Customer Reviews

Samsung DVD-V3500 Progressive-Scan DVD/VCR Combo

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

After first reading the reviews for this player, I had serious doubts about purchaning it. So, I check out several other DVD/VCR Combo units that were reviewed on this site. I found that all of the DVD/VCR Combos, plus most everything else on this site is trashed in the reviews. So, I came to the conclusion that either all DVD/VCR combos are trash or that most of the people that post to this site are incompetent.

I purchased this unit from Sam's Club, at a great deal. Set up took very little time at all. (Actually, it took me longer to clean up the dust from behind my entertainment center than to hook up this unit.) I have found no problems with the remote control. (Amazing how reading the directions can help with understanding how things work.) Picture is great, both DVD and VCR. I hooked it up to my Bose radio and the sound is almost theater quality.

I would highly recommend this unit to anyone that is looking for an inexpensive combo unit.

Pretty happy so far. Easy set up. Attractive. Quiet. Very good picture and sound quality from both VCR and DVD especially through my home theater system. Records DVD to VCR. Record on VCR from TV channel while playing a DVD. Easy to use remote but a little small for my fat little fingers. EZ view to switch from widescreen to full pan scan to full screen feature.
CON- The DVD has paused on its own close to the end of a couple of DVD's but was able to search backward and play resumes to end of DVD.
All this and progessive scan too for the price of a quality DVD progressive scan player alone! Recommend to those who are looking for a quality combo unit.

I had purchased the Samsung V2000 last year and was very happy with it so I decided to buy a second unit but saw that the progressive V3500 was about the same price and decided to go with this model instead. The V3500 is very similar to the V2000 in many ways. It is a bit thinner and lighter than the older V2000 which is a plus. Picture and sound quality are good as well. The V3500 is a little quieter than the V2000 when playing dvds. The vcr part seems about the same. The remote is basic but functional for the most part.

On the down side, I also play alot of VCD's (video cds) which the V2000 handle perfectly and very well. But unfortunately the V3500 CAN NOT play any vcd's. I have tried to play many I own. I suppose this is a feature Samsung decided to leave out since most progressive scan owners would not be playing low quality vcd's on a high definition screen. In any case, this was a bit disappointing. Also, if you like playing mp3s, the V3500 interface for playing mp3's (and wma's) is not that great. Folders and filenames are all truncated (shortened) to 6 or 7 letters (no dos ~1 at least!). But the short folder names and filenames can be pretty hard to figure out. Also, no file ID tag support. The mp3 decoder sounds good enough for casual listening.

All in all, not a bad unit for the price if you insist on getting a progressive scan combo. Otherwise, if the vcr is not something you need, probably getting a dedicated dvd player with progressive scan is the way too go.

Purchased this unit about a month ago. Very pleased with the picture quality and features. Tuner is better than my 27" TV. Both VCR and DVD function as described. Reviews of other brands/models indicated noisy playback. I haven't experienced this at all with this unit. Ability to scan through JPEGs is nice. Cost was very good for the features.

The biggest drawback I've seen is the remote. It programmed easily enough to run my JVC television, but is anything but intuitive to operate (and I have a computer science degree.) By working at it long enough I eventually get where I intend, but it should be easier. (Heaven help the 51% of the population who are "remote control challenged".)

A related problem is the narrow angle at which remote must shoot the beam at the DVD/VCR unit. I can be at nearly a 90 deg angle and the TV will respond, but the DVD/VCR unit requires much closer to a direct shot. (The real issue is...I can't control the DVD/VCR unit from my favorite chair!)

Bottom line: It's a good unit for the money, and hopefully someday I'll figure out the remote (or my kids will).

I just replaced an ageing VCR with this unit, very happy with the DVD features (ie. Ezview zoom) and the VCR performance is quite good. If you want one unit that has the flexibility of DVD, VCR, MP3, etc., you can't go to wrong for the price. Features like being able to use the VCR to record TV or Line input while watching a DVD is very handy.

In response to some of the negative reviews:

"Beware the Red Screen"
I also experience the red tint when using the component connection to my Toshiba TV. This was corrected by going in to the DVD menu and changing the alternate connection to "Component, Interlaced". As soon as the menu option was change the red tint went away.

"VHS not working from S-video connection"
It's not made to, the unit only has quasi-SVHS play back not full SVHS playback. VHS output is only available on the RF and the composite video connections.

The DVD player has some very good functions and I enjoyed the digital photo functions a lot. I currently have this unit hooked up to a non-HD 27" set. In that respect, it works like a dream. DVD player works great. VCR is better than my old GE 4-head VCR. However, I tried hooking it up to my 53" HD TV and audio receiver and this is where I ran into problems. The progressive scan component video gives off a very clear picture, but when the 5.1 digital audio is hooked up the results were very poor. You see...the unit has very poor shielding, and you get interference whenever the RCA or digital coaxial cables are hooked up (this manifests as slight white horizontal lines visible on the screen). This was cleared up when I by-passed those cables in favor of the optical cable for digital audio. HOWEVER, if you want to use the VCR on the unit you MUST have the RCA cables connected. There's no other way around it. In order to take advantage of the progressive scan qualities of this unit, you have to forgo the VCR entirely (which defeats the purpose of buying a DVD/VCR combo unit). If you have a smaller TV then this white-line interference isn't so noticeable (you only see it when the component video is being used), but blown up to 53" it's very annoying. In a nutshell, this unit is great for smaller non-HD TVs, but the poor shielding prevents me from recommending it for any screens bigger than 32". If you have a big TV/receiver set-up and want to use this unit, try hooking the video up via RCA cable instead of the component video and you won't get that interference so much (but this defeats the purpose of buying a progressive scan DVD player).

I recently purchased this combo player. I was initially very impressed with it. When I tried to play a DVD, the drawer failed to open so I exchanged the first unit. On the second unit, the DVD drawer did open and the player operated normally. The picture appeared normal on the line component feed. When I switched my television to the component DVD signal (the "high quality" signal), the screen was tinted red. I swapped out the new cable thinking that the cable must be defective. It was not. I returned the second unit and had the retailer's video department verify that the player produced the reddish signal on the display model of my television. It did. I was given a replacement player. When I got unit number three home, I connected it to find the same frustrating result as the second unit. I returned the third unit and had the video department test a fourth unit on another make of television. It worked perfectly. They then tested my model; red screen. They then tested another sized television from the manufacturer of my television; red screen.
Here's the unbelievable part. My television is a Samsung LTM1775W LCD flat panel. The smaller unit was the 15-inch model. Samsung has marketed this player and it doesn't work with their own televisions.
I will spare everyone my opinion of a manufacturer that creates this kind of consumer nightmare. I bought this unit to avoid cross-manufacturer issues and ended up with an intra-manufacturer incompatibility. In my email to Samsung I simply referred to it as "ridiculous". I now have a Toshiba player.

I don't have room for separate VCR and DVD units, so a combo unit seemed like a fine solution, and Consumer Reports rated this unit pretty highly, at the same level as two other units. I chose this one because of the connection options--my (aging) television only has a coaxial (RF) connection, but as this unit is likely to outlive the TV, I liked the fact that I'd be able to step up to optical connections in the future.

I have to say that some of the reviews here gave me pause, but I've had none of the reported problems. After reading through the manual, it took me under five minutes to hook this up--and that's including disconnecting my old VCR! And I had no trouble with any of the setup options, even though I experimented with a lot of settings I'll probably never need.

I admit that I worried about the reported "red cast," and when I first tried out the unit, it did seem to me that the picture seemed too red. Before panicking, however, I thought I'd see what the picture looked like without the unit being turned on. Guess what? Someone had apparently fiddled with the television color settings. I corrected the color, turned on the VCR, and no problems: a lesson on jumping to conclusions.

I've played several tapes and DVDs, and have noticed no trouble with either. Since I've only had the unit a week that may not be determinative, but if any problems develop I'll let you know.

The only criticism I have is with the remote. It works perfectly with my ancient Sharp brand TV, and I haven't had any trouble using the various buttons, but I do find myself picking it up--and trying to use it!--upside down (pointing toward me) an awful lot. I think that in the next iteration, Samsung should consider distinguishing the two ends by the shape of the remote, and some lighted keys would be nice, too...But all in all, I'm very satisfied.

After much debate and research on many different models of VCR/DVD combo units I decided on this one because it had all the features I was looking for, auto-tracking, 7-event programmable timer, view DVD while taping on VCR, ability to connect to an OLD tv through only one RF cable and still have good picture on both DVD and VCR (with modulator). After using this unit extensively for 1 month I have had no issues at all in recording, viewing or anything else one may do with their unit. It records on time, plays back as if I were watching my digital cable, plays DVD's beautifully, and performs better than I could have expected.

One of the reviews mentioned that the remote was counter-intuitive, WRONG! This remote is so intuitive you don't really need the manual, and the menu screen is so easy to navigate. Another review said the remote doesn't work at less than a dead on angle. That is also, WRONG, I have used it from a very sharp angle of about 30 degrees and it responds every time.

For these and other reasons this DVD/VCR unit is AWESOME!!! If you are comparing to others stop and buy this one! You won't be sorry!

Terrible. This unit has been trouble since it came out of the box...ten months after we purchased it, it stopped working altogether.