Which is better to buy, dvd player or dvd/vcr combo?

A few questions might help us better understand your needs: Do you already have a VCR? Do you watch a lot of VHS tapes? Are there TV shows you want to tape? Do you have limited space to house the equipment?

I've contemplated the combos for the space issue and always fall back to the same thing.. if ONE part breaks but the other doesn't, 1) repairing it would probably cost more than replacing it, and 2) even if the repair isn't that expensive (but with VCR's costing 30 bucks for the no name ones I'd have a hard time believing that it would be less) I would have both systems down while the machine was getting repaired...

Just something to ponder.

Mammasilva has it nailed. In general, I prefer one device for one function. Easy to swap out, upgrade, or repair without disrupting the rest of the system.

My wife had a VCR/TV combo unit. The VCR died, but the TV still works.

Thank you for your opinions. Is there a namebrand better than other dvd players or are they all the same?

I would stick with the better known name brands like Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, etc. If you've never heard of it, like a Nivo (I just made that up) then it will probably be a piece of junk.

I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there's Magnetbox and Sorny.
--Homer

I've taken a different approach. In my front room, I have my home theater system set up with both a separate VCR and a DVD player. All components are high quality.

In my bedroom, I have a smaller TV for late-night viewing and an inexpensive combo VCR/DVD player I bought at Costco. It works great and if the VCR/DVD player breaks, I'll just buy another cheapie.

I think it all boils down to what and where you're going to use it, and more importantly, *how often*.

Sheila

We recently bought a TV/VCR combo for the kitchen. I'd heard about the problems of what happens if one breaks, then you have take the whole thing in for fixing and not have the use of the other. If it's your primary device, I'd say get two separate components. Since this was an extra and we've got other TVs and VCRs for regular use, the combo made sense for the kitchen. As for which to get, it depends on whether or not you need the DVD player for where you're putting the component. I would be watching tapes while I'm cooking but not DVDs, so we just got it with the VCR combo.

Don't ask me. I'm still tryin' to figure out my 8mm movie camera!

If you have a digital or a digital ready (or HDTV ready) TV, make sure you get a progressive scan dvd to optimize your picture. I personally like Sony dvd players but I bought a Samsung recently that I really like too.

By the way, ditto on what some of the others have said about the combo. The quality of each component within the combos is not as good as the quality if separate units. Also, there is more to break and you lose your whole system if it does break.

I looked at these combos a couple of years ago and the guy at Best Buy strongly recommended that I didn't get one. He said (and I quote), "we get those returned all of the time."