Zenith XBV442 Progressive-Scan DVD/VCR Combo

by Zenith

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 3.1 x 16.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 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: B00023CFC6
• Item model number: XBV442
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,507 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #83 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > DVD-VCR Combos

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

From quality VHS cassette recording and playback and high-resolution DVD performance to easy spinning of homemade MP3 CDs, Zenith's XBV442 handles all your movie and music needs. This stylish combo unit saves space while simplifying your entertainment hookups, providing convenient front-panel audio/video jacks simplify hookup with camcorders and video game consoles. The XBV442 plays CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, MP3 and WMA CDs, JPEG image CDs, and of course standard DVD-Videos.

Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the XBV442 stands ready to deliver the full potential of your DVDs through its progressive-scan component-video outputs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.

Composite- and S-video outputs (select between S-video or component-video outputs) bring compatibility with nearly any television. Other features include 4x and 6x moveable zoom, variable high-speed scan (2x, 4x, 16x, and 100x), parental locks, bookmarking, 20-track CD programming, and repeat and resume play.

The VCR section offers 4 heads (for clear slow-motion and stop-action features) and stereo sound. The deck's 19-micron video heads maintain clarity during recording or playback in EP (extended play) mode, auto digital tracking adjusts for optimal picture settings for every tape you load, and auto clock set maintains the correct time and even adjusts for daylight savings. You can't program the unit to record at specific times, but it does come with a handy Instant Recording button.

For the simplest hookup with your TV, you can use a single RCA composite-video connection to handle both DVD and VCR outputs. If you want a higher-quality connection from the DVD player, you can use a component- or S-video cable to an additional input on your TV (the VCR image requires a composite-video or RF connection with your TV). You can choose between an optical and a coaxial digital-audio output to feed a surround-sound signal to your Dolby Digital- or DTS-decoding audio/video receiver.

If you don't have a surround receiver or 6-channel speaker setup, you can still make every movie night the ultimate experience: the unit simulates surround sound through two speakers (even the stereo speakers on your TV).

What's in the Box
DVD player/VCR, remote control, 2 AAA batteries, a user's manual, a stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable, a registration card, and warranty info.

Product Description

Progressive Scan DVD/VCR Combination; ONLY 3.1" High; Plays DVD Video/DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, Audio CD,CD-R,CD-RW, MP3, JPEG, Kodak Picture CD, WMA

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not bad.Not bad at all Zenith...., December 2, 2004

By 

Bad Willow (Sunnydale,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zenith XBV442 Progressive-Scan DVD/VCR Combo (Electronics)

During late November 2004,I looked at all the major brands for a combo.I looked at Panasonic,Sony,Toshiba,JVC,Samsung and Magnavox to name a few.The horror stories I read on Amazon.com were not kind.At that point,I decided to take a chance on this model by Zenith.I knew Zenith made great TV's so I gave them a try.Glad I did.As long as it did what the company said it could do I was happy.It has ALL of the latest features and a really good picture.
On the vcr side,after dealing with "high speed rewind/fast forward" for three years,it was refreshing to see things slowed back down to normal.

Altogether I would highly recommend this one.It's well built,setting it up is exactly like hooking up a VCR.
Not bad.Not bad at all Zenith...

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the price, January 14, 2005

By 

Kolbasik (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zenith XBV442 Progressive-Scan DVD/VCR Combo (Electronics)

I bought this DVD/VCR after painful 3 weeks of exhaustive research on Amazon, Circuitcity.com and Epinions.com. It seemed like there is no perfect candidate as far as combos are concerned, but this model was the highest rated among the alternatives.

Don't fool yourself, though. Keep in mind that you are buying a piece of high-tech video equipment for under $100. The first one I bought had defective sound performance, whereas one channel made a cracking noise. I wasn't shocked or awfully upset for reasons above. I took it back to the store and got it exchanged. So far, I am happy with its performance and quality of both DVD and VCR components. Sony's and Hitachi's are twice as expensive, but based on the reviews I read they are not worth even half of their prices.

Pros:

- Reasoanable features, some hot-buttons available on the remote

- Nothing super-fancy that always confuses housewifes and teenagers (I am pretty tech-savvy, but I get frustrated with too many options and buttons)

- Quality of playback and recording

- Price

Cons:

- Fast-forward and rewind are slower on VCR than I would desire.

- The most upsetting drawback: the "universal" remote only works with certain models of TV's (LG, Goldstar, Zenith and two or three others). You would think, for the 21st century technology, it will at least be compatible with Panasonic or Sony. Now I have to have a second remote (my TV remote) to adjust volume and other TV options, something I hate and don't use anywhere else in the house.

Still, I would give it an "A", or 5 stars, for the value.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great once you get a working one!, February 27, 2005

By 

L. Wimberley (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zenith XBV442 Progressive-Scan DVD/VCR Combo (Electronics)

I spent a good few days doing research on DVD/VCR combos on amazon.com since so many people seem to have problems with Sony and Panasonic models. I found the Zenith model seemed to have the least number of bad reviews so I went to Circuit City and bought it (for the same price as Amazon had it, but this way I could forgo shipping costs)

That being said, I got home and hoooked it all up... and had the SAME exact problem as Kolbasik wrote abought a few entries below. The one sound channel made a horrible crackling noise. Obviously this a fault in production. Yes, it played the audio, but theres was high pitched static throughout it. So, it was another trip to Circuit City and I exchanged it.

What I did notice, however, is the model I had with the audio problem was manufactured in August of 2004. The working model I was given as an exchange was manfuactured in Spetember of 2004, so maybe whatever flaw in the audio was fixed? You can't find out when it was made unless you open up the box and look at the back of the unit itself, but it's something to think about.

As for the working DVD/VCR player itself, it works great! The only qualm I have is that it does not automatically format DVDs at times. If you are watching a 16:9 widescreen format, it will sometimes leave it at full screen or at the wrong format of 2.35:1 which will either make everything squished or everything stretched out looking. Not a huge issue since you can easily go into the menu and change the screen format, but I just find it a little odd it doesn't do it automatically from time to time like my old DVD player did.

The video quality is excellent, and the same goes for the audio. The DVD side had extremely fast forwarding and rewinding, and I like that when you forward to the next chapter, it tells you it's 2/16 of 5/25 (handy to know when your skipping through scenes of TV shows on DVD) There are front AV jacks, and seperate ones for the DVD player and the VCR, and theres also one for the VCR DVD combo so you don't have to switch.

In any event, once I got past the exchange process, it's pretty much worth every penny of the price. Just watch out for models manufactured in August of 2004! Keep your reciept until you get home to try it out!