Customer Reviews

Zenith XBV443 Progressive Scan DVD / VCR Combo

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've had this Zenith XBV443 DVD/VCR combo player for about a month now and have few complaints. Buyers who find that their players won't function properly right out of the box should exchange it for a new one. It's very possible that the unit got tossed around too much during shipping/transport and was damaged then.

The picture quality is very good on both the DVD and VCR. The VCR records at SP and SLP and plays tapes recorded on other VCRs without a hitch. The DVD player accepts DVD-R and +R with no problems -- better than my other players. You can scan (fast forward or rewind) DVDs at 4 different speeds: 2x, 4x, 16x, and 100x.

It is easy to modify the DVD player into an all-region unit with smooth PAL to NTSC conversion. It works better than my Cyberhome. The remote is very easy to navigate.

One function I really like is the DVD player's ability to "zoom out". Many DVD players allow you to "zoom in" on a picture (which this one does too) but few give you the option to "zoom out", thus allowing you to put in a fullframe DVD and watch it letterboxed.

It's also nice that you can watch a DVD at the same time that you are recording something from the TV with the VCR.

My only real complaint so far is that FFwd search on the VCR is a bit slow and you only get one speed.

A minor annoyance is that if you are taping from DVD to VCR, you have to manually shut off the player when taping is done; you can't just set the timer record and leave the player alone.

One thing to note: there are versions of this player that were "made in China" and "made in Indonesia" -- it is noted on the unit's box. I've heard that the Indonesian version is inferior to the Chinese version (less features), but can't verify this as I've only used the Chinese one.

For under 100 bucks, this is an excellent unit to have.

After reading the previous review, I almost didn't buy this but decided to give it a try anyway. I needed a replacement DVD player and didn't want to spend a lot of money. I have had it only a week but so far it works perfectly. Both the DVD and the VCR give good clear pictures. It was easy to hook up and my kids can operate the remote easily. It doesn't have a radio reciever which I didn't realize when I bought it but that was my fault and has nothing to do with the performance of the machine. I'd say for the money (I bought it on sale), this is a great deal.

Bought this unit last year and so far it hasn't given me any problems. The DVD side has played everything I've thrown at it (DVD, DVD-R, CDs, Jpeg files), with the exception of a couple of DVD-Rs that wouldn't play on any of my players. I don't use the VCR a lot, but I haven't had any trouble with the auto tracking or playback of pre-recorded tapes or tapes that were recorded on other players. The VCR picture quality is a little soft (particulary if you record at EP), but not appreciably worse than my Panasonic or Toshiba.

I don't know what the previous reviewer was smoking, but to say that the DVD player was great and then to give the unit only "one star" seems pretty lame. Media specialist or media idiot? This DVD/VCR combo is a great unit to have as long as you have some sort of knowledge on how to properly operate a DVD player or VCR. And that shouldn't be a problem for anybody with an average IQ or better.

We've had 3 of these combos and none of them have worked properly. The first one ate a video tape after a couple months and because it was still under warranty I sent it back. They sent us a new one and the vcr in that one quit working after 2 or 3 movies. The 3rd one they sent us is refurbished(?!??!!) and the DVD player doesn't work. This time when I call them I will get a refund and find a better brand. If you're looking for a vcr/dvd combo that lasts, I'd certainly look elsewhere.

I bought this cause I was looking for a good DVD player that can playback WMA files on DVD. This DVD player has a super solid WMA DVD playback support, with programming of individual tracks and random playback of programmed tracks! In addition its a solid player for DVD+-R media I have thrown at it! To me the VCR is a bonus for such a solid DVD player. I don't have much VHS tapes, but those I popped in looks good enough... not exactly progressive DVD but hey, its VHS, what do you expect?

My wife bought this two years ago to replace using my ps2 as a dvd player. We use it at least once a week and we have been very pleased. We haven't had any problems with the VCR and the DVD player stopped working for about a week, but came back and we haven't had any problems since. Plus, since it's progressive scan it looks great on an HD TV.

We have owned this dvd/vcr combo player for about 9 months now. It is awful! The DVD player in particular is very poor. Often, the video will freeze, but the audio will continue and it will "skip". Also, many DVD's do not played properly. One movie that has the deleated scenes added back in will stop playing whenever it comes to an extra scene. Other times it will continue to play as it is supposed to. Also, home made DVD's with multiple chapters will sometimes play only the first chapter, sometimes not. On my dauaghters Baby Einstein, it will often only play the Spanish version and not allow us to access the DVD menu to play it in English. Other times it will. It is so inconsistant that it is unreliable. The VCR seems to function properly, although it is not used as often.

I bought this item in March of 2005 and never had any problems. Until about November of 2005. Now when I put in a dvd it just keeps skipping around like the discs are scratched and they are perfectly brand new DVD's. I put in one of those dvd cleaner discs that have little brushes underneath them to clean the eye. Well that isn't the problem I guess because it didn't help any.
I called zenith and they said this item has a swap option...they will send me free shipping labels to send it to them and they will swap it with a new one for 45$. I might just use 45$ towards another stand alone dvd player since the vcr on it still works. I really don't want to risk having to get it replaced again.

I work as a media specialist for a company with 50 branches across the country. We are looking to replace all of our VCR's with combo units. I didn't have to keep this model on the bench too long before determining it was junk. I will say the DVD side was very good and it played every type of disk I put in it. The VHS player (at least on the one unit I tested) could not maintain tracking AT ALL. Squiggly lines dominated the picture, especially when viewing large text titles. I tested the VHS tape on several older VCR's and it looked fine on all of them. Received and returned this unit on the same day.

You can play VCDs on this player but you need to reprogram the DVD player first. Just follow these instructions:

1. Power on the DVD player with no disk in the drive
2. Press "PAUSE" on the remote
3. Enter "1472" on the remote

This should bring up a screen with rows of numbers. If not, then repeat the above steps from the beginning.

4. Press the UP arrow three times
5. Change the number 45 to 47
6. Press "ENTER" (the display should flash briefly)
7. Press "RETURN"
8. Power the player off and then back on
Play a VCD!