TV. Also I had problems getting good tracking when playing a tape recorded on another Panasonic VCR. I don't know if it is a reflection of this particular unit or a reflection of this model. This is the first new VCR that has broken after such a short period of time after owning dozens of VCRs datiing back to the 80's.

This DVD-VCR Combo is a replacement for a similar unit which I had purchased new in 2001 and been happily using for five years until I brought it in for servicing - unfortunately the dealer suddenly went out of business and I was never able to retrieve the unit. I have been looking for a similar unit ever since but most manufacturers have now omitted the tuner from their VCR's (included in this unit), a critical factor if one does not have cable. This unit also features recording and playback in three speeds, SP/LP/EP, while most VCR's available today inexplicably omit LP which combines better picture quality with a reasonably long (4 hrs.) recording time. Luckily, I was able to find this unit on Amazon in "like new" condition.

Initial setup is a bit complicated but the instruction booklet is clear and takes you through all the necessary steps. There are probably too many options for the average user but you really only need to use the basic functions. Most importantly, the picture quality when playing back tapes and DVD's is excellent. As manufacturer's begin to phase out VCR's, units like this will be hard to find. Strongly recommended, if you can find one.

Werner

I putchased a PV-D4762 DVD/VCR deck in June/03. Initially I found the instruction booklet very irritating and difficult to sort out - the layout is very poor, and not well organised at all. The remote is rather unwieldy with alot of buttons - more than necessary. However, it performed the tasks at hand, and as a pioneer in the field of combos it seemed satisfactory. Last week, after owning the machine for 7 months, the DVD player starts giving the message "Please check the Disc, and for stains or scratches on Disc", when it refuses to play. This message made no sense as the disc was brand new. Despite using a "disc cleaner", the problem didnot go away, so the machine is now being looked at with an "authorised dealer". I expected better performance from a machine I paid $279.99 for - certainly more than the limited amount of service I have experienced. Therefore, I cannot recommend this brand.

I bought this in March 2003. In Sept the DVD quit working. I called Panasonic about it and they wanted me to drive 60 miles to the closest authorized repair facility. Found out the DVD card was broken on it. They would not cover the parts even though it was still under parts warranty. The part was over $200 and that is what I paid for the machine. Panasonic sure is a bunch of junk if things are breaking within six months. I used to buy a lot of Panasonic electronics, but never again.
DO NOT BUY this. You will just have all kinds of problems.