Panasonic SC-HT830V 5-Disc DVD/VCR Combo Home Theater System

by Panasonic

Product Details

• Item Weight: 65 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 56 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000816XJI
• Item model number: SC-HT830V
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,581 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Panasonic SC-HT830V Home Theater System can handle all your entertainment needs, thanks to a combo DVD/VCR player with an integrated amplifier and AM/FM receiver. It delivers 470 watts of total power output (800 watts peak) and 5.1-channel surround sound through its two tower front speakers (with height-adjustable stands), two satellite surround speakers, one center channel speaker, and one dual-unit active subwoofer (which has a built-in amplifier). The surround, satellite, and center channel speakers are all magnetically shielded so as not to interfere with your TV's video signal and are wall mountable. This system also features built-in Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic II decoders.

The 5-disc DVD player/changer is compatible with a wide range of disc formats, including DVD-Audio, DVD-RAM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, and CD-R/RW, as well as HighMAT, JPEG, MP3 and WMA file formats. The incorporated High-Performance Media Access Technology (HighMAT) provides enhanced the method of storing, arranging and playing back personal digital photo, music and video collections on recordable discs such as CD-RW media. Other features include a 10-bit, 54 MHz DAC (digital to analog converter), cinema mode, dialogue enhancer, and Depth Enhancer feature (for startling depth and true-to-life skin tones, as well as a soft, movie background focus). It also features a 4-head, Hi-Fi VCR with commercial skip feature, and an AM/FM tuner with 30 total presets (10 AM, 20 FM). It provides the following connections:

• Composite Video Out: 1
• Composite Video In: 1
• S-Video Out: 1
• Component Video Out: 1
• Analog Audio In: 2
• RF In: 1
• RF Out: 1
• Headphone: 1

What's in the Box
5-disc DVD/VCR combo with integrated amplifier/receiver, 1 subwoofer, 2 front speakers, adjustable stands, 2 surround speakers, 1 center channel, remote control, speaker cords, printed instructions

Product Description

The Panasonic SC-HT830V 5-DVD Changer/VHS Home Theater System combines a VCR, DVD player and receiver into a single unit, making your entertainment center easier to enjoy. Discover outstanding spatial audio characteristics and the realistic sense of movement of the 360-degree sound system. The H. Bass Sound system provides the deep, robust bass you need to truly get the most out of your audio. Surround2-1/2 Full Range Subwoofer - 5-1/8 dual unit subwoofer Powerful Active Subwoofer with built-in 260 watt power amplifier Total Output - 800W Multi Remaster for fr high-quality audio reproduction Built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoder Super Surround Sound for Stereo Sources 1 Audio input for TV, VCR and AUX 4-Step Subwoofer level control via remote Quartz Synthesized Digital tuning system

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfied customer, May 20, 2005

By 

Sudarshan Karkada (Missouri City, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic SC-HT830V 5-Disc DVD/VCR Combo Home Theater System (Electronics)

I bought this system 3 weeks ago to replace a cheap home theater system I had. I was in the market for a decent system with 5-disc system. After months of research, I have decided on this sytem - even though I couldn't find any reviews. You can get detailed specifications on Panasonic's Web site or elsewhere on the Internet.

What I liked so far:
1) FM/AM presetting can be automatic. However, living in a big city, it found so many radio stations that it ran out of all presets before even it got to my favorite stations. Manual setting is pretty easy.
2) VCR rewinding is high-speed. I used to use a rewinder, but this one rewinds much too quickly.
3) DVD quality and sound quality exceed my expectations - but that doesn't mean anything to you. I never liked my music/movies too loud anyway. System automatically sets subwoofer level at 4 (high) for DVD and at 2 for music CDs - which can be easily changed. We watched Incredibles at level 4, but volume at a decent level. Sounds from ending scenes were way too much realistic for us (and for our children).
4) Remote is very functional and feels good. Some features need reading the manual.
5) FM reception is very good.

Things that I don't like:
1) Doesn't play MP3 songs written to a DVD disc. My older (cheap) system used to do that. Big disappointment for me.
2) Manual says that I could randomize between different audio CDs. I couldn't get it do that among MP3 disks. It might work on regular audio CDs, but I haven't tried that yet.
3) Only one set of input jacks. I have HD receiver and a cable receiver. I have connected HD receiver right now and cable goes directly to TV. I am somewhat disappointed with that. Fortunately VCR is built-in. When you want external signal, sytem should be put in VCR mode with AV selected (described in the manual).
4) Connecting wires to sub-woofer and speakers is difficult. Holes are very small and inserting a multi-strand wire in that hole was a big challenge for me. Wires that come with the system may work fine, but we have pre-wired surround sound in the room which has multi-strand wires.

Other:
1) Manual clearly says not to push the disk trays in (use the close button)
2) Disk trays look and feel like delicate
3) Cable that comes with the system can be used as component cables
4) Manual could have been better
5) Best Buy carries them - if you want to look at it


**Updated on 7/3/2005 **
1) It does randomize between different CDs. However, setting that up was a challenge for me.
2) It does not play MPEG movies. BIG turn off for me.
3) I have an extremely scratched DVD. All the other DVD players skip/freeze on that disc. But, this DVD player played it fine.
4) Overall, still happy with the system.

**Updated on 9/13/2005 **
I recently encountered the same problem Donald (another reviewer) had experienced. DVD dialogue volume becomes very low or diminishes. However, MP3 music and CDs play fine. So, I called Panasonic. The lady _quickly_ told me to refer to page 41 of the manual and set the 'Center Focus.' I tried that with skepticism, but it worked. Now, the system is back to normal. My overall satisfaction is still high because I found some cool features as I am also finding problems like this. One such cool feature is the ability to search for a song in an MP3 CD of hundreds of songs.

** Update: 9/29/2008
Display at the front died (like it did to many other users), but I am continuing to use it. Yes, it is hard to use it without the display on the unit, but on-screen-display (OSD) on the TV helps to some extent. Replacing the unit is such a time consuming process that I am willing to put up with the inconvenience of no display.

** Update: 6/24/2010
The DVD player quit working. It takes too long to read the disk and then displays the error message "Check the Disk". I have tried DVDs, MP3 CDs, music CDs, etc. and the problem persists. Customer help didn't even try to help - he just pointed me to the local service center. My next DVD player will not be a Panasonic.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for College Students & Retirees, November 25, 2005

By 

Donald Gillies "secretbearer" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic SC-HT830V 5-Disc DVD/VCR Combo Home Theater System (Electronics)

I have last years' model (SC-HT820V, slightly less power, otherwise the same.) There are only about 4 or 5 companies on the planet that could attempt a system like this - RCA, Sony, Toshiba, JVC, or Panasonic. VHS player / recorder in this system is actually of mid to high-end quality. Here are some minor annoyances - - -

- doesn't have digital sound inputs
- only has 1 line-in, 1 line-out, annoying to some
- remote lacks a PREV CHAN button, annoying, esp. on my TV
- DVD volume is less than VHS
- still looking for 1-frame advance on VHS

Here are some major good surprises

- Wealth of front panel controls & Illuminated displays
- Per-speaker sound balancing & microsecond delay compensation
- JET rewind, 40 secs to rewind a 120 minute tape
- S-VHS playback; special 5x EP mode (10 hours from a T-120 tape)
- AM/FM Radio surprisingly good; fully controlled from remote
- Headphone jack (need this badly with my own system)
- DVD player is very fast.
- DVD and VHS eject from the remote
- sound is AWESOME CLEAR at FULL VOLUME.

Think of this as a compact Home Stereo that will beat anything under $500 and that happens to come with a free VCR ! The system has a wealth of useful features, and the manual is condensed at only 60 pages and is not for the faint of heart. Its so complex and so cheap that I'm terrified it will croak any day now, but my mom has enjoyed hers for over a year.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Happy so far, October 24, 2005

By 

M. Rao "raolin" (St Louis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic SC-HT830V 5-Disc DVD/VCR Combo Home Theater System (Electronics)

I bought this system from BestBuy for 330$ and very happy so far. I noticed some ppl say they are not able to play VCDs but i am able to play them.
+ I configured the universal remote for my tv and I dont need to use my TV remote any more.
+ supports MP3 with greate sound quality
+VHS works perfect to
-but i can not find some controls I use to have with my old VCR like fintuning or setting the picture quality (I may have to open the mannual or play with the remote more)
+/- installing was little complicated but I was able to do it without any technical help.
- when I play any DVD screen tries to balance the brighness aoutmatically (I am not sure it is by my TV or DVD but it is
annoying) so screen keeps changing its brightness.
-not intresting and funky LCD display or easy to use menu control unless you get use to it.
Over all I am happy so far