Customer Reviews

Zenith XBV342 Progressive-Scan DVD-VCR Combo

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

On day in August my eight year old Panasonic Hi Fi VCR died. I was going to get a new HiFi VCR but they were about $80. I had an original Toshiba DVD which worked fine, but I wanted to shrink down the space for components.

This unit is all in one. I hooked it up in ten minutes to the TV, Digital Cable Box and Receiver. What is nice is that you can watch TV, DVD or VCR throught the RF output (LESS HASSEL). When you watch a feature film you can route it throught the receiver and Component Video in on the TV for clearer picture and great sound.

The unit is very quiet (even rewinding tapes). It doesnt whistle playing DVDs and I tried an MP3 CDR of 10 hours of Jimmy Buffett Music (through the TV Speakers or Receiver). It is great with onscreen display.

If you are worried about the price don't be. The next step up offers a few more features but not worth the extra $20 unless you need it.

I purchased this item as I wanted to save some space in my entertainment center. The DVD VCR combo seemed a great option and for the price I thought it was a bargain. You get two high end machines in one box, less then half the price you would pay for two seperate machines and half the space consumption.

The machine is very quiet, no squeeking when rewinding tapes, no buzzing when playing DVD's so you get the imression its worth alot more then what you paid for it. Also I love how you can plug it into the tv, amp etc... from the front of the machine, it's convienent if you move the machine around alot. Also it's good to hook up a video games machine to it.

All in all its a great machine, cheap and worth it.

Since the price of this combination unit is only slightly higher than a free standing DVD player I purchased it to replace an aging Toshiba VCR as well as a first DVD player. It is simple to connect and just as simple to operate. After several hours use in both DVD and VCR mode I can say that I am very happy with this purchase. I would recommend this unit to anyone.

Bought this as a replacement for a 20 year Toshiba VCR that finally bit the dust. Worked fine for 3 weeks, then the audio output circuitry for the DVD player went south. The sound would die after playing for an hour and the only way to get it back was to shut the player off for 15 to 20 minutes. I suspect an overheating problem in the circuitry despite more than adequate clearance and airflow. VCR continues to work fine. The store (Circuit City) gets this one back today.

I would agree with the other reviewers that this is a quiet unit. VHS autotracking left a bit to be desired playing back tapes recorded in other VCRs but this is a common problem with most VCRs out there. What I do like about this unit is that it played DVD+R/RW and DVD-R media. I did not have any DVD-RW media to try. My main complaint with this unit is that it does not play VCDs and had trouble reading at least one brand (generic) of CDR media that I have. It did not claim to read VCDs though but my old cheap Apex played VCDs fine. Otherwise, compared to the other offerings of DVD/VCR products, I picked this because it seemed to be the best value of the bunch. I recommended the Toshiba SD-V391 to a friend prior to buying this one for myself. The Toshiba is a cheaper looking and smaller unit but the technical specs are better. I still think the Zenith is a better value but would order the XBV343 instead for a few bucks more. The 343 was out of stock when I ordered the 342. At the time of this writing, both are showing OOS. The 343 appears to be a cosmetic refresh and one previous reviewer (maybe from another site) had both and claims that the specs are equivalent. Another thing to note about the 342 is that it does not come with component cables.

While I was happy with this unit initially, I started having problems with the DVD Player and the nightmare began. I bought this unit last year and started having problems with DVD's skipping intermitently back in Nov. I have been trying to resolve this matter over the past 3 months through Zenith's Customer Service to no avail. It began with trying to find a warranty certified service provider in my area. The number they gave me was an obscure repair shop I had never heard of. No one ever answered the phone and there was no answering machine. I then tried to have it sent in for service, but that never materialized. Then I was told that they would be sending me a CD Rom upgrade for some software problem. That did no good. I was finally told that they would "resolve the matter" but have heard nothing back from them and have gotten no response from several messages I have left for the person I was dealing with on a one ot one basis. This is the worst customer service I have ever received. I'm also going to complain to the Better Business Bureau and our State Attorney General's office. I would much rather have had someone tell me that I was out of luck and should just throw the darn thing away instead of stringing me along all this time. I will never buy anything from Zenith again.

I bought this unit for a child's room. Having both DVD's and VHS's this is the perfect solution. It is very easy to use and set-up. I don't use the remote much because we just pop in a DVD or tape and enjoy, which makes it easy for the kids to do themselves. I did not give this a 5-star because you are suppose to be able to record DVD's over to the VCR. I thought this would be really handy because I have a VCR in my vehicle and it would have been nice to record the DVD's over to VHS for that reason. Everything is copyright protected so that is not possible. So the "copy" button is pretty much worthless. This isn't Zenith's fault, but it shouldn't be considered a selling feature either. I'm not using this unit for anything special, but if you're looking for a combo player that's easy to use, this is it.

It's possible that I just got a lemon, but my XBV342 crapped out after less than a year of use. The warranty covers one year on parts and 90 days on labor, but I have no proof of when I bought it (my fault, but it still sucks.)

I took the player to a local electronics repair shop who told me the laser needed replacing, and that a new one would cost just as much as buying a new player. What a waste.

Until it quit working, this was an excellent player. It would have been nice to be able to play VCDs or DVD-R discs, but it could do neither. I thought I would use the VCR quite a bit, but truthfully, I used it maybe 4 or 5 times out of 6 or 7 months. Next time I get a DVD player, I'm going to get a non-combo player that plays DVD-R and/or VCDs - this time I'll keep my receipt, ESPECIALLY if I buy a Zenith.

This was my first DVD purchase and I thought it was a good buy initially, considering it combines a DVD and VCR in one product. However, I am disappointed to report that at exactly 1 year the display began flickering and jumping around like crazy. The remote no longer works and the display is unreadable. The record timer for the VCR doesn't work anymore either. When I contacted Zenith with my problems, they told me it would cost $45 plus shipping just for them to diagnose the problem. Then, they would let me know how much the parts/labor would cost to repair it. I told them that was not acceptable but they were totally inflexible. There is no reason why an electronics item like this should fail after only 1 year. I'm not sure why they call it "customer service". This customer will not buy anything with the Zenith name on it again.

My player lasted only 6 months and was used very little. The DVD player would freeze up after 10 minutes of use. Zenith said they would repair it for 45 dollars. Looks like it was designed to last long enough to get past the 90 day warranty. I'm done with Zenith products.