Samsung DVD-V9700 Tunerless 1080i Upconverting DVD VHS Combo Player

by Samsung

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 16.9 x 3.3 inches ; 8.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 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: B000N7VQDK
• Item model number: DVD-V9700
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,939 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

DVD/VHS Combo Player with HDMI Up-Conversion

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Solution I Think, May 6, 2007

By 

Randall Bresee "war buff" (Copperopolis, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung DVD-V9700 Tunerless 1080i Upconverting DVD VHS Combo Player (Electronics)

Wanted an HDMI upper for DVD's but also needed to be able to show legacy VHS. Price was same as Sony up converting player, (which I have for another TV) but has the the VCR. Sounded good. I am connecting to Samsung TV, so why not? First player was DOA. Wouldn't recognize a DVD. Amazon immediately shipped a replacement (They have really done right by me in customer service). Machine delivers a very nice image through HDMI output and the VCR transport seems to be fine. All's well that ends well.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Invincible Incompetence, September 5, 2007

By 

ges4today "GES" (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung DVD-V9700 Tunerless 1080i Upconverting DVD VHS Combo Player (Electronics)

9/5/07

Purchased the Samsung upconverting DVD/VCR in late Nov 2006. To date, Samsung has had the unit almost longer than I have. Worst product I have ever owned. Worst customer service organization at Samsung I've ever had to deal with! Seems more like "invincible incompetence!"

Unit did not work right out of the box. So much for Samsung's QC and testing of units prior to shipping them! The VCR ate the first two tapes we tried to play. I called Samsung and they had me send it back to them for repair, to an outfit called CVE. BEWARE!!!

My unit stayed weeks in their facility for "attempted" repair. CVE FINALLY shipped it back. Only one problem, STILL DID NOT WORK!!! Again, for the second time, no one at Samsung/CVE seemed to have bothered to test the unit to see if it worked after "repairing". Again, so much for Samsung QC & customer care!

Samsung now instructs me to send unit back to CVE, the SECOND time, since CVE failed to fix it the first time. I had to pay almost $13 to ship it back to them. This second time, Samsung/CVE has now had my unit for almost two months and they still haven't even started repairs.

Best of all, Samsung/CVE never bothered to tell anyone that my unit was just sitting there at CVE collecting dust. Apparantly, it would have sat there indefinitly had I not been again forced to follow up after this second repair was to have already been completed and the unit returned to me, but wasn't. Are these people Brain Dead?!

I've been on hold with Samsung for up to 45+ minutes far to many times. Samsung Regular Customer Relations (RCR) @ 1-800-Samsung is seemingly worthless---could not make any decision without Samsung Executive Customer Relations (ECR). Even when a supervisor at RCR finally said he had resolved, I was eventually (after almost two hours on the phone and yet another follow-up) told by ECR that he did it wrong and nothing was still happening! But, again, ONLY after I had to follow up for the second and third times to see why my unit wasn't returned yet as Samsung had promised!

Just today, this last of the many prior follow-ups, I had to make 4 phone calls to Samsung RCR, was transferred twice to ECR, was told once to call back since RCR couldn't reach CVE, was disconnected once and tried, myself, to call CVE three time but could reach no one at CVE either. Total time for only this last attempt approx. one hour and forty five minutes!!!

RCS continuously needs to transfer calls to ECR for help, but RCS doesn't have a direct phone number for ECS, only an extension. Problem is ECS didn't return my phone messages and you should be prepared to wait 20 to 50 mins for them to answer regardless of time of day or night called. I finally asked for the person the ECR rep worked for to try to get some results, she (the ECR rep) told me that she did not know who she worked for or how to get in touch with them! She even told me to look in Samsung's Annual Report for a contact! Is this the type of company, Samsung or CVE, that you want to do business with?

So far I have filed two VOC (voice of customer) complaints one with Samsung RCR and one with Samsung ECR, requesting a call back from an accountable decision maker at Samsung who is empowered to make decisions and/or in charge of customer relations. To date, NO ONE at Samsung seems to care as to how they treat customers. or how to improve that treatment or their products---NO CALL BACKS YET!

If you EVER buy a Samsung product, just remember: BUYER BEWARE!!! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!

Greg S

77 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Samsung DVD-V9700 DVD/VHS Combo Player w- UPCONVERSION/Tips!, April 17, 2007

By 

scottls1 "scottls1" (Kalispell, MT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung DVD-V9700 Tunerless 1080i Upconverting DVD VHS Combo Player (Electronics)

Samsung DVD-V9700, DVD/VCR combo with upconversion, is GREAT...!

Pros

Excellent Upconversion & Progressive scan DVD pictures! VCR is great too!

TIP!- For Even Sharper DVD picture, and No upconversion distorsion filling scvreen!-

When playing a DVD keep pressing the HDMI button on front of player (not on remote), until you get highest 1080i... resolution (will have to be Manually set back down to play 480/780 with auto-upconversion).

BTW- I tried the Magnavox DVD/VHS combo, and I returned it due to DVD/VHS no/poor-play problems (no firmware fix per support!).

Magnavox MBP110V/F7 Blu-Ray/VHS Player Combo, Black

Cons

Sometimes VCR auto-tracking, takes a little manual tweaking. No biggee!

The Bottom Line

DVD- This is a great DVD/VCR combo!

VCR- I still prefer the easy playability of VCR (restart...), and easier recording...! I'd buy this, just for the hi quality HiFi VCR!

I don't know about recording, as I had to hook it up separate from my cable box?

Full Review

I am "NOW" VERY HAPPY with it (learning curve!)...!-

I recently upgraded to a new VIZIO 47" 1080"i" HD LCD TV (ALL TV signals will be digital, by 2009!).

The TV's digital pictures are GREAT (sooo much more

!ENJOYABLE! than my old very good 32"!)!- I LOVE MY NEW TV on HD!

(Update on Vizio 1080"i" TV- Unhappy with PUNY sound/grainy analog pic, & returned for a 46" 1080"P" Sony KDL-46XBR2, with 24w sound (WOW!)! Pic is sooo sharp (normal mode for analog)!))- (see my full review on Vizio 47").

The DVD/VCR viewing from my old/standard 480i DVD/VCR (480 lines per inch), going to my new HD TV's HD 1080i- was FUZZY/not sharp...???-

I called VIZIO support?- They explained that the problem was in going from an old technology 480i DVD to the new 1080i HD TV, which means that every other line is BLANK!

Support recommended that I get a DVD player with Upconversion & Progressive Scan&, and a GOOD HiFi VCR player (no VCR has upconversion!). They recommended the Samsung DVD-V9700's features!

Support then explained Upconversion (480i converted to 1080i)-

The DVD player uses some high-tech method...?, and fills in the next 480i blank line with the closest image- now it's not bi-blank... & sharp 1080i!

Support also recommended that I get GOOD "HDMI" DVD cables (they are designed for BEST HD TV!)! Note- The inexpensive HDMI cables I tried, gave a weaker picture than the RCA brand (HEAVY metal shielding!)!

HDMI Cable

The included "thin" Component cables also had poorer picture (heavier cables have more shielding!).

Support also explained Progressive Scan (only works with digital)- Progressive scan cleans up the jaggies..., where analog only paints the original picture.

As for the 480i (only) HiFi VCR- It plays with a very good picture (1080i DVD/TV is somewhat better).

MY new TV plays 480i output, in AV mode, so picture is sharp with VCR!

Sound is excellent!

Support also recommended that I get GOOD RCA (style/model) cables, for the VCR.

You MUST use RCA style cables- as HDMI..., is for DVD only. I got the RCA brand/style cables with a much thicker Yellow wire (more shielding!), than what comes with it.

Recommended:

Yes