Rating: 
Summary: A fine unit.
Review: I have found no problems with this unit. It has all of the outputs that my existing home theater setup required, and it is really nice to have two components in one space. As for the remote, big deal, all Panasonc remotes pretty much stink, get a universal for all of your components. I think the picture quality is awesome for both units, and I think the TV tuner is providing a much clearer picture than the VCR I replaced. Definitely recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: HO2 Error strikes again
Review: I have had this DVD player for almost 18 months. After 1 month I got an H02 error, Called Panasonic for help and got the worst customer service I have ever experienced, all they would provide is the address to authorized service centers. Sent it in and got it repaired under warranty (about 3 weeks to get it back). Now after a year the H02 error strikes again, no longer under warranty I am going to junk it. Look at other reviews (epinions, etc..) This H02 error is all over, I will never buy another Panasonic product. If not for the errors the product worked fine and would appear to be a good value.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY CANT I COPY A DVD TO VHS!!!!????
Review: I just bought this unit. It seems to DO everthing--it will play (SOME )jpeg dvds, some WINDOWS media that I could only play previously on my computer. The VHS remote has tracking ON the remote--ALL GOOD features. WARNING: WHY CANT I DUB from DVD to VHS directly???? The UNIT says AUTOIMATICALLY "WARNING CANNOT COPY from DVD TO VHS COPYRIGHT" and you are STUCK. you cant make a VHS copy from a DVD. NOW--BEFORE you all scream "you used a COPYWRITTEN DVD..NO I DID NOT!! I usded an UNCOPYWRITTEN DVD and tried to make a VHS copy, and the machine AUTOMATICALLY EWONT ALLOW IT!!!" does anyone know what ican do to correct this problem without having to DUB to ANOTHER off line VHS unit? thanks--please reply off line if possible as well. JEWELBLUES@aol.com Otherwise--i can srtill get a REFUND on the item. I cannot comment o nthe rest of the unit. I just think this AUTOMATIC BLOCK is SO STUPID ESPECIALLY when you try to COPY a NON COPYWRITTEN DVD to VHS!!!
Rating:
Summary: Nice Unit
Review: I like the unit. It's fundamentally a mid-priced VCR combined with a mid-priced DVD player. You get the same basic functionality in the combined unit that you would get with similar mid-priced stand-alone components (e.g., progressive scan, 1 optical digital audio output, etc.)I've owned 3 previous Panasonic VCRs over the years. They've all been different models as I've upgraded over the years. I've never had any problems with the transport/recording mechanism in Panasonic VCRs. I never needed any of them to be repaired. To me, this speaks highly of their manufacture. There's no guarantee, of course, that every Panasonic VCR will treat you as well as they've treated me, but the leading consumer magazine has already rated their quality as superior. The DVD player looks good to me. No problems. The remote is somewhat cluttered. I guess they could have done a better job with arranging the buttons so that it's completely intuitive, but I've given them a pass on this, because when I perused the buttons to see what I would have done, I couldn't come up with any useful recommendations. I think the clutter is the natural result of combining the buttons of two video components (a VCR and a DVD player) on one remote. I didn't sweat it, and I learned how to use it effectively over time, as I'm sure you will. The User's Manual drags my rating from a 5- to a 4-star, because it's not very good. I'd say it's "fair". It's not designed very well, and the information is sometimes hard to grok. It's useable, but only just. If you've ever owned a Panasonic anything over the past decade, then know that the User's Guide for this product looks just like the user's guide you have...they haven't changed at all over the years. They probably have the same people writing, editing, illustrating, designing them. Don't get me wrong, it's not crud, but it's not great, either. Despite this criticism of the User's Guide, I'd recommend the unit. Most people have some facility with video components by now, and that knowledge will help you set up the unit and operate it. It isn't rocket science, since this unit doesn't break much new ground in hook-ups or operation. You can do it, and then just chuck the User's Guide in a drawer where it belongs. The only thing that might be new to some people is how to hook-up the unit to use Progressive Scan. Your TV will have to be compatible with progressive scanning, and the manual is a little dicey in this area particularly, but it's do-able and shouldn't really hinder you if you want the convenience of a well-manufactured combo unit.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Unit
Review: I like the unit. It's fundamentally a mid-priced VCR combined with a mid-priced DVD player. You get the same basic functionality in the combined unit that you would get with similar mid-priced stand-alone components (e.g., progressive scan, 1 optical digital audio output, etc.) I've owned 3 previous Panasonic VCRs over the years. They've all been different models as I've upgraded over the years. I've never had any problems with the transport/recording mechanism in Panasonic VCRs. I never needed any of them to be repaired. To me, this speaks highly of their manufacture. There's no guarantee, of course, that every Panasonic VCR will treat you as well as they've treated me, but the leading consumer magazine has already rated their quality as superior. The DVD player looks good to me. No problems. The remote is somewhat cluttered. I guess they could have done a better job with arranging the buttons so that it's completely intuitive, but I've given them a pass on this, because when I perused the buttons to see what I would have done, I couldn't come up with any useful recommendations. I think the clutter is the natural result of combining the buttons of two video components (a VCR and a DVD player) on one remote. I didn't sweat it, and I learned how to use it effectively over time, as I'm sure you will. The User's Manual drags my rating from a 5- to a 4-star, because it's not very good. I'd say it's "fair". It's not designed very well, and the information is sometimes hard to grok. It's useable, but only just. If you've ever owned a Panasonic anything over the past decade, then know that the User's Guide for this product looks just like the user's guide you have...they haven't changed at all over the years. They probably have the same people writing, editing, illustrating, designing them. Don't get me wrong, it's not crud, but it's not great, either. Despite this criticism of the User's Guide, I'd recommend the unit. Most people have some facility with video components by now, and that knowledge will help you set up the unit and operate it. It isn't rocket science, since this unit doesn't break much new ground in hook-ups or operation. You can do it, and then just chuck the User's Guide in a drawer where it belongs. The only thing that might be new to some people is how to hook-up the unit to use Progressive Scan. Your TV will have to be compatible with progressive scanning, and the manual is a little dicey in this area particularly, but it's do-able and shouldn't really hinder you if you want the convenience of a well-manufactured combo unit.
Rating:
Summary: Best in Category
Review: I wasn't planning to write a review for the Panasonic PV-VD4743K but after reading the review by "An electronics fan", I thought that it was appropriate to say something in defense of this unit. First of all, when you write a review, it would be nice if the review were actually about the unit in question and not some other unit you bought on another occasion. "An electronics fan" buys another unit then spends his entire post in some crazed rant against Panasonic. So what did Panasonic do, according to "An electronics fan"? Panasonic listened to his complaint several times, tried to help troubleshoot his problem, sent him to a certified tech repair center, and then when no one could figure out why his tapes were the only ones having problems, Panasonic offered to replace his unit with a re-conditioned unit (basically a new unit), and he still whines and complains about his situation. I guess some people are never happy. But either way, his review of another unit is totally inappropriate here. Anyway, as far as THIS model is concerned, it's an excellent unit and performs perfectly for its' class. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: never again a Panasonic product for me
Review: On October 12, 2002, we bought a Panasonic PV-V4612S VCR from Circuit City to replace an old VCR. We took the VCR home, hooked it up, and tested it to make sure it worked. We have two VCRs and don't use either one very often, so it wasn't until December that we realized that the new Panasonic VCR would not play or record on older video tapes but instead would spit these tapes out immediately. Our other VCR (and the VCR that the Panasonic was purchased to replace) never had this problem.
I called Panasonic's 800 number and discussed the problem with a Panasonic representative because I thought maybe the VCR was supposed to reject older tapes for some reason unknown to me. The Panasonic representative assured me that the VCR was not supposed to reject older tapes and told me to take it to an authorized Panasonic service center, which in this case was Consumer Electronic Service. I dropped off the VCR at Consumer Electronic Service. However, Consumer Electronic Service (CES) told me there was nothing wrong with the VCR. I brought in one of our older tapes and showed them that the VCR rejected the tape. The CES representative told me that it worked fine with his sample tapes (which appeared to be brand new) and that there wasn't a problem if there was only one tape that the VCR wouldn't work with. I told him it was many tapes, that our other VCRs had no problem with these tapes, and offered to bring in more tapes to show him the problem. He refused, insisting that if he could get the VCR to work with his sample tapes that there was no problem with the VCR. I appealed to Panasonic, but this time a different Panasonic representative told me that Panasonic would have to accept the service center's diagnosis. They said that I could not get a refund or exchange the VCR for a new one. The only option Panasonic now offered was for me to return the VCR to Panasonic in exchange for a "reconditionedÂE(i.e., used) machine. Of course, by the time I got the used VCR back, the product would be out of warranty.
I am amazed that Panasonic and their certified service provider both refuse to admit that the inability of a VCR to play some videotapes is a defect. I am also very disappointed that the only option offered by Panasonic was to exchange this VCR for another, used VCR which might have had the same problem, at which point the product would have been out of warranty. I am sure that most consumers expect to be able to play their entire video tape collection on a VCR that they purchase. Because this VCR could not play the majority of our videotapes, I believe that this problem certainly does constitute a breach of warranty and consumers who purchase such a machine should have the option of returning the VCR to the manufacturer for a refund. It certainly seems that here, Panasonic used its certified service provider to create the illusion of independent evaluation while actually the certified service provider must be collaborating with Panasonic to declare defective merchandise "non-defective,ÂEthereby sticking the consumer with merchandise that does not work for its intended purpose. I will not be doing business with either Panasonic or Consumer Electronic Service of Cary in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect solution for kids!
Review: Since we are forced to keep VHS on the shelf (you know, the purple dinosaur problem), this offered an excellent replacement strategy for our older electronics (which managed to eat several household items mysteriously... did I mention my son is 18 months old?). We mounted all of our home entertainment equipment on a 6' high shelf and the dual nature of the PV-VD4743K allowed us to get Dolby through our entire system: there's one less set of connections with the combo. Needless to say, I hooked up the rear channel speakers (on brackets near the ceiling) and we're enjoying sound that we haven't had in a while (since that darn purple dinosaur showed up). We're getting excellent quality from both sides of the PV-VD4743K, playing the latest generation DVD's with Dolby Surround, and also those 12-year-old-hand-me-down Barney tapes. Those Barney kids must be out of college by now! The only pieces of A/V equipment that I couldn't mount at ceiling height is the TV and the Subwoofer. (Now what could an 18 month old boy possibly do to those?)
Rating:
Summary: Great Unit!
Review: This is unit is great, both in looks and features. It is fairly slim, and stylish...with sturdy construction. The DVD features are easy to figure out and easy to use via remote. I have watched SEVERAL DVDs, including widescreen. Good resolution and abitily to zoom off widescreen. The VCR is a little more complicated than my original VCR...but not impossible to figure out and get used to. The picture resolution is better than I expected. Great product manual, up to the usual Panasonic standards. I tried a Samsung first, but it was defective and flimsy. Back it went! Good unit for the price.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME
Review: THIS UNIT IS BY FAR THE BEST COMBO ON THE MARKET. THE SET UP WAS A DREAM AND THE REMOTE IS VERY NICE. I NOW OWN SEVERAL OF THESE UNITS AND THEY HAVE PERFORMED. I GIVE THIS UNIT A 9 OUT OF 10.
| 
